Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

it says in the Kalachakra Tantra, “Vajravega emanates in the heart of the medititator [the initiand],
the wrathful form of Kalachakra — grinning and with gnashing teeth Vajravega stands upon a chariot
drawn by a fabulous being; he thrusts a hook into the navel of Kalachakra, ties his hands up, threatens
him with weapons and drags him before the meditator, in whose heart he finally dissolves
himself” (Brauen, 1992, p. 114).
What is happening? Vajravega, the wrathful emanation of the time god, suddenly turns against his
own “emanation father”, Kalachakra, and brutally drags him before the meditating adept. In this
scene a distinction is thus drawn between Kalachakra and Vajravega. Is this — as Martin Brauen
suspects — to be interpreted as the symbolic repetition of the act of birth, which is indeed also
associated with pain?
Such an interpretation does not seem convincing to us. It seems far more plausible to recognize a
somewhat obscure variant of the dark demon Rahu in the Vajravega figure, who destroys the sun and
the moon in the Kalachakra Tantra so as to claim power over time in their stead. Brauen also
indirectly concedes this when he compares the aggressive emergence of Vajravega with the activation
of the “middle channel” (avadhuti) in the mystic body of the yogi and the associated destruction of
both energy streams (the sun and moon). The same procedure is also regarded to be the chief task of
Rahu, and likewise, as we have described above, the middle channel bears the name of the dark planet
(Rahu). Be that as it may, the destructive arrival of Vajravega heralds the fate of the whole sand
mandala and of the palace of time hidden behind it.
During the seven lower solemnities of the Kalachakra Tantra, the mandala artwork is left standing.
At the end of the whole performance the tantra master recites a number of prayers and certain
mantras. He then circles the sand mandala, removing with his fingers the 722 gods who were scattered
across it in the form of seeds and laying them on a tray. At the same time he imagines that they enter
his heart. He thus absorbs all the time energies and transforms them into aspects of his own mystic
body. He then grasps a vajra, symbol of his diamond masculinity, and begins to destroy the sandy
“divine palace” with it. The whole impressive work dissolves into colorful heaps and is later swept
together. The monks tip the colored mixture into a vase. The master sprinkles a little of this in his
head, and gives a further mini-portion to his pupils. With prayers and song a procession carries the
sandy contents of the vase to a river and surrenders it there to the nagas (snake gods) as a gift.
But an important gesture is still to come. The tantra master returns to the site of the mandala and with
water washes off the white basis lines remaining on the site. Then he removes the ten ritual daggers.
Facing the East he now seats himself on the cleansed mandala site, vajra and bell in his hands, the
absolute lord of both sexes (Kalachakra and Vishvamata), of time and of the universe.
This destruction of the sand mandala is usually seen as an act which is supposed to draw attention to
the transience of all being. But this forgets that the palace of time is only destroyed as an external
construction and that it continues to exist in the interior of the highest tantra master (as ADI
BUDDHA). In his mystic body, Kalachakra and Vishvamata live on as the two polar currents of time,
albeit under his absolute control. At the end of the ritual, the yogi (ADI BUDDHA) has transformed
himself into a divine palace. Then his microcosmic body has become identical to the Kalachakra
palace; we can now rediscover all the symbols which we encountered there as forces within his
energy body.