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**Triiooman** · 06-28-2012, 02:09 AM

Just my two cents, while some forms of Buddhism, such as Tibetan, have a lot of "gods", I've been led to understand that those gods aren't meant to be understood as real entities, but rather aspects of the practitioner's mind. Aids to focus the mind during mediation, but they aren't understood to actually exist. Perhaps Jungian Archetypes would be a good way of explaining them.

There are some very interestingly diverse teachings regarding God's, Demons, Dakinis, Pretas etc in different Vajrayana lineages (It would be better to term the tradition 'Vajrayana' as it is not exclusively 'Tibetan' nor are all Tibetans Vajrayana adherents) Even within the lineages themselves you will find diverse emphasis on these beings form and function.
It is a huge area of debate and study and one that cannot be approached in any meaningful manner without a reasonable grasp of Vajrayana including Sutric and Tantric discipline (I am not suggesting that Sutra and Tantra can be seperated, they are in fact mutually inclusive in the Vajra world)

06-28-2012, 02:09 AM	#17
Triiooman Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 554 Senior Member	Just my two cents, while some forms of Buddhism, such as Tibetan, have a lot of "gods", I've been led to understand that those gods aren't meant to be understood as real entities, but rather aspects of the practitioner's mind. Aids to focus the mind during mediation, but they aren't understood to actually exist. Perhaps Jungian Archetypes would be a good way of explaining them. There are some very interestingly diverse teachings regarding God's, Demons, Dakinis, Pretas etc in different Vajrayana lineages (It would be better to term the tradition 'Vajrayana' as it is not exclusively 'Tibetan' nor are all Tibetans Vajrayana adherents) Even within the lineages themselves you will find diverse emphasis on these beings form and function. It is a huge area of debate and study and one that cannot be approached in any meaningful manner without a reasonable grasp of Vajrayana including Sutric and Tantric discipline (I am not suggesting that Sutra and Tantra can be seperated, they are in fact mutually inclusive in the Vajra world)
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