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indtbreg.regReality SoftwareP.O. Box 105Waldoboro, Me 04572April 25, 1992Introduction to the Great Goddess in India and TibetWelcome to an exploration of the Great Goddess as she lived,and still lives, in India and Tibet. In this region, she isstill very much alive, and with the spread of Tibetan Buddhism tothe West forced by the Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet 40years ago, the religion of this Great Goddess has actively spreadto the West. Although the Great Goddess can be found in oneother literature, Celtic mythology written down during the MiddleAges, the wealth of texts and living cult practice isunparalleled in India and Tibet.The complexity that appears is almost overwhelming. Aserious academic controversy continues as to whether or not asingle Great Goddess exists/existed in South and Central Asia;the number of apparently distinct goddesses, both 'major' and'minor' that can be tabulated is stri   ing. I proceed from theassumption that the Great Goddess was/is a global phenomenon,although it is easy to loose the 'single pre-eminent deity' whenloo  ing at her numerous ephiphanies and manifestations. Isympathasize with those who cannot see see the unity behind theapparent 'ten thousand things'. In any case, this presentationlac  s a single s  eleton upon which to hang the discussion. Thecomplexity of these mytho-poetics will not allow for that and nooveriding theme will be forced on this study. Let us revel inthe complexity for its own sa   e and for the extraordinarydiversity of human behavior that is accepted under its umbrella.Hinduism and Buddhism are, perhaps, the most tolerant religionsyet to appear on this planet. They are an extraordinaryachievement of the human mind. Indian and Tibetan mytho-poeticshave long impressed scholars with their complex, multilayeredmetaphors. In all of history, they may represent the mostimpressive cultural achievement in this realm for these societiesvalued intellectual pursuits very, very highly. Ultimate'  nowledge' was experiential, forever beyond intellectual studyand accomplishment. Nonetheless, the development of a first rateintellectual mind and the commitment to in-depth, difficult studywas always viewed as the essential beginning steps on the road toenlightenment. Such a view is rarely held in the West, where wehave such a passion for what is quic  , ego-centered, emotionaland expressive. We do not have a deep cultural commitment tothat which requires a major commitment to deep informationgathering and tight, logical philosophy. Integration of suchexperiences into a life requires, above all, maturity of thoughtand discipline and the ability to ma   e serious choices for thelong-run gain. In our adolescent, ego-riented culture foreverobsessed with only today, we spin out accolades for those comingto meet us from Hindu or Buddhist realms. However, we rarelyunderstand them because their message cannot be reduced tocartoon level, easily assimilated, self-help cleverness, howevermuch we try to do just that.The other barrier in confronting these mytho-poetics is sex,something all Westerners are convinced they   now a great dealabout. As a culture, we are entirely unfamiliar with sexualpractice integrated into religion. Within the context of Judao-Christian thought, such ideas were never acceptable to hemainstream and early in the history of both religions werebranded heresy and totally sinful, to be persecuted whereverfound. The mainstream theology of the West has been puritanicaland moralistic since the early Middle Ages. Nonetheless, forseveral centuries, Gnosticism contained sects which practicedsexual rites within the context of a philosophy that drew heavilyupon the New Testament. These Gnostic sects are discussed atsome length in the beginning of this study in order to introducerituals that were practiced in the West that bear somerelationship to the integration of sexual rites within theGoddess cults of both Hindus and Buddhism. These practices arespectacular and extreme and their description will challenge manyof your basic assumptions about public and private ethics andmorality.I have chosen not to avoid these issues, because withoutthem a study of the Great Goddess in India and Tibet would haveno meaning. Sexual rites, tantric and otherwise, were central tomuch cult practice because of the Goddess' intimate associationwith fertility and life-giving in both the human sphere and theecological environment at large. (The historical record of sexualritual in the West has yet go be explored fully and discussedthoughtfully.) The historical record in South and Central Asiais clear, from both written evidence and first hand observation.This is not to say all Goddess ritual was sexual, far from it.More than half of this study is concerned with other matters asthe table of contents ma   es clear. However, when we enter therealm of the Goddess as Giver of Sovereignty and Tantrism, sexualritual appears in a context loaded with complex metaphysicalphilosophy.My commitment is, above all, to historical reality. Whatwas, or is, must be witnessed and understood. Understand, that Iam a researcher only, not a closet cultist who practices strangerituals, sexual or otherwise. In presenting this material, I amnot advocating that myself or anyone should, necessarily,experiment with such practices. Context is everything and bythat I mean traditions with deep mytho-poetic meaning thatsupport daily life, secular and ritualistic. The culturalcontext for these practices, except for some Tantric rites, isforever gone and cannot be recreated. In any case, they wereonly intended for royalty under special circumstances asexplained in the text, or for those of unusual pyschologicalstrength who were naturally inclined and thoroughly prepared toexplore pyschic realms that for most people were very dangerousand carried with them the possibility of madness. The potentialbenefits to the few who entered these realms are discussed in thestudy. The potential benefits to simply reading about this facetof religious history is that we might broaden our understandingof human nature and see a more complete, complex picture thanbefore. If such an exploration is offensive to you, please donot underta  e it. No benefits will accrue; there would be nopoint in simply getting angry at me or feely morally superior. Istrongly recommend that this material not be read by youngpeople, who will not have the maturity or educational bac   roundto properly consider it, or anyone simply after sexualtitilation. In either case, the time spent would simply bewasted. The Great Goddess in India and TibetTable of ContentsIntroduction.................................................. 1The Goddess and Tantra........................................ 9The Goddess and the Horse Sacrifice........................... 17Evolution of the Indo-European Mare Ritual.................... 22Of Sna  es, Venom and Mil   ..................................... 22The Taming of the Goddess in India............................ 23The Doomsday Mare: Indian Society as a Fusion of Two Mytho-Poetics, the Neolithic Great Goddess and Indo-European............................................ 25God and Goddess: S   y and Earth................................ 33The Still Living Indian Goddess: Tantra....................... 34Denial and Acceptance......................................... 36Gaia and Sovereignty: Sri La   shmi ............................ 38Indo-European Neolithic Goddess Balance: Mnage a Trois....... 46Creativity, Complexity and Chaos.............................. 47The Radha Goddess, Smallpox and Mythic Reality ............... 48Tara: The White and Green Great Goddess in Tibet.............. 52BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................. 67References for Indian and Tibetan HistoryBasham, A.L. 1954. The Wonder That Was India. New Yor  :Grove Press.Sha  abpa, T.W.D. 1967. Tibet: A Political History. New Haven:Yale Univ. Press.Snellgrove, D. and H. Richardson. 1968. A Cultural History ofTibet. Boston: Shambala.Wolpert, S. 1991. India. Ber  eley, CA.: Univ. of CaliforniaPress.Yeshe Do Project. 1986. Ancient Tibet. Ber  eley, CA: DharmaPubl. REGISTRATIONThe complete text (indtib.dos or indtib.wpw) comprises 63single spaced pages and provides an extensive bibiliography.These references are invaluable if your interest motivates you topursue any of this material further. You also have the option atregistration to purchase a version of this pac   age in which thefiles are formatted for Word Perfect for Windows (WPWIN). Thesefiles are identical in content to those formatted for oldfashioned ASCII Dos Text but they utilize a des   top publishingformat that includes bold, underline, italic and specialcharacters and they have professional 'clean' loo  . If you haveWPWIN and wish to own files with a splashier design, considerregistration with this option. The WPWIN pac   age also containsthree maps not included with the Dos Text pac   age; seeintbbegn.doc.Upon registration, you will also be placed on our permanentmailing list to receive future updates of this study at specialreduced rates and flyers about future publications from RealitySoftware.If you purchased the complete pac   age you will have thecomplete 63 page study of the Great Goddess in India and Tibet.In addition, you should have each of the files from the sharewarepac  age (except sharew.hlp) plus readers.hlp (about thestructural design of the presentation and how to use thereferences); graphics files of a lovely group of Buddhist templesin Thailand (thai.gif), a majestic gold statue of the Buddha(watsuand.gif), and the ancient Japanese House of Lords which isa stri  ing pagoda (JX2VF.gif); a file explaining our study on theGreat Goddess in China and Japan (chjapreg.reg); a fileexplaining our text on the Great Goddess in Celtic realms(celtreg.reg); an on disc flyer describing our study of the WhiteGoddess in Neolithic Europe (whgdsreg.reg); and a file describingour historical timeline that would be a valuable contextualcomplement to this pac  age (timereg.reg). These graphic files arefreeware I have downloaded during my BBS browsing. Some containadvertising which I consider quite legitimate considering thetime and effort that goes into their creation. They all quiteattractive and a definite visual enhancement to this pac   age. TheWPWIN pac  age contains three map files* not included in the Dostext pac  age because they are in .wpg format. They are apolitical map of India (indiapol.wpg); a topographical map ofIndia (indiatop.wpg); and a topographical map of Central Asia(tibettop.wpg). If any of these files are missing contact RSimmediately and we will send you, free of charge, the missingfile(s). File ListsDOS TEXT:A Text Files: (1) intbbegn.doc; (2) indtib.doc; (3)indtib.dos; (4) indtib.reg; (5) celtreg.reg; (6) chjpreg.reg; (7)timereg.reg; (8) whgdsreg.reg.B Graphics Files: (1) JX2VF.gif; (2) thai.gif; (3)watsuand.gif.WPWINA Text Files: (1) intbbegn.wpw; (2) intbdocd.wpw; (3)intib.wpw; (4) intbreg.wpw; (5) celtreg.wpw; (6) chjpreg.wpw; (7)timereg.wpw; (8) whgdreg.wpw.B Graphics Files: (1) tibettop.wpg; (2) indiapol.wpg; (4)indiatop.wpg; (5) JX2VF.gif; (6) thai. gif; (7) watsuand.gif.April 24, 1992To register, simply fill out the form below and mail to:REALITY SOFTWARE, P.O. BOX 105, WALDOBORO, ME 04572.Name ___________________________________________________ Street Address __________________________________________ Town or City _______________ State ________ Zip _________-GREAT GODDESS IN INDIA AND TIBET TEXT and Docs.*Disc Size 5 1/4" (Quant) __$16 (ASCII) __$17 (WPWIN) Total ___ (US$ each) 3 1/2" (Quant) __$18 (ASCII) __$19 (WPWIN) Total ___ Method of Payment. Chec  ___ Money Order ____ (Made out to Ben Blumenberg)Where did you obtain INDTIB.ZIP ?____________________________