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

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

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eight different forms of appearance, behind each of this a legend can be found. His trademark, which<br />

distinguishes him from all other Tibetan “saints”, is an elegant “French” goatee. He holds the<br />

kathanga, a rod bearing three tiny impaled human heads, as his favorite scepter. His birthplace in<br />

India, Uddiyana, was f<strong>am</strong>ed and notorious for the wildness of the tantric practices which were<br />

cultivated there.<br />

Around 780 C.E. the Tibetan king, Trisong <strong>De</strong>tsen, fetched Padmas<strong>am</strong>bhava into Tibet. <strong>The</strong> political<br />

intentions behind this royal summons were clear: the ruler wanted to weaken the power of the mighty<br />

nobles and the caste of the Bon priests via the introduction of a new religion. Padmas<strong>am</strong>bhava was<br />

supposed to replace at court the Indian scholar, Shantarakshita, (likewise a Buddhist), who had proved<br />

too weak to assert himself against the recalcitrant aristocracy.<br />

Guru Rinpoche, in contrast, was already considered to be a tantric superman in Uddiyana. He<br />

demanded his own weight in gold bars of the king as his fee for coming. When he finally stood before<br />

Trisong <strong>De</strong>tsen, the king demanded that he demonstrate his respect with a bow. Instead of doing so,<br />

Guru Rinpoche sprayed lightning from his fingertips, so that it was the king who sank to his knees<br />

and recognized the magician as the appropriate ally with whom to combat the Bon priests, likewise<br />

skilled in magic things. <strong>The</strong> guru was thus bitterly hated by these and by the nobles, even the king’s<br />

ministers treated him with the greatest hostility imaginable.<br />

Statue of Padmas<strong>am</strong>bhava<br />

<strong>The</strong> saga has made Padmas<strong>am</strong>bhava the founding father of Tibetan Buddhism. His life story is a<br />

fantastic collection of miracles which made him so popular <strong>am</strong>ong the people that he soon enjoyed a<br />

greater reverence than the historical Buddha, whose life appeared sober and pale in comparison.<br />

Reports about Guru Rinpoche and his writings are drawn primarily from the termas (treasures)<br />

already mentioned above, which, it is claimed, he himself hid so that they would come to light

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