No, I haven’t used it before
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Yeah, what do you think about all this Maoshan?
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which hindu/Buddhist deity is best for guiding you along your most ideal path in life and fulfilling your destiny?
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He is in the Brahma / Creator state in 31 realms.
And he will be lord buddha in the future (Sri AriyaMettri)
He got predictted future from guatama lord buddha
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In my opinion, a lot of deities do that. Are you having an affinity toward any specific deity? Unlike a spell, deities are more of a long-term commitment. Generally, we have one of the main deities as our patron deity, and other deities are invoked from time to time for specific purposes. It is our main deity that always guides us and protects us from omissions and faults, shapes our life path in the best possible way as this deity now represents the awakened mind of oneself.
Sometimes it can be confusing between Hindu and Buddhist deities due to historical contests between Buddhists and Hindus in medieval times who competed for royal patronage. Buddhists modeled a lot of their deities after the ancient Hindu deities, or absorbed them as is, declaring them as having been subjugated and enlightened by the Buddha haha. And then, after Buddhism declined in India, some of the Buddhist deities were re-absorbed back into the Hindu pantheon. And Buddhist pantheon also absorbed some of the local Tibetan Bon deities as well as Daoist deities, again calling them either protectors or using the same story - Buddha enlightened them. I talk here of assimilation of local deities into Buddhism only about India (where Buddhism originated) and Tibet (as I am a student of Tibetan Buddhism), but similar stuff happened in Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, etc.
Buddhist Tara is, for the most part, Hindu Durga
Buddhist Vajrapani is nothing but Indra (Yellow Emperor)
Buddhist Vajradhara is also derived from Indra
Buddhist Nilakantha is derived from Shiva and so on
Amongst Indian deities, there are three main categories: Eurasian Vedic deities, the aboriginal Native deities (like Kumara or Skanda), and Tribal Deities (who are now absorbed by the Hindu pantheon). We today regard all of them as Hindu deities.
In my experience, some are ancient, immortal entities or their manifestations (like Shiva, Kali, Vishnu, Ganesha, etc.), and others are egregores created and maintained by the faith of the millions (like Yahweh and to an extent, Jesus) - my personal preference is the first category although the second one can provide results too (like Dream’s Exorcism audio). There is also a huge world of Egyptian, African, and pre-Abrahamic European deities which one can explore - preserved by today by Bushmen, Shamanic and Occult traditions (to an extent).
How do we choose a deity traditionally?
- The first option would be based on affinity - I just knew it is the Great Goddess for me, I have always known as she is with me for many lifetimes.
- The second one would be based on one’s Teacher’s guidance - an accomplished teacher will consider various aspects, including the horoscope of the student, etc., and suggest a deity/mantra (not all mantras are suitable for everyone. Some mantras are ari (foes) while others are mitra (friends).
- The third option would be based on a specific need - healing, protection, wealth, manifestation, etc. (guiding the life is a generic requirement
)
People who want something simple, do not want to go through initiations, etc. can always recite the Green Tara mantra. Tara is known as the Mother of All Buddhas. Or, if you are more into male forms, the easiest choice would be Ganesha, the elephant-headed wisdom deity.
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I once remember reading about some Buddhist deity literally humiliating and dragging Lord Shiva towards subjugation and it offended me so much that it’s put me off Buddhist deities forever (except Siddhartha who I still have an affinity/respect for, strangely enough).
I don’t understand how deity worship was picked up by Buddhists anyway when Siddhartha specifically preached the middle path of non dualism. Or maybe I have a flawed understanding of what exactly he taught/who he was.
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Did the historical Buddha really teach all of the Buddhist practices that exist today? Not really, not especially Tantric Buddhism. Suttas (Pali for Sutras), which are closest to the historical Siddhartha Gautama, are also later compilations, so hard to say what exactly the Buddha taught. India was a fertile ground for Tantric cultures during the period when Tantric Buddhism, Kashmir Shaivism, and Kaula Tantrism evolved and got perfected. A lot of these techniques and deities are similar/shared because the true origins of some of these primordial entities/practices are older than known religion or metaphysics. Each philosophical school adopted them and claimed them as their own. The Vedas do not prescribe deity worship as practiced today either.
Buddhism chose to give a Buddhistic flavor to these Tantric/Bon practices by pinning Dependent Origination as their philosophical basis. The same can be said about Hinduism, where a lot of deities outside the Vedic systems were assimilated into a Vedic/Veda-friendly system that gets called Hinduism today. Hinduism also counter-attacked the Buddha as an imposter, a demon in some places, while later Puranas accepted him as one of the incarnations of Vishnu. Hinduism certainly is a much larger umbrella system as two dozen schools of philosophies exist (monism - not monotheism, dualism, qualified dualism, materialism, atheism, etc.)
So yes, a lot of these techniques are either very ancient or innovations of some later great minds. Either way, they work. In some areas, like practical aspects of non-duality, the Tantric Buddhists have perfected the techniques in a more elaborate fashion than the current day Hindu counterparts. It is a complex subject with many dimensions - history, society, philosophy, metaphysics, and then aspects that are beyond the scrutiny of the mind-body complex. I study these aspects academically but shun them away from my head when I practice with a clear head. While religion believes in constancy, preserving the old, purity, etc., Tantra (which is Shamanic in nature), is all about evolution, innovation, using the old to produce something new, and not getting sucked into the duality of good-bad, pure-impure, dark-light, etc., as everything that exists is a useful tool for self-improvement.
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Guess it was just scientists working within the cultures of their time to put forth these things then huh?
I’ve also heard of this weird Hindu belief that basically accepts the Buddha as ‘ours’ (from the Hindu perspective) and that he deliberately deluded the people away from the Vedas because that was part of that negative karma. That he was a trickster basically 
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There are 18 Puranas, 18 or more minor Puranas, and so on, which were composed across several centuries. Some of these view Buddha favorably, others not so much, yet others are silent. It depended on the current social/political situation in the subcontinent and who was in power. A similar theme can be seen in terms of Puranas favorable to Shiva vs Vishnu based on the beliefs of the King/Queen in power at that time, or the popular following among the people of the region. Puranas written very late are silent on this topic because Buddha was no longer a relevant topic for them as Buddhism had declined in India by then.
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Interesting. It seems all these distinctions have died down of late as the modern Hindu culture that I was exposed to basically views all these deities favourably (including the Buddha). So much so that I was unaware of these historical conflicts involving literal trashing of the other deities.
I suppose outside the fold of tantricism, there’s plenty of misinformation and bs even in these enlightened eastern religions huh?
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Tantra (and other shamanic systems across cultures) relies on practice, experience, and intuition based on higher knowing, while the religious/faith-based systems depend on tales, faith or held notions. When you accept things without investigation and self-experience, there is a huge room for misinformation and misunderstanding.
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Damn, I’ve basically renounced my religion with this information. I’m still allowed to enjoy stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata right?
Although coming back to this, the only reason I’ve got an affinity to the deities I’ve picked is because of the religion based stories I’ve heard about them. Which kinda complicates things haha
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Btw @Maoshan_Wanderer, this Aghori stuff is pretty freaky. It’s hard to believe that that’s also a path towards the Truth. Seems so unhygienic and disgusting
Funnily enough, they also worship aspects of Shiva!
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Has anyone here worked with Odin/Wotan?
I feel strongly drawn towards this Deity and had some interesting experiences in the past.
When I was contemplating about Him and what He represents (around the same time I got into OOBE, Lucid Dreaming etc) I would constantly find myself in situations where I would hurt my right eye badly, sometimes it was my fault, some times accidents and some times just coicidences like me walking near sports field minding my business and got hit by a ball in right eye (just after I began to see again after a spark from road works got into the same eye, You got the idea)
Then, looking for a way to expand my consciousnesss and perception I I started taking drugs, smoking weed etc I have same dream several times with 3, one- eyedRed haired males looking at me in a dissapointed way.
Also I find stories about him being perfect combination of Wisdom and Strength and dedication towards achieving his goals simply amazing, one could say Hes kinda Role Model for me.
But Im interested if somebody knows a way to contact Him in other than traditional ways/rituals etc.
I have also heard that He often get even His dearest devotees nervous and in danger.
So I would really appreciate if someone experienced could shed some light on how to contact/ renew the connection I possibly had with Him in the past.
Any insights appreciated, thank You
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Indeed even politics, power and profit at play.
There was at some point in history a mass effort to destroy and discredit a specific group of Shiva followers by the Bramhins at the time, as it shifted the power and control from them to everyone else.
So these guys were wiped out.
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As Odin is usually, Odin one eyed
seems like an effect of integration, hence the significance of ‘eye’ damage in your situations.
(invocation)
Traditionally Odin is ‘honored’ by offerings.
The Nordic gods, are part of your everyday life, so just start ‘conversing’ with him in everyday life.
Even simple things like adding an ‘by odin’s beard’ as an expression with meaning in your sentences are part of ‘honoring’ him.
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Ah haha I’ve never heard that and as a non-native speaker it reads funny somehow
I’ll try that at work this week if the opportunity arises
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Thank You.
By integration You mean like adopting more traits, qualities from which Odin is known?
Or, in other words- to become more “Odinic”?
As an In-vocation I understand kind of inviting into myself, becoming “possesed” at will.
Though similar, those seem kind of opposite in a sense. Am I right here, or am I missing something?
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You know we should have an “Indexed Collection of Posts by Dreamweaver” topic next!
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