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nusmre" nusmre"
the contemplation of deity images. Perhaps most demonstrative of the ongoing
adaptation of numinous imagery that bears significant relationship in the
Maha\ na context is the development of graphic and embodied images repre-
ya\
senting the range of positive and negative mental states that are to be brought
under control in the service of liberation and power in the Vajraya\
na.
With respect to Eliade s notion that yogic soteriology shares similar
ascension motifs with shamanism, we have argued for a more nuanced under-
standing of the enstasis-ecstasis distinction. First, it was demonstrated how it
is problematic to identify the sequence of ru\padhya\na-a\ru\pyadhya\na-nirod-
hasama\patti with the liberatory thrust of Buddhism, though it does fit with the
numinous dimension of yogic cosmology. Similarly, it was argued that the
Classical Yoga system incorporates a progressive system of sama\pattis that is
connected to the cosmology of the yoga system, and that this numinous
dimension both describes the process of yogic ascension and the mythical
relationships to that cosmology. Rather than seeing the numinous and ces-
sative aspects as being opposed to one another, it is more appropriate to see
Yoga, Shamanism, and Buddhism 73
them both at work in the context of the development of sama\dhi in both of
these traditions. Ian Whicher is correct in stating that it is more accurate to see
the development of sama\dhi in the context of Classical Yoga as being both
enstatic and ecstatic. Doing so retains the thrust of much of Eliade s compar-
ison, in that it allows for both the comparison and contrast of the yogic and
shamanic religious practices, while more specifically getting at how this rela-
tionship works in the development of meditation. This argument works well
in the Buddhist context as well, where dhya\na and sama\patti, the factors of
developing sama\dhi, are characterized, on the one hand, by the ascensional
gaining of power and, on the other hand, by their orientation and approxima-
tion of a state of cessation, nirodha.
This is complicated, however, by problems regarding the state of libera-
tion, the states of nirva\ne"a and kaivalya. A critical issue is the question of what
the role of a liberated person is in life, if there is any. In nirva\ne"a or kaivalya,
a state of being completely separate from the world, a state of complete ces-
sation of all phenomenal attributes, it is easier to distinguish the numinous
from the cessative. However, there are numerous examples in the Indian tra-
dition of liberated individuals having powers of a numinous type just as well
as the cessative, as is apparent in the biographical literature surrounding the
Buddha, an ambiguity noted by Obeyesekere.75 The manifestation of such
powers would seem to be ecstatic and therefore problematic regarding the
ultimate opposition of enstatic versus ecstatic ends. The Maha\ya\na concep-
tion of a buddha is even more close to a paradigm that asserts both dimensions
as being characteristic of a fully enlightened being, to the degree to which a
buddha is still  available, even after parinirva\ne"a. On a more mundane level,
the ecstatic character of yoga also can be demonstrated by the attribution of
the status of  psychopomp to the enlightened teacher, or guru, who helps in
the  cure of the  metaphysically ill student, or óise"ya. Again, the reemer-
gence of the numinous dimension finds great expression in the tantric context,
where the philosophical principles that represent the understanding of the
world of bondage become embodied in graphic form. The importance of the
numinous as well as the cessative and the importance of initiation in the
tantric context strengthens this comparison considerably.
We have argued for a new direction in the development of a phenome-
nology, based upon the impact of Lewis s theories of ecstatic religion upon
the study of yoga and meditation. In doing so, we have attempted to bridge
the gap between phenomenological-psychological and sociological perspec-
tives, which also have been characterized as  experiential-expressive and
 cultural-linguistic models. Following Lewis s model, we have demon-
strated the utility of talking about the sama\patti and nirodha aspects as being
comparable to shamanic conceptions of possession, as being positive invited
and negative undesired. This notion fits neatly into the conception that
74 Sama\dhi
through means such as sama\patti, a yoga practitioner develops the ability to
both attain the status of and to embody the forms of the divine. In the nirodha
component, there is a notion that there is a problematic reality in life, one that
needs to be removed, whether that is considered duhe"kha, tre"se"ne"a\, or avidya\. In
association with this, we explored the idea that the óramane"a movements are
what would be called  peripheral cults, demonstrated by the fact that the óra-
mane"a traditions rejected both mainstream society and mainstream morality.
S:ramane"ic authority can be understood to be more deeply rooted in the devel-
opment of meditation and askesis and the degree to which an ascetic embod-
ied the numinous, as opposed to the degree to which he or she embodied rit-
ual or scholastic authority. The peripheral domain, then, has continued to exist
over time in a number of different contexts, most notably in the tantric con-
text. This has logically been at odds with the tendency of these traditions to
shift to central status, a move that changes the nature of religious practice in
a logical fashion. This would be exemplified by the conception in Buddhism
that the óamatha-vipaóyana\ distinction incorporates the uniquely ethical com-
ponent that is a Buddhist development and by the adaptation of a text such as
the YS into mainstream Brahmanical culture.
We should keep in mind that the boundary between a central and periph-
eral cult is not necessarily a solid one but is rather subject to constant rene-
gotiation. This is perfectly consistent with the greater range of arguments that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]