> The truth is that most Buddhist mantras have origins in the > > > purana/tantra practice of India which is Hindu/Jain > > > in composition... > > > > > Most mantras from the vajrayana paths were revealed - or > > re-revealed if you prefer... > > emptybill: > Alex Sanderson shows in his analysis of Heruka-Abhi-Dhana-Tantra > the Buddhist borrowing from Hindu Shaiva Agamas and other > relevant texts... > At some point, we all are going to have to face the historical facts: the bija mantras used in both Tantric Buddhism and in Hindu Yoga are made-up sounds that are found in any common household, heard around the house every day, or from the sounds found in nature. Bija mantras are NOT revealed or cognized or 'seen' by the monad or by some mythical 'rishi'.
All mantric practices stem from the ancient shamanistic practice of Oddiyana, that is Buddhists of Trans-Himalya, hence to India. The Mantrayna was adopted, with modifications, by the Shiva and Vaishanava sects as Hindu tantricism following the Gupta Age. For example, the bija mantra 'phat' is called the astra 'weapon' bija used as an aggressive mantra from the earliest times. The sound of phat, to the Indian ear, conveys the sensation of explosion. According to Bharati, in Hindi, 'phat' is a very common colloquial household term for 'burst, explode', in both intransitive and transitive use, as in a two wheeled, two-stroke, motorized rickshaw, thus a 'phata phata', heard all over Delhi! "From this, a causative verb pharna is formed. The motor-cycle rickshaw in Delhi is called 'phat phata' by its drivers; phatki is a fire-cracker. Once a syllable like this has been accepted into esoteric usage, analogous syllables will readily follow..." (116). Works cited: Sanskrit Lexicon: Phat!: (pronounced 'fot') phoneme; Buddhist Hybrid-Sanskrit; causative verb? 1. Crack! 2. Snap! 3. Pop! 4. Meaningless sound. 5. Gibberish. 6. Bija mantra - sometimes referred to as the weapon mantra also, in that, it destroys obstacles. http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/ 'The Tantric Tradition' by Swami Ageananda Bharati Rider, 1965 Subject: Its Not What You Think! Thread: Phat! A magic word for protection? Author: Willytex Forum: alt.meditation.transcendental, alt.yoga, alt.meditation Updated: August 26, 2003
