Knowledge in Esoteric Khmer Buddhism

There are two kinds of knowledge distinguished by the Khmer: traditional knowledge and modern knowledge. The Cambodian tradtion, and Theravada in general, placed high value on ‘received knowledge’ rather than ‘speculative knowledge’ and ‘innovative knowledge’ so highly valued by the west.

Khmer tradition valued “knowing by heart” that emphasized memorization of text, meditation on the letters of the text. The texts were recited by heart by monks, and this is still a highly emphasized practice throughout Cambodian communities today. Traditionalists are critical of monks who cannot perform this service. The traditional practice of morning and evening chanting in honor of the Triple Gem, the Patimokh, are strictly observed. [Texts and prayers of such chants include: Kirimeanon, Girimananda; Eiseikili, Isigili; Mohasamay, Mahasamaya; Prumacak, Brahamacakka; Thoammacakka, Dhammacakka.]

What does it mean “to know” the text?

In traditional Khmer Buddhism, special status was associated with primarily meditative prowess which was understood to endow the monk-adept with extraordinary powers or iddhi.

They did not especially value the scholarly, intellectual, speculative knowledge valued by the west, and modernist educational reforms imposed by the French.

The French-inspired modernists emphasized rationalist, scriputralist, demythologized Buddhism. They deemphasized cosmological texts, particularly of the jatakas past lives of the Buddha.

The modernist reformers, following French scholarly traditions, reacted against the pedagogical tradition of rote memorization and recitation of texts, instead emphasizing the translation and interpretation of texts and sermons, between Pali and the vernacular, so that both monks and lay people not only took part in the performance of texts, but more importantly, understood the content of what was being read, preached and recited.

The new emphasis on scriptural Pali texts and monastic behavior, instead of the traditional emphasis on meditation practice and mystical attainment, provoked reaction from the “traditionalists” because it undermined the old values of the “folk,” the “people,” putting emphasis on formal monks.

It undermined the notions of sanctity associated with the older palm-leaf manuscript traditions that featured jatakas and abhidhamma, and yantra (tantra).

The old traditional forms of knowledge were based on Khmer language, the very script of which is sacred in itself to the Khmer tradition, allowing knowledge to plant seeds within the heart/mind, sprout, and grow.

The French introduced textual criticism and scholarship, and advocated a sort of  “pure” “original” Buddhism, as found in the Pali Text, promulgated by the Pali Text Society based in Sir Lanka. This movement created the impression of “uncovering a pure” Buddhism; and that het popular contemporary  Buddhism that the people found around them was “corrupted, decayed,” and therefore  needed to be reformed. The modernist reformers of elite, scholarly Buddhism ensued.

When Buddhist texts were translated from Pali into Khmer, the translators used the common language which stays closer to the ordinary speech, for the purposes of preaching. This indicates the populism of the Theravada movement in Cambodia; whereas the Buddhist reformers emphasized the “high” language for the purposes of scholarship or royalty.

Traditional Buddhism was interested in cosmography rather than psychology. They emphasized community rituals and practices for personal cultivation. The western-inspired modern reforms neglected the cosmological dimensions, and ritual aspects of Buddhism; and moved toward an emphasis on individual, rationality and morality.

The Theravada Buddhists of Cambodia attempted to accommodate modernism while preserving the essence of Buddhism. Their response to the pressure of modernity moved from the traditional interpretations to the modernist interpretations:

·         Cosmology > psychology

·         Community practice > individual practice

·         Jataka stories > academic scholarship

·         Merit making> meditation

·         Superstition> reason

·         Folk/populist>elite

·         Vernacular>Pali

·         Commentaries> suttas

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Traditional Text Traditions

“Khmer texts were traditionally preserved either in palm-leaf manuscripts or accordion-style  folded paper manuscripts inscribed with ink or chalk. Since few opportunities for education existed outside the monastery, literary and writing were closely linked to religious practice. Writing in itself was highly valued and spiritually potent. Manuscripts were produced with great care, surrounded by rituals for preparing the palm leaves and ceremonies and regulations that had to be observed by monks who inscribed them. Finished manuscripts were consecrated, and the presentation of a manuscripts to a monastery required a ritual ceremony, such as the presentation of spread cloth for wrapping the texts or the donation of robes to the monk-scribe in order to effect the passing of merit to the donor of the manuscript. The quality and efficiency of the manuscript depended in part on the beauty of its written words, which in turn reflected the mindfulness of the monk who inscribed it, since in many cases, written syllables of the teachings were considered as microcosmic representations of Buddha. The production of the manuscript was thus an act of devotion whose quality could be judged according to its clarity, lack of writing errors, and aesthetic character. Imbued with these elements of the Buddha and the Dhamma, of merit and devotion manuscripts were venerated as aural texts, meant to be heard, conferring merit on their listeners and on the monks who read or chanted them, and as written texts, venerated in and of themselves for their written nature. Ideologically committed to new technologies of textual translation and print dissemination, modernists rejected these traditional methods associated with manuscript production as well as other older practices, ritual conventions, and ways of  transmitting  knowledge connected with the manuscript culture of learning.” [Hansen, How to Behave.]

Hansen describes the texts as a sort of talisman. “Khmer families, individuals, and monks who owned texts viewed them as sacred objects to be used and maintained for ritual and most important was that, in their minds, texts presented to temples were meant to generate merit: to remove texts donated for this purpose was unthinkable.”

This is why monks concealed the texts from non-Buddhist French colonialists. And also explains why they resisted so strongly the book-print culture imposed by the French and modernist monks.

“A monastery, like the kingdom, was better off – stronger and purer – if it possessed texts. A prevailing view of texts was of physically potent objects that affected the spiritual wellbeing of the individuals who handled them; their exact contents were of lesser importance. Texts were understood to be sacred in much the same way as relics, which embody physical elements of the Buddha. Being in physical proximity or contact with texts, touching them, seeing them, or hearing them, connected one with the Buddha and his teaching devotionally. These acts generated merit first, and led to greater intellectualized forms of understanding only as a secondary aim, if at all; rather, devotional acts generated a different kind of insight, more akin to meditational understanding…”

Penny Edwards said:”Due to their long-standing use as the tangible vehicles of Buddhist teachings or dhamma, palm-leaf manuscripts became objects of sacred power in their own right in the Buddhist societies of Southeast Asia.”

“The preparation, transfer, and maintenance of Buddhist manuscripts involved acts of consecration, dedication, and presentation centering on the notion of the manuscripts intrinsic and accumulated merit.”

Writing in and of itself was highly valued and spiritually potent…surrounded by rituals preparing palm leaves, and ceremonies and rituals had to be observed by the monks who inscribed them.

Esoteric Texts:

Khmer Buddhist writings are ritualistic and experimental rather that doctrinal, theoretical, didactic. They are esoteric, apparently “unorthodox” Theravada. They were designed to be taught under an adept. Francois Bizot “has revealed the existence of non -orthodox Buddhist meditational practices that have been largely secret.”

“The texts underpinning the tradition are often obscure, are clearly symbolic, and may be subjected to multiple interpretations. They have much to say about ritual and frequently contain mantras in Pali. The tradition is clearly old and certainly predates the reform movements of the nineteenth century.”

The Saddhavimala was in important Cambodian text studied by Bizot and Laguarde, a text which relates that the seven books of the Abhidhamma are the creative force behind the body and mind of all things. The oral recitation of the Abhidhamma is very powerful, particularly the Mahapatthana, the final work. Each of the seven books is connected with a day of the week and a part of the body.

Mahadibbamanta, an undated Pali-language palm leaf paritta text, inscribed in Khmer characters and probably of Cambodian origin, housed in the National Museum of Bangkok. The text represents tantric esotericism in Theravada tradition. “It consists of 108 verses, an auspicious number also mentioned in the work itself. One of the unusual features of the text is that it describes a mandala of the eight chief disciples of the Buddha. It also includes a mantra hulu, hulu, hulu sva ha and some verses of benediction (siddhi gatha) which glorify a range of deities, including the earth-goddess, the Buddha, Hara, Hirihara, and Rama and the nagas. The Mahadibbamanta manta equates the Buddha with various major and minor divinities and concludes with an assurance of the magical efficiency of the texts recitation, particularly in countering enemies…the work is not uncharacteristic of the Pali Theravada literature that had circulated in Cambodia for several centuries.” [Harris.]

The major traditional cosmological texts in Cambodia are the  familiar root texts of the boran (ancient practice):

·         Traiphum – the “Tree Worlds”. The text is a version was published in Phnom Penh by Japanese Sotasha Relief Committee in 1996 with an introduction by Michel Tranet.

·         Traiphet – a Khmer text dating with the origin of the world. It is a treatise dealing with Brahman legends

·         Traiyuk – is the three world stages (1^st, 3^rd, 4^th).

·         Traita – is a treatise dealing with the second world stage

·         Traiwet.

“The arrival of the French and gradual imposition of the conditions of modernity on the Buddhist sangha had a profound impact on all aspects of Cambodian culture, particularly in the field of writing. Traditional literary activity was one of the immediate casualties, as monks turned away from the laborious and ritually circumscribed techniques associated with traditional manuscript production to adopt writing in European-style notebooks. In time, many turned to printing, and the old copyists craft with its merit-making underpinnings began a dramatic decline. In addition, an archaic and essentially magical vision of the universe, in which inscribed Khmer characters are assigned occult powers, was largely undermined….It is rare today to find monks who have any confidence in reading traditional cosmological works, such as the Traiphum, which once formed the core of the Khmer literary cannon.” [Harris.]

“The sacred physical and devotional  aspects of textuality  were in many respects diminished and altered with the transition to print culture that occurred during the 1920s…”

During the modern reforms of the 20th century, the modern textual criticism made a distinction between the physical text, and the authentic potency of understanding the authoritative meaning of the text, to order the conduct of the monk. This provided “purification” if understanding and conduct.

By 1929, the struggle between printed books and inscribed palm leaf was resolved, and printed books became more accepted. The “modernist” group became more ascendant in the Khmer Sangha. The new monks “modern dharma” shifted away from production of texts for entertainment/celebration purpose, performance, devotion, merit making, toward edification, education, instruction for ethical conduct, understanding of Buddha’s teaching (right view), and was concerned with accessibility.

As the scholastic Buddhism gained ascendency, the esoteric traditions receded into the background in Cambodia.

Kammathana: Escoteric Meditation in Cambodian Buddhism

The yogi or yogavacara of Cambodia practiced the “hidden” (lak) or “interior way” (phluv knong). The yogavacara (esoteric or initiatory tradition of Cambodia) is a practitioner of yoga who becomes an adept of mula khammatthana (neak mula kammathana).

The modern monk-scholar practices the “exterior way” (pluv krau).

In mainstream Theravada Buddhism, the term khammathana refers to the 40 meditation subjects authorized by the Buddha. In Cambodian tradition, however, the term “khammatthana”  has a special meaning, the mastery of pluv knong. Khmer tantra operated with a theory of correspondences, letters, sounds, numbers, presented in a ritual context.

The term “mula” means the skill of using Khmer alphabet to denote Buddha’s teaching. Mula Kammatthan can be practiced in two ways: (A) the “right hand path” (phluv sdam) which leads to nibbana; (B) the “left hand path” (phluv chveng) which leads to attainment of worldly ends, such as gaining power over others.

“The work of the brah khammatthana  refer to the Tripitaka in ways different from the manner employed by the modernists. The traditionalists explain nothing. They hide (what they know) and teach how to practice the spiritual life…The modernists transmit their knowledge but only speak of fruits and flowers. Of roots and stumps they say nothing.” Acher Trok Din [Harris p.96]

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When Acher Trok Din speaks of the “fruits and flowers, roots and stumps” he is referring to a Cambodian esoteric meditation tradition. Maha Ghosananda also spoke of “The Bodhi Tree” of the body. The Cambodian yogavacara tradition draws correspondences between the embryo and a “fig tree with five branches.”

The human body is the “tree” of transformation, the cosmos, and the Buddha’s teaching (Dhamma) is crystallized/expressed in sound.

·         Trunk = torso

·         Branches = arms and legs

·         Leaves = two ears

·         Flower = umbilicus

·         Fruit = embryo

·         Roots = penis and testicles (which give rise to future generations)

The fig tree has five branches, with its roots in the infernal regions, its branches reaching into the deva-realm.

The tree also represents the Dhamma: Fruits are the Tripitaka; Leaves, the ten perfections…etc…

Francois Bizot  referred to this tradition in his writing. This allegorical symbol represents the human body as the physical locus of transformation the cosmos, and it expresses and crystallizes the Buddha’s teachings (Dhamma) in the form of sound. “As the human body, its trunk is the torso, its branches are the arms and legs, its leaves the two ears, its flower the umbilicus, its fruit the embryo, and its threefold root is the penis and testicles, which give rise to future generations. The fig tree with five branches is also the world tree, stretching as high as the divine deva world, and its roots in the infernal regions. The system, then, homoligizes the macrocosmos to the human body. The tree is the world axis, or Mt. Sumeru, but ‘in the five aggregates of our bodily form, our head is Mt. Sumeru, our chest Mount Giri Parabat, our pelvis Mount Gijjhakuta Parabat (Vulture Peak), and two knees, the  two ankles, and the two soles, the seven levels of Mount Sattaparibhand, the enclosure of Mt Sumeru. The four lakes situated at the foot of Mt Sumeru are the four elements of our bodily form.” [Bizot 1976.]

“The tree also occurs in another allegory of the spiritual path. The twins Nan Cittakumara and Nor Cittakumari represent the spirit of yogavacara. [Nan Cittakumara and Nan Cittakumari represent respectively the mind (citta) and mental factors (cetasika). As such they also denote the psycho-physical being in the intermediate states between two existences.] They take leave of Yama, the god of death, to seek birth in the rose-apple land (Jambudvipa, India), but they get lost on the way. While they lament their predicament, a god in the form of a man encourages them to search for a jewel collected the birth globe (tuong kamnot), or a crystal globe (tuonhg kaev), hidden in a fig tree with five branches. The two children make supplication to the deity and begin their  quest. The crystal globe is guarded by Indriy birds (sense faculties), but its possession will confer great happiness, for it is in essence the three letters “ma,” “a,” and “u” which make up the sacred syllable “Om.” These three letters are also the “noble triple dhamma” (preah dhammatrai); they correspond to the three sections of Tripitaka. In other words, the twins must create a new body out of the elements of Buddha’s teaching. This new dhamma body (dhammakaya) is the key to Nibbana.

In some of his later writing Bizot sees parallels between this initiatory body and the Mahayana doctrine of the Tathagata (tathatatagarbha).

Kasina

Kasina meditation are part of the meditation tradition. The word kasina means “total field.” And includes the ten meditation on earth, water, wind, fire, blue, yellow, red, white, space (akasha) and consciousness (vijnana). In this process, the mind is exclusively, and with complete clarity, filled with the object and finally becomes one with it (Samadhi).

Samadhi is “unified mind” collected in a single object through gradual calming of mental activity. The consciousness of the subject becomes one with the object.

This state of consciousness is often called “one pointed concentration”; “this expression is misleading however, because it calls up the image of the mind “directed” at one point.

Samadhi is neither a straining concentration on one point, nor is the mind directed from here (subject) to there (object), which would be a dualistic experience. The ability to attain Samadhi is a precondition for absorption/jhana.

[Vipassana: the three super mundane types of Samadhi are distinguished that have as their goal emptiness, the state of no characteristics, and freedom from attachment to the object, and the attainment of Nibbana. Any other Samadhi, even in the highest stages of jhana, are considered worldly.]

Kasina meditations are associated with magical powers (iddhi) in Theravada Buddhism of Cambodia.

Cambodian Buddhism sees meditation practice in cosmological terms. Stanley Tambia describes the correlation/matrix of Buddhist cosmology and the meditation states. These are outlined in Visuddhimagga chapters 13 and 14. These practices develop the three-knowledges of “divine eye” and “passing and reappearance of things” to the periodic creation and dissolution of the cosmos and the world cycles of the eons of time.

Meditation ascends from rupa (material) to arupa (immaterial) states of consciousness: From access to neighborhood concentration, to absorption concentration, the first jhana.

Then the arupa/formless begins at fifth jhana of empty space. Iddhi-powers can come only after the 4^th jhana.

The meditatior develops a spiritual potency, charismatic quality, or “magical power” known as saksit.

The forest monk, or traveling masters (lok thudong) attained potency (saksit) and knowledge (vijja), and were able to influence and benefit others.  The adept must have not only rational knowledge, but be attained, i.e. be transformed by that knowledge, be virtuous by observing the Buddhist precepts. The adept maintains balance between mind and external objects (equanimity, equilibrium). He is able to embody, incarnate, Enlightenment

Understanding Cambodian Buddhism

In order to understand Cambodian Buddhism, it is necessary to first understand Khmer cosmology and world view.

Khmer see that human life is affected by a variety of dimensions of levels of causality.

These factors are influential in human life, but are not ultimately fateful, determining human destiny. They cannot deprive the individual of free will. These energy factors are limited in their potency, and can strongly influence one’s individual experience, but human destiny is ultimately generated by one’s personal free, volitional action or “karma.”

Traditional beliefs include:

1. Spirits and gods (spirits below and gods above). The spirits may cause illness, accidents, influence plants and land fertility; and fertility of women. There are also group spirits, protectors, ancestors. These spirits must be respected and honored, and they will protect and nurture the human being. If they are dishonored, ignored or angered, they can be dangerous.

2. Vital Essences. The “winds” or essences are the energies of life. All living things have “vital essences.” These are air, breath, winds called “pralu’n” in Khmer. These vital essences exist in plural forms in the 19 parts of the body, in Khmer world view (32 parts of the body in Thai). The winds act in reality as a unity. They may survive death. These are called “chi” in Chinese, and “pranya” in Sanskrit, “spiritus” in Latin.

3. Fate: in the stars, in astrology and other elemental energies. Fate involves cosmic elements such as earth, water, wind, and fire, which have a powerful effect on us. Heavenly bodies, such as the sun, moon, stars, etc; topography of the land; elements of the body; osculation of day and night; directions (north, south, east, west) that orient us in the cosmic elements. Disturbance can be corrected through ritual reactions that restores, balances, reorients the individual to the cosmic elements.

4. Modern science, such as germ theory. These are well known to westerners, who think these are the only explanations for causality.

5. Karma: All these above influences are limited, and experienced because we are born in human bodies in the human realm. They “influence” our lives, but do not “determine” our destiny or fate. Karma is the proper sphere of Buddhist practice. Our destiny/fate is caused by kamma, by our own actions in body, speech and mind. This is the formal realm of the Buddha’s teaching.
Our place in this world can change in the course of a lifetime, when Karma “burns out” or when Karma “ripens.”

In order to cultivate positive Karma, Cambodians practice formal Buddhism:
· They take precepts or vows “in their bodies” to perform bodily actions of virtue in body, speech, and mind.
· They must avoid demerit and perform acts of merit.
· Demerit is breaking precepts, such as expressing greed, hatred and delusion.
· Merit is accumulated through dana (giving gifts) especially to monks; keeping precepts; ordination; listening to Dhamma talks; performing acts of veneration to the Three Jewels; pilgrimage; meditation (bhavana); memorization and chanting of suttas.
· Meditation by elder people, especially in preparation for death, is powerful merit.
· Merit is also increased through “transfer of merit” in giving it to the goddess of the earth to spread it to all living beings.

Buddhism meets the present needs of human beings. People are interested in (A) protection from harm in the present time; (B) happy future; (C) attainment of ultimate liberation: Nibbana. The formal practices of Theravada Buddhism (morality, meditation, wisdom) are concerned with attainment of Nibbana. The esoteric practices within the Theravada tradition are concerned with lower realms of causality and powers that influence human life, such as vital energies, elemental energies, and harnessing or directing these powers skillfully in beneficial ways.

The practices are known as apotropaic Buddhism. Westerners often dismiss these practices as “superstition” and “magic.” Buddhist “magic” is original (not merely appropriation of earlier magical traditions) and is scriptural, taught by the Buddha himself. The paritta chanting ritual is core apotropaic Buddhism.

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Characteristics of Cambodian Buddhism

Ian Harris outlined the general characteristics of Cambodian Buddhism:

· Cambodian-Pali texts focus more on ritual and experimental factors, rather than on doctrinal and didactic themes. These texts are used as practice guides under the guidance of a teacher.
· The “prime importance” of the need for initiation by a skilled master, not necessarily a monk.
· The tendency toward allegorical elucidation of texts and teachings
· The non-traditional use of meditation practices
· Visualization and sound are creative functions that may be used to hasten the process of spiritual transformation
· The spiritual transformation of the individuals is often conceived as a “mystic embryology” involving the creation of a Buddha within the practitioners own body.
· Special emphasis is placed on the abhidhamma. The Saddhavimala, an important text studied by Francois Bizot, says the seven books of the abhidhamma are the creative force behind body and mind of all things. In pre-modern Cambodia, the abhidhamma text was emphasized and preserved more often than the suttas. The abdhidhamma is associated with death and rebirth. The Mahapatthana is considered especially powerful.

Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, plays a prominent role in Cambodian Buddhist tradition. This is tied up with millenarian beliefs in the coming dissolution of Gautama’s Buddhism and the arrival of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. Statues of Maitreya are often present in Cambodian temples, at the base of the platform where the Buddha image is placed.

Cambodian Buddhism has a tendency toward esotericism (tantra) with its elaborate texts, rituals, meditations for better rebirth.

Cambodian Buddhism featured a “Forest Tradition” of asceticism in which these meditation traditions were practiced and transmitted from generation to generation. “Even if these men [forest monks] were attached to a monastery or more likely a teacher, they usually devoted themselves to solitary meditation in the forests on a hill. They were highly respected, even feared, and could be extremely stubborn about protecting their monastic ideal.”

The faithful laymen, especially the achars, played a prominent role in Cambodian Buddhism, and were protectors of the religion, and many of the esoteric traditions.

In the Cave Womb of Mother Earth

Birth of the Dhammakaya -- the body of teh Buddha -- is described in the book Cambodian Buddhism, by Ian Harris. His English-language book is based on the French-language research of Francois Bizot, of the Ecole de extreme oriente.

The rebirth ritual takes place in a cave in Cambodia.

The yogi practitioners enter together into the cave, the body of mother earth.

“Therefore the goal of this quest in the abyss was not a new birth, a uterine release of a renovated body; it really consisted in acquiring – through the mystery of a superior initiation – the necessary dispositions to reach the abode of the Great Felicity; in other words, the acquiring a new body enabling one to change from a mortal to a divine existence.”

The yogin enters the “body” of the earth. Bizot himself participated in the ceremony. He entered the birth cave and described the initiation.

“The acary (master) takes his shoes off and asks everyone to measure the importance of going through the ‘golden gate’ (dvar mas) to enter the maternal womb. He reveals the formula – the three characters A RA HAM – that one must recite and not stop during the regression process then, one by one, with great difficulty, everybody enters the 10m or so long passage, only wide enough for the shoulders of one man.”

The people inside the cave see the guts of the mother-body. There is a pool where the mythical naga dragon lives. Washing their faces with the water of the cave, the people meditate “for the time an incense stick takes to burn.” Meditation is the last step before exiting the cave. Several people take water in a flask.

Outside, the achar says: “We entered this cave and acquired great merits, for it is the womb of the august mother (garbh brah mata) the opening here is the Golden Door. Entering through it to practice asceticism we regressed into the maternal womb, and were thus born again. Let us apologize for having soiled the august mother.”

Bizot says the purpose of the meditation is to see the Buddha within the body, through tantric visualizations: “Repeating non-stop A RA HAM formula, the Venerable recognizes the purple letter NA at the entrance of his nose. He follows the nostril, goes through a door, takes a ladder down to the epiglottis where he reaches the blue letter MO. Climbing down a few more rungs to the neck, he gets to the yellow letter BU. He ten follows the sign of the red letters DDHA in his sternum. He finally reaches his navel, the seat of the letter YA whose color is that of crystal. He concentrates on his navel for the apparition of the Buddha sitting on the throne of Enlightenment. He inhales air and makes it go up and down from his nose to his navel. This exercise must lead him to distinguish a remote island that must be reached by crossing the ocean.”

Regarding the role of caves in Cambodia, Choulean Ang wrote a 1993 article about caves in Cambodia, and mentioned particular Buddhist caves in Takeo Province.

It is dark, he said, “except around the entrance.” Inside, the monks practice meditation or khammatthan, “during which they symbolically regress into the maternal womb before being reborn as an initiate….The cave is widely considered a maternal womb. Other activities can also be mentioned such as possession ceremonies and the manufacturing of protective magical objects.”

There are some caves that exist only in the realm between dreams and awakening – such as one cave at Thon Mon, Kandal province. “As far as the imaginary is concerned, Phnom Thon Mon ranks among the most fantastic sites. Indeed, one figures a cave housing a miraculous pond, guarded by a royal couple of white eels. This cave can only be seen in a dream by certain people!...It is said that, in the 1960s, only a few monks and faithful saw the cave with the pond in dream.”

Andre Barreau wrote an article about hermitages in Cambodia in which he mentions several caves in Battambang, Phnom Sampau. At this meditation center, there are two hermitages for women and laymen; and the monks. The women meditate in their hermitage, monks meditate within the cave.

The monks practice Samadhi in the cave of the mountains. “Each goes alone in the cave of his choice and remains there alone for three or four hours, generally in the afternoon or at night…A monk accepted to take us to his cave. It is reached by a steep and narrow patch that follows the vertical side of the cliff…There are no statuettes nor painted images of the Buddha or of any other religious topic. The monk sits on his bed, facing the inside of the cave, cross-legged, his back straight, his eyes closed, his head bent as if watching his hands or his thighs…Our monk most assiduously practices Samadhi every night from 2am to 6am and also in the evening from 7pm to 10pm. He gets up and leaves only when ‘the light of the Buddha’, the sign the exercise has been successful, has appeared to him…When he sees this light, which is all internal, he is, as he says, “as in his mother’s womb; he both lives and does not live’.”

There are also some hermits living in caves in Kampot, near Phnom Penh. Other hermits also live on Phnom Kulen, north of Siem Reap. These caves are small cavities in the rock, with walls made of banana leaves and palms. Natural holes keep rain water. These hermit anchorites would not tell the foreigner Barreau why they practice such austerities. Only monks would live there permanently. Other, nuns, laymen and women, boys would meditate in the caves for a few days, especially during the rainy season.

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The Ramayana

Another example of this tantric tradition in Cambodia is the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana. On one level, it is the traditional dramatic story. On another level, it is a mystic journey of transformation.

"A final allegory of the progress of the yogavacara is provided by an esoteric reading of the Reamker. In this interpretation, the spiritual master, Bibhek helps Ram overcome obstacles in the way of his union with Seta. The demons are the Indriy birds that prevent Ram and Seta from achieving unity; the monkey-helpers are virtues (tun) that make the goal possible. The journey to the precious island of Lanka involves the construction of a causeway, or umbilical cord linking the yogavacara with the mother’s womb and the possibility of rebirth. Ram’s great struggle with help of his ally the monkey king ‘son of the wind’”·

The appearance of the key characters represent the embryo/fetal stage in the psychological elements of the yogi (yogavacara) is formed.

The marriage of Rama and Sita leads to the conception of a special crystal globe (tuong kaev) that holds the elements for the attainment of enlightenment.

The defeat of the demon-king Rab equates to the perfection of spiritual praxis (samatha, vipassana, kammathanattham).

Seta’s banishment is the completion of the initiatory phases. The exile from Ayodhya, the seat of the initiate’s spirit, demonstrates the impossibility of union with the crystal globe while still embodied. The yogavacara must first die to his old identity; “go forth” into exile from all this is conventional.

The final stage involved Ram’s “faking” his own funeral, his recovery of Seta, and birth of their twin children.

This is the ultimate attainment of Nibbana.

In this tradition, the yogi meditate on breath (khyal). The interior journey should be conducted in the following manner: During a fortnight of intensive asceticism in which the yogavacara hardly eats or sleeps, he or she should recite the formula “A RA HAM” while visualizing a violet “NA” at the opening of the nose.

The use of the term “A RA HAM” in this way is quite widespread in the Theravada world. The following corresponds with the triple jewel (triratana) and the Tipitaka are found, for instance, in the commentary on the famous pre-Buddhagosa Vimuttimagga (a text of Abhiyagiri school).
“Passing along the nostril he opens a door and passes down a ladder that ends at the epiglottis, where there is a blue ‘MO.” Descending by stages, the adepts come to a yellow “BU” in the neck, a red “DDHA” in the sternum, and a “YA” the color of crystal in the umbilicus (navel). Thus he makes homage to the Buddhaya (Namo Buddhaya). At the umbilicus he visualizes the Buddhas seated at the place of enlightenment, while the breath is drawn down from the nostril to the navel and back again. Success in the technique means that the yogavacara has arrived at the remote but ‘precious isle of Lanka’ (koh kaev tuip lanka). Lanka is both a funeral monument and a mother’s womb. At the center of the island is a great mountain called Meru. The yogavacara is fortified here prior to final release from the realms of suffering.”

Cambodian Forest Monks

The Forest Traditioin is still practiced today in some regions of Cambodia, such as Phnom Sruoch in Kampong Speu, Phnom Tbeng in Preah Vihear, and Phnom Bokor in Kampot. These places are as popular now as in the past among Forest Monks and white-robed ascetics.

The forest monk of Cambodia, known as lok thudong, was a potent protector, adept, or a “magician.”

In Cambodian Buddhism, the monk is expected to apply himself to the Trisiksa (threefold practices), of sila (morality), Samadhi (meditation), and panna (wisdom), also gantadhura (study-traditions) and vipassanadhura (meditation-traditions). The monks practiced the two dhuras according to local traditions, but not in a formal centralized manner. They studied Pali, Dhamma and Vinaya, on palm leaf manuscripts under the guidance of a dhammacarya (Dhamma-teacher), who could be a monk or a lay teacher. The monk practiced vipassanadhura whether individually in the form of Samadhi kammatthana, or in group retreats usually during the Rains Retreat (vassa).

The Thudong monk, or forest monk, way of life includes certain ancient traditions that emphasize (1) Presence and attention to observance days; (2) discussion of Dhamma on observance days; (3) Meditation (bhavana) on a daily basis; (4) destroying the impediments; (5) searching for suitable places for meditation; (6) searching for Kalyanamitta (teacher); (7) Learning the 40 khammathana meditation subjects.

The thirteen dhutanga (ascetic practices) are practiced by forest monks in Cambodia, though now the austere practices are no longer as prevalent as before. The civil war in Cambodia was devastating to the forest monks tradition of Cambodia. Also, young men often become monks to attain an education or escape poverty, and are not interested in the ascetic practices and meditation traditions today.

“According to Cambodian beliefs, this type of monk is called Thudong (Lok Tudong) if they live in the forest, mountains, or far from the cities. People believe that Tudong monks are obliged to practice austerity, one of which is to be honest, and as a result of that are protected from harm if they encounter by chance any wild animals such as tigers, elephants, or poisonous snakes. Thanks to purity in practice and conduct they are assisted and protected by the divinities and ‘honest’ spirits (neak saccam). Also, if practice Thudong, one must have a calling and must renounce the world, paying no heed to one’s own life.”

Traditionally, the thudong monks would gather at a well-known wat which specialized in meditation and study under a specialized meditation teacher. They practiced either samathakhammatan or vipassanakhammatan.

Sometimes the practice of Samadhi happened in the forest wilderness or in the mountains far from cities, calm and quiet places conducive to the practice of vipassanadhura.

In traditional custom, the three-month Rains Retreat was dedicated to meditation; not retreats throughout the year as is the practice today. Wat Ang Praleung in Oudong District, Kompong Speu, was one such meditation center formerly covered with dense forests, the abode of many kinds of wildlife such as elephants and tigers. However, the jungle cover has disappeared and meditation can no longer be practiced there today.

Samadhi (concentration) as Khmer tradition defined it, means “not falling into carelessness, concentrating one’s mind, and collecting one’s thoughts.”

“Samadhi aims at purifying one’s mind, making every effort to eliminate all defilements attached to one’s self which is the enemy of pure sila. Samadhi is generally not structured like kammathana (analytic meditation) as even concentrating one’s mind for ten to fifteen minutes is regarded as basic Samadhi, until Tacapancakakamatthana and Paccavekkhana."

"Kammathana is a very complex and sophisticated activity compared with Samadhi, focusing mainly on controlling one’s emotions. Kammathana consists of Samathakammathana and Vipassanakammathana. Samathakammatthana is defined as simple and basic meditation that aims to cultivate the mind and avoid defilements such as kamachanda (sensual pleasure). Vipassanakammathana is more detailed and practiced to improve one’s understanding, freeing onesself from defilement, including attachment to aggregates. Sometimes Samadhi and Kammatthana are combined in one word.”

Samadhi is of two kinds:
1) Lokiya samadhi – a kind of concentration for puthujjana (ordinary people) and
2) Kokuttara sammadhi - a king of meditation for people of higher aspiration (sotapanna, sakadagamin, anagamin, arahant).

There are three parts to Samadhi: 1) citta – mind as focus; 2) sila – moral endeavor as its root; 3) forty kammathana

In addition to the 40-kammathana as meditation subjects, Cambodians also meditate on (1) ten palibodha (impediments); (2) four jhana; (3) five-step jhana; (4) five nivaranadhamma (hindrances); (5) five vasi (mastery states); (6) six carita (types of temperaments).

Vipassana forms as taught in Burma (Goenka, Mahasi) are widespread in Cambodia today. Traditional practices are not widespread, though they continue in certain places, mostly in remote and inaccessible places such as Wat Kamphaeng (Battambong) and Wat Phnom (Stung Treng).

The attitude toward meditation practices in contemporary Cambodia are ambivalent. Some say vipassanadhura is needed in Cambodia, although others think it is only an individual practice and not in the common interest.

Many recognize that vipassana raises social consciousness in a time of moral-social crisis, such as a present decline in morality due to war and western materialism, leading to vice including sexual misconduct, drunkenness, drug addiction, gambling, joining gangs, leading to social instability. Meditation can contribute to the common good by helping to solve these social problems. People who practice meditation cultivate self-awareness of body, speech and mind. The custom in Cambodia of temporary ordination (Buos Abrum) includes meditation teachings for young men.

***

The Khmer-Lao wandering monks were revered by the traditional people as especially potent “fields of merit” or powerful spiritual presences. In their bodies, they contain potency, vitality.
The sacred knowledge (Dhamma) is held in their bodies, through memorization of chants and ceremonies, and observations of precepts.

The memorization of gata is more than simply magic spells. It is the inward transformation that comes from learning “by heart” – “embodying” – the words of the Buddha, Dhamma. The chants, words, teachings give “protection” (paritta) – invulnerability. The invulnerability and protection of the Dhamma is Nibbana.

“…It is based on a kind of ‘equilibrium theory’ of the notion of the body. They believe that a person’s physical and spiritual health depends on the soul (khwan) being settled inside the body in a stable condition. Men who possess panna (wisdom) dhamma, therefore, are people who not only generate layers of wisdom/dhamma but also maintain balance between external knowledge and internal souls.” [Hayashi Yukio, Spells and Boundaries.]

Knowledge is built up in layers within the body – for example through traveling to distant places, pilgrimages, visiting gurus (teachers), ordination as Buddhist monks who have time and opportunity to accumulate attainment – Enlightenment.

Monkhood is attainment of knowledge as experience, knowledge is power.

Traveling masters (lok thudong) have attained much more potency and knowledge (vijja), and are able to influence and benefit others. The adept must have not only rational knowledge, but be attained, i.e. be transformed by that knowledge, be virtuous by observing the Buddhist precepts. The adept maintains balance between mind and external objects (equanimity, equilibrium). He is able to embody, incarnate, enlightenment.

These were not written scriptures. They were spoken sounds in Khmer-Pali. They were heart-to-heart (mind-to-mind) transmissions. Theravada Buddhist monks are united not by a written scripture, but by a chanted sound.

In the body of the adept thudong monk, this sacred knowledge (enlightenment) can cross boundaries, is portable. The Lao Ajahn Lee, for example, was a deeply informed by this “potency” vitality aspect of Buddhist practice.

Phra Paisal, abbot of Sukhato Forest Monastery in Chaiyaphum Province of Thailand criticized the modern attitude that dismisses the ancient traditions. He criticized that modern-rationalist Buddhism has a lot of information, but lacks the sacred (saksit). This word saksit comes from Sanskrit sukti meaning status and siddhi (power). As Phra Phaisal explains, “The sacred here refers to that which is beyond the five physical senses, and it is inaccessible and unexplainable by more rationality, but which, nonetheless, can be attained or realized by the mind. It is a quality of power that those who access it can receive and benefit from. It is a refuge or security for those who believe. Its dynamism is beyond social codes and is comprehensible to the untrained mind. The ways to realize it are diverse, just as there are many ways of conceiving of it.”

Body of the Buddha -- Dhammakaya

Theravada tantra is concerned with a “mystic embryology” of generating the birth of the Buddha within the monks own body. The monk transforms himself into the Buddha, “gives birth” to Buddha nature within himself.

This is achieved through memorization of dhamma texts, enactment of rituals to release and transform energies into dhammakaya, Buddha-Dhamma nature within the body.

“It serves no purpose to see the Buddha in his material body, in his corruptible body; he should be seen in his dhammakaya.” – Buddha.

The Buddha has two bodies, rupakaya (physical body) and dhammakaya, the body of his teaching. There has been a historic tension in Theravada between those (A) who see the Buddha’s legacy on his teaching and (B) those who venerated in Buddha’s physical presence, his body in his lifetime; representatived often as his parinibbana.

The Khmer see dhammakaya as two inter-dependent meanings: the body as the receptacle of the dhamma, and the dhamma as the collective body of the Buddha’s teaching.

Theravada do not see the Dhammakaya and the Buddha-Dhamma as only metaphysical. “The Buddha image embodies the dhamma in a manner customarily associated with more esoteric forms of Buddhism that employ the ritual techniques of yantra and mantra.” [For a general study of Mantrayana in Theravada see L.S. Cousins “Aspects of Esoteric Southern Buddhism” in Indian Insights: Buddhism, Brahmanism and Bhakti, ed by Peter Connelly and Sue Hamilton, London: Luazac Oreintal 1997; “The Several Bodies of the Buddha: Reflections on a Neglected Aspect of the Theravada Tradition”, History of Religion, Frank Reynolds, May 1977.]

“The dhammakaya also incorporates the equivalent of the thirty-two bodily parts of the great person (DII 16-17; MII 136-137) identified as the thirty-two kammatthana (bodily meditation subjects). As the Buddha transformed his own body into the dhammakaya through the practice of kammathana” so also the monk’s meditation trance forms the material body of enlightenment, the Dhammakaya. [Swearer, Becoming The Buddha.] This happens also in the Buddha image consecration ceremony.

“In mainstream Theravada the term ‘dhammakaya’ is interpreted in an entirely non metaphysical way. It is the corpus of the Buddha’s teaching contained, preeminently, in the canonical writings of the Tripitaka. For the esoteric tradition, however the concept has a special meaning. It is a transformed human body animated by the dhamma and understood as a series of sacred syllables. This transformed body possesses super mundane qualities, the most important being the thirty-two marks of a great man. To create this special body, the adept must use sound to awaken the crystal globe, or ‘infant in the womb,’ which is visualized in the region of the navel. Breathing exercises are also necessary.”

Mindfulness-With-Breathing meditation (anapanasati) is the workbench of this practice.

Passa (breathing in) denotes the wind that enters through the nose.

Assasa (breathing out) denotes the wind that exits from the nose.

Nissasa -- denotes the wind of the Abhidhamma of seven books, that is to say the wind that stops in the womb, at the level of the navel.

Visualization techniques are, of course, not unknown in Theravada, and Francois Bizot sees the origins of the practice in the canonical notion of a mind-made body (manomayakaya) that may be produced by a skillful meditator.

Notes on the visualization practice: The Apadana section of scripture, for example, has a lot to say about visualization practices. Very similar teachings have been given new and popular currency in modern SE Asia through the Vijja Dhammakaya approach of Venerable Sot Chao Khun Phra Mongkol Thepmuni 1884-1959. The dhammakaya method is taught by the Mahanikaya Abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, Thonburi. A recent doctrinal theses by Metanando Bhikkhu has shown that the Dhammakaya teachings of Thailand do not originate with the founder of the modern movement, for he himself drew upon earlier sources. In particular, attention is drawn to the writings of Kai Thuean (1733-1832), a forest dwelling monk (arannavasi) from near Ayutthaya who was appointed patriarch by King Rama II in 1820.

Further inforamtion on "mind-made body" (manomayakaya) can be found in the Pali cannon: Maj ii.17 where the meditator comprehends that the material body is of the nature to be dissolved and decay, while the mind “is fastened there, bound there.”

In this sutta, the Buddha says: “I have directed disciples, practices which my disciples produce from this body another mental-body, mind made (manomaya as at Dhp1.1. Ma iii263 explains manena nibbattitam), having all its major and minor parts, not deficient in any sense-organ. (D.i.77; D I 34, 186, 195), as a man might draw an arrow from a reed, and might think thus: ‘This is the reed, this is the arrow, the reed is one thing, the arrow another. It is from the reed that the arrow has been drawn.’ Or it is as a man might draw a sword from a scabbard…or like a snake might come from its hole...even so….”

The most appropriate sounds to accompany these particular visualizations are those associated with the Buddha’s teachings, more specifically the initial syllables of the titles of the books of the Tripitaka;
A pa man cu: this is the quintessence of the books of the noble vinaya.
Di mam sam am u: the quintessence of the sutta.
Sam vi dha ppu ka ya pa: Seven books of abhidhamma

“To visualize the transformation of the fleshy body into that of the dhammakaya, one ritually plants each sacred sound in its allotted place.”

The Mahacunda Sutta (Aiii355-356) has an obscure early reference to the possibility of this tantric practice within the Tripitika itself. The Sutta refers to the monk Cunda who reconciles two factions of monks, the dhammayoga bhikkhus and the jhati bhikkhus. The dhammayoga bhikkhus practiced a speculative path. The jhati bhikkhus practiced ecstatic meditation and “touched immortality with their bodies.”

In the Digha Nikaya, Sammanaphala Sutta, the Buddha says one of the “fruition of the holy life” is the “mind-made body” and a section ensues on how this is achieved; also creating supernormal powers (iddhi) in the process.

The dhammakaya (dharma-body) is discussed by Buddhagosa in Visuddhimagga VIII 23. The Buddha brought his Dhammakaya to perfection of the treasured qualities of virtue, concentration, understanding, deliverance, knowledge and vision….It has something to do with the supernormal powers. The “mind-made body” is a product of super-normal power….hears divine sounds, sees divine sights, knows consciousness with penetration of mind….