CG JUNG - Countryside Anarchist

APPENDIX 1
arose spontaneously in the circle of Jungian patients. Thereby proof is
also given that these inner processes are not influenced by Dr. Jung’s
point of view but rather correspond to a primordial structure of the
psyche.
The parallels are above all found in Indian tantrism (tantra means
book). Tantrism is a movement which sprang up at a time when medieval
Buddhism was deeply mixed with Hindu elements; that is to say,
when Hinayana-Buddhism (the small vehicle) foundered in India and
developed into Mahayana-Buddhism (the great vehicle) in Mongolia.
That period of Buddhism when the Mahayana branch split off is one of
peculiar syncretism: Hinduism redressed Buddhism through the practice
of meditation in such a way that several intermediary forms were
hardly recognizable as Buddhism any longer. The religious form of
Shivaism contained mainly tantric ideas. The middle-Buddhist yoga
practice divides into two trends: svdhana and vajrayvna.
In the magic rituals of svdhana practice mantras (power words) play a
role. By way of the mantra it is possible to call forth the god. The emergence
of the vision of the god is supported by a yantra 2 (mandala). A
yantra is a cult image, in the center of which the god is depicted.
Through intensive contemplation of the god, it comes alive. The viewer
enters into the god, and the god is in the viewer (identification with the
god, deification of the viewer). This method may be used to attain unity
with the All, but also for sheer magic with worldly aims (fakir trickery).
Contrary to this is the vajrayvna branch. Yvna means vehicle, or way.
Vajra is ambivalent and has both a divine and a phallic meaning. It can
signify: lightening, power, libido, divine energy, intelligence, power of
consciousness. Or else it is the thunderbolt and stands mystically for the
li´ga. Its female counterpart is padma-lotus, which stands mystically for
the yoni. In worship one frequently finds symbols of the unification of
vajra and lotus.
As a consequence of the ambivalent meaning of vajra, aschool of the
right hand and a school of the left hand have developed. The former sees in
vajra the divine energy. It represents the philosophical direction and
loses its way from time to time in excessive spirituality. The school of the
left hand, which is rather frowned upon, is the advocate of the sexual
point of view. For it, vajra is the expression of the fulfillment of personal
sexuality. (In the battle between these two viewpoints, one easily recognizes
the parallels with the science of psychology today.)
2 Concerning the yantra, Zimmer noted: “This word is a very broad designation for an
instrument or tool, a device or a mechanism a person uses for carrying out a specific task.
The sacred image is a device of very efficient construction used for both magical and ritualistic
spiritual functions” (Artistic Form and Yoga in the Sacred Images of India, 28).
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