Saturday, November 30, 2013

Kayanian Dynasty: Kai Kāvus .....(Younger Avestan....559–330 BC)

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"The First Aryan Empire During the Reign of Feridoon......During the Jamshidi era, Airyana Vaeja had grown considerably in size and included the passes to Hapta Hindu - the area that contained the seven northern Indus tributaries - and perhaps even some of the upper reaches....Feridoon's first Aryan empire the empire of Airan (Also see Aria / Ariana in our page on the location of Airyana Vaeja). The creation of this empire was also accompanied by a shift of the central Aryan kingdom towards Bakhdhi / Balkh."....http://heritageinstitute.com

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"Kay Kāvus (Persian: كيكاوس‎; Avestan: Kauui Usan); sometimes Kai-Káús or Kai-Kaus, is a mythological shah of Iran and a character in the Shāhnāmeh. He is the son of Kay Qobād and the father of prince Seyāvash. Kāvus rules Iran for one hundred and fifty years during which he is frequently though increasingly grudgingly aided by the famous hero Rostam. He is succeeded by his grandson Kai Khosrow…..The Flying Throne of Kay Kāvus was a legendary eagle-propelled craft built by Kay Kāvus, used for flying the king all the way to China."…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kai_Kavoos

"According to the Shāhnāmeh, Kāvus had a flying craft made consisting of a throne to the corners of which were attached four long poles pointing upward. It was made of wood and gold and he attached specially trained eagles. Pieces of meat were attached at the top of each pole and the ravenous eagles were chained to the feet. As the eagles tried to reach the meat they caused the throne to fly. The craft flew the king all the way to China, where the eagles grew tired and the craft came down. Rostam eventually had to rescue the king who, miraculously, survived the crash.

"The founder of the Kayanian dynasty was Kavi Kavata (later, Kaikobad), a reclusive holy man, who had to be persuaded to sit on the vacant Aryan throne. ….Kai Kobad (also known as Kay Qobád) is a mythological figure of Iranian folklore and oral tradition. The 'Kai' stock epithet identifies Kobad as a Kayanian, a (semi-)mythological dynasty that in tradition Kai Kobad was also the founder of…The Kayanian, also Kays or Kayanids or Kaianids or kiani, are a dynasty of Greater Iranian tradition and folklore. Considered collectively, the Kayanian kings are the heroes of the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and of the Shahnameh, Iran's national epic….As an epithet of kings and the reason why the dynasty is so called, Middle- and New Persian "Kay(an)" is a continuation of Avestan kavi (or kauui) "king" and also "poet-sacrificer" or "poet-priest." The word is also etymologically related to the Avestan notion of kavaēm kharēno, the "divine royal glory" that the Kayanian kings were said to hold. The Kiani Crown is a physical manifestation of that belief."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayanian_dynasty

"In the tradition preserved in the Shahnameh, Kai Kobad was a descendant of Manuchehr, and lived in the Alborz mountains, and was brought to the Estaxr (the capital) by Rustam. Under Nowzar, who loses the xvarənah for oppressing the Iranians, the Pishdādi dynasty grows weak, and Iran falls to the Aniranian General Afrasiab, who kills Nowzar in battle. Then however, Kobad defeats Afrasiyab in personal combat, and for this feat and because he possesses the xvarənah he is elected king by the Iranians, and the descendents of Nowzar—Zou, Garshasp and Gastham—pay him allegiance.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_Qobád

"The Kai Kavoos saga has many upheavals. He is a selfish and ambitious king. He endangers Iran and the Iranian people on several occasions due to his ambitions. His dreams on deployment of forces to Mazandaran and to fly in the sky indicate his thirst for power. In the view of researchers of Shahnameh, Kai Kavoos is one of the figures in the Shahnameh who is close to reality. The majority of his characteristics are similar to those of historical kings. This fact turns him into a symbol of real kings…..http://english.irib.ir/programs/iran/item/63435-ferdowsi-the-poet-sage-13

"The Epic of the Poet Ferdowsi Tusi……The Shahnameh, Book of Kings, is an epic composed by the Iranian poet Hakim Abul-Qasim Mansur (later known as Ferdowsi Tusi)...…. a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Iran (Persia) and the Persian speaking world. Consisting of some 50,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian empire from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century. Today Iran, Persian speakers of the neighboring nations such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and the greater region influenced by the Persian culture celebrate this national epic. The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Sassanid ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest and an end to the Zoroastrian influence in Iran….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahnameh

The third and the most germane role of the farr in the Shahname is guidance of the king in worldly affairs by providing him with a pre-ordained and sacred example of divine rulership. In this role, the farr puts the king in contact with the "perfect mind," especially when the king embarks upon epoch-making decisions (i.e., decisions that would affect the lives of many Iranians throughout centuries). Fereydun and Kaykhusrau, as it will be shown, are prime examples of epoch-making monarchs of the Perso-Tajik peoples. King Fereydun, by taking refuge in the power of kin (vengeance) distanced his descendants from Ahriman's harm. He also guided his successors, Iraj, Kayka'us, Siyavosh, and others, to recapture the spiritual unity that Iran had lost after the fall from grace of King Jamshid. Kaykhusrau, after a great deal of deliberation and study of the events of the past, rejected the concept of kin as an effective weapon against evil and sided with din (religion shorn of superstition and dogma) for the future of a unified Iran and Turan. Because din, kin, and farr are inseparable aspects of the life of the ancient Iranians, in what follows, we shall examine Firdowsi's great epic from these vantage points. http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Farr/farr.html

"The earliest known foreshadowing of the major legends of the Kayanian kings appears in the Yashts of the Avesta, where the dynasts offer sacrifices to the gods in order to earn their support and to gain strength in the perpetual struggle against their enemies, the Anaryas (sometimes identified as the Turanians)…..In Yasht 5, 9.25, 17.45-46, Haosravah, a Kayanian king later known as Kay Khosrow, together with Zoroaster and Jamasp (a premier of Zoroaster's patron Vishtaspa, another Kayanian king) worship in Airyanem Vaejah. The account tells that King Haosravah united the various Aryan tribes into one nation (Yasht 5.49, 9.21, 15.32, 17.41)."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayanian_dynasty

"The various Yashts are in Younger Avestan and thought to date to the Achaemenid era (559–330 BC)......The Missing Years….Gap in Aryan History Until the Start of Median / Persian History….The end of the Kayanian dynasty appears to coincide with the closing of the Avestan canon. Some disruption appears to have put an end to ancient Aryan history, especially Zoroastrian history in Central Asia. After a significant gap in time the missing years of Zoroastrian history - the next we hear of the Zoroastrian Aryans is not through legend or scripture, but with the emergence of the Medes and Persians a thousand kilometres to the west."….http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/legendary/

Greek names of Kayanian Kings?…
Kay-Khusrav (Khosrow) -> Cyaxares
Kay-Kavata (Qobad/Kavadh) -> Cambyses
Kay-Avarasp (Lohrasb) -> Cyrus
So X�ayār�ā is easier to pronounce than Xerxes or Darayavahush easier than Darius?
Herodotus….Graecised forms of the names:
Deiokes = *Dahyauka
Phraortes = *Kshathrita, Fravartish
Cyaxares = *Huvakhshatra.
Astyages = *Arshtivaiga.
http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=21894

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2013

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The Nine Ways of Bon...Shamanic and Resultant Levels

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According to the system of the lho-gter (Southern Treasure) the Nine Ways are:

1. Way of Prediction,….divination, astrology, ritual and examination of causes.
2. Way of Visible Manifestation….the origin and nature of gods and demons.
3. Way of Illusion….the rites for the dispersal of adverse thought forms, entities and energies.
4. Way of Existence….death rituals and the after-death state (bar-do) .
5. Way of a Lay Follower…..the principles for wholesome activity.
6. Way of the Sages…..the rules of monastic discipline.
7. Way of the White A…….practices and rituals of the higher practices.
8. Way of the Primordial Shen….the teacher, the practices, the mandala and instructions for deity meditation.
9. Way of Dzogchen….the path of Great Perfection.

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Gyalshen.org......Tompa_Shenrab

The first four levels of Bon are referred to as the Causal Vehicles, Causal Ways (rGyui-theg-pa) . They are the shamanic levels….

1.Way of Prediction (Phyva-gshen Theg-pa) codifies ritual, prognostication, sortilege and astrology;

Chashen thegpa (Phywa-gshen theg-pa), the Way of the Shen of Prediction, describes four different ways of prediction, by divination (mo), astrology (rtsis), ritual (gto) and examination of causes (dphyad).....

Chashen (The way of the Shen of Prediction)…. the first way, comprises medical diagnosis and healing, as well as various ancient divination and astrological rites performed by the shaman to determine whether the person who needs to be healed has an energetic imbalance, or is being provoked by a demonic spirit, or negative energy (as mentioned above). Nowadays these rites are still widely practised in Tibetan communitites.

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2. Way of the Visual World (sNang-shen theg-pa) details the psychophysical Universe;

Nangshen thegpa (sNang-gshen theg-pa), the Way of the Shen of Visible Manifestation, expounds the origin and nature of gods and demons living in this world and various methods of exorcism and ransom.

Nangshen (The Way of the Shen of the Visible World), ......The second way, Nangshen, comprises various rituals for purification to summon energy and enhance prosperity, to suppress and liberate negative forces, and to invoke and make offerings to powerful deities and pay ransoms to demonic spirits.

These practices are very widespread in Tibet. Families perform small ones, while large scale ones are usually performed collectively in towns, villages and monasteries. In ransom rites, an effigy is prepared which represents the beneficiary of the rite, or the shamanic practitioner who is performing it. I remember when my mother had been ill for a long time we tried to heal her by means of different medical treatments, but nothing helped. We then performed several minor rites, but these did not work either. So finally we invited some shaman monks, who performed a big ransom rite, in which they prepared a large effigy of her (in fact, people often make life-size effigies) and we dressed it in her clothes, so that it was very lifelike and resembled her closely. Then we performed the ritual, offering the effigy in her place to repay her karmic debt to spirits. She was given a new name, Yehe Lhamo, in place of her old name, Drolma, as a kind of new birth into the world, and she recovered from her illness.

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3. Way of Illusion ('Phrul-gshen theg-pa) explains the rites for the dispersal of adverse thoughtforms, entities and energies;

Trulshen thegpa ('Phrul-gshen theg-pa), the Way of the Shen of Magical Power, explains rites for disposing of adverse powers

Trulshen (The Way of the Shen of 'Magical' Illusion).......Shamans of the third way, Trulshen, go where there is strong, wild energy, where they perform practices to conquer the spirits and demons that inhabit those places, subjugating them into their service. One achieves this through practising mantra (words of magic power), mudra (meaningful hand gestures to communicate with gods and spirits), and samadhi (meditation), while performing sadhanas (devotional practices) to engage various wrathful goddesses such as Walmo and Chenmo. The aim of these wrathful practices, which are directed against enemies of the teaching, are to protect the practitioners and the teaching against danger and threats. It is very important to perform these actions with an attitude of love and compassion towards other beings, and should not be performed solely for the shaman's benefit..

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4.Way of Existence (Srid-gshen theg-pa) details funeral and death rituals;

Sishen thegpa (Srid-gshen theg-pa), the Way of the Shen of Existence, deals with the after-death state (bar-do) and with methods for guiding sentient beings towards liberation or at least towards a better rebirth....

Working with the soul of the living and the dead, is the most important feature of the fourth way, Sichen, which contains a detailed explanation of the principle of the la (soul), yid (mind), and sem (thinking mind). "The la is the karmic trace, which is stored in the kunzhi namshe, (or base consciousness). The sem follows the karmic trace and produces blissful, painful and neutral experiences which are experienced by the yid."…..When a living person's soul is lost, shattered, or disordered, there are practices to recall and reinforce its energy, such as soul retrieval. In relation to the dead, there are explanations of 81 different types of death, such as accidental death, suicide, murder, and sinister death. …..Following these kinds of death, it is very important to perform appropriate rites, especially if the death occurs in a place which is energetically disturbed (for instance, a place where untoward events such as accidents regularly occur).

A particular specific method found in this way, is that of the 'four doors', to vanquish negative spirits, using 360 different methods. There are also funeral rites to guide the soul immediately after death, communicating with the ghost of the deceased and feeding it until its next rebirth. One of the most important practices performed by Tibetan shamans of the sichen path is soul retrieval - Lalu (literally redeeming, or buying back the soul), and Chilu, (redeeming the life-energy).

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Resultant Ways ('Brns-bu'i-theg-pa) covers the second suite of four…….

5.Way of a Lay Follower (dGe-bsnyen theg-pa) contains the ten principles for wholesome activity;

Genyen thegpa (dGe-snyen theg-pa), the Way of Virtuous Lay Practitioners, guides those who apply the ten virtues and ten perfections.

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6. Way of a Monk, (Drnag-srnng theg-pa) codifies monastic rules and regulations;

Drangsong thegpa (Drang-srong theg-pa), the Way of the Sages, contains the rules of monastic discipline.

7.Way of Primordial Sound (Adkar theg-pa) charts the integration of an exalted practitioner into the mandala of highest enlightenment;

Akar thegpa (A-dkar theg-pa), the Way of the White A, explains the practices and rituals of the higher Tantras.....

WHITE 'A'..."O great White Light of (the letter) A of the womb of space"(Nalanda Translation Committee: Lopez:1997..pg 403)....The seventh level in the Nine Ways of Bon is the Way of the White Letter A (A-dkar theg-pa). (Snellgrove:1967)....."A' represents the unconditioned primordial state, the natural state of mind; it is white to represent the innate purity of mind." (Wangyal: 1993..pg 41)..."The Seventh Vehicle is 'The White A'. The sacred A is the symbol of the 'Pure Sound'...the origin of all earthly sounds and of all effects in the phenomenal world." (Hoffman: 1975...pg 110)...

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8. Way of Primordial Shen, (Ye-gshen theg-pa) renders the guidelines for seeking a true tantric master and the samaya that binds a disciple to his tantric master; and in summation

Yeshen thegpa (Ye-gshen theg-pa), the Way of the Primordial Shen, stresses the need for a suitable teacher, place and occasion for Tantric practices, explains the mandala in greater detail as well as instructions for deity meditation.

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9. Unsurpassable Way or the Way of Dzogchen (Khyad-par chen-po'i-theg-pa or rDzogs-chen) is the ninth.

Way of Supreme Doctrine or The Way of Dzogchen (Bla-med theg-pa) enshrines Dzogchen.

Lame thegpa (bLa-med theg-pa), the Unsurpassed Way, is concerned with the highest attainment through the path of Great Perfection (i.e., rDzogs-chen).

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There are three biographies of Tonpa Shenrab. The earliest and shortest one is known as Dodu (mDo-'dus: 'Epitome of Aphorisms'); the second is in two volumes and is called Zermig (gZer-mig: 'Piercing Eye'). These two accounts were rediscovered as terma (see below) in the 10th and 11th centuries respectively. …..The third and largest is the twelve volume work entitled Zhiji (gZi-brjid: 'The Glorious'). This last book belongs to the category of scriptures known as Nyan gyud (bsNyan-rgyud: oral transmission), and was dictated to Londen Nyingpo (bLo-ldan snying-po) who lived in the 14th century.

The gZer-mig and gZi-brjid are both published by the Bonpo Foundation, Dolanji, 1965 and 1967-69, respectively. Extracts from the gZi-brjid have been edited and translated by D.L. Snellgrove, The Nine Ways of Bon, London Oriental Series, vol. 18, London 1967. The first seven chapters of gZer-mig and part of the eighth have been translated into English by A.H. Franke, 'A Book of the Tibetan Bonpos', Asia Major, Leipzig 1924, 1926, 1927, 1930; Asia Major (New Series) 1, London 1949. A summary of the contents of gZer-mig has been made by H. Hoffmann in The Religions of Tibet, London 1961, 85-96.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2013

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Friday, November 29, 2013

Fravashi & Persian Drala

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"Origins of Farr….. At its inception, the xᵛarənah seems to have been a tribal concept, variants of which existed among many tribal societies of the steppes (Gnoli; Soudavar, 2006, pp. 170-73). Its very association with the myth of Jamšid suggests that it was first elaborated for kingly ideology, before its 'appropriation' by Zoroastrianism." ….http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farr-ii-iconography

"In his 1998 study The Arrow and the Spindle, Karmay traces several antecedents for the windhorse tradition in Tibet. First, he notes that there has long been confusion over the spelling because the sound produced by the word can be spelt either klung rta (river horse) or rlung rta (wind horse)--the first letter is silent in both cases. In the early twentieth century the great scholar Ju Mipham felt compelled to clarify that in his view rlung rta was preferable to klung rta, indicating that some degree of ambiguity must have persisted at least up to his time.[34] Karmay suggests that "river horse" (klung rta) was actually the original concept, as found in the Tibetan nag rtsis system of astrology imported from China. The nag rtsis system has four basic elements: srog (vital force), lu (wylie: lus, body), wangtang (wylie: dbang thang, "field of power"), and lungta (wylie: klung rta, river horse)."….Karmay, Samten G. The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet. Mandala Publishing: 1998 pg. 413-15

"The Epic of the Poet Ferdowsi…..The Shahnameh, Book of Kings, is an epic composed by the Iranian poet Hakim Abul-Qasim Mansur (later known as Ferdowsi Tusi), and completed around 1010 AD…[Ferdowsi means 'from paradise', and is derived from the name Ferdous (cf. Avestan pairi-daeza, later para-diz then par-des or par-dos, arabized to fer-dos)….. Tusi means 'from Tus'. In the poet's case, the name Ferdowsi Tusi became a name and a title: The Tusi Poet from Paradise……The epic chronicles the legends and histories of Iranian (Aryan) kings from primordial times to the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century CE, in three successive stages: the mythical, the heroic or legendary, and the historic."..http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/shahnameh/index.htm

"FARR(AH) ii. ICONOGRAPHY OF FARR(AH)/XᵛARƎNAH….The core myth that reveals the characteristics of farr, and its function, is the myth of Jamšid as reflected in the Avesta. Empowered by his farr, Jamšid rules the world, but loses it when he strays from the righteous path. After two preliminary encounters, his farr is taken by a falcon……In terms of iconographic representation, there is perhaps no more dominant a theme than farr in pre-Islamic imagery. Farr not only portended auspiciousness, but was also perceived as a necessary source of power, and ultimately a source of authority. In a court culture, which placed a high premium on adulation, well wishers naturally wanted to project a maximum of farr for the object of their praise. The desire to maximize farr….termed farrah afzun (may farr be increased)…..was iconographically achieved through multiplicity and repetition: the greater the number of the symbols of farr, the more powerful became the projection of auspiciousness and power. Numerous symbols and devices were thus created for this purpose."……http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farr-ii-iconography

"A glazed brick panel from Persepolis admirably reflects this myth in respect to the various states of farr….. At the bottom level, farr is underwater and encapsulated in a spherical container, most probably a pearl. Its rise from the waters is achieved through stacked lotuses, which transfer it to an emerging sunflower that bursts onto the sky. The Bundahišn recognizes the sunflower (hamišeh-bahār) as the symbol of Mithra, the penultimate purveyor of farr in the Avesta, and the lotus as the symbol of aquatic deities (Ābān), among whom Apąm Napāt was paramount until he was gradually supplanted by Anāhitā (see ANĀHĪD). Consequently, the sunflower and lotus were both perceived as symbols of farr (Soudavar, 2003, pp. 56-59). In addition, brick panels from Susa confirm the aquatic nature of the spherical capsules, or pearls, by showing them engulfed in whirling sea waves; by extension, the pearl too became a symbol of farr (ibid, pp. 98-101)"….http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farr-ii-iconography

"Farr’s earliest symbolism in Iran can be traced back to late seventh century BCE, at a time when the Medes had annihilated the Assyrians, subjugated Urartu, and ruled over a sizeable empire. As befits such an empire, a kingly ideology was developed to convey its grandeur. According to Yt. 13.95, it was based on the dual support of Mithra and Apąm Napāt, the former as the deity presiding over daytime, and the latter over night-time (Boyce; Soudavar, 2003, pp. 52-53, 87-88; Idem, 2010, pp. 126-28). Since one was a solar and the other an aquatic deity, it made sense to attribute to them the sunflower and the lotus, two Egyptian symbols long associated with water and sun that had entered Median iconography by way of Assyria and Mesopotamia. But in choosing them, their symbolism was adapted to Iranian mythology, in which these two flowers could be regarded as two states of the xᵛarənah, the active and the dormant. Objects from this period suddenly manifest an otherwise inexplicable strong linkage between these two symbols. It continues well into Cyrus’s reign, as his tomb displays a gigantic combination of lotus and sunflower (Stronach, p. 157)"….…..http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farr-ii-iconography

Tripartite cycle of the xᵛarenah. Glazed brick panel, Persepolis, 6-5th century BCE. (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute, Chicago. Photo no. P 58470).

"The advent of Darius, and the rise of Ahura Mazdā to supremacy at the expense of other deities, required a major shift in kingly iconography. Darius’ new super-deity had to be portrayed as both omnipresent and omnipotent. To project the first, he chose a symbol of Ahura Mazdā modeled after that of the Assyrian god Ašur: a bearded man within a flying ring. It was a symbol readily understood within his empire because Babylonians, Urartians, Elamites, and Hittites had used similar ones for their deities. And to project the second, he chose a modified version of the Egyptian “winged-disk” (actually a winged sphere) to convey the presence of the xᵛarənah"…….http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farr-ii-iconography

Symbol of Ahura Mazdā with added solar emblem of Šamaš, Bisotun. (Soudavar, 2003, fig. 85)

"Shamash (Akkadian Šamaš "Sun"), was a native Mesopotamian deity and the sun god in the Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian pantheons. Shamash was the god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu. Akkadian šamaš is cognate to Syriac ܫܡܫܐ šemša or šimšu Hebrew שֶׁמֶשׁ šemeš and Arabic شمس šams…..The two chief centres of sun-worship in Babylonia were Sippar, represented by the mounds at Abu Habba, and Larsa, represented by the modern Senkerah. At both places the chief sanctuary bore the name E-barra (or E-babbara) "the shining house"—a direct allusion to the brilliancy of the sun-god. Of the two temples, that at Sippara was the more famous, but temples to Shamash were erected in all large centres – such as Babylon, Ur, Mari, Nippur, and Nineveh."

The Shahnameh or Shah-nama (Persian: شاهنامه‎ Šāhnāmeh, "The Book of Kings") is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Iran (Persia) and the Persian speaking world. Consisting of some 50,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian empire from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century. Today Iran, Persian speakers of the neighboring nations such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and the greater region influenced by the Persian culture celebrate this national epic. The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Sassanid ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest and an end to the Zoroastrian influence in Iran."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahnameh

"In the Persian mythology, once a king possesses the divine xwarrah, he is invincible……Khvarenah or khwarenah (xᵛarənah) is an Avestan language word for a Zoroastrian concept literally denoting "glory" or "splendour" but understood as a divine mystical force or power projected upon and aiding the appointed. The neuter noun thus also connotes "(divine) royal glory," reflecting the perceived divine empowerment of kings. The term also carries a secondary meaning of "(good) fortune"; those who possess it are able to complete their mission or function….In 3rd-7th century Sassanid-era inscriptions as well as in the 9th-12th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition, the word appears as Zoroastrian Middle Persian khwarrah, rendered with the Pahlavi ideogram GDE, reflecting Aramaic gada "fortune." Middle Persian khwarrah continues as New Persian k(h)orra. …..Avestan khvarenah is probably derived from Proto-Avestan *hvar "to shine," nominalized with the -nah suffix. Proto-Avestan *hvar is in turn related to Old Indic svar with the same meaning. Other proposals suggest a linguistic relationship with Avestan xᵛar- "to eat".

"The hymn to Mithra speaks of the divinity as the "dispenser of khvarenah" (Yasht 10.16, 10.128, 10.141). Other texts describe Mithra as "most endowed with glory" (Yasht 19.35, Vendidad 19.15)….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khvarenah

"The Shahnameh chronicles the legendary history of the pre-Islamic kings of Iran from Keyumars to Yazdegerd III. Ferdowsi spent over three decades (from 977 to 1010) working on the Shahnameh, which became one of the most influential works of Persian literature….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdowsi

"Yazdegerd III or Yazdgerd III (also spelled Yazdiger or Yazdigerd, Persian: یزدگرد سوم, "made by God") was the thirty-eighth and last king of the Sasanian Empire of Iran. His father was Shahryar and his grandfather was Khosrau II (590–628). Yazdegerd III ascended the throne on 16 June 632 when he was 8 years old after a series of internal conflicts….Yazdegerd III was almost the last living member of the House of Sasan. The Muslim conquest of Persia began in his first year of reign, and ended with the Battle of Oxus River. Yazdegerd III sought an alliance with Emperor Heraclius, who was an old rival of the Sasanian Empire…..When Yazdegerd arrived in Merv he demanded tax from the Marzbān of Merv, losing also his support and making him ally Nezak Tarkan, the Hephthalite ruler of Badghis, who helped him defeat Yazdegerd and his followers. After his defeat, Yazdegerd was killed by a local miller for his purse while he was trying flee from Merv in 651.….Yazdegerd's son Peroz III and Bahram VII fled to China.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazdegerd_III

Tus (Persian: توس or طوس‎) also spelled as Tous, Toos or Tūs, is an ancient city in the Iranian province of Razavi Khorasan, near Mashhad. To the ancient Greeks, it was known as Susia (Ancient Greek: Σούσια). It was captured by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE…..The city was almost entirely destroyed by Genghis Khan's Mongol conquest during 1220-1259…..the most famous resident was the poet Ferdowsi, author of the Persian epic Shahnameh. His mausoleum, built in 1934 in time for the millennium of his birth, dominates the town……http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tus,_Iran

Click on map to enlarge

"The khvarenah is the archetype of the person one can grow to if allowed to grow to the limit of her or his capacity in grace, that is, in keeping with the fravashi….The khvarenah is also a person's higher calling - their meaning in life…A spenta mainyu - a brilliant, positive, constructive, and beneficent spirit - allows a person to perceive their higher calling and enables a person to choose asha, the path of goodness, and pursue her or his calling without expectation of reward….To lose oneself is to lose one's khvarenah…..In mythology, the khvarenah is like a bird that hovers over a person, and one that can fly away…A person's realization of her or his khvarenah is evidenced by a halo (farr in Persian), glowing brightly over her or his head - radiant as the sun…..A person's realization of her or his khvarenah cloaks that person with the aura of charisma and grace, the kind possessed by Zarathushtra and King Cyrus the Great…..Khvarenah and the resulting charisma enable leadership that does not rely on authority…..http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/overview/simplified.htm#khvarenah

"Farohar / Fravahar….The rock engraved image is called a fravahar or farohar (also spelt faravahar). It is an image found on rock inscriptions and carvings commissioned by the ancient Persian Achaemenian kings. The image is usually portrayed above the image of a king, and the figure in the farohar is identical to the king below in features as well as clothing. In his 1913 book Early Zoroastrianism, J. H. Moulton followed by J. M. Unvala, a Parsi scholar, in 1925, identified the image as a representation of the fravashi of the king or king's ancestor. In 1928, Dr. Irach Taraporewala (together with several Western scholars) identified the image as a representation of the king's khvarenah or farr. Since then, the farohar has become the principal symbol of the Zoroastrian faith and is displayed on the facade of many fire temples The symbol of the fravahar or farohar therefore has three meanings nowadays: As a general symbol of the Zoroastrian faith: a symbol of belonging to the Zoroastrian community and of being a Zoroastrian (a symbol in a manner similar to the Christian cross). As a fravahar or farohar: a general symbol of the united fravashi or a guardian angel. As a symbol used by a Persian Achaemenian king: a personal symbol of the king's khvarenah or farr, his kingship in grace, or his fravashi.

"The Role of Farr in Firdowsi's Shahname….The word farr, used in the contemporary Persian and Tajiki languages, was employed for the first time by Abu Mansur Muhammad Ibn-i Ahmad Daqiqi at the end of the 10th century AD. This word is originally derived from the Avestan word khwarnag. Its Pahlavi form is khwar. Other names for the farr in the ancient literatures of the Perso-Tajik peoples include farr-i izadi (glory of God), farr-i shahanshahi (the king of kings' glory), farr-i Ariya'i (the glory of the Aryans), and farr-i kayani (the glory of the Kayanian dynasty). 2 The farr plays three major roles in Firdowsi's Shahname. First, it distinguishes the peoples who inhabited Central Asia and Iran in ancient and medieval times. The major groups thus distinguished were the Iranians, the Turanians, and the Turks. Using the concept of farr, Firdowsi separates the Aryan Iranian and Turanians from the Uralic-Altaic Turks. He states that the Iranians have been in possession of the farr from the beginning of their history and that farr remains in their possession throughout the Shahname era. Firdowsi recognizes the Turanians as Iranians who had lost their farr after the reign of King Fereydun, who divided his kingdom among his sons. In subsequent periods of Iranian history, Firdowsi says, the Turanians sought to recapture their lost farr, often at the expense of the Iranians. Indeed, the first ten times that the name of Tur, the eponymous ancestor of the Turanians, is used in the Shahname (i.e., before Fereydun's tripartite division of the realm) it is blessed with the attribute of a farahmand. The third group, the Turks, according to Firdowsi, had never been associated with the concept of the farr. Their participation in the wars that occur between Iran and Turan on the subject of the farr is for reasons other than those of their Turanian overlords…" …..http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Farr/farr.html

"The third and the most germane role of the farr in the Shahname is guidance of the king in worldly affairs by providing him with a pre-ordained and sacred example of divine rulership. In this role, the farr puts the king in contact with the "perfect mind," especially when the king embarks upon epoch-making decisions (i.e., decisions that would affect the lives of many Iranians throughout centuries). Fereydun and Kaykhusrau, as it will be shown, are prime examples of epoch-making monarchs of the Perso-Tajik peoples. King Fereydun, by taking refuge in the power of kin (vengeance) distanced his descendants from Ahriman's harm. He also guided his successors, Iraj, Kayka'us, Siyavosh, and others, to recapture the spiritual unity that Iran had lost after the fall from grace of King Jamshid. Kaykhusrau, after a great deal of deliberation and study of the events of the past, rejected the concept of kin as an effective weapon against evil and sided with din (religion shorn of superstition and dogma) for the future of a unified Iran and Turan….Din, kin, and farr are inseparable aspects of the life of the ancient Iranians...http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Farr/farr.html

Kay Kāvus (Persian: كيكاوس‎; Avestan: Kauui Usan); sometimes Kai-Káús or Kai-Kaus, is a mythological shah of Iran and a character in the Shāhnāmeh…. Kāvus rules Iran for one hundred and fifty years……The Flying Throne of Kay Kāvus was a legendary eagle-propelled craft built by Kay Kāvus, used for flying the king all the way to China…."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_Qobád

"The windhorse ceremonies are usually conducted in conjunction with the lhasang ("smoke offering to the gods") ritual, in which juniper branches are burned to create thick and fragrant smoke. This is believed to increase the strength in the supplicator of the four nag rtsis elements. Often the ritual is called the raising lungta, the "fumigation offering and (the throwing into the wind or planting) of the rlung ta high in the mountains." The ritual is traditionally "primarily a secular ritual" and "requires no presence of any special officiant whether public or private." The layperson entreats a mountain deity to "increase his fortune like the galloping of a horse and expand his prosperity like the boiling over of milk ….The Tibetan Buddhist master Chogyam Trungpa incorporated variants of many of the elements, particularly windhorse, drala, the four animals (which he called "dignities"), wangtang, lha, nyen and lu, into a secular system of teachings he called Shambhala Training."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Horse

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2013

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Thursday, November 28, 2013

Sources....Historical Background

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Beckwith, Christopher..."The Tibetan Empire of Central Asia"...1987
Brauen, Martin (ed)..."Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalaya"....(Zurich..1993)
Campell, Leroy A......"Mithraic Iconography and Ideology"....Leiden:1968 Decker, Jacqueline...."Nicholas Roerich"...1989..
Eliade, Mircea...History of Religions Vol II: "Spirit, Light, and Seed"...
Eliade..."The Encyclopedia of Religion"...1987
Fox, Robin Lane..."Alexander the Great"...1973
Francke, A.H...."A History of Western Tibet...(1907)
Gimbutas..."The Indo Europeans...Journal of Indo-European Studies"..(2) 1974..4(1976)...5(1977)..
Gafurov,B...."Kushan Studies in the USSR"...Unesco Conference...Dushanbe:1968
Haarh, Erik..."The Zhang Zhung Language"...Acta Jutlandica XL (Humanities Series 47)..(Aarhus/Copenhagen: 1968)
Hermann....."An Historical Atlas of China"...1966
Heissig, Walther..."The Religions of Mongolia"...(Samuel: trans)...Berkeley:1980
Hoffman, Helmut..."Tibet: A Handbook...1975
Hoffman..."The Religions of Tibet"...1979
Hoffman..."Several Zan-zun Etymologies"...Oriens Extremus 12 (1972)
Hoffman..."Manichaeism and Islam in the Buddhist Kalachakra System...(1958)
Hoffman..."Early and Medieval Tibet" (in The Cambridge History of Inner Asia)...(1990)
Humbach, Helmut..."Mithra in India"...Acta Iranica # 17.....Leiden: 1978
Knobloch, Edgar..."Beyond the Oxus"...(1972)
Kvaerne..."Chronological Table of the Bonpo"..Acta Orientalia (33)...Copenhagen:1971
Lincoln, Bruce..."Priests, Warriors, and Cattle"...1981
Litvinsky, B.A. (ed)..."History of Civilizations of Central Asia...Vol III...1992
MacDonald, A.D...."Study of the Tibetan Royal Court in the 6-8th Century"...(Paris:1971)
Macdonnell, A.A...."Vedic Mythology Encyclopedia of Indo-Aryan Research".....1897
Martinez, P. ..."Gardizi's Two Chapters on the Turks" ...1982
McLoone, Margo..."Women Explorers in Asia"....1997
Norbu..."The Necklace of Gzi: Cultural History of Tibet"...1981
Phillips, E.D...."The Royal Hordes: Nomad Peoples of the Steppes"...1965
Richardson, Hugh..."Three Ancient Inscriptions from Tibet" ...1949
Richardson..."Ceremonies of the Lhasa Year"...1994
Richardson..."Tibet and its History"...(1962)
Sinor, Denis..."The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia"...Cambridge:1990
Snellgrove, David..."Cultural History of Tibet"...1968
Stein, Sir Aurel..."Tibetan Civilization"...1972
Stein..."On Ancient Central Asian Tracks"...1964
Tucci..."To Lhasa and Beyond"...
Tucci..."The Tombs of the Tibetan Kings"...Roma: IsMEO...1950
Tucci..."The Sacral Character of the Ancient Tibetan Kings" in "East and West"...6/1955
Uray, Geza..."On the Tibetan letters BA and WA"...1985
Uray..."Tibet's Connection with Nestorianism and Manicheism in the 8th-10th Centuries."...1983
Uray..."The Four Horns of Tibet according to the Royal Annals"...1960
Uray..."Sources on the History of Pre-Islamic Central Asia" (ed: Harmatta)...(1979)
Whitfield, Roderick..."Art of Central Asia: Paintings from Dunhuang"...1981
Whitfield..."Art of Central Asia: The Stein Collection in the British Museum"...1983

DEITIES, SPIRITS, GODS & GODDESSES

Blondeau, Anne-Marie..."Scroll of Gods and Demons"...
Clemente, Adriano "The sGra bla, Gods of the Ancestors of Shenrab Miwo"..Tibetan Studies: Per Kvaerne (ed)....Fagerness:1994
Gimbutas, Marija..."Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe: 7000-3500 BC"...1974
Gimbutas...From the Realm of the Ancestors"...1997
Grapard, Allan...."The Protocol of the Gods"....1992
Gyatso, Janet..."Down With the Demoness: Reflections on a Feminine Ground in Tibet" in "Essays on Women & Tibet" (ed:Willis)..1989
Kuznetsov, B.I...."Highest Deities of the Tibetan Bon Religion"...Tibet Journal:#6
Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Rene..."Oracles and Demons of Tibet"...(1956)

SACRED AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Allen, Charles..."A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Kailas"..1982
Thomas, Andrew..."Shambhala: Oasis of Light"...1977
Bernbaum, Edwin..."The Way To Shambhala"...1980
Bishop..."The Myth of Shangri-la"...1989
Blondeau, Anne-Marie (ed) & Ernst Steinkellner.."Reflections of The Mountain"..Wissenschaften.(ISBN:19963700126115?)
Buffetville, Karen..."A Bonpo Pilgrimage to Amye Machen Mountain"....(Lungta (8): 1994)
Buffetville...."The Blue Lake of Amdo and Its Island"...Tibet Journal: 20/3
Brooke, Elaine..."In Search of Shambhala"...London:1996 (ISBN=0224036505?)
Cameron, Ian..."Mountains of the Gods"...1985
Cech, Krystyna..."A Religious Geography of Tibet According to the Bon Tradition"...Tibetan Studies (5)
Clark, Leonard..."The Marching Wind...A Trek To Amne Machin"....New York: 1954
George, Sir James..."Searching For Shambhala"...SEARCH: ed: Sulzberger...1979
Grapard, A.G...."Flying Mountains and Walkers of Emptiness: Toward a Definition of Sacred Space in Japan"...in 'History of Religions':1982
Kamtrul Rinpoche..."Geography and History of Shambhala"..Tibet Journal..#3 1978
Keay, John..."When Men and Mountains Meet"...1977
Kuznetsov, B.I.and Lev Gumilyev..."Two Traditions of Ancient Tibetan Cartography"...Soviet Geography:New York Geographic Society (Sept: 1970)
Kuznetsov & Gumilev...(Leningrad University)..."The Country Shambhala in Legend and History"....Russian Journal: Aziya i Afrika Segod Nya (1968: Number 5)
LIFE MAGAZINE...."Amne Machin Mountain"....October 1949
MacDonald, A.W. (ed).."Mandala and Landscapes"...Delhi:1997
Ossendowski...(Mongolian Version of Shambhala)...1922
Richer, Jean..."Sacred Geography of the Ancient Greeks"...1995
Rock..."Seeking the Mountains of Mystery"....National Geographic...Feb 1930
Tibet Journal..."Geography & History of Shambhala"...by Kamtrul...1978(3)(3)
Tibet Journal..."Ancient Tibetan Cosmology"...by Hoffman...1977(2)(4)

KALACHAKRA TRADITIONS

Berzin, Alexander..."Taking the Kalachakra Initiation"...1997
Bryant, Barry..."The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala"....1992
Chandra, Lokesh..."The Kalachakra Tantra"...1966
Hopkins, Geoffrey..."Commentary to the Initiation Rite of Kalachakra"....1985
Geshe Lhundub Sopa..."The Wheel of Time: The Kalachakra in Context"...1992
Mullin, Glen..."The Practice of the Kalachakra"...1992

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2013

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Sources...TIBETAN RELIGIONS AND CULTURE

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TIBETAN RELIGIONS AND CULTURE

Allione, Tsultrim..."Women of Wisdom"...1984
Aris, Michael..."Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives"...1989
Aris(ed)..."Tibetan Studies in Honor of Hugh Richardson"...(1979)
Aziz,Barbara (ed)..."Soundings in Tibetan Civilization"...1985
Bansal, B.L..."Bon: Its Encounter with Buddhism In Tibet"...1994
Barron,Richard (Trans)..."Buddhahood Without Meditation"...1994
Beyer, Stephan...."Magic and Ritual in Tibet".....1989
Blondeau..."The Biographies of Padma Sambhava"...1980
Brauen..."The Mandala"....1997
Cabezon, Jose..."Tibetan Literature"...1996
Chandra Das, S...."Tibetan English Dictionary of Sanskrit Synonyms"....(Kyoto:1979)
Chandra..."Kongtruls Encyclopedia of Indo-Tibetan Culture"...1970 (See: Smith)
Chophel, Norbu..."Folk Culture of Tibet"...1983
Clifford, Terry..."The Diamond Healing"....1984
Csomo de Koros..."Tibetan Studies"...1912
David-Neel, Alexandra..."With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet"...1931
H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche..."Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, its Fundamentals and History"...1991
Ekvall, Robert..."Religious Observances in Tibet"...(U of Chicago Press:1964)
Feigon, Lee..."Demystifying Tibet"...1996
Francke, H.B...."gZerMyig: Book VII...(In Asia Major: Dec 1950)
Gold, Peter..."Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom: The Circle of the Spirit" 1994
Gyatso, Janet...."Apparitions of the Self: Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary"...1998
Gyaltsen..."The Clear Mirror: Tibet's Golden Age"...1996
Johnson,Sandy..."The Book of Tibetan Elders"...1996
Jones, Schuyler..."Tibetan Nomads"...1996
Karmay, Samten..."The Great Perfection"... 1988
Karmay..."A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bon" in "Memoirs of the Toyo Bunko"...Tokyo:1975
Karmay...Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama"...1991
Karmay..."The Windhorse and the Well Being of Man"...(Brauen 1993)
Karmay..."The Origin Myths of the First King" in 'Tibetan Studies' (ed: Kvaerne)...1994
Karmay..."Treasury of Good Sayings"...1972
Kohn, Richard..."A Prayer to the God of the Plain" (in Lopez:1997)
Kongtrul, Jamgon (Lodro Taye)..."Myriad Worlds: Buddhist Cosmology in Abhidharma, Kalachakra, and Dzog-chen"...(1995)
Kongtrul...."Retreat Manual"...trans: Zangpo....
Kongtrul...Enthronement: Reincarnate Masters"...1997
Kongtrul...."Commentary on the Inner Meaning of Mysticism"....
Kornman, Robin..."Gesar of Ling"...(In Lopez: 1997)
Kornman..."A Tribal History"...(In Lopez: 1997)
Kvaerne, Per..."Iranian Influence on Tibetan Cosmogonic Myths" [Silver on Lapis: Tibetan Literary Culture and History] The Tibet Society..Bloomington: 1987
Kvaerne (ed)...'Tibetan Studies: Proceedings on the 6th Seminar of the Int. Assoc for Tibetan Studies in Fagerness: 1992"...Oslo:1994
Kvaerne...."gZer-mig"....Indo-Iranian Journal...vol XVI..No 1-2 (1974)
Kvaerne..."A Death Ritual of the Tibetan Bonpos" ....1985
Kvaerne..."The Bon Religion of Tibet: Iconography of a Living Tradition" (Shambhala Publications)... 1996
Lessing, F.D....."Ritual And Symbol"....1976
Lhalungpa...."Mahamudra"....1986...(ISBN 0877733600)
Ligeti, Louis (ed)..."200th Anniversary of Alexander Csoma De Koros"...1985
Lihua, Ma..."Shamanic Belief among Nomads in Northern Tibet:...(in Brauen:1993)
Lopez, Donald.(ed).."Religions of Tibet in Practice"...(Princeton..1997)
Merton, Thomas..."Asian Journals"..1988.
Nalanda Translation Committee..."A Smoke Purification Song"...(in Lopez:1997)
Nalanda Translation Committee..."The Rain of Wisdom"...1980
Ngakpa Chogyam..."The Rainbow of Liberated Energy"...1986
Nebesky..."Tibetan Drum Divination"...Ethnos:1952
Norbu, Namkhai "Drung, Deu, and Bon: Narrations, Symboloic languages, and the Bon traditions in ancient Tibet"... 1995
Norbu..."Dzogchen: The Self Perfected State"....1996
Norbu...The Mirror: Advice on the Presence of Awareness"...1996
Orofino, Giacommella..."Sacred Tibetan Teachings on Death and Liberation"...1990
Paul, Robert..."The Tibetan Symbolic World"...1982
Powers, John..."Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism"(Snow Lion)...1995
Rangdrol, Tsele Natsok..."The Heart of the Matter"...1996
Rangdrol..."The Mirror of Mindfulness"...1994
Rangdrol..."Circle of the Sun"...1990
Rao, Ramachandra..."Tibetan Tantric Tradition"...New Jersey:1978
Reynolds,John..."The Golden Letters"(1996)
Reynolds..."Self Liberation Through Seeing With Naked Awareness"...1989
Richardson, Hugh..."The Karmapa Sect"...Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society...(1958-59)
Rock, Joseph..."The Na-khi Naga Cult and the Related Ceremonies"....1952
Roerich, George..."Blue Annals"...1974
Roerich, Nicholas...."Shambhala"...1930
Samuel, Geoffrey..."Civilized Shamans" ...1993
Samuel (ed)...:Gesar of Ling: Shamanic Power and Popular Religion"...1997
Skorupski, Tadeusz. (ed)..."Indo Tibetan Studies in Honour of David Snellgrove"...England:1990
Smith, E.G. ..."Introduction to Kongtruls Encyclopedia of Indo-Tibetan Culture".. Satapitaka Series, vol 80 (New Delhi: 1970) (Chandra,ed)
Snellgrove..."Nine Ways of Bon: Excerpts from the Gzi-Brjid"...1967
Sorenson, P.K....""Divinity Secularized: The Songs of the 6th Dalai Lama"...1990
Sorenson, P.K....The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies"...Weisbaden:1994
Sogyal Rinpoche..."The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying"...1992
Taylor, McComas...."Tibet's Golden Age: A Clear Mirror on Royal Genealogy"....1996
Tharthang Tulku..."Ancient Tibet"....1986
Tharthang...."Knowledge of Time and Space"...1990
Tharthang Tulku...."Kum Nye Relaxation"....1979
Thomas, F.W...."Ancient Folk Literature from North Eastern Tibet.....Berlin: 1957
Chogyam Trungpa..."Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior"...1984
Trungpa...."Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism"...1973
Trungpa..."The Pon Way of Life" in Himalayan Anthropology...1978 (Reprinted in "The Heart of the Buddha": 1991)
Trungpa..."Heart of the Buddha"....1991
Trungpa..."Garuda One"...Spring 1972
Trungpa, Chogyam...."Dharma Art"....1996
Trungpa..."First Thought Best Thought: 108 Poems"....1984
Trungpa..."Timely Rain: Selected Poetry"....1998
Trungpa..."The Art of Calligraphy: Joining Heaven and Earth"....1994
Tulku Thondup..."The Practice of Dzogchen"...(Snow Lion:1996)
Tulku Thondup..."Hidden Teaching of Tibet: An Explanation of the Terma Tradition"...1997
Tibet Journal..."Purification Rite of Smoke"...by Phuntsok... 1991(16)(3)
Tucci, Giuseppi..."The Religions of Tibet"...1980
Wangyal, Tenzin..."Wonders of the Natural Mind"...1993
Willis, Janice..."Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet"...1995
Yang, En-Hong..."The Forms of Chanting Gesar"...(Brauen..1993)

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2013

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Sources.....Japanese, Shamanism, Native American, Healing Arts, Misc.

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JAPANESE RELIGIONS AND CULTURE

Bocking, Brian..."A Popular Dictionary of Shinto"...1995
Crump, Thomas...."The Japanese Numbers Game"....1992
Jinja Honcho(The Association of Shinto Shrines)..."An Outline of Shinto Teachings".....1958
Lowell, Percival..."Occult Japan: Shinto, Shamanism and the Way of the Gods"....1990
Nelson, John...."A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine"...1996
Picken, Stuart..."Essentials of Shinto"...1994
Suzuki Roshi..."Zen Mind Beginners Mind"...1973
Yanagita, Kunio..."About Our Ancestors"...1970

NATIVE AND SHAMANISTIC TRADITIONS

Eliade, Mircea...."Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ectasy"...1964
Hultkrantz, Ake...."Religions of the American Indians"....1981
Johnson, Sandy...The Book of Indian Elders"...1994
Kharitidi, Olga..."Entering the Circle: A Russian Psychiatrist's Journey Into Siberian Shamanism"...1996
Mumford, Stan...."Tibetan Lamas and Gurung Shamans in Nepal"...1989
Ridington, Robin...."Trail to Heaven"....1988

CELTIC TRADITIONS

Childe, Gordon..."Prehistoric Communities of teh British Isles"...1980
Ellis, Peter..."The Druids"...1994
Green, Miranda..."Celtic Goddesses"...1996
Green..."The Gods of The Celts"...1997
Matthews, John..."Druid Source Book"...1998
Piggott, Stuart..."The Druids"...1985
Proinsias Mac Cana...."Celtic Mythology".....1983

ARTS & LITERATURE

Barks, Coleman....."Stallion on a Frozen Lake: Love Songs of the 6th Dalai Lama....1992
Bishop, Elizabeth...."The Complete Poems"...1984
Fowlie, Wallace...."Mid-Century French Poets"....1955
Hopkins, Gerard Manley..."Selected Poems"....1976
Rilke, Rainer Marie..."Letters to a Young Poet"...Stephen Mitchell (trans)...1986
Rilke...."Letters on Cezanne"....1988
Mitchell, Stephen (ed)...."Selected Poetry of Rainer Marie Rilke"....1989
Trungpa, Chogyam...."Dharma Art"....1996
Trungpa..."First Thought Best Thought: 108 Poems"....1984
Trungpa..."Timely Rain: Selected Poetry"....1998
Trungpa..."The Art of Calligraphy: Joining Heaven and Earth"....1994

HEALING ARTS RESOURCES:

Cowan, Eliot...."Plant Spirit Medicine"....1995
Finckh, Elisabeth..."Foundations of Tibetan Medicine"...1991
Harner, Michael...."The Way of the Shaman"...1990
Hultkrantz, Ake...."Shamanic Healing and Ritual Drama"...1997
Ingermann, Sandra..."Soul Retrieval"....1991
Kaptchuk, Ted...."The Web that has no Weaver: Learning from Chinese Medicine"...1983
Samuel, Geoffrey..."Mind, Body and Culture"...1990
Tulku Thondup..."The Healing Power of Mind"...1998
Unschuld, Paul..."Medicine in China: A History of Ideas"
Unschuld (ed)..."Forgotten Traditions of Ancient Chinese Medicine"...1991
Worsley, J.R....."Traditional Accupuncture"....
Yeshe Donden...."Health Through Balance: Introduction to Tibetan Medicine"...

RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS:

Hoff, Benjamin...."The Tao of Pooh"....
Huck, Laurie Fisher...."Magic Happens"....1996
Huck...."Meditation for Kids"....1996
Huck...."Life Is Wierd: And Other Noble Truths"....1997
Levi, Giovanni (ed)..."A History of Young People in the West: Ancient and Medieval Rites of Passage"...(1997)
Mabinogion..."The Boys Mabinogion: the Earliest Welsh Tales of King Arthur"...
Milne, A.A....."Now We Are Six"....
de Saint Exupery, Antoine...."The Little Prince"...
Tolstoy, Leo..."Fables and Fairy Tales"...
Waldherr, Chris...."The Book of Goddesses"...1995
Wallace, Zara..."The Wondrous Adventures of King Gesar"...1996
Witwer, Julie...."King Gesar: Secret of the Healing Treasures"...1996

MISCELLANEOUS

Adair, Robert....."A Flaw in a Universal Mirror"....Scientific American: Feb 1988
Barber, E...."Women's Work; The First 20,000 Years"...NY:1984
Briggs, John...."Turbulent Mirror: An Illustrated Guide to Chaos"....1990
Browne, E.G......"A Literary History of Persia"....Cambridge: 1902 (1996)
Crump, Thomas..."The Anthropology of Numbers"...1990..
Glen, T...."Yahweh and the Sun: Sun Worship in Ancient Israel"...1993
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda..."The Magic of the Heart"....1996
Hawkens, Stephen..."A Brief History of Time"...
Lawrence, Drew...."The Way of Kings: The Vedic Traditions"...1991
Stewart, Desmond....."Mecca"....1985
Wilhelm, Richard...."The I Ching"....1950
Wolf..."Parallel Universes"...

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2013

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Buddharaksita & Tilise from Khotan (433 AD)

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".... the thirteenth-century historian Nelpa Pandita Dragpa Monlam Lodro (nel pa paNDi ta grags pa smon lam blo gros), asserts that around 433 CE certain Buddhist texts, including the Karandavyuhasutra and a text recorded under multiple names, including Pankyong Chagyapa (spang skong phyag brgya pa), were brought to Tibet by the masters Buddharaksita and Tilise from Khotan. At that time, Khotan was already an important oasis and crossroads for Buddhist teachers moving between India and China. Nelpa Pandita recounts how they returned to Khotan having discovered that no one could read or understand the meaning of the books.".....http://www.treasuryoflives.org

"Central Tibet’s earliest exposure to Buddhism is ascribed to the reign of the twenty-eighth king Lha Totori Nyentsen (lha tho tho ri gnyan btsan; 374-493), although there may have been even earlier contacts in the Sino-Tibetan borderlands. However, the formal introduction of the Buddhist teachings coincided with the nine great religious kings who forged an empire in Central Asia between 629 and 848….….Treasury of Lives

"Lha Thothori Nyantsen (Tib. ལྷ་ཐོ་ཐོ་རི་; Chinese: 佗土度) (also spelled Lha Tho tho ri Nyentsen or lHa-tho-tho-ri gNyan-btsan) was the 28th King of Tibet according to the Tibetan legendary tradition. The syllable Lha (divine, pertaining to the gods of the sky) is an honorary title and not a part of his proper name…..According to an indigenous legend, Buddhist scriptures (among them the Karandavyuha Sutra) first arrived in Tibet in his time. The tale claims that this happened in a miraculous way (the volumes fell from the sky on the roof of the royal palace a motif which also happened to one of the royal personages of the name Indrabhuti), but there may be an historical background (arrival of Buddhist missionaries). In any case, this first contact of Tibetans with Buddhism cannot have been more than an incident without lasting impact….. He did not rule over the whole of Tibet; his power was probably limited to the Yarlung valley area......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thothori_Nyantsen#cite_note-4

"The Cintamani is said to be one of four relics that came in a chest that fell from the sky (many terma fell from the sky in caskets) during the reign of king Lha Thothori Nyantsen of Tibet. Though the king did not understand the purpose of the objects, he still kept them in a position of reverence. Several years later, two mysterious strangers appeared at the court of the king, explaining the four relics, which included the Buddha's bowl (possibly a Singing Bowl) and a mani stone (a jewel, crystal or gem with the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra inscribed on it). These few objects were the bringers of the Dharma to Tibet."….Studholme, Alexander: The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum, Albany, New York 2002, p. 14.

"Some Buddhist texts were translated into Tibetan from Chinese, Khotanese, and Burushaski, but the vast majority of translations were made from Sanskrit sources, in two distinct phases, that are demarcated by the implosion of the Tibetan empire during the ninth century. The Nyingma tradition maintains the teaching cycles and texts that were introduced during the earlier dissemination, or ngadar (snga dar) at the height of Tibet’s imperial power. This is in contrast to the various so-called new, or sarma (gsar ma) schools (Kadam, Kagyu, Gelug, etc) that adhere to texts and teachings that were introduced during the later phase of dissemination, or chidar (phyi dar), from the late tenth century onward. An even narrower line of demarcation between the early and later phases of translation is sometimes drawn between the lifetime of the Indian scholar Smotijnanakirti (early tenth century) and that of the Tibetan translator Rinchen Zangpo (rin chen bzang po).…….Treasury of Lives

Buddhism spread into Khotan along the Silk Road from Bactra (Balkh).... Bactria (today’s Balkh in northern Afghanistan) was then the wealthy capital of the independent Bactrian kingdom, combining Hellenistic and Indian cultures.

"The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Buddhist kingdom that was located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim basin. (The area lies in present day Xinjiang, China.) The ancient capital was originally located to the west of modern day Hotan (Chinese: 和田) at Yotkan. From the Han Dynasty until at least the Tang Dynasty it was known in Chinese as Yutian (Chinese: 于闐, 于窴, or 於闐). The kingdom existed for over a thousand years until it was conquered by Muslim invaders in 1006…..According to legend, the foundation of Khotan occurred when Kushtana, said to be a son of Asoka, the Mauryan emperor, settled there about 224 BCE. However, it is likely to have existed much earlier than this. As early as 645 BCE, the Yuezhi (known later as the Kushans) were mentioned as suppliers of the famous nephrite jade to China, and the excavations of the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) tomb of Fu Hao showed that all the jade originated from the oasis area of Khotan. The first inhabitants of the region appear to have been Indo-Europeans from the west, and well-preserved mummies of European origin have been found in the Tarim area. In the second century BCE a Khotanese king helped the famous Kushan Emperor Kanishka to conquer the key town of Saketa in Middle India"….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Khotan

"Burushaski.. : بروشسکی burū́šaskī) ….is a language isolate spoken in northern Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. As of 2000, Burushaski was spoken by some 87,000 Burusho people in the Hunza–Nagar District, as well as northern Gilgit District and the Yasin and Ishkoman valleys of northern Ghizer District. Their native region is located in northern Gilgit–Baltistan and borders Afghanistan's Pamir corridor to the north…..Tibetan sources record a Bru-śa language of the Gilgit valley, which appears to have been Burushaski. Although Burushaski may once have been a significant literary language, no Bru-śa manuscripts are known to have survived….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burushaski

Kharoṣṭhī and Brāhmī Inscriptions from Hunza-Haldeikish: Sources for the Study of Long-Distance Trade and Transmission of Buddhismmore….by Jason Neelis…..

Naiba jiaoshi 奈巴教史 ne pa chos 'byung # Naiba jiaofa shi 奈巴教法史 Ne'u Chöchung (Chronik des Nelpa Pandita) Ne'u chos-'byung Ne'u Pandita Dragpa Mönlam Lodrö / Sangphu Ne'uthog # Naiba jiaofa shi 奈巴教法史……http://wiki.verkata.com/de/wiki/Benutzer:Reiner_Stoppok/Sinisierung_der_Tibetologie/Schriften_und_Fachbegriffe?page=2

"Yumbu Lakang is the oldest-known dwelling in Tibet, its construction surrounded by various myths and legends associated with the founding of the Tibetan civilization. One such myth tells that King Nyatri Tsenpo descended from heaven in the 2nd century BCE to build the castle. Another legend claims that the 28th King of Tibet, Lha Totori Nyentsen, resided here late in the 4th century….Not far from the ancient castle, is a plot of land shaped like a scythe (when viewed from the air), and enclosed by low walls. This is known as Zorthang, Scythe Plain, and is reputed to be the first cultivated field in Tibet. It is a tradition for pilgrims and farmers alike to collect soil from this place and to sprinkle it on their own plots to ensure a good harvest. Each year at sowing time the small community of monks, still at Yumbu Lakang, conduct rituals to propitiate its earth spirits.....http://www.heytibet.com/web/artc/370.html

King # 28…….Lha Thothori Nyantsen (lHa-tho-tho-ri gNyan-btsan)…."The traditional list of the ancient Tibetan rulers consists of 42 names.The first 26 rulers may belong to the realm of legend, as there is insufficient evidence of their existence, but modern scholars believe that the kings from no. 27 to no. 32 were historical…..[The rulers from no. 33 to no. 42 are well documented in many reliable Tibetan, Chinese and foreign sources. A unified Tibetan state did not exist before the times of the kings number 31, 32, and 33. The earlier rulers, known as the Yarlung dynasty, were probably just local chiefs in the Yarlung Valley area, certainly not emperors of Tibet. Traditional Tibetan titles for the emperor include tsenpo ("Emperor") and lhase ("Divine Son")."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emperors_of_Tibet

King # 8…..Drigum Tsenpo (Gri-gum bTsan-po)….."The Tibetan kings were said to remain connected to the heavens via a dmu cord (dmu thag) so that rather than dying, they ascended directly to heaven, when their sons achieved their majority. According to various accounts, king Drigum Tsenpo (Dri-gum-brtsan-po) either challenged his clan heads to a fight, or provoked his groom Longam (Lo-ngam) into a duel. During the fight the king's dmu cord was cut, and he was killed. Thereafter Drigum Tsenpo and subsequent kings left corpses and the Bön conducted funerary rites…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drigum_Tsenpo

"The Old Tibetan Chronicle is a collection of narrative accounts and songs relating to Tibet's Yarlung dynasty and the Tibetan Empire. The three manuscripts that comprise the only extant copies of the Chronicle are among the Dunhuang Manuscripts found in the early 20th century in the so-called "hidden library" at the Mogao Grottoes near Dunhuang, which is believed to have been sealed in the 11th century CE. The Chronicle, together with the Old Tibetan Annals comprise Tibet's earliest extant history….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tibetan_Chronicle

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….November 2013

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