The Cult of Tara

APPLICATION
the mantra is effectuated, and a magical function on the other hand,
where the deity is either employed directly or generated within an
object (a flask of water, or an amulet) and the mantra is applied.
process
effectuation
offerings
burnt offering
application
recipe
magical device
etc.
function
product
pacifying
increasing
subjugating
destroying
protection
long life
etc.
Dragpa jets'en continues his account of the larger scheme of
functions with what he calls the middle-class ordinary magical
attainments. Here he lists those universal magic powers of flight
and invisbility which are the legacy of the Indian yogic tradition,
and which the practitioner may perform at will. There are, he says,
three ways in which these powers may be gained: if one's zeal is
greatest, one may gain them in this very life; if one's zeal is middling,
the conditions will be such that one may gain them in the intermediate
states—the bardo—after one dies; and if one's zeal is least,
one may still gain them in one's next life by one's earnest wish for
them in this life.
The middle-class magical attainments, again, may be either
general or particular. Under the first heading Dragpa jets'en seems
to include the magical practices of the native Tibetan tradition for
which there is no explicit warrant in the Indian texts; the example
he gives for this category is the indigenous rite called "the awakened
corpse." This ritual is described by Mme David-Neel in perhaps one
of the most delightful books on Tibetan magic ever written: 27
The celebrant is shut up alone with a corpse in a dark room.
To animate the body, he lies on it, mouth to mouth, and while
holding it in his arms, he must continually repeat mentally the
same magic formula, excluding all other thoughts.
After a certain time the corpse begins to move. It stands up
and tries to escape; the sorcerer, firmly clinging to it, prevents it
from freeing itself. Now the body struggles more fiercely. It
leaps and bounds to extraordinary heights, dragging with it the
man who must hold on, keeping his lips upon the mouth of the
monster, and continue mentally repeating the magic words.