Chapter 3 Part I Taoism, Esoteric Buddhism and Eastern Mysticism-3

——A dragon tree close to the gods and men The historical origin of Esoteric Buddhism, as mentioned above, has two different narrations: "Eastern Secret" and "Tibetan Secret".But they are all complicated and confusing, which adds to the mystery of Tantric Buddhism.Scholars who believe in real data have become more and more disbelieving in this "unfounded" theory, and even ridiculed it as a stupid superstition.People who devoutly believe in Esoteric Buddhism are even more awe-inspiring about this mysterious and incomprehensible statement, and regard it as miraculous and noble.In fact, neither right nor wrong is conclusive.The secrets of Tantric Buddhism, through the perspective of wisdom, can be traced back to the source, and it is not completely impossible to make it clear.In short, to study Tantrism from the standpoint of modern academics, we must first grasp its key points, starting with the Nagarjuna Bodhisattva who opened the Nantian Iron Tower in the early Dongmi narration. (Bodhisattva is the abbreviation of the transliteration of the Sanskrit "Bodhisattva (Tu Chui)", which means an enlightened person who has attained the Tao, but a merciful master who enters the world with mercy and saves all living beings.)

Nagarjuna, five or six hundred years later than Sakyamuni, was born in India.When he was young, he was extremely intelligent and loved mysterious learning.When I was a teenager, I and my classmates used to study Indian mysticism all over the place.It is said that he had practiced the magic of invisibility, so he and his classmates behaved inappropriately, entered the palace at night, and teased the maids. Some of the maids became pregnant because of this, which shocked the entire court.The king tried all kinds of methods, and even invited warlocks into the palace to catch the demon, but there was nothing he could do.Later, I accepted the minister's suggestion, thinking that if it is not a ghost, it must be man-made.Even at night, the palace was set up for defense, so that every corner was full of warriors, and they stabbed at Kong Yaoge at will. Only the king was within one zhang around him, and no intrusion was allowed.As a result, both of his classmates were killed, lost the power of the spell, and manifested in human form.Only Nagarjuna held his breath, hid behind the king, prayed devoutly to the Buddha, made a wish to repent of his sins, and vowed to pass this test, that is, to become a monk, so as not to die.

After Longcun became a monk, he devoted himself to Buddhism, and soon, he learned all the Buddhist scriptures of Mahayana and Mahayana, and they integrated them thoroughly, without any doubt.So I think that Buddhism is nothing more than this, and since Sakyamuni was able to create teachings, of course he can also create his own.It is said that this moved the Dragon King to show up, and he was welcome to visit the collection of real Buddhist classics in the Buddhist scriptures of the Dragon Palace.In the "library" of the Dragon Palace, he rode a white horse to read the topics of the Buddhist scriptures, and he hadn't read them all in three months.Therefore, he was overwhelmed, gave up his arrogance, and consulted with the Dragon King to get a copy of the "Avatamsaka Sutra" that has not been handed down in the world.It is said that the "Avatamsaka Sutra" that Nagarjuna took out from the Dragon Palace has a total of 100,000 verses (the primitive Buddhism in ancient India likes to use long and short sentences to describe in poetry, and later translated into Chinese, besides the scriptures, there are also long and short sentences. call it a gatha).Among the Chinese Buddhist scriptures, the most complete of the three Huayan Sutras translated from Sanskrit has only eighty volumes.It is said that Nagarjuna only took out one ten-thousandth of the original scripture.Later, when Nagarjuna came to speak on the stage, he often showed supernatural powers, so that the audience could only see a perfect light wheel on the seat, but they could not see the person after hearing its voice.

Regarding the personal history of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva, there is also a monograph on his biography in the Buddhist "Tripitaka". Although the translation is not very elegant, it is generally readable and sufficient for reference.Nagarjuna's "Theory of the Middle Ages" and the Buddhist scriptures related to the "Prajna Sutra" such as "Theory of Great Wisdom" are indeed important places in Buddhism, with profound thinking and meaning, and must not be underestimated.The Buddhism that was later introduced to China, after four or five hundred years of absorption and integration, until the Tang Dynasty, established the ten major sects of Chinese Buddhism.However, Nagarjuna Bodhisattva has become the ancestor of the eight schools of Chinese Buddhism, such as: Zen, Esoteric Buddhism, Consciousness-only (Faxiang), Tiantai, Huayan, Sanlun, Chengshi, Pure Land, etc.It can be said that he is really the main medicine in Buddhism, and it is not simple, and it is not accidental.

Knowing these relatively brief historical materials of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva, it is really unnecessary to use textual research methods to verify them.For example, whether the Dragon King represents a certain person's name, etc., are unresolvable facts. (1) Because of the Indian culture from ancient times to the middle ages, there are no documents to symbolize.Indians in the past did not pay attention to history themselves.The history of Indian culture in later generations began after the establishment of the British East India Company in the 18th century. European scholars began to collect the remnants of the Middle Ages, and based on conjectures for research, they carefully established its system. Carefully verify the information preserved in Chinese Buddhist scriptures.Because Mahayana Buddhism in India disappeared in the middle of the Song Dynasty in China. It was completely introduced to China from North and South India and became Chinese Buddhism.

(2) If all the occult sciences in the world can be verified one by one, it will lose its mystical value and will not be mysterious. However, modern and modern Chinese scholars who study Buddhism also pay more attention to textual research and re-evaluate it. They believe that the master who opened the "Nantian Iron Tower" and inherited Tantra in the history of Buddhism is not Nagarjuna, but another person named Longmeng.Therefore, the ambiguous theory of Longmeng and Nagarjuna, two are one, and one is two, is even more inconclusive!However, in any case, Esoteric Buddhism is the same as Consciousness-only Buddhism. Generally speaking, it is the late Indian Buddhism that began 500 years after Sakyamuni's Nirvana (extinction) and reached its culmination in 800 years. There should be no doubt .

Grasping the key of taking Nagarjuna as the center of Tantric Buddhism, putting aside Buddhism for the time being, and then studying the other key of Indian cultural development history, we should understand that the cultural thought of ancient India has always been biased towards religion and mystical learning.Especially in South India, it is the birthplace of mysticism in the ancient world, and it has a connection with the mysticism of Egypt, China, Greece, Atlantic culture system and so on.As for the religion of India, let me emphasize that it is closely and secretly related to the religions created in various places since the Middle Ages, just like the spices of ancient India, both sides of the East and West were imported from there.If we say that in this respect, it is the glory of Indian traditional culture, which should be accepted and deserved.Other than that, it's another matter!

Before Sakyamuni founded Buddhism, Brahmanism was the original religion in India, and his priests were still the first-class figures in Indian history.It existed at the same time as Brahman, and spread successively. Even when Buddhism was founded with Sakyamuni, it also prevailed at the same time. There are also many sects such as Yogis, which are often mentioned in Buddhist scriptures.They are all the same as Brahmanism. Before Buddhism, there was a system and habit of becoming a monk and practicing asceticism.The term "Sramana" translated from Sanskrit in Chinese Buddhism was a general term for all monks and practitioners in ancient India.Since Sakyamuni created the theory and practice of Buddhism, although he has preached for forty-nine years in his life, he has promoted the truth and refuted many sects and philosophical theories prevailing in India at that time, including those with materialism, laissez-faire, and others. Asceticism, as well as the religious philosophy of Brahmanism, advocate the concept of "God I" dominance.However, there are not too many people who really obey Sakyamuni Buddhism and firmly believe in the "prajna" concept of "depending on birth and emptiness" and "nature and emptiness".Moreover, the areas he educated at that time were mostly in Central India and the area adjacent to North India, and did not fully reach the area of ​​​​South India.

After Sakyamuni's Nirvana, his disciples gradually divided into more than 20 sects because of the differences in precepts (system) and what they heard, and most of them belonged to Hinayana Buddhist thought. They argued with each other for four to five hundred years. .As for laying the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism, it was indeed Ma Ming Bodhisattva who pioneered it.However, the system of "Prajna and Emptiness" and the "Middle View" system of "Prajna and Emptiness" and "Non-Empty and Non-existent" were able to complete Sakyamuni's unfinished missionary work. It was indeed between four and five hundred years after Sakyamuni, due to the rise of Nagarjuna, that there were indeed close relationship.In other words, Longcun used to study all sects and heretics other than Buddhism, and used their customary methods to knead and form another system.However, infusing the central views and thoughts of Buddhism into it does not violate people's inherent beliefs and habits, but they are willing to accept it, making Buddhism widely spread, which is a very great contribution.Therefore, it can be seen that Esoteric Buddhism is actually a collection of mystical studies from various sects in India, but its central views and thoughts are all attributed to the great teaching of Buddha.As for Sutra and Esoteric Buddhism, it was the power of Ayugong, a famous Indian king who believed in Buddhism, who really started to promote it.But this kind of performance is only limited to the original Dongmi.The theory about the establishment of a complete system of Mahayana and Mahayana Buddhism in Tibetan secrets later made the teachings of Sakyamuni and Nagarjuna not yet perfect, and the completion of the system and procedures of "consciousness-only" psychology is attributed to the fact that Sakyamuni was promoted eight hundred years later. "Maitreya" is the legal system of Asanga and the two brothers.Therefore, the later Tibetan esoteric theory runs through the superficial and esoteric studies and becomes a coherent path.Integrating the "ultimate emptiness" of "Prajna" and the "existence of the ultimate meaning" of "consciousness-only" can be used for both purposes, so that the profound meaning of Buddhism can be improved to a higher level, and it is a great contribution.