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• W4295776546 abstract "The notion of the <italic>vidyādhara</italic>, “bearer of wisdom/practical knowledge/ritual lore,” was a common figure in various Indian traditions and appeared in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain texts, as well as in Indian narrative literature. Originally, these beings were depicted as semi-divine, youthful figures flying about in the atmosphere between heaven and earth, endowed with supernormal powers. Later, this figure came to be viewed as a soteriological state that a human being could attain in his/her present life through religious practice, thereby becoming a kind of superhuman, god-like being. This interpretation was mainly encountered in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain tantric traditions. In Indian Buddhism, the ideal of becoming a <italic>vidyādhara</italic> came to be linked to a variety of practices, including alchemy, meditation, and the recitation of mantras, by which supernormal powers could be acquired. Such practices were also performed to achieve spiritual success by a <italic>bodhisattva</italic> on the long path to <italic>buddha</italic>hood. The concept of a <italic>vidyādhara</italic> as a soteriological ideal for humans to realize in their present lives has been emphasized not merely in Indian but also in Tibetan and Burmese traditions, where it became localized and adapted to the local culture and society. Although the nature and origin of the premodern notions of <italic>vidyādhara</italic> (Pāli <italic>vijjādhara</italic>) and related practices in Burma/Myanmar have yet to be investigated, these notions and practices came to be rather widespread there during the colonial period from about the end of 19th century, and their popularity culminated during the postindependence period starting in 1948. Since these periods, a <italic>weizzā</italic> or a <italic>weizzādhour</italic> (Pāli <italic>vijjādhara</italic>) has been understood to be a human being who achieves a superhuman state. This is a two-stage process. First, as a human being, he (it is always a man) achieves a lower-state of <italic>weizzā</italic>hood by engaging in a variety of practices such as Buddhist meditation and morality in combination with alchemy, magical squares (yantras), or indigenous medicine, or reciting mantras through which he acquires supernormal powers (Pāli <italic>iddhi</italic>, <italic>abhiññā</italic>; Burmese <italic>dago</italic>; Sanskrit <italic>siddhi</italic>), such as being able to predict the future, to materialize objects, to be able to levitate, to be present at two places at the same time, etc. Second, he achieves an ontological transformation (<italic>htwek-yap-pauk</italic>) through which he acquires a semi-immortal life that enables him to transcend <italic>saṃsāra</italic> and to attain nirvana and awakening (Pāli <italic>bodhi</italic>) in a remote future as a Buddhist saint (Pāli <italic>arahant</italic>) or as a buddha in one extended life. In the meantime, the accomplished <italic>weizzā</italic> leaves the human realm and enters a hidden world, and from there he seeks to promote and defend the Buddha’s dispensation (Pāli <italic>sāsana</italic>) and to save the suffering sentient beings. From his hidden abode, a <italic>weizzā</italic> can communicate with and give instructions to his human devotees through telepathic messages or omens, by apparitions, or by possessing them. In this way, a <italic>weizzā</italic> is perceived as an intrinsically Buddhist figure that is linked to Buddhist meditation, morality, soteriology, cosmology, and eschatology." @default.
• W4295776546 created "2022-09-15" @default.
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• W4295776546 date "2022-09-15" @default.
• W4295776546 modified "2023-09-25" @default.
• W4295776546 title "Buddhist Wizards (Vidyādhara/Weizzā/Weikza): Origins and History" @default.
• W4295776546 doi "https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.769" @default.
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