Wrathful Buddhas

Wrathful Buddhas

Buddhism discusses self-delusion as poisons of the mind (skt. kleshas). These include mind states such as anxiety, fear, anger, jealousy, desire and depression. These mind states are very strong, destructive, hurtful and make us very confused and lost. Because of these poisons we feel lost and are ignorant about our reality.

In tantric practice we practice wrathful buddhas or deities to transform the mind poisons back into their natural liberated unconstricted condition. This is how tantrics transform selfing, one's self-based beliefs and views, so that natural condition can be realised and lived in the society.

Wrathful deity: (skt) Mahakala or (tib.) Gonpo.

Wrathful deities look angry, fierce, mad and crazy with desire. They look scary. They look like demons but are not demons. Perhaps in someones eyes wrathful buddhas look like orcs from the movie. However, it is the mind poisons that are evil, nasty, scary and orc- or demon-like, not the deities. Wrathful deities are liberated buddhas. They are archetypes of our mind and energy in their enlightened, not in their confused, form. This is crucial to understand because if you don't, you just think that this is medieval spirit worship or something silly like that. Wrathful deities are pure and liberated, like liberated anger, liberated jealousy or liberated confusion. We could say that they are dynamic expressions of the liberated mind. We could also say that they are liberated self, liberated me or suffering in its liberated form. This is the meaning of one taste* or sameness of samsara and nirvana.

*one of the main stages of mahamudra

Cultivating wrathful buddhas is not always easy because they stir our subconscious poisons and bring them to the surface. This is actually what they supposed to do and the gift of wrathful tantric practice. It is an immense gift to get to scoop from the bottom of the subconscious mind, to get one's hands to that foundational poison-mud. There is no better way to bring it to light, in the open, than wrathful practice. When poisons come up, they may confuse and make us nervous a bit. Those poisons come to the surface so at times we find ourselves in the middle of a puddle of deadly poison. A mature yogini or yogi can enjoy the ride and let it play out by itself. But someone who is still learning the dynamics of tantric practice, it can be a shock. We simply need to practice what we have learned. That's all and it will work out, like it has for thousand generations of yogis before us. Going through this process gives us freedom and maturation as human beings. People who never had difficulty in their life are naive, spoiled, immature and lack character. Doing wrathful practice is definitely also a way to grow up because it requires one to stop whining and bullshitting oneself and others. In these situations tantric lamas sometimes give you words of encouragement while other times you get scolded for not giving it your all. If you don't give it your all, if you're not serious about it, you're in wrong place. In this case, if you are not committing to the process 100%, you might only be making your life worse with wrathful practice.

We start all practices by first learning the practice. In the beginning, we get to know the deity or deities. We get a feel of their energy. As we keep cultivating the deity, we become familiar with it and begin to unite with it. Finally, as the deity drills its hole through the poisonous area in our mind, that it's meant for, we see that the deity is me. We also come to see that both me and the deity are empty, and that the deity is actually a marvellous celebration of life itself. This is the gift of tantric practice.

-Kim Katami, 28.6.2019

Open Heart Sangha,

www.en.openheart.fi

Wrathful Expression of the Nature of Mind

Wrathful Expression

of the Nature of Mind

When we think of the Buddha, we think of a serene figure, sitting in peace with an etheric smile on his or her face. However, not all buddhas and mahasiddhas, or masters, are peaceful, many of them are wrathful. Wrathful means dynamic.

If we are used to thinking that mahasiddha is someone who just remains in peace and never raises his voice, it is perhaps shocking to know that someone fully realized would use harsh words and seemingly aggressive behaviour, like overthrow tables of the moneychangers, as Jesus did, or shoot arrows to kill enemies of dharma, like a disciple of Guru Rinpoche did.

Christ Driving the Money Changers out of the Temple by Valentin de Boulogne

To think of mahasiddhas as people who keep distance to society, not acting when action is needed, is false and immature. The freer one becomes of being self-charged, the richer the expression of the nature of mind becomes. This means that someone who is liberated, lives his or her persona in full. Personality is not lost, though selfing is. The realisation of emptiness removes our sense of self, if one's training is complete. Empty nature of mind is not a state of mental blankness but the exact opposite, birth of oneself as fully aware and awake, including the range of emotions in their selfless mode. Buddhahood is abound with ornaments, in some cases soft grace and showering of lotuses, and furious flames and sharp daggers in others. A mahasiddha can not be solely peaceful or solely wrathful because the range of human emotion takes both forms.

Wrathful expression of the nature of mind is a controversial topic because the history of buddhism and spirituality in general, is full of abuse and hurt caused by teachers who were far from being fully realized, that is, mahasiddhas. The so called ”gurus” have caused harm and pain because their training has been incomplete. This is extremely regrettable for there is no sin greater than making people lose their faith towards teaching of liberation which basically is loosing faith in themselves. That people, with or without lineage, set themselves up as realized and convince their students that their reactions of anger and confusion are enlightened wrath, when all it is is display of their delusion, attachment and perverted motivations, is both appalling and wrong.

Wrathful expression can take many forms, just like it does in art. This is a difficult topic and cannot be thoroughly explained in few lines. Perhaps it is enough to say that there are wrathful buddhas and mahasiddhas, and that the scope of enlightened expression is not limited to peacefulness. Hopefully that is helpful.

”Although my view is higher than the sky,

My respect for the cause and effect of actions

is as fine as grains of flour.”

- Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche

May all beings be free,

- Kim Katami, 6.1.2019