Demons and Mental Illness (video)

Bela Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; MadamePickwickArtBlog; Tibetan Altar

 Tibetan monks head into a prayer hall during a ceremony to mark Tibetan New Year, Lama Temple in Beijing, China (AP/Greg Baker/sacbee.com)

Dorothy and fragmented aspects of personality in "Oz" or subtle mass media depiction of mental illness? (madamepickwickartblog.com)

WARNING: Shocking, scary, real ghosts, disembodied spirits, and malevolent demons! These things are real and live among us. Rather than fear them, know that they are real. Searching, investigating, and understanding truth is better than ignorance and fear.
 

Scary illusion (fattyscustomtattooz)

People with Christian backgrounds often question if "demons" [maras, yakshas, asuras, nagas, kumbandhas, pretas -- killers, ogres, titans, gnomes, and ghouls] actually exist. The answer is yes.

In remote Himalayan monasteries (gompas), Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism and its art underwent further change. This was largely in spirit, and to some extents forms, and happened when it encountered [Bön] natives who believed then in demons, sorcery, and the pervasive presence of malevolent spirits.

Bon practitioners (bonpos) cultivate household "gods" in addition to other deities: "Traditionally in Tibet divine presences or deities would be incorporated into the very construction of the house making it in effect a castle (dzongka) against the malevolent forces outside it. The average Tibetan house would have a number of houses or seats (poe-khang) for the male god (pho-lha) that protects the house... the man of the house would invoke this god and burn juniper wood and leaves to placate him. In addition the woman of the house would also have a protecting deity (phuk-lha) whose seat could be found within the kitchen usually at the top of the pole that supported the roof" (Tibetan Buddhism - Unit One, Sharpham Trust,. pg. 5).

Ghost banishing ceremony (Getty/Guang Niu)

This influence is seen in what are called goinkhangs, which are reserved for the denizens of the demonic world. A goinkhang is usually a small, dark room in a lonely corner of a monastery, in the eerie gloom of which are hung huge skins and the teeth and nails of animals as well as the remains of sacrificial victims or enemies along with their weapons and armor.  

 

Then the question is frequently extended to ask why Buddhas [enlightened beings] do not simply subdue or otherwise eradicate demons [beings overwhelmed by craving, anger/fear, and delusion].

WARNING: Creepy, possibly supernatural, video segments!

Amorphous "ghost" or preta (WQ)

The answer is that they do, but just as Buddhas are continuously manifesting, so too are demons and evil spirits. 

 

To the question of what manifests Buddhas and demons, the answer is almost surely that Buddhas are uncreated and self-manifesting, whereas demons are persistent illusions created by collection [collective intention, group karma].

 

The question then becomes, if they are illusions, why do they persist? The answer is that they are raw, evolving illusions, connected to us by the force of karma. 

 

The question then becomes, if they are created by collection, why are they not subject to dispersal, that is, why do they endure? The answer is that they endure through the power of collective intention and ignorance. More


 

Tibetan Bon (madamepickwickartblog.com)

(TAS/Awakened) Lamas of the Gyuto Tantric College perform sacred Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies and a style of chanting that expresses the ecstasy of samadhi meditation. Through ritual and mantras and by the sheer inherent potency of their disciplined execution, these concentrated energies bring about direct spiritual phenomena. The rituals, introduced by the Dalai Lama, are interwoven with powerful images of sacred Tibetan art. The film is prefaced by an account of Tibetan history that incorporates archival footage from the 1920s until the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959.