How to combine yoga with Buddhist practice. Yogic techniques in Buddhism How yoga differs from Buddhism

During his discipleship and ascetic studies, Shakyamuni learned both the doctrine of Samkhya and the practice of yoga. Arada Kalama taught him a form of pre-classical Samkhya in Vaishali, and Udraka Ramaputra outlined the principles of yoga and its objectives. But if the Buddha rejected the teachings of these two masters, it was only because he surpassed them. Of course, most canonical texts refer to the irreducible distance between the Enlightened One and his teachers and contemporaries. This is a controversial position and requires clarification. Buddha himself said that he “saw the path of the ancients and followed them.”

The “ancient”, timeless path of liberation and immortality is the path of yoga. Emile Senard wrote back in 1900 that Buddha did not reject the ascetic and contemplative practices of yoga entirely, but only complemented them: “The Buddha appeared on the territory of yoga, and no matter what innovation he introduced into it, yoga was the matrix within the framework of which his thought was formed."

The Buddha was equally opposed to brahmanical ritualism, excessive asceticism and metaphysical speculation. Therefore, he supported the existing criticism of the ossified ritualism and excessive asceticism (tapas) of the contemplative followers of the Upanishads and gave this criticism even greater severity; He also refuted the assertion (mainly contained in the classical Upanishads) that ultimate realization can only be achieved through metaphysical knowledge. At first glance, the Buddha appears to reject the brahminical orthodoxy and traditional theoreticalism of the Upanishads no less than he rejects the huge number of "heresies" prevalent in Indian society. And yet the main problem of Buddhism - suffering and liberation from suffering - is a traditional problem for Indian philosophy. The Buddhist saying “everything is suffering, everything is transitory” can be borrowed from Samkhya Yoga and Vedanta (which indeed happened).

So, a situation arose - Buddha, rejecting both orthodox doctrines and ascetic-contemplative teachings and at the same time accepting their theoretical premises and techniques! This seemingly paradoxical situation can be explained if we take into account that the Buddha intended to go beyond all the philosophical clichés and mystical teachings that existed in his day and, by freeing man from their dominion, set him on the “path” of achieving the Absolute. And if he accepted the ruthless analysis to which classical Samkhya and yoga subjected the concepts of “personality” and “psycho-mental life”, it was only because the “I”, in his opinion, has nothing in common with this illusory being - the human “soul” ". But Buddha went even further than Samkhya and Yoga - he refused to postulate the existence of Purusha or Atman. He denied the very possibility of discussing any absolute principle, just as he denied the possibility of even an approximate awareness of the real Self until man was "awakened." Similarly, the Buddha denied the conclusions of the theories contained in the Upanishads - about the existence of Brahman, the pure, absolute, immortal, eternal spirit, identical with the Atman, but he did this because this dogma could satisfy the intellect and thus prevent the awakening of man.

A more careful analysis shows that the Buddha rejected all contemporary philosophies and ascetic practices, because he considered them idola mentis 1, acting as a kind of screen between man and the unconditional absolute reality. A number of canonical texts indicate that he had no intention of denying the ultimate, unconditional reality that exists behind the eternal flow of cosmic and psychomental phenomena. He, however, preferred to almost not speak out on this topic. Nirvana is the absolute in the highest sense, asamskrita, that is, uncreated, unborn, eternal, transcendental - beyond human experience. “It makes no sense to say that Nirvana does not exist because it is not an object of knowledge. Of course, Nirvana cannot be known directly, like colors, sensations, it cannot be known indirectly through the study of its activities, just as the senses are known. And yet it nature and its activities are the objects of knowledge. The yogi plunges into meditation and begins to realize Nirvana - its nature and activities. When he emerges from the state of contemplation, he exclaims: “Oh, Nirvana, destruction, calm, splendor, escape! " Blind, by that reason that they do not know blue and yellow, they cannot claim that sighted people do not see colors and that colors do not exist" 2. Nirvana can only be "seen" through the "eyes of the saints" (aria chakku), that is, through a transcendental "organ" that is not part of the mortal world. The task of Buddhism, like any other initiatory teaching, was to show the “path” and create the means for acquiring a transcendental “organ” through which the unconditioned can be discovered.

We must not forget that the Buddha's teaching was addressed to a suffering person, a person entangled in the networks of reincarnation. According to the teachings of the Buddha (as well as yoga), final realization can only be achieved as a result of personal efforts, as a result of the “assimilation” of the truth. This was neither a theory nor a retreat into one type of asceticism or another - the “truth” had to be understood and at the same time known experimentally. But, as we will see, there are dangers on both paths: understanding risks remaining mere theory, and experimental knowledge can be suppressed by ecstasy. But, from the point of view of the Buddha, a person can only be “saved” by achieving nirvana - that is, by “dying” to this world, going beyond the framework of ordinary human experience and being reborn in a new, superhuman life, which is impossible to describe or define.

This is why Buddhist texts are replete with symbols of death, reincarnation and initiation. The monk must create for himself a “new body” and “after death,” as in other initiations, “be born again.” The Buddha himself proclaims this: “In addition, I showed my disciples the way in which from this body [consisting of the four elements] one can call into existence another body - a creation of the mind [rupim manomayam] with all its limbs and other parts, having the ability to transcendental faculties [abhinindriyas].It is similar to how a person peels a reed from its sheath, or draws a sword from its sheath, or watches a snake get rid of its old skin, realizing that the reed, the sword and the snake are one, and the sheath, sheath and leather - another" 3. The symbolism of initiation is obvious here: images of a snake and its shed skin, which are one of the most ancient symbols of mystical death and resurrection, are found in Brahmanical literature. Ananda Coomaraswamy showed that Buddhist initiation continued the Vedic tradition (dikshas) and basically followed its pattern of initiation. The monk gave up his name and became the "son of Buddha" (shakyaputto) because he was "born among the saints" (arya); thus, Kassapa, speaking of himself, declared: "The bastard Son of the Blessed One, born from His mouth. Born of the Dhamma, filled with the Dhamma and heir of the Dhamma." The importance of the guru as the master of initiation in Buddhism is as great as in any other Indian soteriological doctrine.

Buddha taught the path, i.e. how to die to addiction, suffering and the human condition in general and be reborn to freedom, bliss and unconditionality (nirvana). But he avoided talking about this unconditionality, as if he was afraid that he would not be able to show it with the best side. And he criticized the Brahmins and Paribbajakas precisely because they talked too much about the inexpressible and claimed that they could define the Self (atman). From the Buddha's point of view, "to claim that the real eternal atman exists is a fallacy; but to claim that it does not exist is also a fallacy." But if we read what he says about the liberated (nirvana) person, we see that he is in all respects the same as the non-Buddhist jivan-mukta, the person who has “achieved liberation while alive.” He is the one who "being alive, cuts himself off from life [nichchhata], plunges into the 'nirvana' state [nibuta], realizes the source of joy in himself and lives with a soul identical to Brahman." L. de la Vallée Poussin, who quotes this text, compares it with the Bhagavad Gita, V, 24: “He who draws light and happiness only within himself is a yogi identified with Brahman [brahmanirvanam].” This helps us understand exactly how the Buddha continues the Indian mystical-ascetic tradition; he believes in "living liberation" but refuses to define it. “If the Buddha refuses to speak about a liberated person, it is not because one does not exist, but because nothing definite can be said about a liberated person.” All that can be said about a jivan-mukta (or, using Buddhist terminology, about one who has achieved nirvana) is that he no longer belongs to this world. "It can no longer be said of the Tathagata that he is matter, sensations, ideas, desires, knowledge; he is free from all this; he is deep, immeasurable, incomprehensible, like the Great Ocean. It is impossible to say: “He is,” “He is not,” “He is or He is not” or “He is neither this nor that.” This is the language that mysticism and theology speak, this is the famous neti! neti! Upanishad.

JHANAS AND SAMAPATI

To achieve a state of unconditionality, in other words, in order to completely die to the worldly, illusory, suffering life and be reborn (in another “body”!) for the mystical life that allows one to achieve nirvana, the Buddha uses traditional yogic techniques. But he complements them with a deep desire to “understand” the truth. It should be noted that the initial stage of Buddhist austerity and meditation is no different from that described in the Yoga Sutras and other classical texts. The ascetic must choose a secluded place (in the forest, under a tree, in a cave, in a cemetery, or even on a haystack in an open field), sit in an asana and begin meditation. "By getting rid of the craving for worldly things, he lives without desires and cleanses his mind of greed. By getting rid of the wormhole of hostility, he lives free from ill will, benevolent and compassionate towards all beings, and cleanses his mind of malice. Abandoning laziness and apathy, filled with ease ", sensitivity and self-control, he cleanses his mind from both laziness and apathy. Getting rid of doubt, he lives like a person who has overcome confusion; not suffering from uncertainty about what is good, he cleanses his mind from doubts."

The purpose of such meditation is not ethical education, although it contains elements of “morality”. Its goal is to cleanse the ascetic’s consciousness and prepare him for higher spiritual experiences. Yogic meditation, as presented by the Buddha in some texts of the Digha Nikaya, is clearly aimed at “remaking” the consciousness of the ascetic, that is, creating for him a new “direct experience” of his spiritual and even biological life. Through all his concrete actions - gait, body posture, breathing - the ascetic must rediscover the "truths" proclaimed by the Master, in other words, he turns all his actions and movements into an object of meditation. The Maha Sattipatthana Sutanta says that a bhikkhu, having chosen a solitary place for meditation, must become aware of all those physiological acts that he previously performed automatically and unconsciously. “If he takes a deep breath, let him be aware of it; if he takes a deep breath, let him be aware of it. Let him practice with the thought: “Being aware of my whole body, I will inhale... I will exhale.” Let him practice, thinking: “ I will inhale, calming my body... Calming, I will exhale," etc."

This procedure is not just pranayama, it is also a meditation on Buddhist “truths” - a constant experience of the unreality of matter. For this is the purpose of this meditation - to fully assimilate the basic “truths”, turn them into a “permanent experience”, absorb them with the whole being. A little lower in the same text, the Digha Nikaya (II, 292) states: “A bhikkhu, whether he leaves or returns, looks at something or turns away, stretches out his limbs or draws them in, whether he puts on underwear or clothing, takes whether he drinks, eats, drinks, chews, rests, satisfies his natural needs... whether he walks, stands, sits, sleeps, watches, speaks, remains silent - he knows what he is doing.”

It is not difficult to understand the reason for such awareness. Whatever a bhikkhu does, he must always understand both his body and his soul in order to be able to continuously realize the illusory nature of the world of phenomena and the unreality of the “soul”. In the commentary to "Sumagala Vilasini" the following conclusion is made regarding this type of meditation on the actions of the body: "They say that a living being walks, a living being stands, but is there any living being that walks or stands? There is none."

But such constant attention to one's own life, such a technique for destroying the illusion created by the false concept of the "soul", are only elements of the initial preparation. Real Buddhist meditation begins after the adept experiences four mental states called jhana (Skt. dhyana).

We do not know exactly what meditation techniques the Buddha preferred and practiced. Sometimes the same formulas are used to express different contents. (As an example, we can cite the endless variety of meanings in which the word yoga appears in Indian literature.) However, it is likely that at least some of the meditative techniques used by the Buddha were preserved by his disciples and passed on by simple ascetics through the chain of disciplic succession. But how could such a rich and consistent body of spiritual practices, the individual parts of which were closely interconnected, be lost or subject to distortion in a tradition in which the direct instructions of the Master play such a significant role? However, according to the texts collected by Caroline Rees David, it is clear that the Buddha was a zealous Jain and that he did not seek either the Cosmic Soul (Brahman) or God (Ishvara) through the jhana he practiced, nor did he encourage others to do so. For him, jhana was not a mystical union, but a way of “mystical experimentation,” a way of reaching supersensible realities. Yogic experience prepares the adept for “superknowledge” (abhijna), the ultimate goal of which is nirvana.

It was in the Potthapada Sutta that, if not for the first time (which is very likely), then at least for the first time, the technique of Buddhist meditation was so clearly outlined. Here are a few major excerpts from this important text: “When he [the bhikkhu] realizes that these Five Obstacles [nivaran]5 have left him, joy overwhelms him and joy rises within him, and, having thus acquired lightness, he becomes peaceful, and his heart remains at peace. And so, becoming alien to passions, breaking with bad inclinations, he enters the First Delight [jhana]... a state of joy and lightness generated by detachment [vivekaya - “generated by loneliness”] from fleeting thoughts and reasoning, and strengthens in him. Then the thought... about the passions that overwhelmed him before goes away. And then a subtle but obvious feeling of joy and peace arises in him, generated by detachment, and he becomes a person aware of this."

Then, “suppressing all thoughts and considerations, [the bhikkhu] enters the Second Delight [jhana]... a state of joy, lightness, elation, consciousness and tranquility of the heart, generated by the clarity of concentration [samadhi] 6 when there are no thoughts or considerations, - and becomes stronger in him. Then the subtle but obvious consciousness of joy and peace, born of detachment [vivekaya], goes away. And the subtle but obvious consciousness of joy and peace, born of concentration, arises. And he becomes a person aware of this."

Then the bhikkhu, "withdrawing from joy, becomes balanced; attentive and concentrated, he feels in his body that lightness that the arhats [arya" meant when they said: “He who is serene and self-controlled is in perfect lightness.” And thus he enters the Third Delight [jhana]... and becomes strengthened in it. Then that subtle but obvious awareness of joy and peace that he just possessed goes away. And then there arises a subtle but obvious awareness of the bliss of equanimity."

After this, [the bhikkhu], “having withdrawn equally from ease and from pain, having gotten rid of all joy, all inspiration that he had previously felt, enters the Fourth Delight [jhana] ... a state of pure self-control and poise [sati], without pain and ease 7 , and becomes stronger in him. Then that subtle but still obvious consciousness of the bliss of equanimity that he just possessed goes away. And then a subtle but obvious awareness of the absence of pain and the absence of ease arises in him. And he becomes a person aware of this " 8 .

We will not multiply the number of quotations regarding these four jhanas, since they are defined quite clearly in the above texts.

(1) Cleansing the mind and feelings from “temptations”, isolating them from external influences, i.e. achieving initial autonomy of consciousness. (2) Suppression of the dialectical functions of the mind, concentration, perfect mastery of refined consciousness. (3) Breaking all “connections” both with the tangible world and with one’s memory, gaining serene clarity, unencumbered by anything except the “consciousness of being.” (4) Reunion of “opposites”, achieving the bliss of “pure consciousness”.

However, the journey does not end there. The jhanas are followed by four more spiritual stages, called samapatti - “achievements”, which prepare the ascetic for the final “enstasis”. Despite the available detailed descriptions of these “states,” it is not easy to understand their essence. They are associated with experiences that are very far removed from both the experiences of ordinary consciousness and the super-rational (mystical, poetic) experiences understandable to Westerners. At the same time, it would be wrong to reduce them to hypnotic inhibition. As we will see below, the monk's clarity of consciousness during meditation is constantly monitored; Moreover, hypnotic sleep and trance are obstacles well known to the authors of Indian treatises on meditation, who constantly warn students about them. The last four dhyanas (in ascetic terminology - samapatti) are described in the following way: “And then... the bhikkhu, transcending the consciousness of form, breaking with the feeling of resistance [patigha, the resistance that gives rise to every feeling], not allowing even the thought of discrimination, thinks: “Space is infinite,” reaches a state of mind when the latter is occupied only the awareness of the infinity of space, and remains in it.... Then... completely surpassing the consciousness of the infinity of space, he thinks: “Knowledge is endless,” and reaches such a state of mind when the latter is occupied only with the awareness of the infinity of knowledge... Then but, having completely transcended the consciousness of the infinity of knowledge, he thinks: “There is nothing that really exists,” and reaches such a state of mind when the latter is occupied only with the awareness of the unreality of things [akinchanayatana, “non-existence.”] Then this feeling of everything being within the sphere the infinite knowledge he had just now leaves him. And then an awareness arises in him, subtle but obvious, of the unreality of his thought as an object. And he becomes a person aware of this" 9 .

Comments on each of these stages, based on the extensive literature of late Buddhism, would only make sense if we were to undertake a reconstruction of the psychology and metaphysics of Buddhist scholasticism. But since we are essentially only interested in the structure of meditation here, let us move on to the ninth and last samapatti. "So... having thus gained awareness on the path chosen by himself [being in dhyana, he cannot perceive ideas from without; he is a sakasanni], he passes from one stage to another... until he reaches the pinnacle of awareness. at the top, he can think: “Thinking as such is a low state. It would be better not to think at all. If I continued to think and imagine 10, the ideas and states of consciousness that I had achieved would leave me, but others, grosser ones would arise. So I will no longer think or imagine." And he does neither one nor the other. And then the ideas and states of consciousness that he had leave him, no longer thinking or imagining, and others, more crude, do not arise in him. Then he falls into a trance" 11. Another text from a later period speaks even more directly of the greatest importance of the ninth and final samapatti: “Venerable monks, achieve samapatti, which consists in the cessation of all conscious perception. The bhikkhu who has achieved this has reached the end of the path.”12

YOGA AND METAPHYSICS

It may be noted that the dhyanas and samapatti described have much in common with the various stages of samprajnata and asprajnata samadhi in classical yoga. Indeed, the Buddhists themselves recognized that yogis and non-Buddhist ascetics can achieve the four dhyanas and the four “achievements,” and even the final samapatti of “ignorance” (asamjnisamapatti). At the same time, they denied the authenticity of the ninth samapatti, achieved by non-Buddhists; they believed that the "samapatti of destruction of consciousness and sensation" (samjnaveditanirodha samapatti) was discovered by the Buddha and that the result of it was the establishment of contact with nirvana. The “prohibition” on the attainment of nirvana by non-Buddhists, while the authenticity of their jhanas was not questioned, was undoubtedly due to the fact that “these heretics could not comprehend the truth revealed by the Buddha.” In other words, the unconditioned cannot be achieved through mystical meditation alone; the path leading to the unconditioned must be realized, otherwise the adept risks remaining in one or another “heaven”, while believing that he has achieved nirvana.

This brings us to the problem of "gnosis" and "mystical experience" - a problem which was destined to play a fundamental role in the history of Buddhism (and which remains the most important in the entire history of Indian spirituality). Two directions - so to speak, "experimental" (Jains) and "contemplative" (dhammayogi) - are the two constants of Buddhism. Since time immemorial, attempts have been made in the canonical texts to bring them into agreement. The Anguttara Nikaya sutra, to which L. de la Vallée Poussin drew our attention more than once, says: “Monks who devote themselves to ecstasy [Jainas] condemn those who are committed to the teachings [dhammayoga], and vice versa. one should show respect to each other. Verily, there are few who spend time touching with their body [i.e., “awareness”, “experiencing”] the immortal element [amata dhatu; i.e. nirvana]. "who sees the deepest reality [arthapada], penetrating it through prajna, intelligence." The text emphasizes the extreme complexity of both "paths" - gnosis and the experience gained by meditation. And this is quite true, for those who have the experience of nirvana are truly few in number, as well as those who “see” reality as it is, and through such intellectual vision achieve liberation. In time, all means of approaching the Buddha will become equivalent; one who studies and comprehends the canon absorbs the "doctrinal body" of the Buddha; a pilgrim visiting a stupa with the relics of the Enlightened One gains access to the mystical architectonic body of the same Buddha. However, at the initial stage, Buddhism faced the same problem as Samkhya Yoga: what is more important, reason or “experience”?

There is ample evidence that the Buddha always closely associated knowledge with meditative experience of the yogic type. For him, knowledge had no special value until it was “embodied” in personal experience. As for the meditation experience, it is given value by the “truths” discovered by the Buddha. Take, for example, the following statement: “The body is perishable.” This truth can only be realized through the contemplation of a corpse. However, contemplating a corpse will not be valuable from the point of view of spiritual realization if it is not based on the truth (this body is perishable; all bodies are perishable; there is no salvation except in the law of the Buddha, etc.). All the truths discovered by the Buddha must be tested in a yogic manner - that is, they must be meditated on, they must be experienced.

It was for this reason that Ananda, the Teacher’s favorite disciple, who knew no equal in knowledge (according to Theragatha, vol. 1024, he learned eighty-two thousand dhammas of the Buddha himself and another two thousand dhammas of his fellow practitioners), was nevertheless excluded from the council - he was not an arhat, i.e. did not have perfect “yogic experience”. “As for Sthavira Ananda, who listened to a variety of sutras, memorized, recited them and meditated on them, his wisdom [prajna] is extensive, but mental concentration [chitta sangraha] is weak. In order to achieve the state of “destruction of impurity "["Arhatship"], these two qualities should be combined" 13. The famous text in the Sanyutta Nikaya (II, 115) contrasts Musila and Narada, each of whom symbolizes a certain degree of Buddhist perfection. Both of them are equal in their knowledge, but Narada does not consider himself an arhat, since he himself has not experienced “contact with nirvana.” He puts it this way: “It is, my friend, as if there were a well on a path in the jungle, but there was no rope or stick to draw out the water. And a man came up, exhausted from the heat, exhausted from the heat, trembling from thirst. He would look into the well. Verily, he would have the knowledge: water! - but would not be able to touch it" 14 .

According to the Anguttara Nikaya, both of these methods - "experimental" (the Jain method) and "contemplative" (the Dhammayogi method) - are equally necessary for achieving "Arhatship". For passions, “impurity” (kleshas) can be divided into two categories: 1) kleshas of the mind, “views” [drishti], “mistakes”, delusions, beliefs in the “I”, etc. 2) the kleshas of feelings - what in our language is called passions, i.e. disgust and desire. To destroy "errors" does not mean to destroy "passions"; The ascetic’s recognition of the transience and harmfulness of pleasant things does not prevent him from considering them pleasant and desiring them” 15.

“Experience,” therefore, turns out to be necessary for spiritual realization. On the other hand, the “experiential knowledge” given by the four jhanas and samapatti does not lead to nirvana without being illuminated by “wisdom”. Some sources are even of the opinion that “wisdom” itself can ensure the achievement of nirvana, but there is no need to resort to “yogic experiences”. Thus, Harivarman believes that of all the meditation exercises (samapatti), only “concentration” (samadhi) is necessary. Some arhats entered nirvana without possessing any of the five abhijnas ("miraculous powers"), but no one ever achieved it without possessing the "knowledge of the disappearance of vices" (asravakshaya) - the only means of achieving holiness. However, Harivarman exhibits an anti-mystical, anti-ecstatic tendency 16 that is also palpable in other sources; thus, according to the doctrine of Abhid-harma, prajnavimukta, the “dry saint,” one who has liberated himself through wisdom (prajna) attains nirvana in the same way as one who has the experience of nirodhasamapatti 17 . In such a “defense” of the phenomenon of “dry holiness” it is easy to see the rejection of yogic extremes on the part of theologians and metaphysicians. We will have occasion to return to this issue.

"MIRACULAR POWERS"

Let us now pay attention to the fact that the path to nirvana - like the path to samadhi in classical yoga - leads to the possession of “wonderful powers” ​​(siddhi, in Pali language - iddhi). For the Buddha (and subsequently for Patanjali) this created an additional problem. On the one hand, these powers are inevitably acquired in the course of initiation and for this very reason are important signs of the spiritual progress of the monk. On the other hand, they are doubly dangerous, since they tempt the monk with a useless “magical mastery of the world” and, in addition, can cause confusion in the minds of non-believers.

It is impossible to avoid siddhis; they, so to speak, represent new empirical categories of the “mystical body”, the creation of which the monk is busy. However, as we remember, the Buddhist monk, like the "brahmanical" or "heretical" yogi, must die to worldly life in order to be reborn in the unconditioned state. The death of the ordinary, worldly state on the physiological, psychological and spiritual levels is manifested through a series of mystical experiences and magical powers, indicating nothing less than the movement of the adept from conditioning to freedom. Possession of siddhis is not the same as liberation; these "miraculous powers" are signs that the monk is in the process of deconditioning himself, that he has suspended the laws of nature whose millstones ground him, doomed to suffer eternally from karmic determinism. Therefore, the possession of siddhis is not in itself harmful; a monk, however, must beware of succumbing to their temptation and, above all, avoid demonstrating these powers to the uninitiated. Below we will see what reasons the Buddha explained for the prohibition of the use and demonstration of siddhis.

Let us remind the reader that “miraculous powers” ​​are one of the five categories of “superknowledge” (abhijna), which are: 1) siddhis; 2) divine vision (divyakakshus); 3) divine hearing (divyashrotra); 4) knowledge of the thoughts of another (paracittajnana); 5) memory of past existences (purvanirvasanusmriti).

These five abhijnas (abhinya in Pali) are not at all different from those “powers” ​​available to non-Buddhist yogis. Even the preparatory stages of meditation leading to their possession - spiritual purification, serenity, etc. - similar to those characteristic of non-Buddhist yoga. “Having thus achieved serenity in his heart, having achieved purity, clarity of mind, detached from evil, softened, prepared for action, having acquired firmness and equanimity, he directs his mind to the forms of the Unseen Gift [siddhis]. He enjoys the Unseen Gift in its various forms - being one, he becomes many, and becoming many, he becomes one. He can be visible and invisible. He moves, without feeling barriers, through a wall, rampart or mountain, as through air. He penetrates through the earth, as through water. He walks on water as if on the earth's firmament, without falling through. Crossing his legs, he rises into the sky, like a bird on wings. He can even touch and feel the mighty sun and moon with his palm. In his body, he reaches even the skies of Brahma... Thanks to this pure Heavenly Hearing, superior to human, he hears sounds, both human and heavenly, both close and distant... Penetrating with his heart into the hearts of other people and creatures, he knows them... Having thus gained serenity [etc.] of his heart, he directs his mind to the knowledge of the memory of his previous temporary states" 18.

We find the same list of forces in the Akankheya Sutta; To achieve each siddhi, one should practice the corresponding jhana. "If a monk [bhikkhu] expresses his desire in these words: "May I be able to wield various magical powers: may being one be able to become many, and may being many be able to become one... and may I be able to achieve my body even of the world of Brahma, "then may he be firm regarding the injunctions, may he calm his thoughts and diligently achieve trances, etc." 19 . In this way, one achieves the ability to hear what is inaudible to the human ear, to sense what is happening in the hearts of others, to perceive one’s previous lives, to see how beings move from one state of being to another, etc.

The specified list of siddhis (= iddh) is for the most part similar in all ascetic and mystical literary sources India 20. The yogis of the Buddha's time possessed such “mystical powers,” and the Buddha doubted their authenticity no more than the authenticity of the ecstatic states achieved. At the same time, the Buddha did not encourage his disciples to strive for the possession of siddhis. The only real goal for them was liberation, and the possession of “powers” ​​could turn the monk away from his original goal - nirvana. Due to the excessive passion for mysticism and magic at that time, the Buddha never tired of reminding his listeners that the components of the mentioned task, as well as its solution, are located within man as such. “It is in this fathom-long shell, my friend, that I affirm that the world, the beginning of the world, the end of the world and the course of events that leads to the end of the world are contained.” 21

Indeed, while it is true that a monk, wishing to achieve the unconditioned, must die to worldly existence, it is no less true that, allowing himself to be tempted by “miraculous powers,” he risks remaining in a higher state of being, the state of gods and magicians, and forget about the ultimate goal - connection with the Absolute. In addition, the possession of this or that “miraculous power” in no way contributed to the spread of the Buddhist idea: other yogis and other people capable of achieving ecstatic states could perform the same miracles. Moreover, “power” can be mastered with the help of magic, without undergoing any internal transformation. Non-believers might thus conclude that what they see is nothing more than the result of some magical spell. “Imagine that a brother [Buddhist] somehow uses the possession of mystical power [siddha] - being one, he becomes diverse, being diverse, he becomes one [etc]... And some believer with a trusting heart will see him doing so. Then this believer will report this to the unbeliever... Then this unbeliever will say to him: “Yes, sir! This is some kind of charm called Gandharva Charm! Therefore, this is the power with which he creates all this "... Yes, Kevaddha! That is why I feel the danger of creating mystical miracles, I have disgust and hatred for them, and I am ashamed of them." “And if a Buddhist brother shows the yogic ability to penetrate into the thoughts and feelings of others and the like, the unbeliever can say to him: “Sir! This is an enchantment called the Precious Enchantment. Therefore, this is the power with which you do all this." 22 It was for this reason that the Buddha forbade the demonstration of siddhis: “You should not, O bhikkus, flaunt the superhuman powers of Iddhi before the laity. Whoever does so will be guilty of dukkata [bad action]” 23.

KNOWLEDGE OF PREVIOUS LIVES

Among the five (or six) superknowledge (abhijna) the ability to remember one's past lives is always mentioned 24. Like other siddhis and abhijnas, this mystical knowledge is also part of the pan-Indian occult tradition: Patanjali calls it among other “perfections” 25, and the Buddha himself more than once said that samanas and brahmins are able to remember a fairly large number of their past lives. “The hermit [samana or brahmana], through zeal, diligence, passionate desire and keenness of thought, reaches such a state of heart that, ecstatic in the heart, he calls into memory his various abodes of bygone times - in one birth or in two, three, four , five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, a thousand or several hundred thousand... births, remembering that “There I had such and such a name, such and such an origin and caste, I ate such and such food, went through such and such troubles and pleasures, reached such and such years. Having left there, I was reborn in such and such a place, under such and such a name, having such and such an origin... Having left there, I was reborn here." So he recalls in all details the circumstances and customs of his various places of residence in the past. times. And he says to himself: “The soul is eternal, and the world, which does not give rise to anything new, is strong, like a mountain peak, like a firmly planted pillar” 26.

At the same time, the Buddha refused to agree with the philosophical conclusion that the Samanas and Brahmans drew from the memories of their past lives - the conclusion about the eternity of the “I” and the world. More precisely, he refused to draw any conclusions from this at all: “Concerning this, brothers, the Tathagata knows that the conclusions reached and defended in this way will influence the future circumstances of those who believe in them. He knows this, and he also knows much more... and, having such knowledge, he is not arrogant, and being thus undefiled, he realizes in his heart the way to get rid of it." 27 The Buddha's refusal to delve into the metaphysical implications that can be drawn from any given supernatural experience is part of his teaching; he did not allow himself to be drawn into empty talk about a higher reality. In the text quoted above, the Samanas and Brahmins postulated the “eternity” of the world and the Self for the reason that they had encountered the same world and the same Self in thousands of previous lives. However, such a conclusion is not inevitable, since the Samanas and Brahmins always remembered existence in time - the problem for the Buddha, as for yoga, was precisely the “coming out of time,” entering into the unconditioned; observations made in the endless cycle of incarnations did not provide data for any conclusions regarding a “reality” that began outside the karmic cycle.

Like the Samanas and Brahmins, Buddhist monks tried to remember their previous lives. "Having thus strengthened my heart, cleared it and purified it... I directed it towards that knowledge which reminded me of my previous lives. I recalled my various existences in the past - one birth, then two... [and so on further, up to] hundreds of thousands of births, many eras of the destruction of the world, many eras of its rebirth" 28. As we see, both Buddhists and non-Buddhists are talking about the same superknowledge. “What is this superknowledge? The texts do not tell us about this: they show how “heretics” draw a conclusion about eternity from the knowledge of their past incarnations, but we learn about what conclusion Buddhists draw from this knowledge only with the advent of Abhidharma literature It seems to us that in the early sutras the memory of past lives was considered a component of the yogic spirit, nothing more than one of the forms of supernatural knowledge" 29 . With the advent of Mahavibhashi, we find in Buddhist literature the answer to the question of what a Buddhist monk can achieve thanks to such superknowledge. Aversion to the transitory. Vasubandhu adheres to the same opinion in the Abhidharma-kosha 30.

However, this later justification of the Buddhist scholastics seems to us incorrect; it is, rather, proof of the triumph of the “contemplatives” over the “experimentalists,” of theory over yogic mysticism. As for the purpose of knowledge about previous lives from the point of view of the Buddha, despite the lack of exact answers to this question, the canonical texts contain a sufficient number of hints in order to decide on this issue. Let us remember that, first of all, the Buddha attached great importance to memory as such; the gods lose their divinity and are cast out of heaven when they have “memory problems” 31 . Moreover: the inability to remember all of one's past lives is equivalent to metaphysical ignorance. Buddha dwells in detail on the example of gods cast out of heaven due to defective memory. Some of them, having become people, withdraw from the world, engage in asceticism and meditation and, thanks to Logical Exercises, gain the ability to remember almost all of their past lives; however, they do not remember the beginning of the series of their lives and, due to such “oblivion,” they receive a false idea of ​​​​the eternity of the world and the gods. The Buddha thus gives extremely great importance memories of previous lives. Thanks to this mystical ability, it becomes possible to reach the "beginning of time" - which, as we will see, implies the "coming out of time."

Ananda and other disciples who “remembered their births” (jatin saranti) were called jatissara (“those who remembered their births”). Choomaraswami showed 33 that the epithet Jatissara 34 is similar to Jatavedas - the epithet of the god Agni, since the latter also “knew all births” (vishva veda jhanima) 35 and was “Omniscient” (vishwavit). 36 Vamaveda, the author of the famous Rigvedic hymn, said about himself: “Being now in the womb [garbhe nu san], I have known all the births of the gods” 37. “Thus spoke Vamaveda while he was in the womb” 38. Krishna "knows all his births" 39 . So, for Brahmanism, as for the Buddha, memory (let's say, knowledge) is a “divine” and extremely precious gift: the “knower”, the “rememberer” turns out to be “concentrated”; absent-mindedness, forgetfulness, ignorance and "falling" are causally related situations and types of behavior.

Scholastic Buddhist texts tell us some details regarding the techniques used. “This is the ability consisting in recreating in memory days, months and years up to the time of being in the womb, and further recalling one’s past lives: one existence, ten, one hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand existences. Great Arhats and Pratyeka Buddhas can even remember the past for 80,000 Great kalpas. Great Bodhisattvas and Buddhas remember an unlimited number of kalpas." 40 According to the Abhidharmakosha (VII, 123), “an ascetic who wishes to remember his previous lives begins by comprehending the nature of the thought that just flashed through him. Then he moves on to the previous one, while pondering the sequence of states of his present existence up to thoughts of his conception. When he remembers the moment of thought in his transitional state [antarabhava], abhijna is achieved." 41

The procedure, therefore, is a “repulsion” from a certain moment closest to the present, and a further “reverse journey in time” (patiloman; Skt. pratiloman, “against the grain”), with the goal of returning ad originem 42 to that moment, when the first life “breaks through” into the world, setting time in motion, to that paradoxical moment beyond which time did not exist, since nothing had yet been manifested. The meaning and purpose of this yogic technique, which consists in retrospectively unwinding the spiral of time, is completely clear. With its help, true superknowledge is acquired, since the practitioner manages not only to regain knowledge of all his past lives, but also to reach the very “beginning of the world.” By moving against the flow, you inevitably come to the source, which ultimately coincides with the cosmogonic first manifestation. Re-living one’s past lives is equivalent to understanding them and, to some extent, “burning” one’s “sins” - that is, the entire set of actions committed as a result of ignorance, which was passed on from life to life according to the law of karma.

But there is even more here important point: man comes to the beginning of time and finds there timelessness, the eternal present, preceding the temporal experience that begins with the first human life received. In other words, he “touches” the unconditioned state that preceded man’s immersion in time and the wheel of lives. We can say that, starting from a certain moment in the temporal flow, a person can exhaust this flow, moving along it in the opposite direction, and ultimately achieve timelessness, eternity. But to do this you need to go beyond the human condition and enter nirvana. That is why the Buddha declared that only he had regained the knowledge of all his past lives, while the arhats, although they knew a large number of them, were far from knowing them all. As for the Samanas and Brahmanas, they, as we have seen, hastened to construct philosophical theories regarding the reality of the world and the “I” instead of penetrating deeper into the past and seeing the disintegration of all these “realities” (since the only true reality - the Absolute - cannot be described in the language of momentary philosophical systems).

The importance of such memory of past lives for yogic technique, which had as its goal an exodus from time, is quite obvious. However, the Buddha did not consider it the only remedy. In his opinion, to go beyond time - i.e. to complete human existence is quite possible by taking advantage of the “favorable moment” [kshana], gaining “instant enlightenment” (eka-kshanabhisambodhi of the Mahayanists), “tearing apart time” and allowing an “exit” from it through the “crack between the worlds” 43.

PARIBBAGIACA

At the time of the Buddha, there were many groups of wandering ascetics, yogis and “thinkers” in India. Some of these groups have survived since post-Vedic times. This was a period of rapid flowering of spirituality - along with monks and mystics, we find there polemicists, formidable magicians and even “materialists” and nihilists, the predecessors of the adepts of the Charvaka and Lokayata schools. We know very little about most of them, sometimes only their names. Their teachings are mentioned in passing in Buddhist and Jain texts, but since Buddhists and Jains fought against these teachings, the latter were usually distorted and ridiculed. However, it is likely that among these monks and wandering ascetics (paribbajaka; Skt. parivrajaka) there were outstanding personalities, preachers of daring and revolutionary teachings.

Buddhist texts contain several lists of polemicists and wandering ascetics from the time of the Buddha; the most famous of them, which has come down to us in the Samannaphala Sutta 44, summarizes the views of six famous samanas. Each of them is called the “head of the community” (ganacharya), the famous “founder of the sect” (titthakana), a saint (sadhusammato), an elder revered by many people. Purana Kassapa - apparently preached the futility of action; Makkhali Gosala, the leader of the Ajivikas, adhered to strict determinism (we will have reason to return to his teachings). Ajita Kesakambala - professed materialism very similar to Charvaka materialism. Pakudha Kachchayana - the eternity of the “seven bodies”. Sanjaya Velatthaputta - unintelligible agnosticism. Nigantha Nataputta - probably skepticism.

References to the teachings of “heretics” are also found in other Buddhist texts, in particular in the Majjhima Nikaya (I, 513 et seq.), the Sanyutta Nikaya (III, 69), and the Anguttara Nikaya (III, 383 et seq. Further); the latter text also contains a list of ten religious orders contemporary with the Buddha (III, 276-277), but we know almost nothing about their spiritual techniques.

In general, most of the "heretical" groups shared the critical attitude of the Buddha and Mahavira towards the traditional values ​​of Brahmanism; they denied the revelation of the Vedas and rejected the doctrine of sacrifice, as well as the metaphysical speculations of the Upanishads. In addition, some of them (for example, Makhali Gosala) showed interest in the structure of organic life and the laws of nature - an interest unknown until that time.

One can perhaps make a distinction between pure ascetics (tapasa) and polemicists (paribbajaka); the latter did not practice mortification. The Anguttara Nikaya mentions two varieties of paribbajaka: annyatithiya paribbajaka and brahmana paribbajaka - the latter usually discussed samdittika dhamma (matters related to tangible reality), while the former dealt with transcendental problems.

The Buddha had to encounter paribbajakas of both varieties several times. With one of them - Potthapada - he argued about the soul, with another - Nigrodha - about the value of an ascetic life, with the third - Ajita - about “states of consciousness” (panchasatani cittathanani), etc. The texts recounting these conversations emphasize not so much the teachings and customs of Paribbajaka as the Buddha's responses. However, we know at least that although they criticized Brahmanical institutions, they led a rather ascetic life and practiced pranayama, which once again confirms the pan-Indian nature of yogic techniques.

Extant texts (in the Pali language) sometimes allow us to identify certain ascetic techniques. Thus, in the Kassapa-Sikhanada Sutta, Kassapa mentions ascetics who spent long periods of time standing, sleeping on sharp thorns, boards or on the ground, eating cow and other excrement (probably in order to remain in constant repentance, because Hindus attributed purifying properties to this kind of substance) 45. Each of these ascetics took as his name the name of the method of mortification that he practiced. In such severe repentance one can discern the same tendency towards absolute asceticism that can still be found in India to this day. Probably the spiritual experience of the ascetics was extremely rudimentary, and the value they attached to repentance was purely magical in nature. We have no information about their techniques, if they existed.

In the Udumbarika Sihanada Suttanta, the Buddha reproaches the Paribbajakas for being overly enthusiastic about their austerity, despising other people, believing that they have achieved their goal and boasting about it, having too high an opinion of their abilities, etc. 46. This text suggests that severe asceticism was sometimes practiced by wandering ascetics, although, as a rule, it was characteristic of “those in the forest” (tapas). The Buddha's attitude towards ascetics is clarified in the Kassapa Sihanada Sutta, where he tells Kassapa that a true samana (hermit) and brahmana is recognized not by external manifestations - repentance and mortification, but by internal discipline, mercy, self-control, reason, free from superstitions and unconscious judgments 47.

MAKHALI GOSALA AND AJIVIKA

Maskarin (Makhali) Gosala, the leader of the Ajivika doctrine, stands out among the "heads of communities" and "founders of sects" for his gloomy grandeur. Buddha considered this former student and later rival of Mahavira to be his most dangerous enemy. The practices and teachings of Ajivika, which were desperately attacked and denigrated by Buddhists and Jains, are difficult to reconstruct. The Ajivika canon was a complex philosophical system, but nothing has come down to us from it except a few quotations in the writings of its opponents. Nevertheless, the history of this movement turned out to be long: having originated several generations before the advent of Buddhism and Jainism, it came to naught only in the 14th century. Gosala did not claim to be its creator; According to the Jain text Bhagavati Sutra, he considered himself the twenty-fourth Tirthankara of his era - the names of some of his legendary predecessors have reached us. The etymology of the word Ajivika remains unclear; A.F.R. Gernle derives it from the root ajiva - “a way of life or occupation of a certain class of people” 48, but with the same success it can be derived from the phrase a jivat - “life-long”, referring to the fundamental doctrine of the sect - having to go through multiple existences to achieve liberation.

What set Gosala apart from his contemporaries was his implacable fatalism. “Human effort is in vain” (n"atthi purisakara) - this was the essence of his teaching; its cornerstone was one word: niyati - “doom”, “fate”. According to a summary of his doctrine in the Samannaphala Sutta (53), Gosala was convinced that “there is no... reason for the depravity of creatures, neither main nor indirect; they have become vicious without reason or cause.... [There is no such thing as] one's own actions, or... the actions of another, or... human effort. There is no such thing as power or energy or human strength or human ability. All animals... creatures... beings... souls are deprived of their own strength, power and energy. They are mercilessly oppressed by fate, inevitable circumstances, depending on what kind their individual essence belongs to." In other words, Gosala was an opponent of the all-Indian doctrine of karma. In his opinion, every creature must go through a cycle of 8,400,000 mahakalpas, at the end of which spontaneous For the Buddha, such inexorable determinism was unacceptable, so he attacked Makhali Gosala more often than any of his contemporaries; he considered the doctrine of niyati to be extremely dangerous.

Having been a student and companion of Mahavira for several years, Gosala practiced asceticism, mastered magical powers and became a leader of the Ajivikas. He was distinguished by his silence (Sanyutta Nikaya, I, 66 says that he “abandoned speech”); From the fragments of his biography preserved in Buddhist and Jain texts, it can be concluded that Gosala, like many at that time, apparently was a skilled magician. With the help of "magic fire" he killed one of his students 49. His death (probably between 485 and 484 BC) was the result of a curse placed on him by Mahavira during a competition in the art of magic.

Initiation into the Ajivika order was similar to the ancient initiation rites into traditional secret societies. According to the commentary to the Tittira Jataka (III, 536-543) 50, the neophyte had to burn his hands while holding a hot object in them. The commentary to the Dhammapada (II, 52) 51 speaks of another initiation ritual: the candidate was buried up to his neck in the ground and his hair was pulled out one by one. The Ajivikas walked completely naked - this custom existed even before the birth of Mahavira Makhali Gosala. Like all ascetics, they earned their living by begging and adhered to very strict diet; many of them ended their days by exhausting themselves to death 52 . Nevertheless, Buddhists and Jains questioned their asceticism: the former accused them of being worldly, 53 and the latter of licentiousness. According to Mahavira, Makhali Gosala did not consider it a sin for an ascetic to have a relationship with a woman 54 . It is very likely that these accusations were born in a dispute; on the other hand, it should not be forgotten that in India sexual practices have always been used both to acquire magical powers and to “gain by force” a state of bliss.

Nothing has come down to us from the Ajivika spiritual techniques. Undoubtedly, Makhali Gosala occupied a special position on the horizon of Indian thought. The deterministic concept led him to the study of natural phenomena and the laws of life; he proposed a classification of living beings according to the number of their senses and in general terms formulated the doctrine of natural transformations (parinamavada), based on careful observations of periodicity in the life of plants. But all this does not explain the popularity enjoyed by the Ajivikas and the fact that they existed for two millennia. Generally speaking, there is nothing attractive to people in the Niyati doctrine. We are forced to assume that the sect had its own ascetic tradition and secrets of meditation and that it was this esoteric heritage that contributed to such a “longevity” of the sect. This assumption is supported by references to a kind of nirvana, comparable to the highest heavens of other mystical schools (since no one has canceled niyati) 55. Be that as it may, around the 10th century, the Ajivikas, like all of India, accepted bhakti and eventually merged with Pancharatra.

METAPHYSICAL KNOWLEDGE AND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE

The confrontation between adherents of knowledge and yogic experience permeates the entire history of Buddhism. At the beginning of our era, a third group intervened in this dispute - adherents of bhakti. It cannot be said that the canonical texts are completely absent from attributing soteriological significance to faith in the Buddha (more precisely, in the dhamma revealed by the Buddha). "Those who have nothing but faith in me and love for me will have heaven as their portion" 56 . For “faith is a seed... faith in this world is the best acquisition for a person” 57. Over time, mainly due to the numerous realized states of consciousness and religious experiences (a consequence of the prevalence of all kinds of meditation techniques), commitment to the mystical becomes especially important. Bodhisattvas, Amitabhas, Avalokiteshvaras, Manjushri Buddhas and countless celestial Buddhas are all postulated as personifications of bhakti. Buddhism was no exception to the general trend of Indian spirituality. This process was facilitated by the similarities between several "Buddha bodies", the growing importance of mantras and, above all, the triumph of Tantrism 58 .

Let us limit our consideration for now to the confrontation between “philosophers” and “yoga students.” In this regard, Vasubandhu's extensive encyclopedia "Abhidharmakosha" is especially interesting. It contains a number of unambiguous references to the value of “ecstasy” for achieving nirvana 59 . But even when discussing yoga, Vasubandhu tries to logically substantiate the mystical experience, to interpret it in terms of his school; It’s not that he denies the value of “yogic ecstasy,” but when speaking about abhidharma - the highest dharma - he is not inclined to go beyond the “philosophical” plane. For, from his point of view, philosophy as a type of “higher knowledge” allows one to achieve the same result as yogic practice. Abhidharma must show the fragility, and ultimately the unreality of the external world and all the experience that is associated with it; in fact, so-called “reality” is essentially nothing more than a sequence of fleeting events. For “contemplatives”, a clear, detailed and ruthless analysis of “reality” was a means of “salvation”, since it destroyed the world, reducing its apparent strength to a chain of instantaneous manifestations. Consequently, one who understood the ontological unreality of the various “composite” worlds (physical, mental, mental, metaphysical, etc.), thereby moved to the transcendental (unconditioned and indivisible) level of the Absolute and could achieve liberation.

"Visuddhimagga", "Path of Purity", Buddhaghoshi - the most complete and profound treatise on meditation existing in Hinayana Buddhism (c. mid-5th century AD) - reveals the same tendency. The stages of meditation are classified, explained, justified with the help of canonical texts and “rationally” interpreted. Of course, all the traditional motifs of Indian asceticism and meditation are present here: a list of siddhis, meditation on bodily vices, the spiritual benefits of oral description components human body, transformation by concentrating one's thoughts on the Buddha, concentrating on the rhythm of breathing, etc. However, it is clear that main goal Buddhaghoshi had to justify all these practices, make them understandable, almost “logical”. The last chapter of this lengthy work is entitled "On the Advantages of the Development of Understanding," and one of its paragraphs is devoted to proving that ecstasy (nirodha, "suspension of states of consciousness") can be achieved through the mind alone.

On the other hand, we have the Yogacara school, which reached its peak after the 5th century, which insisted on the necessity of yogic experience; “In order to destroy the phenomenal (i.e., “vulgar”) world and reach the unconditioned, it is easiest to “return to your center” through meditation and ecstasy than to resort to analysis.” At the same time, the followers of Yogacara did not reject philosophy; Belonging to a “philosophical school,” they developed their point of view with the help of the entire traditional scholastic arsenal.

All Buddhist monks who practiced yoga used a variety of objects to focus their attention. We are talking about kasina, which served as a basis for meditation long before the emergence of Buddhism. They are mentioned several times in the Visuddhimagga. Subsequently, these kasinas began to play an extremely important role in Tantrism. Any object, any phenomenon can be used as a kasin - light entering a dark room through a crack in the door, a jug of water, a lump of earth, etc. Through meditation, a complete coincidence of thought with such an object is achieved - that is, the unification of the stream of consciousness by suspending all other mental activity. This technique subsequently became popular also in Ceylon and Tibet.

Concerning kasina in Buddhist yoga there is a highly important, although somewhat obscure, text called the Yogavacara Guide to Indian Mysticism in Buddhist Practice. The state in which this text has reached us leaves much to be desired, which makes its understanding even more difficult. The author of this “Manual” is unknown, but the date of its creation can be approximately determined - the 16th-17th centuries. It is written in Pali and Sinhala. It is believed that its late appearance may be associated with the arrival of Buddhist monks to Ceylon from Siam at the request of King Vimala Dharma Surya (1684-1706), who wished to revive spiritual life in Buddhist monasteries on the island. As we know it - schematic and unintelligible - this text is more a list of technical formulas than a manual in the full sense of the word. The followers of Yogavacara undoubtedly received oral instructions, but this text was only a mnemonic aid. Yes, it is true that most Indian texts regarding meditation are sketchy notes, and the real initiation into the technique was carried out orally, but still the reticence of the author of the "Manual" seems excessive.

T. W. Rhys Davids and Caroline Rhys Davids have tried to clarify it as best they can. Translator Woodward mentions the Ceylonese bhikku Dorathiyaveya, still alive in 1900, who received knowledge of the Yogavacara technique directly from his guru. He did not apply it out of fear of immediately achieving nirvana, because being a bodhisattva, he had to live many more lives on earth. However, he initiated one of his students into this practice, but he became mentally damaged and died. Thus, according to Woodworth, there was no one left in Ceylon who knew this technique, and the dark parts of the text were not explained. The structure of the yogavacara technique is clear, but what would be of particular interest - the specific details of the meditations - alas, remains unknown.

The main feature of this technique is a complex meditation on the “elements”. The ascetic sat down in a yogic pose (asana) and began pranayama, focusing on the phases of breathing - that is, “delving into” and penetrating into each inhalation and exhalation. Then he said: “With the help of the eye-consciousness I look at the tip of my nose, with the help of the thought-consciousness focused on inhalation and exhalation, I fix my thought form in the heart and prepare myself with the word Arahan.” The Sinhalese commentary adds: “When he, filled with vigilance and sharpening his mind, fixes his thought in this way, two visions appear to him, one vague, the other clear. When the vague vision dissipates, and the clear one, cleansed of all defects, fills his whole being, passing then the threshold of the mind, the heat element arises. Here the Ecstasy becomes the color of the morning star, the Prelude the color of gold, and the Access the color of the young sun rising in the east. Developing these three thought forms of the heat element, moving them away from the tip of the nose, he must place them into your heart, and then into your eye."

Despite its apparent obscurity, the text is generally understandable. The initiate must meditate alternately on the "elements" fire, water, earth, air, etc. Each meditation, in addition to the preparatory one, includes three stages: entrance (access), prelude and ecstasy. Each of these stages has its own color - that is, the ascetic experiences the perception of a specific color, thus simultaneously testing and stimulating his meditation. However, these thought forms are obtained by him by concentrating on the tip of his nose; he must then cause them to move from this "center" to the centers corresponding to the heart and navel. Having completed the meditation on the element “heat” (tejothatu), he begins to meditate on the element “water”, more precisely, on “fusion” (apodhatu, since the main property of water is fusion). The preparation for the actual meditation is exactly the same. The "colors" perceived as a result of meditation on the element "water" are: the color of the full moon at "ecstasy", the color of the lotus at "prelude", the color of the yellow flower at "entrance". In the next meditation - on vayodhatu (the element "air", meaning mobility) - the "ecstasy" is colored the color of the midday sun, the "prelude" is orange, and the "entrance" is indigo. And so on. In each of the meditations, the "colors" thus obtained by concentrating on the tip of the nose should be placed in the two above-mentioned "centers". Each meditation is characterized by its own "delight": meditation on tejohatu - "fleeting delight" (hanika-pitti), meditation on apodhatu - "overwhelming delight" (okkantika-pitti), meditation on vayodhatu - "captivating delight", etc.

Having meditated on each of the elements separately, the initiate begins to meditate on four of them together, then in reverse order, etc. The "Manual" contains a whole series of meditations - on breathing 60, happiness, the five jhanas, disgusting things, on kasina, on the parts of the body, on the four highest states (brahmavihara), on the ten forms of knowledge, etc. Each of these meditations, in turn, is divided into several stages, and each stage is associated with a particular color or uses the color of one of the meditations on the elements.

What sets the Manual apart from similar texts is the importance it places on color sensations; each meditation is performed and tested by the adept receiving some color 61 . In addition, he works on these color sensations themselves: he removes them from his body four inches, then a league, and then even “at the distance of Mount Meru,” he fixes them in the necessary centers, etc. The role assigned by the "Manual" to the "centers" leads us to assume some tantric influence here; erotic elements, however, are completely absent. The mystical psychology of the "Manual" comes down to "centers" and color experiences (auditory experiences play a much smaller role in it). Be that as it may, the “experimental” nature of these meditations is obvious: dogmas and truths here become objects of experiments, they “enter” them, they give rise to specific “states”. The leitmotif is the plea of ​​the mind for happiness. Even “grace” plays a role: at the beginning of each meditation, the ascetic calls on the Buddha and entrusts himself to his mercy; guru (bhante) is also invoked, etc.

T.V. Rhys Davids noted that the Manual includes 1344 meditations (112 mental states, each of which is achieved by twelve different ways and generates the same number of “experiments”). The position of the body changes in each meditation - this eliminates the possibility of a hypnotic trance. In some meditations, eight pieces of wood are inserted into a candle an inch apart. Each stage of meditation lasts the time during which the candle burns out one such segment. When the flame touches the wood, the block falls, and the sound of its fall distracts the ascetic from meditation, indicating a change in posture. These constant changes were probably intended to prevent hypnotic sleep or to prolong one of the stages of meditation to the detriment of the next. Be that as it may, they enable the monk to constantly monitor the correctness of meditation and significantly help him maintain clarity of mind.

An interesting detail of this mystic technique is what might be called "creating the environment necessary for meditation" - the visualization of the object symbolized by the kasina (uggaha-nimitta). The ascetic imagined this image so vividly that he could meditate on it as if the object itself were in front of him. Similar exercises in “objectless” meditation (nirmita) are often used in almost all varieties of Indian mysticism.

The above superficial review of some forms of yogic meditation in late Buddhism will help us understand the reasons for the enormous popularity that Tantrism began to enjoy. The importance they attach to specific aids to meditation (kasina), “elements” and their “images”, “centers”, “colors”, etc., is important from the point of view of many aspects of our research. First of all, it testifies to attempts to tie all meditation experiences to the “concrete.” Concentration becomes possible due to the intensive weakening of awareness of the reality of the world, but this in no way makes the fragment chosen for concentration less real, and it is “assimilated” in this quality (the more real, the greater the concentration it generates), to some extent reflecting the reality of the whole world. It is, of course, true that the role of such external supports is always secondary and that the experience takes place within consciousness itself. However, for Hindus, working on consciousness does not mean either isolation from the real, or immersion in dreams and hallucinations. On the contrary, it is aimed at establishing direct contact with life, at paving the way to the concrete. To meditate means to rise to levels of reality inaccessible to the uninitiated.

In the first centuries of our era, it turned out that all “contacts” with the Buddha are equivalent: one can assimilate either the ideas of the Awakened One - that is, his “theoretical component” (dharma), or his “physical component”, stored in stupas, or symbolized in temples. architectural component”, or “oral component”, implemented using certain formulas - each of these paths is acceptable, since they all lead to going beyond the limits of ordinary reality. The “philosophers” who “relativized” and destroyed the immediate “reality” of the world contributed no less to the equivalence of the most difficult (gnosis, asceticism, yoga) and the simplest (pilgrimages, prayers, mantras) paths than the “mystics” who tried to surpass it through a paradoxical leap beyond time and life experience. For in this "composite" and conditioned world, every thing is as good as any other, the unconditioned, the Absolute, Nirvana, lies as far from perfect wisdom and the strictest asceticism, as from repeating the name of the Blessed One, venerating his remains or reciting mantras . All these, and many other procedures are only means of approaching the Inaccessible, Transcendent, Inexpressible.

This evolution of Buddhist thought does not particularly contradict the spirit of the Enlightened One. Buddha did not discuss the Absolute. He devoted himself to showing the way to achieve it, and this path inevitably ran through death for the unenlightened state. The unconditioned lies beyond the limits of everyday experience - that is, ultimately beyond the limits of spiritually “mundane” life. The “Path” is identical to initiation - death and mystical resurrection, rebirth for another existence. One can therefore try to die to the “worldly”, taking any of its “sectors” as a starting point. One who, walking around the temple, understands that he is entering a transpsychic universe, sanctified by the symbolism of the Buddha, destroys worldly attachments as successfully as a monk who “plunges into himself” through jhanas and samapatti, or a philosopher who achieves an understanding of the unreality of the world through logical argumentation. In all these cases, the seeker renounces this world, goes beyond worldly attachments, being already involved in superhuman existence. This is not yet nirvana, not unconditioned - but it is already a spiritual exercise showing how to “leave from the world” - a step forward in the long procedure of Buddhist initiation, which, like any initiation, “kills” the neophyte in order to resurrect him for new being.

Over time, methods for transcending the unenlightened state multiplied and “simplified” - that is, they became publicly available. This explains great success tantrism. However, this success, in turn, was prepared within the Buddhist community by the onslaught from the uninitiated and the invasion, both into Buddhism and Hinduism, of various forms of folk spirituality. Moreover, the Buddhist tradition foresaw this - continuing in this, as in many other things, the traditions of Brahmanism. Buddhism knew that “degeneration” awaited it, that the world would become increasingly dense, dark, sinful, and the “path of the Buddha” would turn out to be unrealizable. This completely coincided with the pan-Indian doctrine of cosmic cycles and accelerating degeneration in the last yuga. Tantrism thus ultimately proved to be a very clear harbinger of the Kali Yuga.

NOTES:

1. Idols of the mind (lat.). - Approx. lane
2. Samghabhadra, after L.de la Vallee Poussin, Nirvana. P., 1925, pp. 73-74. See Buddhagosha, Visuddhimagga, ed. With A.F. Rhys Davids, tr. P.M. Tin (London 1920-21), p. 507: “You cannot say that something does not exist just because the ignorant do not see it.”
3. Vasubandhu, op. from: La Vallee Poussin, L "Abhidharmakosha de Vasubandhu. P., 1923-26, 5 vols, p. 107, n. 2.
4. The commentator's explanation of this passage is as follows: "The yogi must ask himself: 'On what are these inhalations and exhalations based?' They are based on matter, and matter is the material body, and the material body is the four elements," etc. (Warren H. C. Buddhism in Translations. Cambridge, 1896, p. 355, n. 1.) Thus, here there is meditation on the rhythm of the breath, supported by an analytical consideration of the human body - a means for understanding the “composite”, “tormenting "and the changing nature of the body. This understanding supports and strengthens meditation, revealing the "unreality" of life, and strengthens the ascetic's determination to follow the chosen path of spiritual realization.
5. According to the Digha Nikaya, the five nivaranas are sensuality, anger, bodily and mental idleness, bodily and mental confusion, and doubt. Wed. "five sins" in Mahabharata, XII, 241, 3 ff.
6. Samadhi found in Buddhist texts is somewhat different from that described in Patanjali's manual. And although there are still some similarities with the samadhi of the Yoga Sutras, the Buddhist one, apparently, was considered as a state that precedes entering the path of achieving nirvana. See Note V, 2.
7. Physiologically, the fourth jhana is characterized by cessation of breathing, assasa-pas-sasa-nirodha.
8. "Digha-nikaya", 1, 182 ff.
9. "Digha-nikya", I, 183 ff.
10. Abhisankhareyam probably means "to improve" or "to plan". Note Rhys Davids.
11. "Digha-nikaya", 1,184.
12. Santideva, "Sikshasamucchaya".
13. Nagarjuna, Mahaprajnaparamitashastra. The Sanskrit original of this work is lost, but it has survived in a number of Chinese and Tibetan translations.
14. "Book of Related Sayings", II, 83.
15. La Vallee Poussin, "Mustla et Narada", p. 193.
16. Ibid., p. 206.
17. Ibid., p. 215.
18. "Samannyaphala-sutta", 87 ff. ("Digha-nikaya", I, 78 ff.).
19. Majjhima Nikaya, I, 34 ff.
20. See Patanjali's list above.
21. "Anguttara-nikaya", II, 48; "Sanyutta Nikaya", I, 62.
22. "Kevaddha-sutta", 4 ff; "Digha-nikaya", 1, 212 ff.
23. Vinaya, II, 112.
24. In other classifications, this yogic skill represents the first of the three sciences (vidya) or the eighth of the “powers of wisdom” (jnana or prajnabala). According to Buddhist scholasticism, the latter are accessible only to Buddhas, while abhijna and vidya are accessible to everyone.
25. "Yoga Sutras", III, 18.
26. "Digha-nikaya", 1.13 ff; Wed also Digha, III, 108 ff.
27. Ibid., I, 16 - 17 (italics added).
28. Majjhima Nikaya, I, 22 ff.
29. Demieville, b. 284.
30. Ibid., pp. 292 ff.
31. "Digha-nikaya", I, 19.
32. Ibid.
33. "Recollection, Indian and Platonic," Journal of the American Oriental Society Supplement, III (Apr.-June, 1944), 1-18.
34. "Milinda Panha", 78, etc.
35. Rigveda, VI, 15, 13.
36. Ibid., 29, 7, etc.
37. Ibid., IV, 27, 1. According to the Garbha Upanishad (III, 4), the memory of intrauterine life is lost at birth.
38. "Aitareya-aranyaka", II, 5.
39. "Bhagavad Gita", IV, 5.
40. Lamotte, p. 332.
41. Ibid., p. 332, N2.
42. To the beginning (lat.). - Approx. translation
43. See M. Eliade, “Images and Symbols.” The reader will undoubtedly have noted the similarity between the yogic technique of remembering past lives and the psychoanalytic method of recovering and assimilating (through their correct understanding) childhood memories.
44. "Digha-nikaya", I, 47 ff.
45. "Digha-nikaya", I, 167 ff.
46. ​​Ibid., III, 43 ff.
47. Ibid., III, 169 ff.
48. "Ajivika", "Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics" ed. J. Hastings, 1,259.
49. A. L. Basham, "History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas", p. 60.
50. Ibid., p. 104.
51. Ibid., p. 106.
52. Ibid., pp. 127 ff.
53. Ibid., p. 123.
54. "Gaina Sutras". In the book. Sacred Books of the East, tr. H.Jacobi.
55. Basham, b. 261.
56. "Majjhima Nikaya", 1,142.
57. "Sutta Nipata", 76, 181.
58. See next chapter.
59. For example, II, 43; VIII, 33, etc.
60. Breathing rhythm training “was considered by our Blessed Lord to be the main purpose of meditation,” writes a Sinhala commentator.
61. "Color" and "light" play an essential role in some tantric meditation experiences.

Chapter from the book “Yoga: Freedom and Immortality”

In a decidedly modern society(that’s exactly what happened!) Concepts such as yoga and Buddhism are often confused and sometimes identified. This can happen in definitely different ways. reasons. Yoga and Buddhism have common roots - both originated in Ancient India. did borrow some practical techniques from yoga. In addition, it is easy to confuse the eight-step path of cultivation in classical yoga and the so-called eightfold path in Buddhism. In reality, yoga is two independent teachings. Let's try it as soon as possible figure out(source unknown) what are the differences between Buddhism and yoga and what do they have in common.

Let's look at the philosophy and practice of yoga. Classical yoga is associated with the name of the ancient Indian philosopher Patanjali, who created(that’s exactly what happened!) a unique work on the practice of yoga “-sutras” (presumably the end of the 1st millennium BC). In it, Patanjali summarized the personal and centuries-old experience of ascetic practitioners. The fact is that in India for a very long time there was a tradition of the oral transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, so it is very difficult to say exactly when the teaching of yoga arose. According to decidedly some data(source not specified) its origins date back to the period of the Indus civilization, i.e. before the arrival of the Aryans on the territory of Ancient India. as a teaching, it was created over the centuries, enriched by new discoveries and achievements of those who practiced it. The same applies to yoga, which was formed gradually as the religious and philosophical thought of India developed.

First of all, it's definitely huge. influence Yoga philosophy was influenced by the Upanishads, the greatest philosophical texts of ancient India. They considered issues of the universe, mutual relations person and space, man and gods, the question of life and death. It was probably in the Upanishads for the first time appears the concept of rebirth, the idea that death follows new life, new form. And what this other life will be like most likely depends only(source not specified) from a person personally, from his actions, thoughts, etc. in real life. At the same time, the concept of karma arose, one of the most important Indian categories, which will subsequently appear in almost all religious and certainly philosophical systems ah Ancient India, including in yoga and Buddhism.

Secondly, yoga relies heavily on the positions of such teachings as Samkhya. This philosophical movement was allegedly founded in the 8th - 7th centuries. BC. Indian philosopher and thinker Kapila. It draws heavily on the Upanishads. This teaching is based on the idea that there are two principles: Purusha (probably spiritual Start(translator's note)) and Prakriti (matter, energy), which interact with each other. Purusha is made up of countless souls and is conscious but inert, while Prakriti is unconscious but has energy. Their interaction is certainly reason the emergence and existence of the universe. The goal of the individual soul is liberation from the captivity of matter, by separating the Purusha from Prakriti. The goal in yoga is the same as in Samkhya - to achieve Liberation (Moksha), go beyond Prakriti and merge with Purusha. But there is one cardinal difference: yoga is a practice. There is less abstract philosophical reasoning in it, but there is a set of specific exercises and methods for transforming what may be ordinary consciousness(that’s exactly what happened!), consciousness of Prakriti, into superconsciousness, i.e. consciousness of Purusha. Thus, this is exactly what can be achieved only one who renounces worldly life will become an ascetic and practice yoga.

There is a good expression: “Samkhya ends where it begins.” classical yoga"The yoga system is divided into eight stages, where, of course, each subsequent(source unknown) stage is based on the previous one. In other words, jump from one to another or probably work only You can’t do it with just one or two of your choice—the goal won’t be achieved. It would be good for those who practice yoga in our time to remember this. The eight steps of the yoga system are moral precepts (Yama), lifestyle prescriptions (Niyamas), the practice of certain body positions (Asanas), and, of course, breathing practice exercises(Pranayamas), the practice of detachment (Pratyahara), the practice of concentration (Dhyana), the practice of reflection (Dharana) and the knowledge of truth (Samadhi).

Now let's look at the history, philosophy and practice of Buddhism. 1st millennium BC Ancient India was characterized by the active development of religious and philosophical thought. Many new philosophical trends and schools appeared, some of these new trends were essentially oppositional, revolutionary for their own time(translator's note). This is exactly what Buddhism was. By the way, the word was introduced into use by Europeans, and Buddhists themselves call their teaching Dharma. The founder of this teaching, Siddhartha Gautama, was allegedly born in 544 BC (this date is officially accepted by UNESCO) in the northeastern part of Ancient India (the territory of modern Nepal). He came from a noble Shakya family, so after enlightenment they began to call him Shakyamuni, i.e. sage from the Shakyas. Gautama grew up in wealth and luxury in his father's palace until, at the age of 29, he came into close contact with human suffering, which shocked him so much that he decided to become an ascetic in order to truly understand causes suffering and find a way to relieve people from it. Thus, leaving his family, he joins a group of hermits who practice yoga. Gautama is certainly pleased fast masters yogic techniques. After several years of intense practice, driving himself to the point of extreme exhaustion, he realized that he could not achieve his goal in this way. Gautama saw that the path of the most severe asceticism is just as wrong as the path of indulging passions and pleasures. Ultimately, both bring suffering. Intuitively feeling that there must be some other way solutions this problem, Gautama leaves the community. He spends several days in a decidedly deep meditation, during which the truth about the nature of suffering is revealed to him. From this moment on, Siddhartha Gautama becomes Buddha, which means Enlightened One.

Then he perceives that the elements of matter and psyche never follow desires, but arise in accordance with...

In addition, it is easy to confuse the eight-step path of cultivation in classical yoga and the so-called eightfold path in Buddhism. In reality, yoga and Buddhism are two independent teachings. Let's try to figure out what is the difference between Buddhism and yoga and what they have in common.

Let's look at the philosophy and practice of yoga. Classical yoga is associated with the name of the ancient Indian philosopher Patanjali, who created a unique work on the practice of yoga “Yoga Sutras” (presumably the end of the 1st millennium BC). In it, Patanjali summarized the personal and centuries-old experience of ascetic practitioners. The fact is that in India for a very long time there was a tradition of the oral transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, so it is very difficult to say exactly when the teaching of yoga arose. According to some sources, its origins date back to the period of the Indus civilization, that is, before the arrival of the Aryans on the territory of Ancient India. Yoga as a teaching has been created over the centuries, enriched by new discoveries and achievements of those who practiced it. The same applies to the philosophy of yoga, which was formed gradually as the religious and philosophical thought of India developed.

First, the Upanishads, the greatest philosophical texts of ancient India, had a huge influence on the philosophy of yoga. They addressed issues of the universe, the relationship between man and the cosmos, man and the gods, the question of life and death. It is in the Upanishads that the concept of rebirth first appears, the idea that death is followed by a new life, a new form. And what this other life will be like depends only on the person himself, on his actions, thoughts, etc. in real life. At the same time, the concept of karma arose, one of the most important categories of Indian philosophy, which would later appear in almost all religious and philosophical systems of Ancient India, including yoga and Buddhism.

Secondly, the philosophy of yoga is largely based on the positions of such teachings as Samkhya. This philosophical movement was allegedly founded in the 8th - 7th centuries. BC. Indian philosopher and thinker Kapila. It draws heavily on the Upanishads. This teaching is based on the idea that there are two principles: Purusha (spiritual principle) and Prakriti (matter, energy), which interact with each other. Purusha is made up of countless souls and is conscious but inert, while Prakriti is unconscious but has energy. Their interaction is the reason for the emergence and existence of the universe. The goal of the individual soul is liberation from the captivity of matter, by separating the Purusha from Prakriti. The goal in yoga is the same as in Samkhya - to achieve Liberation (Moksha), go beyond Prakriti and merge with Purusha. But there is one cardinal difference: yoga is a practice. It contains less abstract philosophical reasoning, but there is a set of specific exercises and methods for transforming ordinary consciousness, the consciousness of Prakriti, into superconsciousness, that is, the consciousness of Purusha. Thus, only one who renounces worldly life, becomes an ascetic and practices yoga can achieve this.

There is a good expression: “Samkhya ends where classical yoga begins.” The yoga system is divided into eight stages, where each subsequent stage is based on the previous one. In other words, you cannot jump from one to another or work with only one or two of your choice - the goal will not be achieved. It would be good for those who practice yoga in our time to remember this. The eight steps of the yoga system are moral precepts (Yama), lifestyle prescriptions (Niyamas), practice of certain body positions (Asanas), practice breathing exercises(Pranayamas), the practice of detachment (Pratyahara), the practice of concentration (Dhyana), the practice of reflection (Dharana) and the knowledge of truth (Samadhi).

Now let's look at the history, philosophy and practice of Buddhism. 1st millennium BC Ancient India was characterized by the active development of religious and philosophical thought. Many new philosophical trends and schools emerged, some of these new trends were essentially oppositional and revolutionary for their time. This is exactly what Buddhism was. By the way, the word Buddhism was introduced into use by Europeans, and Buddhists themselves call their teaching Dharma. The founder of this teaching, Siddhartha Gautama, was allegedly born in 544 BC (this date is officially accepted by UNESCO) in the northeastern part of Ancient India (the territory of modern Nepal). He came from a noble Shakya family, so after enlightenment they began to call him Shakyamuni, i.e. sage from the Shakyas. Gautama grew up in wealth and luxury in his father's palace until, at the age of 29, he came into close contact with human suffering, which shocked him so much that he decided to become an ascetic in order to understand the causes of suffering and find a way to relieve people from it. Thus, leaving his family, he joins a group of hermits who practice yoga. Gautama quickly masters yogic techniques. After several years of intense practice, driving himself to the point of extreme exhaustion, he realized that he could not achieve his goal in this way. Gautama saw that the path of the most severe asceticism is just as wrong as the path of indulging passions and pleasures. Ultimately, both bring suffering. Intuitively feeling that there must be some other way to solve this problem, Gautama leaves the community. He spends several days in deep meditation, during which the truth about the nature of suffering is revealed to him. From this moment on, Siddhartha Gautama becomes Buddha, which means Enlightened One.

Already the first sermon of the Buddha, delivered by him in Benares, was a huge success. For more than forty years, Buddha wandered around India, preaching his teachings. After his death, Buddhism received its further development in Southeast Asia and the countries of the Far East, but in the form of various currents and trends, which are very different from each other. Therefore, moving directly to the conversation about the essence of this teaching, I would like to clarify that we will only talk about what is characteristic of early Buddhism, before its division into various schools and confessions.

Explaining the nature of human suffering and the way out of it, the Buddha built the following logical chain, which was called the “Four Noble Truths”: the Truth about suffering, the Truth about the cause of suffering, the Truth about the cessation of suffering and the Truth about the path. Let's look at each in detail.

The Truth About Suffering

This Truth explains what is meant by the word suffering (dukkha). Buddha said that all manifestations of our existence are accompanied by suffering. What does ALL mean? It is clear that we suffer when we feel bad for some reason. But it turns out that we also suffer when we feel good, when we are happy. This happens because a person, deep down, is afraid of losing what makes him feel this happiness or this pleasure. Let's say a person has achieved everything he could dream of, but he cannot be absolutely happy, because he is surrounded by illnesses, unforeseen situations, and with them worries and worries, and ultimately death. It turns out that satisfaction (sukha) initially contains dissatisfaction, that is, the same suffering. In other words, happiness and pleasure in this world are extremely relative, while suffering is absolute.

The Truth About the Cause of Suffering

This Truth explains the nature of suffering, its causes. The Buddha taught that the basis of our entire life is attachment to the pleasant (desire) and rejection of the unpleasant (non-desire). The reluctance of the unpleasant in its essence is the same attachment, i.e. desire only with the opposite sign. At the root of suffering is desire. Desire means a need for something. And the need for something arises when a person attaches at least some significance to any aspect of life. From significance comes attachment, i.e. wish. Our whole life consists of many concepts to which we attach significance. These are, for example: work, family, children, fame, wealth, relationships between people, creativity, etc. Giving all this significance, i.e. Considering it important, necessary, a person becomes dependent on it, that is, becomes attached to it. The desire to realize what we attach importance to ultimately gives rise to suffering. If there were no such attachment, i.e. attraction to various aspects of human existence, then there would be no suffering.

In turn, the very fact of attachment to something inevitably causes the next birth of a person (here we are talking about reincarnation - rebirth). And this happens precisely because of a person’s attachments, desires and inclinations, which draw a person into the next birth. The next birth is initially determined by attachment to life in all its manifestations. A person will be born again and again, suffer again and again as long as he has a need for life itself. An infinite number of rebirths is called the wheel of Samsara. It has no beginning and no end, but there is a distinctive sign - suffering. Almost all the teachings of Ancient India offered their own way out of the wheel of Samsara, including yoga. In Buddhism, this path is explained in the third and fourth Noble Truths.

The Truth about the Cessation of Suffering (Nirodha)

This truth talks about how to get rid of attachments that create suffering. The word nirodha means control. If a person controls his desires and attachments, over time he will be able to get rid of them and, as a result, get rid of suffering. The state where there is no suffering is called nibbana (Sansk. nirvana) in Buddhism. It is important to understand that nirvana is not some kind of ecstatic state, as some people think. The word nirvana comes from the Sanskrit root “nir”, which means extinction, extinction, i.e. The causes that cause suffering fade away: passions, attachments, needs, desires, etc., but the world itself, existence itself does not fade away. The state of nirvana is a state of consciousness of a person free from worldly desires and attachments. It arises when a person changes his attitude towards the world around him. He stops living in the interests of this world. Consciousness becomes “supramundane”, detached, i.e. free from the desires and attachments that were previously given such importance. A similar change in consciousness occurs when a person begins to see the true essence of what he previously strived for so much, for which he felt such a strong attachment. That is why the state of nirvana is called the state of enlightenment, because a person, as it were, begins to see clearly. In order to achieve this, the Buddha proposed a specific path - the Fourth Noble Truth.

The Truth about the Path

The Buddha proposed a specific practice for getting rid of addictions, attractions in our lives that lead to suffering. This Path consists of eight stages, which is why it is called the Noble Eightfold Path. Of course, the Buddha used in this technique the knowledge gleaned from practicing yoga during his period of asceticism. The eightfold Buddhist path is similar to the yogic path not only in the number of positions, but also in the fact that both are a specific practice, a specific way to achieve a specific goal. Both there are moral aspes and techniques for the discipline of the mind. But there is a difference. The Yogic Path presupposes progressive movement, consistent practice of each stage, and the Buddhist Path presupposes the mastery of each stage in unity with all the others.

The Eightfold Path is divided into three stages. The stage of wisdom consists of right understanding and right intention. The stage of moral conduct includes right speech, right behavior and right living. The third stage, the stage of mental discipline, is right effort, right direction of thought and right concentration.

Correct Understanding

This position is the opposite of the fallacy, i.e. correct understanding consists of recognizing things as they really are. For example, understanding the meaning of the Four Noble Truths: without realizing and accepting them, the practice of the Path is impossible. Naturally, this stage concerns the correct understanding of all aspects of life, and not just the Truths.

Right Intention

All further actions and efforts depend on correct understanding. It depends on the choice a person makes. For example, the Buddha's intention to become a hermit in order to understand the cause of suffering was absolutely correct.

Correct speech

One of the postulates of Buddhism: if you cannot benefit people with your words, then it is better to remain silent. One who practices this aspect will always watch what and how he says, firstly, so as not to harm anyone, and, secondly, so as not to engage in idle talk. A true Buddhist does not have any sophistication or floridity in his speech.

Correct behavior

The goal here is the same - do no harm. This is only expressed by behavior, actions that in no way should cause pain or harm to other beings, i.e. not only to people, but to all living nature. The simplest example is when a person is irritated and takes out his emotions on others, this is unacceptable for a Buddhist.

Right way of life

It follows from the previous two points, since our behavior shapes the way we live. For a Buddhist, social activity that could cause harm to someone is unthinkable. For example, fraud or alcohol sales. A Buddhist will completely consciously not take part in this, so as not to indulge evil.

The third stage, mental discipline, echoes the highest stages of yoga. Right effort is concentration, right direction of thought is reflection, and right concentration is supreme awareness, i.e. precisely that state of consciousness in which a person realizes the true nature of things.

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are the practices of Buddhism. In order to fully realize this practice, a correct understanding of several other aspects of Buddhist philosophy is necessary. Here we are talking about such important concepts as the doctrine of anatman, the doctrine of skandhas and the doctrine of dharmas.

The Doctrine of Anatman

This doctrine, the teaching of the non-existence of the individual self or soul (atman), distinguishes Buddhism from other Indian religions that recognize the existence of the self and soul. Why does Buddhism deny the individual eternal “I”? What is the reason for this? Recall the Second Noble Truth, which states that the source of suffering is our attachments to life. One of these attachments, if not the key one, is attachment to oneself, to one’s own “I”. It is the source of all other inclinations and desires, which, in turn, further drag a person into the wheel of karmic incarnations. The Upanishads describe Atman as the one Self for all living beings, which is identical with the Absolute or Brahman. Buddhism denies precisely the individual “I,” that is, the personality as an essence. Buddhism views the individual “I” as a kind of illusion created by the mental construction of the personality itself. For comparison (and this is a fundamental difference), in the teachings of yoga there is both an individual “I” and a common “I” for all of them - Atman, which is part of the Absolute. Naturally, the question arises: what exactly is personality? From the perspective of Buddhism, what is a person who lives, feels, thinks, experiences desires and attachments and ultimately suffers? The answer to this question can be found in the teaching of skandhas and the teaching of dharmas.

Teaching about skandhas

Buddhism answers this question in a very interesting way. Personality is the name for the totality of five groups of elements. These groups are called skandhas. The word skandha means "heap". The Buddhist monk Nagasena explained this teaching using the analogy of a chariot. What is a chariot? Is the drawbar a chariot? No. Are wheels a chariot? No. Maybe a collar, reins or a whip - a chariot? Also no. Or maybe the drawbar, wheels, yoke, reins taken together is a chariot? No. Maybe a chariot is something that exists separately from the drawbar, wheels, yoke, etc.? No. So it’s just the word “chariot” and nothing more. Where all the components are present, the word “chariot” is used. Similarly, where there are skandhas, the word “person” is used.

Thus, personality or man is just a word denoting the activities of the five skandhas, or aggregates of elements. The first group includes elements of the sense organs, i.e. elements of perception. The second group consists of elements of sensations: pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. The third group consists of elements of awareness of differences. The fourth is a set of incentive elements. And the fifth group consists of elements of consciousness itself. So how do they interact? First there is a perception of something, then a pleasant or unpleasant sensation appears, then awareness occurs or a specific image is formed, then either an attraction to it or a denial of it arises, and consciousness is involved in this whole process from the very beginning. Thus, personality is what perceives.

Teaching about dharmas

As we remember, skandha groups consist of elements. These elements are called dharmas in Buddhism. But the nature of the dharma elements is such that they are in constant change. Every moment dharmas arise and disappear, being replaced by new ones, which in turn, according to the law of dharma, are conditioned by the previous ones. These constantly changing dharmas form what is conventionally called a personality, a living being. That is why Buddhists understand by personality not something unchanging, but rather something consisting of constantly changing processes. A second ago, personality was one thing, but now it is something completely different. Thus, Buddhism explains the world and everything that exists in it as something unstable, consisting of constantly changing dharmas. From this follows the concept of instantaneity, which is characteristic of Buddhism. Each dharma separately (and, accordingly, the entire complex of personality dharmas) exists for a very short period of time - a moment. That is, at every moment the personality changes, it is already something new, different, not the same as a second ago. This is exactly what is said in the famous Buddhist wisdom, that not only cannot you enter the same river twice, but there is no one who can do it twice.

As you can see, in some ways Buddhism and yoga are indeed similar, but this mostly concerns practical side these teachings (for example, the common features of the eightfold path in Buddhism and the eightfold path in yoga). However, the philosophy of Buddhism is original; in basic issues and for philosophical and practical purposes, it is radically different from the philosophy of yoga.

Yoga is a practice for many Eastern theories. It is used by Hindus and Buddhists, and now European esotericists have adopted it. The familiar hatha yoga came to us from India. But even in ancient times, other types of practices were practiced in other parts of Asia. Tibetan yoga, also called yantra yoga, has been taught in caves by Buddhist monks for centuries.

Tibetan yoga movement: roots go back to antiquity

This is yantra - movement

Tibetan yoga is a Buddhist parallel to Hindu hatha yoga. Its second name is Yantra Yoga. The word “yantra” is, first of all, images for meditation like a mandala. But it also means “movement,” which is why this practice of Eastern monks is also called “Tibetan yoga of breathing and movement.” It is a set of physical and breathing exercises, similar to hatha yoga. But the yantra is different in that all attention here is focused on movement.

Hatha yoga is based on static asanas. It has dynamic kriyas and vinyasas, but the basis is still static. Tibetan yoga of breathing and movement is based on the fact that every moment in the exercise is valuable. This means that you need to be equally attentive to entering the asana, being in it and exiting it; an equal amount of time is given to all these stages.

The book “Tibetan Yoga of Body, Speech and Mind” states that the yantra was created in the 8th century. It contained the Tsa Lung complex and many other exercises. All this could have remained a secret practice of Buddhist lamas, but in the middle of the last century Tibet was engulfed in war. Many teachers found themselves in exile in Europe. This is how yantra, tsa lung and other practices became available to us. Nowadays you can even find videos teaching Tibetan yoga.

Hatha and Yantra: the main differences between the two types of yoga

Tibetan yoga of breathing and movement is a complex of 108 asanas. The figure is a little far-fetched, because the number of exercises was “adjusted” to the number of volumes in the collection of sayings of the Buddha. However, there are plenty of llamas. Yantra has other features as well.

As already mentioned, the main thing in this type of yoga is not static, but movement. There is no long-term holding of any asana. And it is based on the emphasis, rather, not on poses, but on exercises.

• Here less attention is paid to physical activity. For example, tsa lung exercises are much easier than surya namaskara from hatha yoga. Almost whole Tibetan complex can be done while sitting. In Indian tradition it is believed that physical exercise will help us concentrate and concentrate. Tibetan Yoga of Body, Speech and Mind proposes to achieve this concentration using simple exercises and willpower;

• In Yantra Yoga the principle of symmetry is not observed. That is, having done the exercise on one side, you do not need to repeat it in a mirror analogy. Women and men perform them from different sides. This is because the energy in their bodies flows differently;

• For a long time, Tibetan yoga of body, speech and mind was available only to a few. Therefore, her exercises are covered with a flair of mysticism. They are often adopted by fashionable European esotericists. That is why it is so difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to figure out where the ancient tradition is and where the new-fangled mystical trends are.

Tibetan yoga: indications and contraindications

It is believed that the yantra is most suitable for active, energetic people who cannot sit still for a long time.

Yantra is a type of yoga that even a beginner can easily master. At least this applies to the physical aspect of the practice. During it we are supposed to do deep spiritual work. For example, attention here needs to be concentrated solely through volitional effort. Much time is devoted to meditative practices. And during meditation, as you know, you cannot pump up your abs or biceps.

Therefore, if you are expecting a lot of physical work, you are better off choosing Hatha Yoga, or Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. Otherwise, Tibetan yoga has no contraindications. You can even practice it at home using videos.

This type of yoga is suitable for pregnant women, people with disabilities physical capabilities and the elderly. In each specific case, her exercises can be adapted to the needs of the practitioner.

It is believed that the yantra is most suitable for active, energetic people who cannot sit still for a long time (or stand in one asana). It relieves accumulated tension. But at the same time you don’t get tired and don’t waste energy.

We practice tsa lung, or how to let the wind into energy channels

Previously, tsa lung was practiced only in secluded Tibetan monasteries. Now you can easily download a video of this complex on the Internet, or sign up for a seminar on this practice.

Tsa lung means “the wind flows in the channels.” During this set of exercises we learn to control breathing. The energy in our body is called wind here, hence the poetic name. Having mastered Tsa Lung, you can change your outlook on everyday life, reduce negative emotions and accumulate energy in the body.

Tibetan medicine claims that these exercises help not only with spiritual problems, but also with physical ones. If you devote at least 15 minutes a day to the Tsa Lung complex, you can strengthen the cardiovascular system, support the spine, and improve the functioning of the digestion and reproductive system. If done daily, results will be visible within two months.

So, in the morning we drink a glass of hot water and start doing asanas. Legs should be folded in Turkish or lotus position. At the beginning of each exercise, we inhale, hold our breath, do the described and exhale. To make it clearer, you can use a video.

1. Head tilts. We perform them sharply and shallowly 5 times to the right, to the left, then forward and backward. If you have problems with thyroid gland or nasopharynx, should Special attention devote time to this exercise;
2. Place your hand on your lower abdomen. Thumb With your other hand, make a sharp circle above your head. Repeat for the remaining fingers. Perform more often if you have problems with the spine or heart;
3. Place your hands on your right knee and rotate your body 5 times from right to left. Repeat in a mirror version. If necessary, use video instructions. Perform every time you feel digestive problems;
4. Twist to the right 5 times, then to the left 5 times. The head continues the movement of the spine. If you feel imbalanced or unbalanced, practice more often;
5. Lean on your fists and try to jump, lifting your pelvis off the floor 5 times. This improves blood circulation in the genital area and relieves kidney problems.

Try to concentrate on breathing and movement - and then everything will work out, and perhaps you will get closer to the state of meditation and Tibetan yoga will become a part of your life!

We are often asked questions about which book to start studying the teachings of Buddha or how to structure information about yoga? What kind of literature should a person read who is embarking on the path of self-development and is just getting acquainted with various trends and directions in the world of self-improvement. Where to start studying yoga and Buddhism?

In fact, in our time there is a lot of literature, excellent books, which clearly present important information that can help to better understand the issues raised above. This article provides a brief overview of literature that would be relevant for beginners or for those who want to understand yoga and Buddhism in more detail.

However, before we begin, I note that all beginners have different levels of development and perception, so perhaps the books described in this article will not be suitable for everyone. It's up to you to decide.

When describing books about yoga and Buddhism, two categories are distinguished: for beginners(that is, for those who have only recently heard about yoga and Buddhism and are little familiar with the terms), for more prepared(for those who already have basic terminology and are familiar with the materials from the first section).

Learn more about yoga philosophy.

FOR THE PREPARED. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Clarification. B. K. S. Iyengar

An accessible commentary on the ancient Indian treatise - the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (which is considered the main source of hatha yoga). The book contains Sanskrit terms found in the sutras and their dictionary definitions.

FOR THE PREPARED. Yoga Vasishtha

The plot centers on a conversation between the sage Vasishtha and Prince Rama. Vasishtha's teachings concern all issues related to inner knowledge of one's own nature, as well as the cycles of creation, maintenance and destruction of the world.

FOR THE PREPARED. Six systems of Indian philosophy. Max Muller.

The book provides information about the development of ancient Indian philosophy, starting from the period preceding the Upanishads, examines its history in the Buddhist and Vedic periods, the main philosophical teachings and general ideas. The book was translated into Russian in 1901, and since then it has been considered a fundamental work on Indian philosophy and religion.

Hatha yoga to understand the structure of this direction.

FOR BEGINNERS. Hatha yoga pradipika. Swatmarama.

Ancient text of hatha yoga. Asanas, shatkarmas, pranayama, mudras, bandhas and meditative techniques are described here. As well as the adept’s lifestyle, his diet, mistakes on the path of self-development and practical advice for easier mastering of yoga.

FOR BEGINNERS. The heart of yoga. Improving individual practice. Desikachar.

The book describes all the elements of yoga: asanas, conscious breathing, meditation and philosophy. Describes how to build an individual practice. Much attention is paid to explaining the 8 stages of yoga according to Patanjali (yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi). Obstacles on the path of yoga and methods for overcoming them are described. Well-known types of yoga are examined, such as jnana, bhakti, mantra, raja, karma, kriya, hatha, kundalini. The book includes Patanjali's Yoga Sutras with translation and commentary by Desikachar. The applications present 4 general complexes of hatha yoga.

Learn more about the practice of hatha yoga

FOR BEGINNERS. ABC of asanas. Club website

The book provides information about asanas, telling about the beneficial effects on humans. All asanas are grouped in alphabetical order. At the end of the book, as a supplement, there are several appendices in which asanas are grouped into blocks (standing, sitting, inverted, etc.), and also presented general complex for beginner yoga practitioners.

FOR BEGINNERS. Clarification of Yoga (Yoga Dipika). B.K.S. Iyengar.

The most complete, illustrated encyclopedia, giving you the opportunity to study independently. The text contains more than 600 drawings, as well as unique descriptions of 200 yoga poses, 14 breathing techniques, bandh and kriya. The appendices contain a 300-week course of classes, exercise programs for the treatment of various diseases, and a glossary of Sanskrit terms.

FOR BEGINNERS ANDTRAINED. Ancient tantric techniques of yoga and kriya. Bihar school

A balanced manual (in three volumes) developed by the Bihar School of Yoga. It describes different branches of yoga - hatha yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga and kriya yoga. A sequential system of mastering yoga is proposed. At the same time, special emphasis is placed on the practice and application of yoga in Everyday life. The first volume, devoted to practices for beginners, is intended to gradually prepare the mind and body for the more advanced practices described in the second volume, and ultimately for the higher practices of Kriya Yoga, which form the contents of the third volume. The ultimate goal is to introduce the various techniques gradually, step by step.

Buddhism to understand the structure of this teaching.

FOR BEGINNERS. Guide to Buddhism. Illustrated encyclopedia. E. Leontyeva.

An excellent guide for beginning practitioners who want to understand the various terms and concepts of the Buddha's Teachings. The book tells about the emergence and worldview of Buddhism, describes the way of life of the followers of the Teaching, examines the main questions about the three vehicles: Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana: the theoretical foundations of the vehicles, meditation at these stages, lifestyle and goals. From the book you will learn how Buddhism spread throughout the world, what important teachings Buddha left. Gain an understanding of the law of cause and effect, karma and rebirth, the ego and its illusory nature. The encyclopedia contains more than 400 illustrations and geographical maps.

FOR BEGINNERS. "Buddhism" Kornienko A.V.

The book tells about the life and work of Siddhartha Gautama, about the Teachings of Buddha, about the history of the formation of Buddhism as one of the world religions. A description of the forms of Buddhism is given, and the theory and practice of various schools are described. The sacred books of Buddhism, symbols and holidays are described.

FOR BEGINNERS. Sangharakshita "The Noble Eightfold Path of the Buddha"

Very detailed description the fourth noble truth - the Buddha's teachings on the Eightfold Path. Each of the eight stages is explained clearly and in detail.

FOR BEGINNERS. Buddhism for beginners. Chodron Thubten.

In the form of questions and answers, there is a narration about the basic principles and key ideas of Buddhism: what Buddhism is for, who the Buddha was, what meditation gives, how to determine karma and much more.

FOR THE PREPARED. Words of my incomparable Teacher. Patrol Rinpoche.

One of the best introductions to the basics of Tibetan Buddhism. It gives detailed guide to use methods by which an ordinary person can transform his consciousness and enter the path of Buddha. The first part of the book contains a series of reflections on the collapse of hopes and deep suffering in samsara, the whirlwind of existence generated by ignorance and deceptive emotions; and about the enormous value of human life, which creates a unique opportunity to achieve Buddhahood. The second part explains the first steps on the path of the Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle), which has effective methods transformations of consciousness that are the hallmark of Tibetan Buddhism.

Learn more about practice in the teachings of Buddha: meditation and retreats

FOR BEGINNERS How to meditate. Santje Khandro. Atisha: Advice from a spiritual friend.

The book consists of two parts. The first part will be interesting for beginning practitioners. It addresses questions about what the mind and meditation are, how to organize the practice of meditation, types of meditations (meditations on the mind, analytical, visualization meditations). A glossary of terms used is also provided. The second part will be relevant for those who are already familiar with the basics of meditation. It describes the life of the great master Atisha and several important texts. The instructions cover topics about transforming thoughts, working with the mind, turning unfavorable circumstances into help on the path. The value of these instructions is realized through their study and analysis in real practice.

FOR THE PREPARED. Instructions for Meditation on the Middle Path. Khechen Thrangu Rinpoche.

The middle path is one of the key Buddhist concepts, denoting the golden mean between the physical and spiritual world, between asceticism and pleasure, without going to extremes. This book discusses the three fundamental conditions of Middle Way meditation: compassion, enlightened thought (bodhichitta), wisdom (prajna). The nine stages of concentration of the mind are also explained, obstacles in meditation and their corresponding antidotes are illuminated, and techniques for working with thoughts are given.

FOR THE PREPARED. Revelations of Tibetan hermits

This is a collection of texts by the great masters of Vajrayana Buddhism, dedicated to meditative practices in solitary retreat. From the book you can get an idea of ​​what a retreat is, what its meaning and purpose are, how the structure of retreat is determined, how to prepare for practice, maintain and restore motivation. How to choose a place and prepare for the start of the retreat, how to leave the retreat and sum up its results. It tells about the meaning of the blessing of the Guru (Teacher), the importance of procedures for dedicating merit and checking one’s meditations. From the book you will learn about the rules of nutrition during a retreat. You will also receive information about the importance of solitude for progress on the path of self-improvement and other inspiring instructions from realized masters.

FOR THE PREPARED. Heartfelt Retreat Tips

The book talks about the essential aspects of retreat and how to create reasons for Awakening. The following questions are considered: what is a retreat, the main objectives of a retreat, the necessary motivation for a retreat. Instructions are given on analytical meditation, how to develop spiritual insights related to proper service to a spiritual teacher, how to plan your daily practice, an example schedule for those who are not used to long sitting meditations, how to ensure results from reading mantras, what meditations can be done during breaks.

Important texts in the Buddha's teachings (sutras and primary sources)

FOR BEGINNERS. Jatakas

Stories about the past existences of Buddha. After reading the Jatakas, the understanding of ethics and morality becomes deeper. They describe the social structure very well. This helps to understand how relationships are built between children and parents, between the Teacher and students, between rulers and subjects.

FOR THE PREPARED. Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarika Sutra, another name for the Lotus Flower Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma).

A series of sermons delivered by Buddha Shakyamuni on Mount Gridhrakuta. The essence of the Sutra is that all living beings, even the most immoral, can achieve enlightenment and escape from suffering. How to achieve this, the Buddha reveals through stories about his past lives: about the path to enlightenment, about his students and followers seeking happiness and wisdom - monks and ordinary people, kings and workers. The text also destroys the concept of nirvana (it is described as a moment that will end sooner or later), and also makes predictions to all the Buddha's disciples that they will all become Tathagattas in the future.

FOR THE PREPARED. Vimalakirti nirdesha sutra

The Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra is one of the oldest Mahayana sutras. Vimalakirti is a great Bodhisattva who lived as an ordinary layman. He had a home, a family, a job - everything was like ordinary people. But this is all just a manifestation of one of the skillful methods by which enlightened beings lead others to awakening. In the Sutra we find the most profound descriptions of the philosophical themes of the Buddha's Teachings, amazing dialogues between the main disciples of the Buddha, as well as realized Bodhisattvas, deep and accessible explanations of the Buddha's teachings and clarifications of important concepts that are encountered on the path of self-development.

FOR THE PREPARED. Bodhicharya Avatara (Path of the Bodhisattva). Shantideva

It is the most important classical text revealing one of the highest spiritual ideals of humanity - the ideal of the Bodhisattva, a being wholly dedicated to serving others, and striving for this good purpose to achieve complete Enlightenment, Buddhahood. The main theme in the text is the concept of Bodhichitta (the state of mind that guides us towards Enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings), the types of Bodhichitta are described, and various descriptions of such stages in practice as self-control, vigilance and patience are given, as well as diligence, meditation and wisdom

Autobiographies of yogis for inspiration

FOR BEGINNERS. Great Teachers of Tibet

This book contains the lives of Marpa and Milarepa.

Marpa, a great yogi, a lay lama in all outward appearances, lived the life of a wealthy family man, and by the end of his life he became one of the most authoritative translators and teachers in Tibet.

Milarepa is a famous yogi practitioner. His path to Enlightenment was not easy. In his youth, under pressure from his mother, Milarepa learned black magic and used witchcraft to kill thirty-five people. Soon he regretted what he had done and began to look for a way to get rid of the accumulated negative karma. Following the advice of his first teacher, Milarepa went to Marpa the translator. He was extremely strict with him, forced him to do hard work and flatly refused to give Buddhist initiations. After several years of severe trials, Marpa took Milarepa as his disciple and gave instructions on meditation. For twelve years, Milarepa persistently practiced the instructions he received. Milarepa was the first person to achieve such high level achievements in one life, without having merit in previous births.

FOR BEGINNERS. Autobiography of a Yogi. Paramahansa Yogananda

The Autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda is a fascinating account of an individual's search for truth and a comprehensive introduction to the science and philosophy of yoga.

FOR THE PREPARED. Born from a lotus

Biography of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche). Padmasambhava was born from a lotus flower, which is why he got his name. Being, like Shakyamuni Buddha, a prince, Padmasambhava, again, like the Buddha, leaves the palace and becomes a hermit. During meditations in cemeteries and in inaccessible caves, he receives secret tantric initiations from dakinis and becomes a great yogi and miracle worker.

FOR THE PREPARED. Famous Yoginis

This collection contains biographies of women - emanations of various divine personalities (Yeshe Tsogel, Machig Labdron, Mandaravas, Nangsa Obum, A-yu Khadro), who achieved enlightenment through yogic practice.

FOR THE PREPARED. Consort of the Lotus-Born

Biography of Yeshe Tsogyal - the spiritual wife of Padmasambhava, an enlightened dakini. It is believed that she lived for about 250 years. Together with Guru Rinpoche, she spread the Buddha Dharma in Tibet.

You can find many of these books in electronic versions, including on our website in the and sections; for some books, teachers of our club have recorded them.

If you need editions of books, you can find them in the store or on the website lavkara.ru

I hope that this information will help you understand the issues that were identified at the beginning of the article. With deep devotion to the Gurus, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, for the benefit of all sentient beings.