Sunday, October 25, 2009

Mahamayuri = Lucifer ?

A comment in a previous post pointed out thatin the Middle East region, there is a "cult" called "Yeezidee" and they worship Lucifer. The emblem used is also a peacock and Lucifer is regarded as the Peacock Angel. This person asks whether our Peacock Queen Bodhisattva is the same as the Peacock Angel a.k.a Lucifer. And Lucifer is the Archangel in Christianity. So, is Mahamayuri also connected with Satan worship? There are also some people who associate Malek Taus (see below article) and the Sumerian God Enki as Arya Maha Mayuri. Is Maha Mayuri these gods?


My answer is this: I do not know much about Lucifer, not Malek Taus nor Enki but I can assure you our Buddhist Mahamayuri Bodhisattva is all goodness. Just because the "animal" symbol is the same (i.e. peacock) does not mean they are the same deity. In fact even Hinduism have deities riding on the peacock. The peacock is used in many cultures and religions and predates Buddhism. Therefore, be confident that the buddhist Peacock Queen Bodhisattva (Arya Maha Mayuri) is not satanic.


Having said that, the "ultimate devil" is in our mind. If our mind is perverted, we can even turn the Buddha into a devil. I have been told that even a common Buddhist paritta or mantra, which is nothing but goodness, if we recite it in a certain way, it can even become black magic. If we don't take care of our mind, we will then see everyone and everything as evil. So, we become evil ourselves. In Buddhism, we take care of the mind. Buddhism emphasizes much on taking care of the mind. In Buddhist tantra, as is in Ch'an Buddhism, if our mind is pure, everything is likewise pure, i.e. our environment turns into Buddha's Pure Land.


Last but not least, this is something I got from searching the internet:


Quote from: http://www.lashtal.com/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=18673

"Worship centers around Angels (Malek is from the Arabic word for 'angel'), the most important of which is named Melek Taus, or the "Peacock Angel," also known as Lucifer. Lucifer plays a different role in Yezidism, where he is considered the chief Archangel, and the creator of the material world. In Yezidi belief, Lucifer is not a fallen angel, or the enemy of God. In Yezidi cosmology, the universal Spirit (the Supreme deity) created a pearl, which became broken after a period of forty thousand years. Melek, or Lucifer, used the remains of the pearl to create the material world. After this creation, the Spirit created the remaining Angels. Yezidi theology claims that Lucifer was forgiven for his transgressions, and those who revere him are the spiritual elect of humanity. They are forbidden from referring to him as Satan. [snip] Yezidis are a Kurdish sect, named after their supposed founder Yezid, the Umayyad Caliph. The Yezidi revere the Prophet Mohammed and the Sufi mystic Adi Musafir, a descendent of the Umayyad Caliphs (Kalifs). Adi is credited with writing many of the Yezidi Holy texts and is possibly the originator of the faith. Islamic writings mention the religion as early as the fourteenth century, but some scholars link them to Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, and even ancient Iraqi Buzzard worshippers. Yezidism is an enigma that has confounded scholars and incited debate for some time"

2 comments:

Bodhiactivity said...

I was the one who made the relevant comment. Actually I may not have been quite clear. I did not mean that Mahamayuri Bodhisattva is evil. Of course having taken refuge, I regard all the Bodhisattvas as my refuge and absolutely wonderful. What i'm saying is, as we all know that Bodhisattvas take all kinds of manifestations. As i read about this Yeezidee religion and the feelings of this visitor who described it as "utter peace" i wonder if it could not have been our Bodhisattva's manifestation. People like to label things satan and so on, but that's their perception. I think our Bodhisattvas can aid many people in many way and tat includes taking manifestations that may seem negative. Eg prostitutes butchers, etc. Who knows? I mean this calls to mind that no-one can actually say something is really totally absolutely bad. It really depends on how you look at it. Drugs are bad, but Dzongsar Khyentse Rp did mention once that these drugs led many of the western hippies and psychedelicas to Dharma in the end. Because drugs induce a state that showed not only our material matters. So anyway, i'm saying things are really relative and the activities of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are mind-blowing... and often very unexpected.

Mahabodhiyana said...

You can view it as such (as your explanation) but you cannot take just the "utter peace" factor as your reasoning for it to be the manifestation of Mahamayuri. There got to be better reasons. In many cultist places of worship, you will find them to be very peaceful too.