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

Yet before we come to that, we ought to consider the widespread Maitreya prophecy, which collides
with the Shambhala vision and the Kalachakra Tantra. Already in the Gandhara era (200 B.C.E.),
Maitreya is known as the future Buddha who shall be incarnated on earth. He is still dwelling in the
so-called Tushita heaven and awaits his mission. Images of him strike the observer at once because
unlike other depictions of Buddha he is not resting in the lotus posture, but rather sits in a “European”
style, as if on a chair. In his case too, the world first goes into decline before he appears to come to the
aid of the suffering humanity. His epiphany is, however, according to most reports much more healing
and peaceable than those of the “wrathful wheel turner”. But there are also other more aggressive
prophecies from the seventh century where he first comes to earth as a messiah following an
apocalyptic final battle (Sponberg, 1988, p. 31). For the Russian painter and Shambhala seeker,
Nicholas Roerich, there is in the end no difference between Maitreya and Rudra Chakrin any more,
they are simply two names for the same redeemer.
Without doubt the Kalachakra Tantra is primarily dominated by conceptions which can also be found
in Hinduism. This is especially true of the yoga techniques, but likewise applies to the cosmology and
the cyclical destruction and renewal of the universe. In Hindu prophecies too, the god Vishnu appears
as savior at the end of the Kali yuga, also, incidentally, upon a white horse like the Buddhist Rudra
Chakrin, in order to exterminate the enemies of the religion. He even bears the dynastic name of the
Shambhala kings and is known as Kalki.
Among the academic researchers there is nonetheless the widespread opinion that the savior motif, be
it Vishnu or Buddha Maitreya or even the Rudra Chakrin, is of Iranian origin. The stark distinction
between the forces of the light and the dark, the apocalyptic scenario, the battle images, the idea of a
militant world ruler, even the mandala model of the five meditation Buddhas were unknown among
the original Buddhist communities. Buddhism, alone among all the salvational religions, saw no
savior behind Gautama’s experience of enlightenment. But for Iran these motifs of salvation were
(and still are today) central.
In a convincing study, the orientalist, Heinrich von Stietencron, has shown how — since the first
century C.E. at the latest — Iranian sun priests infiltrated into India and merged their concepts with
the local religions, especially Buddhism. (Stietencron, 1965. p. 170). They were known as Maga and
Bhojaka. The Magas, from whom our word “magician” is derived, brought with them among other
things the cult of Mithras and combined it with elements of Hindu sun worship. Waestern researchers
presume that the name of Maitreya, the future Buddha, derives from Mithras.
The Bhojakas, who followed centuries later (600–700 C.E.), believed that they emanated from the
body of their sun god. They also proclaimed themselves to be the descendants of Zarathustra. In India
they created a mixed solar religion from the doctrines of the Avesta (the teachings of Zarathustra) and
Mahayana Buddhism. From the Buddhists they adopted fasting and the prohibitions on cultivating
fields and trade. In return, they influenced Buddhism primarily with their visions of light. Their
“photisms” are said to have especially helped shape the shining figure of the Buddha Amitabha. Since
they placed the time god, Zurvan, at the center of their cult, it could also be they who anticipated the
essential doctrines of the Kalachakra Tantra.
Like the Kalachakra deity we have described, the Iranian Zurvan carries the entire universe in his
mystic body: the sun, moon, and stars. The various divisions of time such as hours, days, and months
dwell in him as personified beings. He is the ruler of eternal and of historical time. White light and the