Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
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Builders <strong>of</strong> the Adytum 35<br />
Mahayana Buddhism. Various forms <strong>of</strong> devotional<br />
Buddhism also developed within the<br />
Mahayana fold. Devotional Buddhism focused on<br />
different bodhisattvas (enlightened souls who<br />
delayed the final stages <strong>of</strong> their nirvana so that<br />
they could stay around <strong>and</strong> help ordinary<br />
mortals) who, like the great gods <strong>and</strong> goddesses <strong>of</strong><br />
later Hinduism, could help their devotees. The<br />
notion <strong>of</strong> heaven-worlds was also developed in<br />
these forms <strong>of</strong> Buddhism, heaven-worlds where<br />
the earnest devotee would find her- or himself<br />
after death, <strong>and</strong> where she or he could continue<br />
the quest for enlightenment, less hindered by the<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> this world.<br />
Along with heaven realms, Buddhism also<br />
developed notions <strong>of</strong> hell realms in which exceptionally<br />
sinful individuals were punished. In<br />
earlier stages <strong>of</strong> the Buddhist tradition, the impersonal<br />
force <strong>of</strong> karma carried out punishments for<br />
evil deeds through the circumstance in which one<br />
was reborn, <strong>and</strong> through the unfortunate events<br />
one experienced while incarnated in a body. As<br />
with their emergence in later Hinduism, the<br />
notion <strong>of</strong> punishment in hell worlds emerged to<br />
supplement—rather than to supplant—earlier<br />
notions <strong>of</strong> karmic punishment. Unlike Western<br />
hells, however, Buddhist hell worlds are not final<br />
dwelling places. They are, rather, more like purgatories<br />
in which sinful souls experience suffering<br />
for a limited term. After their term is over, even the<br />
most evil person is turned out <strong>of</strong> hell to once again<br />
participate in the cycle reincarnation. This does<br />
not mean, however, that Buddhist hells are any less<br />
gruesome than Western hells. To cite a representative<br />
passage from the Pali canon:<br />
The guards <strong>of</strong> hell lay him down <strong>and</strong> chop<br />
him with axes <strong>and</strong> turn him upside down <strong>and</strong><br />
slice him with razors, <strong>and</strong> bind him to a<br />
chariot <strong>and</strong> drag him over a fiery blazing<br />
earth, <strong>and</strong> drive him up <strong>and</strong> down a great<br />
mountain <strong>of</strong> fiery blazing coals, <strong>and</strong> turn him<br />
upside down <strong>and</strong> hurl him into a fiery blazing<br />
iron cauldron; <strong>and</strong> there he boils, throwing up<br />
scum to the surface, rising <strong>and</strong> sinking <strong>and</strong><br />
going across; <strong>and</strong> he feels pain that is sharp<br />
<strong>and</strong> bitter <strong>and</strong> severe. But he has not finished<br />
his time until he has exhausted his evil deeds.<br />
<strong>An</strong>d this is only the beginning. Dante would<br />
undoubtedly have been jealous. Speculation<br />
regarding demons <strong>and</strong> hellish realms, particularly<br />
as they relate to the postmortem state, would not,<br />
however, come to its fullest development until the<br />
emergence <strong>of</strong> Tibetan Buddhism, the most<br />
prominent school <strong>of</strong> Tantric Buddhism.<br />
According to the Bardo Thödol, known in the<br />
West as the Tibetan Book <strong>of</strong> the Dead, the dead<br />
encounter various fearsome demons after<br />
death—though they are also counseled that these<br />
demons are insubstantial projections <strong>of</strong> the mind.<br />
If one can gaze upon these insubstantial beings<br />
with equanimity, then one will escape rebirth <strong>and</strong><br />
achieve nirvana.<br />
See also Bardo Thödol; Hell <strong>and</strong> Heaven;<br />
Hinduism; Mara<br />
For Further Reading:<br />
Benard, Elisabeth. “The Tibetan Tantric View <strong>of</strong><br />
Death <strong>and</strong> Afterlife.” In Hiroshi Obayashi, ed.<br />
Death <strong>and</strong> Afterlife: Perspectives <strong>of</strong> World <strong>Religion</strong>s.<br />
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992, 49–64.<br />
Bromage, Bernard. Tibetan Yoga. 1952.<br />
Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, UK:<br />
Aquarian Press, 1979.<br />
Conze, Edward. Buddhist Thought in India. 1962.<br />
Reprint, <strong>An</strong>n Arbor: University <strong>of</strong> Michigan<br />
Press, 1967.<br />
Evans-Wentz, W. Y., ed. The Tibetan Book <strong>of</strong> the Dead.<br />
3rd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1960.<br />
Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. 1959.<br />
2nd exp<strong>and</strong>ed edition, New York: Evergreen,<br />
1974.<br />
Zimmer, Heinrich. Philosophies <strong>of</strong> India. New York:<br />
Bollingen, 1951; New York: Macmillan, 1987.<br />
Builders <strong>of</strong> the Adytum<br />
The Builders <strong>of</strong> the Adytum (BOTA) was established<br />
in 1922 by Paul Foster Case (1884–1954), a<br />
member <strong>of</strong> the Hermetic Order <strong>of</strong> the Golden<br />
Dawn. He was known as an expert in the study <strong>of</strong><br />
the tarot <strong>and</strong> cabala, <strong>and</strong> was said to have been<br />
asked by the Inner School to reinterpret the<br />
Ageless Wisdom for the Western audience. BOTA’s<br />
name originated from the Greek term meaning<br />
Holy <strong>of</strong> Holies, <strong>and</strong> referring to the metaphysical<br />
building <strong>of</strong> one’s inner temple. Members <strong>of</strong> BOTA<br />
regard Jesus as a carpenter, a builder, <strong>and</strong> a teacher<br />
<strong>of</strong> the inner spiritual life.