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AMUN RA, RAMU, OSIRIS,
Jul 2, 2008 | 9:53 AM PST
Tags: AMUN RA , RAMU , OSIRIS , SUPREME SUN GOD , Solar God

Amun From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Amun Ra) Jump to: navigation, search Amun

 

in hieroglyphs
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This box: view • talk • edit  Amun was often depicted in human form with a tall crown For other uses, see Amun (disambiguation).

Amun (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek ?µµ?? Ammon, and ?µµ?? Hammon, reconstructed Egyptian Yamanu) (earlier Ra) was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important deities in Ancient Egypt, before fading into obscurity.

Contents [hide]

• 1 Origin of name
• 2 Creator
• 3 King
• 4 Fertility God
• 5 Sun God
• 6 Decline
• 7 Derived terms
• 8 References
• 9 External links

//

[edit] Origin of name

Amun's name is first recorded in Egyptian as ?mn, meaning "The hidden (one)". Since vowels were not written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptologists have reconstructed the name to have been pronounced *Yamanu (/jama?nu/) originally. The name survived in Coptic as ?, Amoun.[citation needed]

[edit] Creator Amun and Mut

Gradually, as god of air, he came to be associated with the breath of life, which created the ba, particularly in Thebes. By the First Intermediate Period this had led to him being thought of, in these areas, as the creator god, titled father of the gods, preceding the Ogdoad, although also part of it. As he became more significant, he was assigned a wife (Amunet being his own female aspect, more than a distinct wife), and since he was the creator, his wife was considered the divine mother from which the cosmos emerged, who in the areas where Amun was worshipped was, by this time, Mut.

Amun became depicted in human form, seated on a throne, wearing on his head a plain deep circlet from which rise two straight parallel plumes, possibly symbolic of the tail feathers of a bird, a reference to his earlier status as a wind god.

Having become more important than Montu, the local war god of Thebes, Montu's authority became said to exist because he was the son of Amun. However, as Mut was infertile, it was believed that she, and thus Amun, had adopted Montu instead. In later years, due to the shape of a pool outside the sacred temple of Mut at Thebes, Montu was replaced, as their adopted son, by Khonsu, the moon god.

[edit] King Bas-relief depicting Amun as king. Amun-Min

When the armies of the Eighteenth dynasty evicted the Hyksos rulers from Egypt, the victors' city of origin, Thebes, now held the mantle of the most important city in Egypt. Therefore, Amun became nationally important. The Pharaohs attributed all their successful enterprises to Amun, and they lavished much of their wealth and captured spoil on the construction of his temples.

Because of the adoration now given to Amun, visiting Greek travelers to Egypt would report back that Amun, king of the Egyptian gods, was one and the same (and therefore became identified) with the Greek king of the gods, Zeus. Likewise, Amun's consort Mut become associated with Zeus's consort Hera.

As the Egyptians considered themselves oppressed during the period of Hyksos' rule, the victory under the supreme god Amun was seen as his championing of the less fortunate. Consequently, Amun was viewed as upholding the rights of justice for the poor. By aiding those who traveled in his name, he became the Protector of the road. Since he upheld Ma'at, those who prayed to Amun were required first to demonstrate that they were worthy by confessing their sins.

[edit] Fertility God

When, subsequently, Egypt conquered Kush, they identified the chief deity of the Kushites as Amun. This deity was depicted as Ram headed, more specifically a woolly Ram with curved horns, and so Amun started becoming associated with the Ram. Indeed, due to the aged appearance of it, they came to believe that this had been the original form of Amun, and that Kush was where he had been born.

However, since rams, due to their rutting, were considered a symbol of virility, Amun also became thought of as a fertility deity, and so started to absorb the identity of Min, becoming Amun-Min. This association with virility led to Amun-Min gaining the epithet Kamutef, meaning Bull of his mother, in which form he was often found depicted on the walls of Karnak, ithyphallic, and with a scourge.

[edit] Sun God Amun-Ra
in hieroglyphs

Amun-Ra

As Amun's cult grew bigger, Amun rapidly became identified with the chief God that was worshipped in other areas, Ra-Herakhty, the merged identities of Ra, and Horus. This identification led to a merger of identities, with Amun becoming Amun-Ra. As Ra had been the father of Shu, and Tefnut, and the remainder of the Ennead, so Amun-Ra was likewise identified as their father.

Ra-Herakhty had been a sun god, and so this became true of Amun-Ra as well, Amun becoming considered the hidden aspect of the sun (e.g. during the night), in contrast to Ra-Herakhty as the visible aspect, since Amun clearly meant the one who is hidden. This complexity over the sun led to a gradual movement towards the support of a more pure form of deity.

During the eighteenth dynasty, the pharaoh Akhenaten (also known as Amenhotep IV) introduced the worship of the Aten, a god whose power was manifested both literally and symbolically in the sun's disc. He defaced the symbols of the old gods and based his new religion upon one new god: the Aten. However, this abrupt change was very unpopular, particularly with the previous temple priests, who now found themselves without any of their former power. Consequently, when Akhenaten died, his name was striken from the Egyptian records, and all of his changes were swiftly undone. It was almost as if this monotheistic sect had never occurred. Worship of the Aten was replaced and worship of Amun-Ra was restored. The priests persuaded the new underage pharaoh Tutankhaten, whose name meant "the living image of Aten", to change his name to Tutankhamun, "the living image of Amun".

[edit] Decline

After the Twentieth dynasty moved the center of power back to Thebes, the powerbase of Amun's cult had been revivified, and the authority of Aten began to weaken. Under the Twenty-first dynasty the secondary line of priest kings of Thebes upheld his dignity to the best of their power, and the Twenty-second favoured Thebes.

The sarcophagus of a priestess of Amon-Ra cerca 1000 B.C.E at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

As the sovereignty weakened, the division between Upper and Lower Egypt asserted itself; thereafter, Thebes would have rapidly decayed had it not been for the piety of the kings of Nubia towards Amun, whose worship had long prevailed in their country. Thebes was at first their Egyptian capital, and they honoured Amun greatly, although neither their wealth nor culture were sufficient to affect much change.

However, in the rest of Egypt, the popularity of his cult was rapidly overtaken by the less divisive cult of the Legend of Osiris and Isis, which had not been associated with the heretical Akhenaten. And so there, his identity became first subsumed into Ra (Ra-Herakhty), who still remained an identifiable figure in the Osiris cult, but ultimately, became merely an aspect of Horus.

In areas outside of Egypt where the Egyptians had previously brought the worship of Amun, his fate was not as dreadful. In Nubia, where his name was pronounced Amane, he remained the national god, with his priests at Meroe and Nobatia, via an oracle, regulating the whole government of the country, choosing the king, and directing his military expeditions. According to Diodorus Siculus, they were even able to compel kings to commit suicide, although this behaviour stopped when Arkamane, in the 3rd century BC, slew them.

Likewise, in Libya there remained a solitary oracle of Amun in the Libyan Desert at the oasis of Siwa. Such was its reputation among the Greeks that Alexander the Great journeyed there after the battle of Issus and during his occupation of Egypt in order to be acknowledged the son of Amun. Even during this occupation, Amun, identified as a form of Zeus, continued to be the great god of Thebes throughout its decay.

[edit] Derived terms

Several words derive from Amun via the Greek form Ammon: ammonia and ammonite. The Romans called the ammonium chloride deposits they collected from near the Temple of Jupiter Amun in ancient Libya 'sal ammoniacus' (salt of Amun) because of proximity to the nearby temple.[1] Ammonia, as well as being the chemical, is a genus name in the foraminifera. Both these foraminiferans (shelled Protozoa) and ammonites (extinct shelled cephalopods) have/had spiral shells resembling a ram's, and Ammon's, horns. The regions of the hippocampus in the brain are called the cornu ammonis – literally "Amun's Horns", due to the horned appearance of the dark and light bands of cellular layers.

[edit] References

1. ^ Ammonia. h2g2 Eponyms. BBB.CO.UK (2003-01-11). Retrieved on 2007-11-08.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

• Adolf Erman, Handbook of Egyptian Religion (London, 1907)
• David Klotz, Adoration of the Ram: Five Hymns to Amun-Re from Hibis Temple (New Haven, 2006)
• Ed. Meyer, article "Ammon" in W. H. Roscher's Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie
• Pietschmann, articles "Ammon" and "Ammoneion" in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopädie.

[edit] External links

• Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Amon
• Wiki Classical Dictionary: Ammon
• Leiden Hymns to Amun
• Leiden Hymns to Amun
• Strong's H0528 Amon in the Bible
• Karnak 3D :: Detailed 3D-reconstruction of the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak. (in Spanish) – Marc Mateos, 2007
• Tutankhamen - Amenism, Atenism and Egyptian Monotheism

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /Amun" Categories: Egyptian gods | Solar gods | Fertility gods | Sky and weather gods | Deities in the Hebrew Bible

Vajrayana The Indestructible Diamond Thunderbolt
Jul 2, 2008 | 9:14 AM PST
Tags: Vajra , Vajryana , Ptah , Pasu Ptah , The Super Conscious Mind , Plasma Supernova , Sinai , OSIRIS , Conscious Manifested Creation , Scalar Wave , Zero Point Energy , Aether , Pure Love Intention , True Reality , Inner Truth , Primordial Interdimentional Realization
Vajrayana From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007) [hide]

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Vajrayana Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayana, Mantrayana, Mantranaya, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle (Chinese: ???, jingangshèng, Japanese: ???, kongojo) although these terms are not always regarded as equivalent[1]. It can be seen as an extension of Mahayana Buddhism since it differs primarily in the adoption of additional techniques (upaya, or 'skillful means') rather than advocating a distinctly separate philosophy. Before terms such as Vajrayana or Tantrayana came into use scholar-monks such as Buddhaguhya (fl. mid-8th CE) describe the Mahayana as subdivided into two categories: paramita-yana (the 'Perfection Method') and mantra-yana (the 'Mantra Method'). Some of these additional techniques are esoteric practices which require initiation and are transmitted only by a skilled spiritual teacher.[2]

The Vajrayana is often viewed as the third major Yana (or 'vehicle') of Buddhism, alongside the Theravada and Mahayana. According to this view, there were three 'turnings of the wheel of dharma'[3]. In the first turning Shakyamuni Buddha taught the dharma as the Four Noble Truths at Varanasi which led to the Hinayana schools, of which only the Theravada remain today (although they object to the term 'Hinayana'). In the second turning the Perfection of Wisdom sutras were taught at Vulture's Peak and led to the Mahayana schools. The teachings which constituted the third turning of the wheel of dharma were taught at Shravasti and expounded that all beings have Buddha Nature. This third turning is described as having led to the Vajrayana.

Contents [hide]

• 1 Sub-schools
  • 1.1 Tibetan Buddhism
  • 1.2 Shingon Buddhism
• 2 Nomenclature and etymology
• 3 Distinguishing features of Vajrayana
  • 3.1 Tantra techniques
    • 3.1.1 Deity yoga
    • 3.1.2 Guru yoga
    • 3.1.3 Death yoga
  • 3.2 Esoteric transmission (initiation) and samaya (vow)
• 4 Classifications of tantra
  • 4.1 New Translation Schools' tantric classification
  • 4.2 Ancient Translation School tantric classification
  • 4.3 Classifications and numerology
• 5 Relationship with Mahayana
• 6 History of Vajrayana
  • 6.1 India
  • 6.2 China
  • 6.3 Tibet and other Himalayan kingdoms
  • 6.4 Japan
  • 6.5 Malay Archipelago
  • 6.6 Mongolia
• 7 See also
• 8 Notes
• 9 References
• 10 Further reading
• 11 External links

//

[edit] Sub-schools

Although in historical times there was Vajrayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia and perhaps elsewhere, today the Vajrayana exists only in the form of two major sub-schools:

[edit] Tibetan Buddhism

The Tibetan Buddhist school - or similar ones based on its lineages and textual tradition of the Kangyur and Tengyur - is found traditionally in Tibet, Bhutan, northern India, Nepal, southwestern and northern China, Mongolia and various constituent republics of Russia that are adjacent to the area, such as: Amur Oblast; Buryatia; Chita Oblast; the Tuva Republic and Khabarovsk Krai. Tibetan Buddhism is also a major religion in Kalmykia (another constituent republic of Russia) which has a claim to being the only Buddhist region in Europe, being located in the northern Caucasus. Buddhism was first established in Tibet in the 8th Century when Santarak?ita was brought to Tibet from India at the instigation of King Trisong Detsen, some time before 767 CE. Along with Padmasambhava he established the Nyingma school. As a Tantric Mahasiddha Padmasambhava's contribution ensured that Tibetan Buddhism became part of the Vajrayana tradition.

While Vajrayana Buddhism is a part of Tibetan Buddhism (in that it forms a core part of every major Tibetan Buddhist school), it is not identical with it - buddhist scholar Alexander Berzin refers to "the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism"[4]. The specifically Vajrayana techniques are seen as providing additional 'skillful means' to the general Mahayana teachings for somewhat advanced students. The 'skillful means' of the Vajrayana in Tibetan Buddhism, properly speaking, refers to Tantra, Dzogchen (maha-ati) and Mahamudra (Chagchen).

[edit] Shingon Buddhism

The Shingon school is found in Japan and includes many esoteric practices which are similar in concept to those used in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. However, the lineage for Shingon Buddhism is entirely different from that found in the Tibetan Vajrayana, having emerged from India (via China) and being based on somewhat earleir versions of the Indian texts than the Tibetan lineage. As a result, Shingon shares much common material with Tibetan Buddhism - such as the esoteric sutras (called Tantras in Tibetan Buddhism) and mandala - but the actual practices are not related. The primary texts of Shingon Buddhism are the Mahavairocana Sutra and Vajrasekhara sutra. The founder of Shingon Buddhism was Kukai, a Japanese monk who studied in China in the 9th Century during the Tang Dynasty and brought back Vajrayana scriptures, techniques and mandalas that were popular in China at the time. This lineage of esoteric Buddhism later mostly died out in China towards the end of the Tang Dynasty but was preserved in Japan and flourished. Shingon is one of the very few remaining branches of Buddhism in the world that continues to use the siddham script of the Sanskrit language.

Although the Tendai school in Japan does employ some esoteric practices they are somewhat peripheral and therefore Tendai is not seen as a truely esoteric school and is therefore not seen to be part of the Vajrayana.

[edit] Nomenclature and etymology

Sanskrit: Mantrayana, Vajrayana,
Tibetan: rdo rje theg pa
Japanese: mikkyo
Korean: milgyo
Mongolian: ????? ??????, ??????? ??, vcirtu kölgen, tarni yin yosu
Vietnamese: m?t tông
English: Diamond Path, Indestructible Path, Mantra Method,

The term "vajra" originally denoted the thunderbolt, a legendary weapon and divine attribute that was made from an adamantine, that is indestructible, substance and which could therefore pierce and penetrate any obstacle or obfuscation. As a secondary meaning, "vajra" therefore also refers to this indestructible substance, and so is sometimes translated as "adamantine" or "diamond". So the Vajrayana is sometimes rendered in English as "The Adamantine Vehicle" or "The Diamond Vehicle".

A vajra is also a ritual object that is like a small sceptre. It usually takes the form of a bronze rod, like a mace; it has a sphere (and sometimes a gankyil) at its centre, and a variable number of spokes (depending on the sadhana), enfolding either end of the rod. The vajra is often traditionally employed in tantric rituals in combination with the bell or ghanta; symbolically, the vajra may represent method and the bell stands for wisdom. In Mantrayana lineages the phurba and singing bowl hold this application and symbolism.

[edit] Distinguishing features of Vajrayana

According to the traditions and lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism, the Vajrayana upaya or techniques, provide an accelerated path to enlightenment. This is achieved through use of tantra techniques, which are practical aids to spiritual development, and esoteric transmission (explained below). Whereas earlier schools might provide ways to achieve nirvana over the course of many lifetimes, Vajrayana techniques are said to make full enlightenment or buddhahood possible in a shorter time, perhaps in a single lifetime. Vajrayana Buddhists do not claim that Theravada or Mahayana practices are invalid; in fact, the teachings from those traditions are said to lay an essential foundational practice on which the Vajrayana practices may be built. While the Mahayana and Theravada paths are said to be paths to enlightenment in their own right, the teachings from each of those vehicles must be heeded for the Vajrayana to work. The Vajrayana path is considered to be a path within the Mahayana which employs special means or practices to "accelerate" the process of awakening. It should also be noted that the goal of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions is to become a Buddha by following the bodhisattva path, whereas an alternative, and more common, goal for Theravada practice is 'simply' liberation from the cycle of rebirth (samsara) by achieving nirvana. In fact the distinction between these traditions is not always rigid: the tantra sections of editions of the Kangyur sometimes include material not usually thought of as tantric outside the Tibetan tradition, such as the Heart Sutra[5] and even versions of material found in the Pali Canon.[6] For a comparison of the differences between the various practices of laypeople in the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana schools see here.

[edit] Tantra techniques Main article: Tantra techniques (Vajrayana)

According to the Vajrayana tradition,[7] at certain times during sex, death, meditation and dreaming and at other liminal[8] states, the bodymind[9] is in a very subtle state which can be used by advanced practitioners to transform the mindstream. According to the Vajrayana tradition it is possible to attain enlightenment in a single lifetime by practicing certain techniques.

[edit] Deity yoga

Deity yoga (Tibetan: lha'i rnal 'byor; Sanskrit: Devata-yoga) is the fundamental Vajrayana practice, often involving a sadhana liturgy and form, in which the practitioner visualizes themselves as the meditation Buddha or yidam. The purpose of Deity yoga is to bring the meditator to the realization that the deity and the practitioner are in essence the same, non-dual. By visualizing one's self and environment entirely as a projection of mind, it helps the practitioner become familiar with the minds ability and habit of projecting conceptual layers over all experience. That then undermines a habitual belief that views of reality and self are solid and fixed. In doing these things, it enables the practitioner to release him or herself from spiritual obscurations (Sanskrit: klesha) and to practice compassion and wisdom simultaneously.

Beer (2004: p.142) in mentioning creativity, imagination, visualisation and photism states:

Deity Yoga employs highly refined techniques of creative imagination, visualisation, and photism in order to self-identify with the divine form and qualities of a particular deity as the union of method or skilful means and wisdom. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, "In brief, the body of a Buddha is attained through meditating on it".[10]

Four Purities (Tibetan: yongs su dag pa bzhi; yongs dag bzhi)[11] Deity yoga consists of several aspects of visualization/imagination explained in the "Four Purities". In defining Vajrayana, Yuthok et al. (1997: p.273) identify the "Four Purities" which define the principal Tantric methodology that distinguishes it from the rest of Buddhism:

Vajrayana...is a subdivision of Mahayana, which may be divided into Sutrayana and Vajrayana (or Tantrayana). Vajrayana is regarded as a swifter path and is considered superior to Sutrayana. Whereas Sutrayana focuses on the causal method, Vajrayana teaches the Resultant method [sic] because it includes the 'four purities': (1) purity of environment (2) purity of body (3) purity of resources and (4) purity of deeds.[12]

Kalachakranet [[7]] (2006) identifies and defines the "Four Purities" in a complementary though different fashion:

The main tantric practices can be summarised in the "Four Purities":

1. Seeing one's body as the body of the deity2. Seeing one's environment as the pure land or mandala of the deity3. Perceiving one's enjoyments as bliss of the deity, free from attachment4. Performing one's actions only for the benefit of others (bodhicitta motivation, altruism)[13]

Imagery in deity yoga: representations of the deity, such as a statues (murti), paintings (thangka), or mandala, are often employed as an aid to visualization, invocation (Tibetan: Dzog-rim) and evocation (Tibetan: Kye-rim) in Deity yoga. Mandalas are sacred enclosures, sacred architecture that house and contain the uncontainable essence of a yidam. In the book, The World of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama describes them thus: “This is the celestial mansion, the pure residence of the deity.”

[edit] Guru yoga

Guru yoga (or 'teacher practice') (Tibetan: bla ma'i rnal 'byor)[14] is a practice that has many variations, but may be understood as a tantric devotional process where the practitioner unites their mindstream with the mindstream of the guru's Three Vajras. The guru is engaged as yidam, as a nirmanakaya manifestation of a Buddha. The process of guru yoga might entail visualization of a refuge tree as an invocation of the lineage. It might involve visualization of the guru above or in front of the practitioner. Guru yoga may entail a liturgy or mantra such as the Prayer in Seven Lines (Tibetan: tshig bdun gsol 'debs)[15], an evocation and invocation of Padmasambhava, though this is neither necessary nor mandatory.

The Guru or spiritual teacher is essential as a guide during tantric practice, without their example, blessings and grace, genuine progress is held to be impossible for all but the most keen and gifted. Many tantric texts qualify the Triratna thus: "Guru is Buddha, Guru is Dharma and Guru is Sangha" to reflect their importance for the disciple. In the Kagyu lineage, the guru is considered more compassionate and more potent than the Buddha because we can have a direct relationship with the guru.

[edit] Death yoga

Death yoga (or 'death practice') is another important aspect of Tantra techniques. Although it is called Death yoga, most of the practice actually happens during life. It is the accumulation of meditative practice that helps to prepare the practitioner for what they need to do at the time of death. At the time of death the mind is in a state (clear light) that can open the mind to enlightenment, when used very skillfully. It is said that masters like Lama Tsong Khapa used these techniques to achieve enlightenment during the death process. Actually, there are three stages at which it is possible to do this; at the end of the death process, during the bardo (or 'in between period') and during the process of rebirth. During these stages, the mind is in a very subtle state, and an advanced practitioner can use these natural states to make significant progress on the spiritual path. The Tibetan Book of the Dead is an important commentary for this kind of traditional practice.

This Death yoga should not be confused with normal meditation on death, which is a common practice within Buddhist traditions. In most non-tantra traditions it is done to reduce attachment and desire, and not to use the death process itself as a means to practice.

[edit] Esoteric transmission (initiation) and samaya (vow) Main articles: Esoteric transmission and Samaya

The other conspicuous aspect of Vajrayana Buddhism is that it is esoteric. In this context esoteric means that the transmission of certain accelerating factors only occurs directly from teacher to student during an initiation and cannot be simply learned from a book. Many techniques are also commonly said to be secret, but some Vajrayana teachers have responded that secrecy itself is not important and only a side-effect of the reality that the techniques have no validity outside the teacher-student lineage.[16]

Reginald Ray writes that "If these techniques are not practiced properly, practitioners may harm themselves physically and mentally. In order to avoid these dangers, the practice is kept "secret" outside the teacher/student relationship. Secrecy and the commitment of the student to the vajra guru are aspects of the samaya (Tib. damtsig), or "sacred bond", that protects both the practitioner and the integrity of the teachings."[17]

The teachings may also be considered "self-secret" meaning that even if they were to be told directly to a person, that person would not necessarily understand the teachings without proper context. In this way the teachings are "secret" to the minds of those who are not following the path with more than a curious investigation.[18][19]

The esoteric transmission framework can take varying forms. The Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism uses a method called Dzogchen. The Tibetan Kagyu school and the Shingon school in Japan use an alternative method called Mahamudra.

[edit] Classifications of tantra

[edit] New Translation Schools' tantric classification

The Sarma or New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Gelug, Sakya, and Kagyu) divide the Tantras into four hierarchical categories, namely,

• Kriyayoga
• Ch aryayoga
• Yogatantra
• Anuttarayogatantra
  • further divided into "mother", "father" and "non-dual" tantras.

[edit] Ancient Translation School tantric classification

A different division is used by the Nyingma or Ancient school:

• Three Outer Tantras:
  • Kriyayoga
  • Charyayo ga
  • Yogatantra
• Three Inner Tantras, which correspond to the Anuttarayogatantra:
  • Mahayoga
  • Anu yoga
  • Atiyoga (Tib. Dzogchen)
    • The practice of Atiyoga is further divided into three classes: Mental SemDe, Spatial LongDe, and Esoteric Instructional MenNgagDe.

[edit] Classifications and numerology

Numbers, numerology and the spirituality of numerals is key to the Twilight language and endemic to Vajrayana as it is throughout Indian religions. Numbers that are particularly frequent in classification are three, five and nine:

As Bucknell, et al. (1986: p.110) state:

The fivefold classification presented in the tantras is remarkably comprehensive, embracing objects of every conceivable type; it includes the infamous set of 'five Ms' (fish, meat, wine, mudra, sexual intercourse) and even a set of five 'body fluids' faeces, urine, blood, semen, flesh.[20] In addition it includes sets of doctrinal principles, such as the five skandhas (factors of existence), the four kayas (Buddha-bodies) and the triad prajña, upaya, bodhicitta (wisdom, means, enlightenment-mind). For example, prajña, upaya, and bodhicitta are identified with the triads female/male/union, Amitabha/Ak?obhya/Vairocana, and so on, and are thus implicitly assigned to the water, fire, and space groups respectively.[21]

[edit] Relationship with Mahayana

While tantra and esoterism distinguish Vajrayana Buddhism, from the Tibetan Buddhist point of view it is a form of Mahayana Buddhism, as the endgoal of the practice is Buddhahood (in order to be of greatest benefit of other sentient beings). Sutras important to Mahayana are generally important to Vajrayana, although Vajrayana adds texts of its own, the so-called Tantras (see Buddhist texts, List of sutras, Tibetan Buddhist canon). The importance of bodhisattvas and a pantheon of deities in Mahayana carries over to Vajrayana, as well as the perspective that Buddhism and Buddhist spiritual practice are not intended just for ordained monks, but for the laity too.

The Japanese Vajrayana teacher Kukai expressed a view contrary to this by making a clear distinction between Mahayana and Vajrayana. Kukai characterises the Mahayana in its entirety as exoteric, and therefore provisional. From this point of view the esoteric Vajrayana is the only Buddhist teaching which is not a compromise with the limited nature of the audience to which it is directed, since the teachings are said to be the Dharmakaya (the principle of enlightenment) in the form of Mahavairocana, engaging in a monologue with himself. From this view the Hinayana and Mahayana are provisional and compromised aspects of the Vajrayana - rather than seeing the Vajrayana as primarily a form of Mahayana Buddhism. This view is also found in Tibetan Buddhism, where it is taught that ultimately one can only become a Buddha by practicing tantra (even if only for the very last step of the path).

Some aspects of Vajrayana have also filtered back into Mahayana. In particular, the Vajrayana fondness for powerful symbols may be found in weakened form in Mahayana temples where protector deities may be found glaring down at visitors.

The Vajrayana has a rich array of vows of conduct and behaviour which is based on the rules of the Pratimoksha and the Bodhisattva code of discipline. The Ornament for the Essence of Manjushrikirti states:

Distance yourself from Vajra Masters who are not keeping the three vows[22]who keep on with a root downfall, who are miserly with the Dharma,and who engage in actions that should be forsaken.Those who worship them go to hell and so on as a result.[23]

This as well as other sources express the need to build the Vajrayana on the foundation of the Pratimoksha and Bodhisattva vows. Lay persons can follow the lay ordination. The Ngagpa Yogis from the Nyingma school keep a special lay ordination.

Besides this, there are also special tantric vows that need to be kept when practicing the highest levels of tantra, which can vary somewhat depending on the specific practice.

[edit] History of Vajrayana

[edit] India

There are differing views as to where Vajrayana began. Some believe it originated in Bengal,[24] now divided between the Republic of India and Bangladesh, with others claiming it began in Uddiyana, located by some scholars in the modern day Swat Valley in Pakistan, or in South India. In the Tibetan tradition, it is claimed that the historical Shakyamuni Buddha taught tantra, but as these are 'secret' teachings outside the teacher/disciple relationship, they were written down generally long after the Buddha's other teachings, known as sutras.

The earliest texts appeared around the early 4th century. Nalanda University in northern India became a center for the development of Vajrayana theory, although it is likely that the university followed, rather than led, the early Tantric movement. India would continue as the source of leading-edge Vajrayana practices up through the 11th century.

(Vajrayana) Buddhism had mostly died out in India by the 13th century, and tantric religions of Buddhism and Hinduism were also experiencing pressure from invading Islamic armies. By that time, the vast majority of the practices were also made available in Tibet, where they were preserved until recently.

In the second half of the 20th century a sizable number of Tibetan exiles fled the oppressive, anti-religious rule of the Communist Chinese to establish Tibetan Buddhist communities in northern India, particularly around Dharamsala. They remain the primary practitioners of Tantric Buddhism in India and the entire world.

[edit] China

Vajrayana followed the same route into northern China as Buddhism itself, arriving from India via the Silk Road some time during the first half of the 7th century. It arrived just as Buddhism was reaching its zenith in China, receiving sanction from the emperors of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang capital at Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an) became an important center for Buddhist studies, and Vajrayana ideas (??) no doubt received great attention as pilgrim monks returned from India with the latest texts and methods (see Buddhism in China, Journey to the West).

[edit] Tibet and other Himalayan kingdoms A Buddhist ceremony in Ladakh. Young Monk in Shalu Monastery, Shigatse, Tibet

In 747 the Indian master Padmasambhava traveled from Afghanistan to bring Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet and Bhutan, at the request of the king of Tibet. This was the original transmission which anchors the lineage of the Nyingma school. During the 11th century and early 12th century a second important transmission occurred with the lineages of Atisa, Marpa and Brogmi, giving rise to the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism, namely Kadam, Kagyu, Sakya, and Geluk (the school of the Dalai Lama).

[edit] Japan

In 804, Emperor Kammu sent the intrepid monk Kukai to the Tang Dynasty capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) to retrieve the latest Buddhist knowledge. Kukai absorbed the Vajrayana thinking (??) and synthesized a version which he took back with him to Japan, where he founded the Shingon school of Buddhism, a school which continues to this day.

[edit] Malay Archipelago

In the late 8th century, Indian models of Vajrayana traveled directly to the island of Java and Sumatra in the Malay Archipelago where a huge temple complex at Borobudur was soon built. The empire of Srivijaya was a centre of Vajrayana learning and Atisha studied there under Serlingpa, an eminent Buddhist scholar and a prince of the Srivijayan ruling house. Through the early economic relationships with the Srivijaya Empire based on Sumatra, the Philippines came under the influence of the Vajrayana religion. Vajrayana Buddhism survived in both islands as well as the Malay Peninsula until eclipsed by Islam in the late 13th century and early 14th century.

[edit] Mongolia

In the 13th century, long after the original wave of Vajrayana Buddhism had died out in China itself, two eminent Tibetan Sakyapa teachers, Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen and Chogyal Phagpa, visited the Mongolian royal court. In a competition between Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists held before the royal court, Prince Godan found Tibetan Buddhism to be the most satisfactory and adopted it as his personal religion, although not requiring it of his subjects. As Kublai Khan had just conquered China (establishing the Yuan Dynasty), his adoption of Vajrayana led to the renewal of Tantric practices in China as the ruling class found it useful to emulate their leader.

Vajrayana would decline in China and Mongolia with the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, to be replaced by resurgent Daoism, Confucianism, and Pure Land Buddhism. However, Mongolia would see yet another revival of Vajrayana in the 17th century, with the establishment of ties between the Dalai Lama in Tibet and the Mongolian princedoms. This revived the historic pattern of the spiritual leaders of Tibet acting as priests to the rulers of the Mongol empire. Tibetan Buddhism is still practiced as a folk religion in Mongolia today despite more than 65 years of state-sponsored communism.

[edit] See also

• Buddhism in Bhutan
• Buddhism in Russia
• Tibetan Buddhist teachers

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Skilling, Mahasutras, volume I, parts I & II, 1997, Pali Text Society, page 78, speaks of the tantra divisions of some editions of the Kangyur as including Sravakayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana texts
2. ^ Ray, Reginald A. Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. Shambhala Publications, Boston: 2001
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ Berzin Archives. Retrieved on 2008-06-22.
5. ^ Conze, The Prajnaparamita Literature
6. ^ Peter Skilling, Mahasutras, volume I, 1994, Pali Text Society[2], Lancaster, page xxiv
7. ^ Luminous Emptiness. 2001. Francesca Fremantle. Boston: Shambala Publications. ISBN 1-57062-450-X
8. ^ There are numerous liminal states discussed in the Bardo literature.
9. ^ Arpaia, Joseph & D. Lobsang Rapgay (2004). Tibetan Wisdom for Modern Life. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-1955-1.
10. ^ Beer, Robert (2004). The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs. Serindia Publications, Inc. ISBN 1932476105. p.142. Source: [3] (accessed: January 9, 2008)
11. ^ Source: [4] (accessed: January 3, 2008)
12. ^ Yuthok, Choedak (1997). Lamdre: Dawn of Enlightenment. (Transcribed and edited by Pauline Westwood with valued assistance from Ot Rastsaphong, Rob Small, Brett Wagland and Whitethorn. Cover Design: Rob Small) Canberra, Australia: Gorum Publications. ISBN 0 9587085 0 9. Source: [5] (accessed: January 3, 2008)
13. ^ Kalachakranet (2006). Tantric Practice. Source: [6] (Source: January 3, 2008)
14. ^ Rinpoche, Patrul (author); Brown, Kerry (ed.); and Sharma, Sima (ed.)(1994). The Words of My Perfect Teacher (Tibetan title: kunzang lama'i shelung). Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. With a forward by the Dalai Lama. San Francisco, California, USA: HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 0-06-066449-5 (cloth: alk. paper). P.416
15. ^ Rinpoche, Patrul (author); Brown, Kerry (ed.); and Sharma, Sima (ed.)(1994). The Words of My Perfect Teacher (Tibetan title: kunzang lama'i shelung). Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. With a forward by the Dalai Lama. San Francisco, California, USA: HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 0-06-066449-5 (cloth: alk. paper). P.442
16. ^ Dhammasaavaka. The Buddhism Primer: An Introduction to Buddhism, p. 79. ISBN 1411663349
17. ^ Ray, Reginald A. Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. Shambhala Publications, Boston: 2001
18. ^ Morreale, Don (1998) The Complete Guide to Buddhist America ISBN 1-57062-270-1 p.215
19. ^ Trungpa, Chögyam and Chödzin, Sherab (1992) The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra ISBN 0-87773-654-5 p. 144
20. ^ On the 'five Ms', see Benjamin Walker, The Hindu World, vol. I (New York: Praeger, 1968), p.221; on the five 'body-fluids' see Elder, 'Problems of Language in Buddhist Tantra', pp.241 - 2.
21. ^ See Wayman, 'Female Energy and Symbolism', pp. 89-90; also Snellgrove, The Hevajra Tantra vol. I, p.27.
22. ^ this refers to the Pratimoksha, Bodhisattva and Vajrayana vows
23. ^ Tantric Ethics: An Explanation of the Precepts for Buddhist Vajrayana Practice by Tsongkhapa, ISBN 0-86171-290-0, page 46
24. ^ Banerjee, S. C. Tantra in Bengal: A Study in Its Origin, Development and Influence. Manohar. ISBN 8185425639.

[edit] References

• Bucknell, Roderick & Stuart-Fox, Martin (1986). The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism. Curzon Press: London. ISBN 0-312-82540-4

[edit] Further reading

• Tantric Ethics: An Explanation of the Precepts for Buddhist Vajrayana Practice by Tson-Kha-Pa, ISBN 0-86171-290-0
• Perf ect Conduct: Ascertaining the Three Vows by Ngari Panchen, Dudjom Rinpoche, ISBN 0-86171-083-5
• Budd hist Ethics (Treasury of Knowledge) by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, ISBN 1-55939-191-X
• Arya deva's Lamp that Integrates the Practices (Caryamelapakapradipa): The Gradual Path of Vajrayana Buddhism according to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition, ed. and trans by Christian K. Wedemeyer (New York: AIBS/Columbia Univ. Press, 2007). ISBN 978-0-9753734-5-3

[edit] External links

• The Berzin archive. Archive on texts and teachings of Vajrayana, Tibetan Buddhism, Islam and Bon
• History of Tibetan Buddhism and the Vajrayana in Tibet (a Karma Kagyu web site)
• Love and Passion in Tantric Buddhist Art

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OSIRIS The Phoenix Of Reincarnation
Jun 20, 2008 | 4:45 PM PST
Tags: OSIRIS , Phoenix , Reincarnation , Mauna Kea , Lake Waiau , 2112 , 444 , 1144 , Heart , Green , 432 Hz , 11 , Eye Of The Pyramid , RA , KA , AMARAKA
Osiris From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Osiris (disambiguation). Osiris, lord of the dead. His green skin symbolizes rejuvenation. Osiris
in hieroglyphs

Osiris (Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, or Ausare) is the Egyptian god of life, death, and fertility.

Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found and first appears in the Pyramid Texts around 2400 BC, when his cult is already well established. He was widely worshipped until the forcible suppression of paganism in the Christian era.[1][2] The information we have on the myths of Osiris is derived from allusions contained in the pyramid texts, and, much later, in narrative style from the writings of Plutarch[3] and Diodorus Siculus.[4]

Osiris was not only the redeemer and merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. The Kings of Egypt were associated with Osiris in death — as Osiris rose from the dead they would, in union with him, inherit eternal life through a process of imitative magic. By the New Kingdom all people, not just pharaohs, were believed to be associated with Osiris at death if they incurred the costs of the assimilation rituals.[5]

Osiris is the oldest son of the Earth god, Geb,[6] and the sky goddess, Nut as well as being brother and husband of Isis, with Horus being considered his posthumously begotten son.[6]

Osiris is later associated with the name Khenti-Amentiu, which means 'Foremost of the Westerners' a reference to his kingship in the land of the dead.

Contents [hide]

• 1 Appearance
• 2 Early mythology
  • 2.1 Father of Horus
  • 2.2 Ram god
• 3 Mythology
  • 3.1 Passion and resurrection
  • 3.2 I-Kher-Nefert stele
  • 3.3 Wheat and clay rituals
  • 3.4 Osirian sacrament
  • 3.5 Osiris-Dionysus
  • 3.6 Serapis
  • 3.7 Destruction
• 4 See also
• 5 Notes
• 6 References
• 7 External links

//

The name was first recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs only as ws-ir or os-ir because the Egyptian writing system omitted vowels. It is reconstructed to have been pronounced Us-iri (oos-ee-ree) meaning 'Throne of the Eye' and survives into the Coptic language as Ousire.

[edit] Appearance

Osiris is usually depicted as a green-skinned (green was the color of rebirth) pharaoh wearing the Atef crown, a form of the white crown of upper Egypt with a plume of feathers to either side. Typically he is also depicted holding the crook and flail which signify divine authority in Egyptian pharaohs, but which were originally unique to Osiris and his own origin-gods (see below), and his feet and lower body are wrapped, as though already partly mummified.

[edit] Early mythology

When the Ennead and Ogdoad cosmogenies became merged, with the identification of Ra as Atum (Atum-Ra), gradually Anubis (Ogdoad system) was replaced by Osiris, whose cult had become more significant, Anubis was said to have given way to Osiris out of respect, and, as an underworld deity. Anubis was Set's son in some versions, but because Set became god of evil, he was subsequently identified as being Osiris' son. Abydos, which had been a strong centre of the cult of Anubis, became a centre of the cult of Osiris.

Because Isis, Osiris' wife and sister, represented life in the Ennead, it was considered somewhat inappropriate for her to be the mother of a god associated with death such as Anubis, and so instead, it was usually said that Nephthys, the other of the two female children of Geb and Nut, was his mother.

[edit] Father of Horus

Later, when Hathor's identity (from the Ogdoad) was assimilated into that of Isis, Horus, who had been Isis' husband (in the Ogdoad), became considered her son, and thus, since Osiris was Isis' husband (in the Ennead), Osiris also became considered Horus' father. Attempts to explain how Osiris, a god of the dead, could give rise to someone so definitely alive as Horus, lead to the development of the Legend of Osiris and Isis, which became the greatest myth in Egyptian mythology.

The myth described Osiris as having been killed by his brother Set who wanted Osiris' throne. Isis briefly brought Osiris back to life by use of a spell that she learned from her father. This spell gave her time to become pregnant by Osiris before he again died. Isis later gave birth to Horus. As such, since Horus was born after Osiris' resurrection, Horus became thought of as representing new beginnings and vanquished Set. This combination, Osiris-Horus, was therefore a life-death-rebirth deity, and thus associated with the new harvest each year. Afterward, Osiris became known as the Egyptian god of the dead, Isis became known as the Egyptian goddess of the children, and Horus became known as the Egyptian god of the sky.

Ptah-Seker (who resulted from the identification of Ptah as Seker), who was god of re-incarnation, thus gradually became identified with Osiris, the two becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris (rarely known as Ptah-Seker-Atum, although this was just the name, and involved Osiris rather than Atum). As the sun was thought to spend the night in the underworld, and subsequently be re-incarnated, as both king of the underworld, and god of reincarnation, Ptah-Seker-Osiris was identified.

[edit] Ram god Banebdjed (b3-nb-?d)
in hieroglyphs

Since Osiris was considered dead, as god of the dead, Osiris' soul, or rather his Ba, was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it were a distinct god, especially so in the Delta city of Mendes. This aspect of Osiris was referred to as Banebdjed (also spelt Banebded or Banebdjedet, which is technically feminine) which literally means The ba of the lord of the djed, which roughly means The soul of the lord of the pillar of stability. The djed, a type of pillar, was usually understood as the backbone of Osiris, and, at the same time, as the Nile, the backbone of Egypt. The Nile, supplying water, and Osiris (strongly connected to the vegetation) who died only to be resurrected represented continuity and therefore stability. As Banebdjed, Osiris was given epithets such as Lord of the Sky and Life of the (sun god) Ra, since Ra, when he had become identified with Atum, was considered Osiris' ancestor, from whom his regal authority was inherited.

Ba does not, however, quite mean soul in the western sense, and also has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in the case of a god. Since the ba was associated with power, and also happened to be a word for ram in Egyptian, Banebdjed was depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed. A living, sacred ram, was even kept at Mendes and worshipped as the incarnation of the god, and upon death, the rams were mummified and buried in a ram-specific necropolis.

As regards the association of Osiris with the ram, the god's traditional crook and flail are of course the instruments of the shepherd, which has suggested to some scholars also an Osiris' origin in herding tribes of the upper Nile. The crook and flail were originally symbols of the minor agricultural deity Anedijti, and passed to Osiris later. From Osiris they eventually passed to Egyptian kings in general as symbols of divine authority. [7]

In Mendes, they had considered Hatmehit, a local fish-goddess, as the most important god/goddess, and so when the cult of Osiris became more significant, Banebdjed was identified in Mendes as deriving his authority from being married to Hatmehit. Later, when Horus became identified as the child of Osiris (in this form Horus is known as Harpocrates in Greek and Har-pa-khered in Egyptian), Banebdjed was consequently said to be Horus' father, as Banebdjed is an aspect of Osiris.

In occult writings, Banebdjed is often called the goat of Mendes, and identified with Baphomet; the fact that Banebdjed was a ram (sheep), not a goat, is apparently overlooked.

[edit] Mythology A shaven-headed priest of Osiris holding a canopic vase of Osiris with the hems of his robe. Ptolemaic Egypt. 1st century CE.

The cult of Osiris had a particularly strong interest towards the concept of immortality. Plutarch recounts one version of the myth surrounding the cult in which Set (Osiris's brother) fooled Osiris into getting into a box, which he then shut, had sealed with lead and threw into the Nile (sarcophaguses were based on the box in this myth). Osiris's wife, Isis, searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a tree trunk, which was holding up the roof of a palace in Byblos on the Phoenician coast. She managed to remove the coffin and open it, but Osiris was already dead. She used a spell she had learned from her father and brought him back to life so he could impregnate her. After they finished, he died again, so she hid his body in the desert. Months later, she gave birth to Horus. While she was off raising him, Set had been out hunting one night and he came across the body of Osiris. Enraged, he tore the body into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout the land. Isis gathered up all the parts of the body, less the phallus which was eaten by a fish thereafter considered taboo by the Egyptians, and bandaged them together for a proper burial. The gods were impressed by the devotion of Isis and thus restored Osiris to life[clarify] in the form of a different kind of existence as the god of the underworld. Because of his death and resurrection, Osiris is associated with the flooding and retreating of the Nile and thus with the crops along the Nile valley.

Diodorus Siculus gives another version of the myth in which Osiris is described as an ancient king who taught the Egyptians the arts of civilization, including agriculture. Osiris is murdered by his evil brother Set, whom Diodorus associates with the evil Typhon ("Typhonian Beast") of Greek mythology. Typhon divides the body into twenty six pieces which he distributes amongst his fellow conspirators in order to implicate them in the murder. Isis and Horus avenge the death of Osiris and slay Typhon. Isis recovers all the parts of Osiris body, less the phallus, and secretly buries them. She made replicas of them and distributed them to several locations which then became centres of Osiris worship.[7][8]

The tale of Osiris losing his manhood to fish (becoming fish like) is cognate with the story the Greek shepherd god Pan becoming fish like from the waist down in the same river Nile after being attacked by Typhon (see Capricornus). This attack was part of a generational feud in which both Zeus and Dionysus were dismembered by Typhon, in a similar manner as Osiris was by Set in Egypt.[citations needed]

Horus, the son of Osiris

[edit] Passion and resurrection

Plutarch and others have noted that the sacrifices to Osiris were “gloomy, solemn, and mournful...” (Isis and Osiris, 69) and that the great mystery festival, celebrated in two phases, began at Abydos on the 17th of Athyr[9] (November 13) commemorating the death of the god, which is also the same day that grain was planted in the ground. “The death of the grain and the death of the god were one and the same: the cereal was identified with the god who came from heaven; he was the bread by which man lives. The resurrection of the God symbolized the rebirth of the grain.” (Larson 17) The annual festival involved the construction of “Osiris Beds” formed in shape of Osiris, filled with soil and sown with seed.[10] The germinating seed symbolized Osiris rising from the dead. An almost pristine example was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter.[11]

The first phase of the festival was a public drama depicting the murder and dismemberment of Osiris, the search of his body by Isis, his triumphal return as the resurrected god, and the battle in which Horus defeated Set. This was all presented by skilled actors as a literary history, and was the main method of recruiting cult membership. According to Julius Firmicus Maternus of the fourth century, this play was re-enacted each year by worshippers who “beat their breasts and gashed their shoulders.... When they pretend that the mutilated remains of the god have been found and rejoined...they turn from mourning to rejoicing.” (De Errore Profanorum).

Some scholars have suggested possible connections or parallels of Osiris's resurrection story with those found in other religions. According to Anthony Aveni, The Russell B. Colgate Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology at Colgate University, Osiris

was done in by a conspiratorial brother who nailed him alive in a lead-lined cross and tossed into the Nile. Isis spent her life searching for Osiris, but once again her brother-in-law managed to recover the coffin and, for good measure, dismembered his brother's corpse and scattered it about the land. Undeterred, the faithful spouse collected all the body parts (minus the penis, which has been devoured by fish, thus necessitating a wax replacement) and reassembled them by constructing the first mummy. She dedicated one part each to the lands over which he had spread his teachings. Out of pity the jilted sun god revived Osiris, but confined him to rule over the dead in the underworld. Thus his worshippers acquire the promise of everlasting and bountiful life once they pass beyond the grave through the mummification process. Minus the mummy, doesn't this resurrection story have a familiar ring?[12]

[edit] I-Kher-Nefert stele

Much of the extant information about the Passion of Osiris can be found on a stele at Abydos erected in the 12th Dynasty by I-Kher-Nefert (also Ikhernefert), possibly a priest of Osiris or other official during the reign of Senwosret III (Pharaoh Sesostris, about 1875 BC).

The Passion Plays were held in the last month of the inundation (the annual Nile flood), coinciding with Spring, and held at Abydos/Abedjou which was the traditional place where the body of Osiris/Wesir drifted ashore after having been drowned in the Nile.[13] The part of the myth recounting the chopping up of the body into 14 pieces by Set is not recorded until later by Plutarch. Some elements of the ceremony were held in the temple, while others involved public participation in a form of theatre. The Stela of I-Kher-Nefert recounts the programme of events of the public elements over the five days of the Festival:

• The First Day, The Procession of Wepwawet: A mock battle is enacted during which the enemies of Osiris are defeated. A procession is led by the god Wepwawet ("opener of the way").
• The Second Day, The Great Procession of Osiris: The body of Osiris is taken from his temple to his tomb. The boat he is transported in, the "Neshmet" bark, has to be defended against his enemies.
• The Third Day, Osiris is Mourned and the Enemies of the Land are Destroyed.
• The Fourth Day, Night Vigil: Prayers and recitations are made and funeral rites performed.
• The Fifth Day, Osiris is Reborn: Osiris is reborn at dawn and crowned with the crown of Ma'at. A statue of Osiris is brought to the temple.[13]

[edit] Wheat and clay rituals

Contrasting with the public "theatrical" ceremonies sourced from the I-Kher-Nefert stele, more esoteric ceremonies were performed inside the temples by priests witnessed only by initiates. Plutarch mentions that two days after the beginning of the festival “the priests bring forth sacred chest containing a small golden coffer, into which they pour some potable water...and a great shout arises from the company for joy that Osiris is found (or resurrected). Then they knead some fertile soil with the water...and fashion therefrom a crescent-shaped figure, which they cloth and adorn, this indicating that they regard these gods as the substance of Earth and Water.” (Isis and Osiris, 39). Yet even he was obscure, for he also wrote, “I pass over the cutting of the wood” opting to not describe it since he considered it most sacred (Ibid. 21).

In the Osirian temple at Denderah, an inscription (translated by Budge, Chapter XV, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection) describes in detail the making of wheat paste models of each dismembered piece of Osiris to be sent out to the town where each piece was discovered by Isis. At the temple of Mendes, figures of Osiris are made from wheat and paste placed in a trough on the day of the murder, then water added for several days, when finally the mixture was kneaded into a mold of Osiris and taken to the temple and buried (the sacred grain for these cakes only grown in the temple fields). Molds are made from wood of a red tree in the forms of the sixteen dismembered parts of Osiris, cakes of divine bread made from each mold, placed in a silver chest and set near the head of the god, the inward parts of Osiris as described in the Book of the Dead (XVII). On the first day of the Festival of Ploughing, where the goddess Isis appears in her shrine where she is stripped naked, Paste made from the grain is placed in her bed and moistened with water, representing the fecund earth. All of these sacred rituals were climaxed by the eating of sacramental god, the eucharist by which the celebrants were transformed, in their persuasion, into replicas of their god-man (Larson 20).

[edit] Osirian sacrament

Since the ancient Nilotics believed that humans were whatever they eat, this sacrament was, by extension, able to make them celestial and immortal. The doctrine of the eucharist ultimately has its roots in prehistoric (symbolic) cannibalism, whose practitioners believed that the virtues and powers of the eaten would thus be absorbed by the eater. This phenomenon has been described throughout the world.

One of the oldest of the Pyramid Texts is the Unas[14] from the 6th Dynasty (circa 2500 BC). It shows that the original ideology of Egypt commingled with Osirian concepts. Although ultimately given a high place in heaven by order of Osiris, Unas is at first an enemy of the gods and his ancestors, whom he hunts, lassoes, kills, cooks, and eats so that their powers may become his own. This was written at a time when the eating of parents and gods was a laudable ceremony, and this emphasizes how hard it must have been to stamp out the older order of cannibalism. “He eats men, he feeds on the gods...he cooks them in his fiery cauldrons. He eats their words of power, he swallows their spirits.... He eats the wisdom of every god, his period of life is eternity.... Their soul is in his body, their spirits are within him.” A parallel passage is found in the Pyramid Text of Pepi II, who is said to have “seizeth those who are a follower of Set...he breaketh their heads, he cutteth off their haunches, he teareth out their intestines, he diggeth out their hearts, he drinketh copiously of their blood!” (line 531, ff). Although crude, this was a core concept, the conviction that one could receive immortality by eating the flesh and blood of a god who had died became a dominating obsession in the ancient world. Although the cult of Osiris forbade cannibalism, it did not outlaw dismemberment and eating of enemies, and practiced the ritual rending and eating of the sacred bull, symbolizing Osiris.

Although this sacramental concept only originated once in history, it spread throughout the Mediterranean area and became the dynamic force in every mystery cult. It was only by this sacerdotal means that the corruptible deceased could be clothed in incorruption and this idea appears again and again in infinite variety. The scribe Nebseni implores: “And there in the celestial mansions of heaven which my divine father Tem hath established, let my hands lay hold upon the wheat and the barley which shall be given unto me therein in abundant measure” (Ibid. LXXII). Nu corroborates that this is the eucharist by saying: “I am established, and the divine Sekhet-hetep is before me, I have eaten therein, I have become a spirit therein, I have abundance therein.” (Ibid. LXXVII) Again Nu states: “I am the divine soul of Ra...which is god...I am the divine food which is not corrupted” (Ibid. LXXXV). The ancientness of the concept is again reaffirmed in the Pyramid Text of Teta (2600 BC) where the Osiris Teta “receivest thy bread which decayeth not, and thy beer which perisheth not” In the Text of Pepi I we read: “All the gods give thee their flesh and their blood.... Thou shalt not die.” In the Text of Pepi II the aspirant prays for “thy bread of eternity, and thy beer of everlastingness” (Line 390).

[edit] Osiris-Dionysus

By the Hellenic era, Greek awareness of Osiris had grown, and attempts had been made to merge Greek philosophy, such as Platonism, and the cult of Osiris (especially the myth of his resurrection), resulting in a new mystery religion. Gradually, this became more popular, and was exported to other parts of the Greek sphere of influence. However, these mystery religions valued the change in wisdom, personality, and knowledge of fundamental truth, rather than the exact details of the acknowledged myths on which their teachings were superimposed. Thus in each region that it was exported to, the myth was changed to be about a similar local god, resulting in a series of gods, who had originally been quite distinct, but who were now syncretisms with Osiris. These gods became known as Osiris-Dionysus.

[edit] Serapis

Eventually, in Egypt, the Hellenic pharaohs decided to produce a deity that would be acceptable to both the local Egyptian population, and the influx of Hellenic visitors, to bring the two groups together, rather than allow a source of rebellion to grow. Thus Osiris was identified explicitly with Apis, really an aspect of Ptah, who had already been identified as Osiris by this point, and a syncretism of the two was created, known as Serapis, and depicted as a standard Greek god.

[edit] Destruction

Osiris-worship continued up until the 6th century AD on the island of Philae in Upper Nile. The Theodosian decree (in about 380 AD) to destroy all pagan temples and force worshippers to accept Christianity was ignored there. However, Justinian dispatched a General Narses to Philae, who destroyed the Osirian temples and sanctuaries, threw the priests into prison, and carted the sacred images off to Constantinople. However, by that time, the soteriology of Osiris had assumed various forms which had long spread far and wide in the ancient world.

[edit] See also

• Aaru
• Egyptia n soul

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "Theodosius I", The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912.[1]
2. ^ "Man, Myth and Magic", Osiris, Vol 5 p2086, S.G.F Brandon, BPC Publishing, 1971.
3. ^ "Isis and Osiris", Plutarch, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt, 1936, Vol 5 Loeb Classical Library.[2]
4. ^ "The Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus", Vol 1, translated by G. Booth, 1814.[3]
5. ^ "Man, Myth and Magic", Osiris, Vol 5 p2087-88, S.G.F Brandon, BPC Publishing, 1971.
6. ^ a b Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The complete gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson, 105. ISBN 0-500-05120-8.
7. ^ "Osiris", Man, Myth and Magic, S.G.F Brandon, Vol5 P2088, BPC Publishing.
8. ^ "The Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus", translated by George Booth 1814. retrieved 3 June 2007.[4]
9. ^ Plutarch. "Section 13", Isis and Osiris, 356C-D. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
10. ^ Britannica Ultimate Edition 2003 DVD
11. ^ Osiris Bed, Burton photograph p2024, The Griffith Institute.[5]
12. ^ Anthony Aveni, "Happy New Year! But Why Now?" in The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 21-22.
13. ^ a b ancientworlds.net - the passion plays of osiris
14. ^ "The Complete Pyramid Text of UNAS", Wim van den Dungen.[6]

[edit] References

• Martin A. Larson, The Story of Christian Origins (1977, 711 pp. ISBN 0883310902 ).

[edit] External links

• The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity

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