15
Sep
2020
Establishment & History of Kalachakra Tantra
The word Kalachakra refers to the wheel of time or time cycle in Buddhism. And, Tantra is considered to belong to a magnificent yoga class. The origin of this tradition was first in India and then it is most active in Tibet.
This Tradition teaches on Cosmology, Theology, sociology, myth, prophecy, medicine, and yoga. These teachings are to signify the transformation of one body and mind into perfect Buddhahood through various yogic methods. The Kalachakra Tantra consists of five chapters.
- The first concerns the external cycle of time,
- The second the internal cycles and
- The last three alternative cycles
Table of Contents
Ground Kalachakra
The first two Kalachakra is considered as the “Ground Kalachakra’’. The first Kalachakra deals with the external Kalachakra, which starts with the description of Buddha teaching the Tantra to King Suchindra Sambha where myth and prophecy are discussed.
It deals with the outer Kalachakra which provides a cosmology based on Vaibashika Abhidharma, Samkhya, The Purans, and the Jain cosmology. The Kalachakra calendar, death, and birth of the universe our solar system, and the working of elements are present.
The second Kalachakra deals with the internal cycle of time which parallel the external cycle. The received cycle is death, bardo, and rebirth. It describes all the different manners of rebirth that is possible i.e. through womb or egg. The experience of humans is described in terms of four mind states: Waking, dream, deep sleep and the fourth is the state which is available through the sexual orgasm.
Path and Fruition to Kalachakra Tantra
The last three alternative cycles deal with the Path and Fruition. The third chapter deals with the requirement and preparation for medication practices for the system, mainly the initiation of Kalachakra.
The fourth chapter explains the actual meanings of sadhana and yoga i.e. spiritual practices. Both of the medications on the mandala and its deities in the generation stage. And, the perfect stage practices with six yoga of Kalachakra. The fifth chapter describes the state of the intuition is the result or fruit of the practice.
Prediction of what will happen in the future-Prophecy
The Shambhala Kingdom and its holy war with the Barbarians. The Kalachakra consists of a passage that refers to the Buddhist Kingdom called Sambhala. Buddhist kings ruled Sambhala and also preserved the Kalachakra Teaching. It also mentions how this kingdom comes into conflict with Invaders named mleccha (Barbarians), in which most people agree to Muslims and the Muslim Invasion of India.
According to John New man, Buddhist who formed Kalachakra Tantra are likely to borrow the Hindu concept of Kalki and adapted the concept. They believed that Buddhists combined their idea of Shambhala with Kalki to reflect the theo-political situation they faced after the arrival of Islam in Central Asia and Western Tibet.
The text prophase a war fought by a massive army of Buddhist and Hindus who were led by Kind Rudra Kalkin, against the Muslim persecutors. Then after the victory of good over evil and achievement of religious freedom, the Kalki escorts in the new era of peace and Sambhala becomes the place of perfections.
The subtle body
The fundamental element of the Kalachakra teachings is an understanding of the subtle energetic aspects of the human body. In Kalachakra (as in other tantric traditions), the human body is believed to contain certain subtle elements, mainly the three channels (left, right, and central), the vital winds the four drops (bindus), and six chakras These elements function in a cyclical fashion, similar to how cosmological elements also have their cyclical movements.
The Kalachakra Tantra contains detailed descriptions of these subtle body elements. In the Kalachakra system, the six chakras that lie through the central channel are as follows:
- The Crown Chakra
- Forehead Chakra
- Throat Chakra
- Heart Chakra
- Navel Chakra
- Secret Place Chakra (pubic region)
These subtle elements are used during tantric meditation practice to attain immutable bliss and primordial wisdom.
Alexander Begins writes that
“During the Kalachakra empowerment, visualizations of different syllables and colored discs at these spots purify both the chakras and their associated elements”.
According to Gen Lamrimpa:
“The Kalachakra Tantra emphasizes the attainment of a buddha body by means of the empty form body, which is used to attain immutable bliss, the mind of a buddha. This differs from other highest yoga tantras, in which the buddha body is attained by transforming the extremely subtle primordial energy into illustrator body”.
Cosmology and Calendar
The phase “as it is outside, so it is inside the body ‘’ is found in the Kalachakra Tantra that highlight the similarities and difference between human and the cosmos.
This correspondence comes about because both the cosmos and the bodies of sentient beings come into existence due to the efficacy of the habitual propensities of the minds of beings. In this sense, the cosmos is like a cosmic replica of a sentient being’s body.
Thus, one can say that the cosmos and the individual are non-dual and mutually pervasive, even in terms of their conventional existence. They are interconnected and they influence each other.
The principal element of Kalachakra is described in the first chapter of Kalachakra Tantra. The calendar is a lunisolar calendar based on 60 years cycle.
The months last from the new phase of the moon to a new phase of the moon and are defined by the sign of the zodiac the Sun enters during the month. Occasionally, the Sun doesn’t change significantly during a month, and this month is taken into an account an additional or, month.
The additional month is taken into account within the Kalachakra tradition to possess equivalent characteristics because the previous month, although the system followed in Tibetan calendars is that the intercalary has characteristics because the month that follows it.
As the point of entry into the zodiacal signs defines monthly and then on the sign is entered right within the middle of the month concerned, which suggests that at the time of the full moon.
The complete moon will only actually occur at that position rarely, but it does mean that there is a mean position within the sky for every month’s full moon the purpose exactly opposite the beginning of the sign defining the month.
