The Dalai Lama and the Nechung Oracle

Abstract

A decade back, as I recall, I had befriended a Lama in Sikkim who like many of his countrymen from Tibet, had chosen to escape from the Chinese oppression to take refuge in India and be free to breathe Buddha dharma. My Lama friend only knew the Tibetan language and was immersed in his own culture, myth, mythology, and rituals. Even though he lived in this foreign land (India) and was used to meeting and greeting European visitors, he was in every sense from another world and era. Moreover this was a strange friendship as I did not know any other Tibetan and yet we could converse banal things and when we were quieter it was possible (infrequently) to have intimate spiritual discussion without any external aid. As I got to know him more I was left with no choice but to christen him as ‘Magic Lama’. Even today I vividly remember him mentioning that we usually start our spiritual journey with meditation systems that are rooted in compassion, but as one matures in faith and understanding, the inner demons opposed to spiritual attainment also become more powerful. To come out victorious and transcend all barriers one may be called to explore and practice wrathful Sadhana for the attainment of lasting peace and complete deliverance of mind. One of his parting gifts to me was an amulet to hang in my car and I could not instantaneously relate to the image of the deity on it – who looked more like a demon and I struggled to pronounce his name right. To simplify things the complicated God ‘Pehar’ was referred to me as a Tibetan deity for protection and I do believe ‘Pehar’ had come to me at a time when I needed him the most. As I started to read The Dalai Lama and the Nechung Oracle, to my surprise, the first chapter turned out to be all about Pehar, his genesis, transformation, relationship with other Gods, wrathful nature, and occult powers. Tibetan myths and practices tend to challenge all pre conceived notions and the author Christopher Bell, has made no attempt to present any concept in a palatable manner for more refined sensibilities. Bell has presented after considerable research, divergent and also conflicting perspectives on the origin of complicated God (Pehar) and the role he plays as a protective spirit in Tibet, anointed and appointed by the Tantric Guru Padmasambhava.