Theravada Tantra

Theravada Buddhism of Laos and Cambodia is a different “flavor” that the scholarly, orthodox Theravada than most westerners are familiar with. The Buddhists of Cambodia and Laos, and the Mekong-valley seem to be interested in “magic” and “superstition.”

Francois Bizot, scholar of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), described the particular form of Theravada Buddhism as practiced in the Mekong-valley, as “Tantric Theravada”.

The Cambodian tradition of Buddhism seems to have been highly influenced by the heterodox Abhayagiri monastery of Sri Lanka. This tradition had established a center of Sihalarama in Java by the eighth century, and it is from this center that monk missionaries transmitted the old tradition into Angkor. The Vimuttigama, a text from the Abhayagiri monastery, was presented by a 6th century Cambodian monk of Funanese (Mekong Delta region) in an embassy to the Emperor of china.

Buddhagosa himself, who, according to tradition passed away in Angkor, refers to secret (gulha) texts on three separate occasions in his writing. These “secret traditions” were considered orthodox, in the Mahavihara lineage. Visudimaga 115-116 for example. Buddhaghosa’s Dhammapala connects those secret texts with three basic teachings of “emptiness…taking rebirth, and the law of conditionality.”

“This initiatory and highly ritualized strand of Cambodian Theravada, with its strong emphasis on interiority, represents the defining feature of the regions religiosity, although…the impact of the dominant modernist paradigm was to relegate, marginalize, and render ‘unorthodox’ these traditional teachings and practices.” [Cambodian Buddhism, Ian Harris, p 104]

Tambian describes the “tantric” mystic of Mekong-basin as a “purist virtuoso” who “brings a cosmic love for people at large” and wants to extend to them “some part of his mystic experience and psychic consequents.”

Kamala Tiyavanich speaks of keji ajans, or “magician monks”, in the Mekong River basin areas (Cambodia, Isan, and Laos) who helped people cope with spirits and manage their fears. “Many of these revered teachers followed ascetic practices, carved amulets by hand, possessed healing powers, and thus were able to persuade people to live out the dhamma. These monks were very different from present-day (magician monks) who routinely bless factory-made amulets.”

I have encountered some of these old tradtions, which are still alive, and heard these monks referred to as “Hindu monks” in Cambodia, although they were obviously Theravada Buddhist monks.

Tantra, or vajrayana, moves from speculative thought to enactment of Buddhist ideas in individual life. Though the words “tantra” and “vajrayana” are unknown in Cambodian sphere, the esoteric tradition exists. Vajra signifies absolute reality and indestructible reality in man, as opposed to the illusory. The mantra prevents the mind from going astray into fictions and verbiage, remaining aware of reality. In Cambodian Theravada Buddhism this is the synthesis of yogacara discipline, which emphasized the ultimate of mind, and madyamika, which resists any relative principle as absolute. Dealing with the inner experience, esoteric Buddhism uses highly symbolic texts to recapture the enlightenment experience of the Buddha. These traditions were found in Java, Cham, Cambodia, Issan, Sri Dhammarat.

“Francois Bizot describes the eclectic nature of Buddhism in pre-modern Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia as a congruence of Vedic Brahmanism, tantrism, and a pre-Aryan Austro-Asiatic cult of guardian spirits and protective divinities, interacting with Mon Theravada beliefs and practices, and possibly influenced by the Mulasarvastivadins, it resulted in what Bizot has characterized as “Tantric Theravada,” identified with a mystical tradition known as Yogavacara (practitioner of the spiritual discipline). The features of this tantric Theravada, at odds with the stereotypical view of classical Theravada include identifying one’s body with the qualities of the Buddha; the use of esoteric syllables and words (Dharani, mantra, yantra) to represent the identity of microcosm and macrocosm; the dharmic potency of sounds and letters; and esoteric initiation for the realization of both soteriological and mundane ends.”

The Thai ascendency in the fourteenth century introduced the Theravada reforms of Sri Lanka and the Mahavihara school of strict orthodox Buddhism. But there is a lack of uniformity in the Theravada. “Syncretism continues to define many Thai religious practices. Temple festivals begin by invoking the guardian deities of the four quarters, zenith, and nadir. Monastic ordinations are often preceded by an elaborate spirit calling (riak khwan) ceremony. Yantric tattoos and magical amulets are worn by the devout to ward of danger. Offerings are made at the shrines of deities protecting mountains passes, and elaborate altars to the Hindu god Brahma occupy a prominent place at the entrance to hotels….” [Donald Swearer, “Thailand”, Encyclopedia of Buddhism.]

Francois Bizot’s studies “contest received narratives of Theravada history in Cambodia. Bizot argues that Buddhist practice and knowledge in Cambodia before the mid-nineteenth century did not necessarily conform to the reified scholarly construction of the Theravada in terms of Pali canonical sources known as the Tripitika. His scholarship calls into question the distinctive developments of Theravada, Mahayana, and Tantric form of Buddhism…Bizot links the development of contemporary Buddhism with the importation of the Dhammayute order from Siam in the mid nineteenth century. Although this expression of Buddhism eventually came to represent ‘mainstream’ Buddhist thought and indeed even ‘Khmerness’ in post-colonial Cambodia, it had simultaneous to its own rise suppressed other aspects, traditions and lineages of Buddhism, particularly those most associated with Tantric practice and esoteric forms of teacher-student transmission.” [How to Behave, Anne Hansen]

Francios Bizot wrote, in The Gate, “In the countryside one comes across strange beliefs and customs that are totally inconsistent with the Sinhalese texts. Now, all the official Buddhist literature taught in Phnom Penh is taken from the Sinhalese canon. It’s as if one Buddhism were practiced in the city capital and another in the villages. So I began to wonder about these peasant traditions and to begin with, I had to draw up a detailed list of the most unusual customs.”

“Francios Bizot, Olivier de Bernon documented a significant body of Buddhist texts that has been preserved in monastic libraries…These texts and associated Buddhist practices are apparently the remnants of non-Theravada forms of Buddhism popular throughout the region before the Theravada became dominant. The fact that the fact the texts and practices have survived well into the twentieth century suggests that it is impossible to understand the practice of Cambodian Buddhism without recognizing ‘the presence of two factions: one orthodox, coming from the official Buddhism of Sri Lanka, the other heterodox, coming from ancient traditions in India, already in place at Angkor.” [Bizot 1976; History, Buddhism, and New Religious Movements in Cambodia, J. Marston and E. Guthrie.]

Bizot, and other scholars following his lead, refer to this as “Theravada Tantra.”

Ian Harris said, “Buddhist tantricism, consisting of highly ritualized and esoteric religious practices with a strong emphasis on activating potentialities within the practitioners’ own body, had a significant purchase on the state religion of the Angkorian period….and represents a sort of Tantric Theravada…”

Bizot speaks of one Cambodian man he knew, who was raised by his grandmother in the village of Kompong Kleang. “At the monastery, the monks are also mediums, and the fishermen consult them. The spirits of the dead speak through their mouths. Others are called lok angkouy because their bodies remain ‘seated’ while they take leave of them to inspect the surroundings of the village and discover the cause of the misfortunes of those who consult them.”