Self-Possessed, 10

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

pp. 367-8 sam-aves`a

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”.

{The literal meaning of /sam-aves`a/ is 'co-existence' (Monier-Williams, S-ED); as applied to spirit-possession, it would imply a simultaneous praesence (in the mortal's body) of the mortal spirit-medium's consciousness and of the deity's consciousness. It is aequivalent to what is known as "two-headed" spirit-possession in both African-derived (DDS) and in Indonesian-derived ("PS") spirit-possession cults.}

DDS = Filan & Kaldera : Drawing Down the Spirits.

"PS" = "Pencak Silat" http://sahabatsilat.com/forum/pencak-silat-general-forum/philosophical-musings-on-our-arts/35/?wap2

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10.2

Discipline & Enlightenment

368-74

p. 370 moks.a is achieved through sam-aves`a

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.””

p. 370 samaves`a is verified by s`akti-pata provided by a siddha : spirit-possession by an immaterial siddha

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).”

pp. 372-3 entring turya & ati-turya

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.”

Kaw 1967 = R. K. Kaw : The Doctrine of Recognition. Hoshiarpur : Vishveshvaranand Institute.

p. 373 attaining the adhi-daivika state, vibhuti

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)

pp. 373-4 cid-ananda & samapatti

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".]

Singh 1963 = Jaideva Singh : Pratyabhijn~ahr.dayam,... with English Translation and Notes. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass.

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10.3

Divinizing the Body

374-90

p. 375 symptoms of s`akti-pata

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)”.]

p. 375 female oracles

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.”"

Sax 1991a = William Sax : Mountain Goddess. Oxford U Pr.

Diemberger 2005 : Hildegard Diemberger : "Female Oracles in Modern Tibet". In :- Janet Gyatso & Hanna Havnevik (edditrices) : Women in Tibet. NY : Columbia U Pr. pp. 113-68.

p. 375 real spirit-possession by veritable goddess

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.”

p. 375 aves`a-vidhi

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).”"

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10.3.1

Nyasa

376-88

pp. 376-7 nyasa with mudra

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).

pp. 380-1 sites in one's body for nyasa of deities, according to the Mantra-pus.pa-m ([of the Apa-stambhin – p. 411, n. 10:58] by the Rama-kr.s.n.a Mission)

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

p. 387 the 10 goddesses of mental, & of bodily, qualities (each being set of such qualities), according to the Mantra-pus.pa-m

#

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

pp. 387-8 “the fourteen planes of the universe”, each with a multitude of deities to be emplaced by nyasa, according to the Mantra-pus.pa-m

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”.

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10.3.2

Pratis.t.ha

388-90

p. 389 Tamil rite for installing a deity in an idol

[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.”]

OJP” = John E.Cort : "Overview of the Jain Purāṇas". In :- Wendy Doniger : (editrix) : Puran.a Perennis. Albany : State U of NY, 1993.

p. 389 Taoist starry nyasa

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)

Robinet 1993 = IsabelleRobinet (transl. by Julian F. Pas & Norman J. Girardot) : Taoist Meditation. Albany : State U of NY, 1993.

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10.4

Spirit-Possession in Bauddha Tantra-s

390-98

p. 392 signs that a deity hath entred one's body

[transl. from writings by the 7th 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 … .””

pp. 392-4 samaya-sattva & jn~ana-sattva

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."

JKLT 2005 = Jamgo:n Kongtrul Lodro: Taye` : Systems of Buddhist Tantra : the Indestructible Way of Secret Mantra. Ithaca & Boulder : Snow Lion.

pp. 395-6 siddhi-s to be attained by a disciple (according to Kalkin S`ri-Pun.d.arika's commentary on the Kala-cakra Tantra)

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”.

p. 396 praeternatural sensing (according to Kalkin S`ri-Pun.d.arika)

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”

p. 398 syllables to be emplaced in bodily sites (according to Kalkin S`ri-Pun.d.arika)

bodily site

syllable

head

OM

throat

AS

perineum

KS.AS

p. 398 vajra-syllables for speech & for mind (according to Kalkin S`ri-Pun.d.arika)

for __

vajra-syllable

speech

HUM

mind

HUM

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10.5

Spirit-Possession & a Multiple Self

398-406

p. 399 invitation of deities(for temporary sojourn) into mortal's body

"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.}

{The very notion of "compelling" a deity would be ridiculous.} {The notion of deities as "archetypal forms" is also absurd, and, moreover, quite untraditional anywhere in the world. The author (F.M.S.) is, perhaps, misled by self-styled "Jungians". Carl Jung himself was accosted (in his dreams, as detailed in his Red Book) by supernaturals who defined themselves as "deities" (never as "archetypes"!), but he was so in dread of being declared insane by the state-government (of Switzerland; in Germary a supreme-court justice had recently been declared insane and committed to a state insane-asylum for admitting to a similar circumstance of encountring praeternatural entities), that he praevaricated by using as vague a terminology as possible.}

pp. 403-4 Emus.a

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].

Agrawala 1963 = Vasudeva A. Agrawala : Matsya Puran.a – a study. Varanasi : All-India Kashiraj Trust.

Nagar 1993 = Shanti Lal Nagar : Varaha in Indian Art, Culture, and Literature. New Delhi : Aryan Bks Internat.

p. 404 the kama-dhenu ('wish-cow')

her __

are the __

four legs”

the 4 Veda-s

2 horns

gods

face

sun & moon

shoulders

Agni

legs”

Hima-alaya-s

pp. 404-5 composite depictions of other divine animals

p.

plate

animal-deity

404

7

elephant”

405

8

Garud.a

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Frederick M. Smith : The Self-Possessed : Deity and Spirit Possession in South Asian Literature and Civilization. Columbia U Pr, NY, 2006.