10.

Spirit-Possession as a Healing Modality

pp. 363-415

10.1

Sam-aves`a as Tantrik Realization

367-8

10.2

Discipline & Enlightenment

368-74

10.3

Divinizing the Body

374-90

10.3.1

Nyasa

376-88

10.3.2

Pratis.t.ha

388-90

10.4

Spirit-Possession in Bauddha Tantra-s

390-98

10.5

Spirit-Possession & a Multiple Self

398-406

10.1

Sam-aves`a as Tantrik Realization

367-8

p. 367

“initiatory [spirit-]possession … in … tantric texts is identified as samaves`a. ... Thus, samaves`a is … an initial and startling possession by a deity that is invoked by the acarya for the benefit of the disciple during … initiation … . In these Tantras, samaves`a is a … transformation ... in which the deity to be realized is an active

p. 368

participant. … however, tantric [spirit-]possession may also be a kind of … oracular experience”.

10.2

Discipline & Enlightenment

368-74

“samaves`a is identified by Abhinavagupta, in his Vimars`ini on Utpaladeva's nondualist Is`vara[-]pratyabhijn~a[-]kariika, as abhyasa, yogic and spiritual practice.”

According to (Finn 1985, p. 65) “a commentary on the Vamakes`vara Tantra, “in Kashmir S`aivism liberation is achieved not through samadhi but through samaves`a.””

“non-saiddhantika S`aiva … moks.a is … a state of possession or samaves`a … verified by symptoms of s`aktipata … . This s`aktipata is divine energy transmitted … by a siddha … . Abhinavagupta presents a fourfold classification of siddhas [Flood 1993, p. 294] :

celibates (urdhvaretas), heroes (vira) who are on the path of Kula (kulavartman), noncelibates, and “non-physical siddhas who are non-physical gurus” (Tantraloka [TA] 29.41-43).

Jayadratha says that these disembodied gurus can enter (praves`a) the bodies of practitioners during the Kaula rite. S`aktipata causes the initiate to become possessed (aves`a); symptoms are convulsions (ghurn.i, kampa) and loss of consciousness (nidra) … . Thence the objective was “immersion [“samaves`a”] … to make possession, or the eradication of individuality, permanent” (TA 29.207-208).”

p. 372

“According to nondual S`aiva texts, … abhyasa or spiritual practice leads the practitioner to samaves`a … as the “fourth state” (turya) of the Upanis.ads. Then, through samaves`a …, one enters a state “beyond the fourth” (turyatita).

p. 373

[quoted from Kaw 1967, p. 236 :] “Turya and Turyatita are reached by yogins only when aves`a becomes uninterrupted … . Such yogins who attain the highest state of Samaves`a are known as Jivan-muktas, for even in their life time, they are … released.”

“the higher state … is a transformation from a state of spiritual realization, an adhyatmika state, to a divine state …, an adhidaivika state, “where the components of limitation, including samskara, are totally dissolved … .”” (Torella 1994, p. xxxiv)

"When the body is filled with light ..., then ... all the relative projections of S`iva ... to the corporeal body [s`unya-adi-deha-anta-m] become luminous with awareness ... . Then the qualities of consciousness [samvid-dharma-s], empowered by the requisite s`akti, rise to a divine state [vibhuti]." (Abhinavagupta : Vivr.ti-vimars`ini on Is`vara-pratyabhijn~a Karika 3:2:12)

p. 373

“Ks.emaraja wrote a primer on the Pratyabhijn~a S`aiva teachings … . This text, the Pratyabhijn~a[-]hr.daya, consists of twenty sutras and Ks.emaraja's autocommentary. … In his introduction to sutra 19, Ks.emaraja states that the cidananda …, a state of immeasurable ecstatic bliss, is … samapatti. … .

p. 374

… samaves`a has as its nature the unfolding of the concentrated essence of universal consciousness (cid[-]rasa-). All of this, Ks.emaraja concludes in his twentieth and final sutra, is tantamount to entering completely into ... a state in which one has total control over the vicissitudes of the external and internal realms". [p. 409, n. 10:29 : "see Singh 1963".]

10.3

Divinizing the Body

374-90

“The deity manifests within the body … . This requires s`aktipata, … a violent “descent” (pata) upon the initiate, … possession (aves`a) of the initiate's body … by the s`akti, “power,” … and “cosmic (feminine) energy” together.

The symptoms of s`aktipata resemble those of [spirit-]possession as described in ethnographic reports …, exhibitions of … shaking, staggering, whirling, or falling on the ground unconscious." [p. 408, n. 10:34 : “Malini[-]vijayottara 11.35 lists the qualities of s`aktipata ..., as … physical shaking (kampa) … and whirling (ghurn.i)”.]

“informants in Garhwal report [Sax 1991a, p. 185] that “the innermost self shakes” during [spirit-]possession.

… Tibetan female oracles have this sort of characteristic experience after having their “energy-channels” opened by a [b]lama. [Diemberger 2005, p. 120 :] ... "The god, in fact, is said to enter the body along these energy-channels ... . Uncontrolled visions, [praeternatural] voices, ... and the experience of a death-like state {deepest degree of catatonic trance} are the most common symptoms.”"

“The Vijn~ana[-]bhairava (verse 69) also describes the entry of or possession by s`akti (s`aktyaves`a) in terms of sexual absorption, the man immersed not just in the s`akti as the spiritual power of the Goddess, but as real, live, full-bodied woman.”

“References to aves`avidhi (injunctions intended to bring about ritual [spirit-]possession) may be found in saiddhantika S`aivaTantras. Among these saiddhantika texts are the Yogini[-]tantras … in which

one of the features of an elaborate abhis.eka (ritual or empowerment) is the leading of blindfolded male initiates by female adepts (yogini) ...

{In King-stone (Rdo-rje), “Initiation is passed only from female to male or male to female.” (WhWWh, p. 91)}

to the edge of a man.d.ala inscribed on the floor … . The initiates … [Sanderson 1994, p. 88 :] “are made to take an oath of absolute secrecy (kos.apana) and are then made by means of mantras to become possessed by the man.d.ala-deities (aves`avidhi).”"

10.3.1

Nyasa

376-88

p. 376

“Nyasa is performed in obligatory rites (nitya) such as the daily samdhya, the twice-daily rites of the twice-born performed at sunrise and sunset, as well as in the ... rituals ... calibrated calendrically (naimittika) ... . ...

The intent of nyasa is to impose or place the power of the mantras, and perforce the deities … which they inscribe, on or within various body part, either one's or that of an image of a deity.”

p. 377

“Ks.emaraja … In the Pratyabhijn~a[-]hr.daya … quotes the Krama[-]sutra[-]s, “which define … mudra as the interpenetration of the inner and the outer due to the force of [spirit-]possession” (Flood 1993, p. 244).

p.

bodily site

deity

380

genitalia

Brahma

feet

Vis.n.u

hands

Hara

Indra

arms

belly

Agni

heart

S`iva

throat

Vasu-s

mouth

Sarasvati

nostrils

Vayu

eyen

sun & moon

ears

As`vinau

lalat.a 'forehead'

Rudra

murdhan 'front of head'

Aditya

s`iras 'head'

Mahadeva {Pas`upati?}

crown of head

Vamadeva

back

Pinakin

chest

S`ulin

381

flanks

S`ankara

#

set of vital qualities

goddess

1

bhuta (5 elements)

Brahmi

2

tad-matra (5 senses)

Vac-Is`vari

3

karma-indriya (5 action-organs)

Van.i

4

jn~ana-indriya (5 sense-organs)

Savitri

5

5 pran.a-s

Saras-vati

6

3 gun.a-s

Gayatri

7

antar-karan.a-s (4 inner soul-organs)

Vac-prada

8

4 “states of awareness”

S`arada

9

7 bodily tissues

Bharati

10

dos.a (3 umores)

Vidya-atmika

p.

__-nyasa

deity-categories

387

bhuvana-

divine S`akti-s with entourages of 100,000,000s of yogini-s

murti-

16 Vis.n.u-s & their S`akti-s; 12-S`iva-s & their S`akti-s

mantra-

words are placed by their goddesses on ritualist's body

387-8

devata-

goddesses with entourages of 1000s of siddha-s

388

matr.ka-

“Mother Goddesses” “along with myriad tens of millions (ananta-kot.i) … of the Bhairava … including … bhuta, preta, pis`aca”.

10.3.2

Pratis.t.ha

388-90

[quoted from Nabokov 2000, p. 158] “Periyant.avar's divine essence (murtiharam) is tramsferred to the earthen body through an 'eye opening rite' (kan. tirappu). Beyond a cloth screen a musician paints with black charcoal the pupils of the god's bulging eyes. When a camphor flame is waved before the face, the crowd cheers … the reincorporation of gods”.

{Similar in the Jaina tradition is “an~jana s`alaka”, the "eye-opening" rite by which a qualified practitioner "enlivens" a murti for worship. (“OJP”, p. 197)}

[p. 412, n. 10:69 “A process … similar to pratis.t.ha is recorded in the … {Hellenistic} “god-making passages” in the Hermetic Asclepius. The Egyptian {god} Hermes Trismegistus … defended practices in which the Egyptian priests would animate their temple statues by attracting the souls of higher beings to enter them.”]

“the stars are made to descent into the practitioner's body, after which the practitioner …. ascends to the stars. … “before stepping on the dipper,” the adept “must dress himself with stars.” Each star of the Dipper is visualized and “invoked one after the other … and made to enter into, after each invocation, a body organ. ...”” (Robinet 1993, pp. 103-4)

10.4

Spirit-Possession in Bauddha Tantra-s

390-98

[transl. from writings by the 7^th Dalai bLama :] “the wisdom blessing has entered the disciple; this is called the “Shared [blessing]” [Bod. skal mn~am; Skt. sa-bhaga]. Concerning the signs that [the wisdom beings] have entered, the root Tantra of Guhyasamaja says, “... shaking and tremors … .” Acarya Nagabodhi comments, “one should know that the signs of entrance are shaking, elation, fainting, dancing, collapsing, or leaping upward.” In the translation by Chag lotsawa, it says, “... shaking, hair standing on end … .””

p. 392

"the Vajrayana texts Sadhana[-]mala and Nis.panna[-]yogavali ... describe two type of beings, called samaya[-]sattva and jn~ana[-]sattva. Both Stephen Beyer and Alex Wayman translate samaya[-]sattva as "symbolic being" and jn~ana[-]sattva as "knowledge being." ...

p. 393

The samaya[-]sattva ... is the visualized image of the deity ... . [p. 414, n. 10:84 : "the pristine awareness deities [viz. jn~anasattva-s] merge with and are s ..tabilized within the pledge deities [viz. samayasattva-s]." (JKLT 2005, pp. 277-8)]

p. 394

"The mantra [JAS HUM VAM HOS] should be recited, says the Sadhana[-]mala [p. 191], while performing the attracting, entering, fixing, and pleasing (akars.an.a[-]praves`ana[-]bandhana[-]tos.an.a[-]m) of the jn~ana[-]sattva."

p. 395

“a good disciple should be able to

enter hell worlds,

{This is the paramount achievement by Siberian shamans, being performed by them during their dreamings.}

flying over the world, become invisible, and fly to mountain tops as a result of possession by a divine body. …

{This is readily done by projection of the astral body.}

p. 396

Possession by a divine mind [“citta” (p. 414, n. 10:91)] enables the pupil to know the past, present, and future”.

by means of divya ('divine') __

the aspirant __

“eye”

“sees divine form, though it is insubstantial {immaterial}”

“hearing”

“hear the unheard sounds of beings {viz., of deties}”

“mind” (manas)

“knowledge of another's thoughts (paracitta[-]jn~anam)”

“divine touch”

“achieve a divine abode”

“divine tongue”

“divine sense of taste”

“divine [nose]”

“divine sense of smell”

bodily site

syllable

head

OM

throat

AS

perineum

KS.AS

for __

vajra-syllable

speech

HUM

mind

HUM

10.5

Spirit-Possession & a Multiple Self

398-406

"brief cadenced mantras are employed to compel {to invite, not "to compell"} deities and archetypal forms to enter into the body".

{The cadenced mantra-s are aequivalent to the cadenced drumbeats used in West African (Yoruba, etc.) spirit-possession caerimonies for inviting deities for a brief sojourn within the spirit-medium's body.}

p. 403

“the Yajn~[a-]varaha, the “boar as sacrifice,” … is described at length in Matsya Puran.a, chapter 238 [Agrawala 1963, pp. 313-31], while the iconography is given in the

p. 404

Vaikhanasa Agama [Nagar 1993, pp. 76-7].

her __

are the __

“four legs”

the 4 Veda-s

2 horns

gods

face

sun & moon

shoulders

Agni

“legs”

Hima-alaya-s

p.

plate

animal-deity

404

7

“elephant”

405

8

Garud.a