User:Hmackiernan/Kalachakra

Kalachakra is the name both of a Buddhist tantric text and of the central deity whose practice is described therein. The Kalachakra tantra is unique among other Buddhist tantras in that initiation into the Kalachakra is routinely given to large groups, rather than to small groups of practitioners as is more often the case with other tanras. The name 'Kalachakra' means 'wheel of time'. This can be taken to refer both to the cycles of time in the cosmos (the movement of planets, the movement of the season) as well as the movement of so-called 'vital energies' in the body.

Context

 * A Tantra, the 'esoteric' or 'secret' Buddhism

History
The Kalachakra tantra was one of the last tantras to appear in India prior to the disappearance of Buddhism from that country in the face of Muslim invasions and Hindu devotionalism.

Kalachakra Practice
a term used in tantric Buddhism that means "time-wheel" or "time-cycles". The Kalachakra tradition, which is described in the Kalacakra Tantra, revolves around the concept of time and cycles: from the cycles of the planets, to the cycles of our breath and the practice of controlling the most subtle energies within one's body on the path to enlightenment. The Kalachakra deity represents a Buddha and thus omniscience. Everything is under the influence of time, he is time and therefore knows all. Similarly, the wheel is beginningless and endless.

The Kalachakra tradition (like all Buddist tantric systems) originates in India somewhere during the 10th century, but with the virtual disappearance of Buddhism from India around the 13th century, the tradition continued in Tibet.

Among the four main Tibetan schools of Buddhism, the Kalachakra practice appears most prominent in the Gelugpa tradition, although the practice is found in all four schools. The practice is very important in the smaller Jonangpa school of Tibet. The Dalai Lamas have had specific interest in the Kalachakra practice, specifically the First, Second, Seventh, Eighth, and the current Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

Astrology
Often, the phrase "as it is outside, so it is within the body" can be found in the Kalachakra tantra to emphasize similarities between ourselves and the cosmos; the basis for astrology, but also for even more profound connections and interdependence as taught in the Kalachakra literature.

In Tibet, the Kalachakra astrological system is one of the main building blocks to compose Tibetan astrological calendars. The astrology in the Kalachakra is not unlike the Western system, where for example, complicated calculations are required to determine, for example, the exact location of the planets.

Controversy
The Kalachakra Tantra has occasionally been the center of controversy because it contains passages which are seen as demonizing the Abrahamic religions. Further, it contains the prophecy of a future holy war between Buddhists and so-called "barbarians", which is sometimes interpreted as encouraging inter-religious conflict. However, the history of Buddhism as most peaceful of the major world-religions clearly shows that this interpretation is probably caused by a much too literal reading of a very complicated text. Rather, the description of a sort of "holy war" refers to the inner battle which is to be fought by every religious practitioner against one's inner demonic and barbarian tendencies.