Siddhas
Without Religion
The
figures found in these lists are generally acknowledged to be
“Buddhists.” Certainly,
the legends surrounding them and the words attributed to them have
influenced countless Buddhists in India, Nepal, and Tibet for a
thousand years; but in their original setting, it is not always easy
to separate them out—whether in terms of terminology, rhetoric, or
practice—from similar figures in non-Buddhist, especially “Hindu”
traditions. They seem quite closely related to Shaivite ascetics like
the Pasupatas and Kapalikas; tantrikas like the Kashmiri Shaivas and
Bengali Shaktas; or the wonder-working Nath siddhas and
Rasa siddhas. More broadly, there are general similarities between
ideas and
practices found in Buddhist siddha writings and those of other Indian yogic
and ascetic communities—from such “textualized” movements as
those reflected
in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali and the Samnyasa Upanishad to
such seemingly
timeless and “unwritten” groups as the Nagas, Kanphatas, and
Aghoras. Nor can their possible connections with similar sorts of
groups in, for instance, Persia, central Asia, or China be
overlooked; the resonance, and possible
historical connections, between Indian siddhas and Chinese Chan masters
or Taoist immortals suggest an especially intriguing, if uncertain,
path for further research.
What
is more, it is entirely possible that, as suggested long ago by
Agehanada Bharati, most of the siddhas actually were pre- or
nonsectarian wandering yogins, who appropriated various religious
terms without intending to promote a particular religion—yet
willy-nilly were appropriated by those very sectarian traditions that
they resisted or ignored.
From
Tantric Treasures by Roger R. Jackson
