Buddhism : Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Vol. VI

ON THE HISTORY AND PSYCHOLOGY OF THE 'DAS-LOG

contradistinction to himself or to the unconditioned sphere in general, should
inspire fear and revulsion and therefore not be clung to:

Lamas = Bandits

Meditation masters = Insufferably ordinary men

Logicians = Parrots

Monks = Laymen

Mantrists = Venemous snakes

Lords = Black snakes

Youths= Wolves

Nuns = Whores, bitches

Women= Witches

The rich = Pretas

Saints = Braggarts

Teachers = Barking dogs^36

Finally, shorn of delusion, the 'das-log receives a final insight on insight from

Dharmaraja before he is dismissed homewards with a message to the world.

What seems important here is that whereas the 'das-log entered his regressive

hallucinatory state lacking the ability to integrate his split introjects, identifica-

tions and contradictory images of the self, he now is about to emerge from this

experience having synthesized the dualities of social and psychological life

through the rejection of the normative social view, and by moving toward a

more ascetic indifference in which dualism disappears. In short, the 'das-log has

been reparented by no less than Dharmaraja and qiikit;'i. He reanimates his

corpse, studies with lamas, and goes on to lead a fully religious life, dedicated to

the reparenting of others. Back in the world it is now men who are loathe to

accept the 'das-log, who, upon reanimation, is initially feared as a murderous

zombie or ghost. However, ambivalence now properly belongs to other men and

not the 'das-log. As the Dharmaraja predicts in Karma-dbang-'dzin's case (I, A:

354):

Men of devilish extraction that revile the Buddha's teachings

And several witches of the butcher caste who bear you evil

Will try to kill you and you will be falsely accused.

Then you will rebut them with protestations of truth;

Impediments will be cleared away by the residents of the Buddha-

sphere.

These are not isolated themes in the literature of the A valokitesvara cult; the

maternal theme is prominent in the entire genre. It is in search of the bad

mothers, who are suspect in their husbands' deaths, and who are rejected by

their sons, that both Maudgalyayana and Guru-Chos-bdang sojourn to hell. In

both cases, mother's evil has deprived them of decent parental relations. Similar