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Buddhist Masters of Enchantment |
Buddhist Masters of Enchantment
The Lives and Legends of the Mahasiddhas
By Keith Dowman
This book describes the
inspirational lives of 84 extraordinary practitioners of Buddhist Tantra. These Mahasiddhas
lived from the 8th-12th Centuries when
Vajrayana flourished in India.
After a short introduction which clarifies the key terms of
Vajrayana, Keith Dowman summaries 54 of these stories, together with
line drawings and paintings. This style of presentation makes the
book accessible to people who may have little time to read – but
who are none-the-less interested in how Manibhadra (‘The Model
Wife’), Tantipa (‘The Senile Weaver’), or
Thaganapa (‘The Master of Lies’) attained complete
realisation in one life. By illustrating those stories, the book
gives a straight and direct insight into the nature of
Vajrayana as it is still practiced today. It
concerns ordinary people who embrace the nature of their lives and
who are simultaneously aware of their confusion. Through extraordinary
luck each potential Mahasiddha meets a realised master who recognises
that the nature of their derangement is indivisible from its
remedy. The practitioner receives a practice from a vajra master, and they practice as they were instructed within the frame of
their life circumstances. They gain realisation and become teachers
themselves.
The stories are straightforward in terms of their content yet
mystical in their style. This corresponds perfectly with the fact
that—however terrible, wonderful or boring one’s life
circumstances might be—such extraordinary stories are always
occurring in the here and now.
Aro offers retreats on the method of the Mahasiddhas.
Another book on the Mahasiddhas is Masters of Mahamudra, also by Keith Dowman.
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