Comments on: A Pagan Buddhist?

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:49:37 +0000

hi im just wondering what it smells like in a buddhist initiation? it's for an assignment I'm doing but i cant find anything. i was wondering if u could help me?

By: Al

Al — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:16:21 +0000

That all seems a bit otherwordly to me. I’m concerned with this life, not a hypothetical next one.

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:08:57 +0000

I’m glad you can be both :)

There are plenty of non-theist Pagans around.

The only potential conflict that I can see between Buddhism and Paganism is that many Pagans want to keep getting reincarnated because we like it here on Mother Earth, whereas the aim of most Buddhists seems to be to cease reincarnating.

By: Al

Al — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:21:38 +0000

I think that many magicians who get involved in Buddhism are involved with Vajrayana. I think that the ritual and the deities, for example, draw them in and Western magic is very much in the same vein, as far as technique, not base, as Vajrayana techniques. There is also the fact that Tibetan Buddhism is pretty common, at least as far as small local groups with no resident teacher, in the urban areas of the United States.

I don’t think you can draw a strong division between those who are drawn to Zen or Theravadan practice versus esoteric Buddhism based simply on background though. Zen resonates with a lot of people (including me). I think it is a matter of luck, inclination, who is around, and karma. I don’t think Zen or the Theravadan traditions are that simple either though they may appear to be (especially if you are Brad Warner).

I wouldn’t call tantric ritual “intellectual” at all. It’s ritual and it is far more experiential than intellectual. The intellectual activities are around it but not really in the practice per se unless one considers visualization, mantra, and mudra to be “intellectual” exercises during practice.

By: W. Smoke

W. Smoke — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:44:52 +0000

Hi Al,

An interesting post you have here. Would you say most ex-magicians who get involved in Buddhism are pulled toward the Vajrayana schools? I’ve always seen the esoteric Tibetan practices as being rather similar to Hermetic practices, and you’ve hinted at your own views on the subject. Would you say most magicians-gone-Buddhist share your propensities for the rituals and go Vajra?

On the other hand, I feel like the western people who are most drawn to Zen or Theravada are probably drawn to the surface values of minimalism and simplicity; a lack of esoteric ritual which are seemingly emphasized in the aforementioned Vajrayana schools. That’s probably a welcome change for people who have had negative experiences with Judeo-Christian dogma.

I actually have no firsthand experience with tantric rituals in a Vajra school, but what is interesting to me– from the books I’ve read and people I’ve talked to whom are involved directly with Tibetan schools– is that the tantric practices seem very… “intellectual” in their ornate ritualism. I wonder if that is your perception? If so, the magic-Vajra connection is not so surprising.