Celtic Buddhism
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Celtic Buddhism is a New Religious Movement of Western combining elements from Vajrayana Buddhism and Celtic (especially Gaelic) spirituality.
History[edit]
"Celtic Buddhism" was established in the United States in the 1980s by John Riley Perks, who served for seven years as a manservant and acolyte to the well-known Tibetan lama Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Perks then started his own group, without formal recognition by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, although Perks claims that the creation of such a movement was reportedly suggested to Perks by Rinpoche "in casual conversation," as Perks has written.[1]
The group officially became a non-profit organization in 1989. There are communities in the US, Canada, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. The Anadaire Center in Saxtons River, VT serves as the communities' headquarters and residence of John Riley Perks and wife and Lineage Holder, Julia Perks. Most of its retreats take place in Maine and Vermont, but they occasionally repair to Ireland or Scotland. Perks is also the author of The Mahasiddha and His Idiot Servant.
Lineage[edit]
Regarding Perks' claims, John L. Murphy refers to Tibetologist Burkhard Scherer:
The legitimacy of Perks' claim, Tibetologist Burkhard Scherer (2010) avers, may be in doubt. "There is no indication that Trungpa or any Tibetan master with traditional claim to realisation has recognised Perks as liberated or enlightened; Perks' claim of spiritual authority stems solely from himself. In the Indo-Tibetan tradition, realisation and lineage holdership are always (and most of the time in multifold form) endorsed by other senior Tibetan masters." Scherer discerns how Perks' "transmission story is vague," lacking evidence of Trungpa's formal "empowerment." Given the narrative Perks provides, Scherer reasons that Trungpa did not teach "such New Age creolisation" as a formal teaching upon which a lineage could be claimed as a "realisation.[2]
Practices[edit]
Discovering and uncovering what they call the "Celtic Buddhist mandala," members of the group meditate daily. They also practice shamatha, Tibetan-style ngöndro and chöd, and tonglen, among other approaches. The group reflects a longer history within Irish culture of reflections on the relationship between Buddhism and Celtic culture.[3]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Perks, John R. The Mahasiddha and His Idiot Servant. Crazy Heart Publishers, 2006.
- ↑ John L. Murphy, in "Inventing the concept of Celtic Buddhism", p.90, in Olivia Cosgrove et al. (eds), Ireland's new religious movements. Cambridge Scholars, 2011
- ↑ Murphy, John L, "Inventing the concept of Celtic Buddhism". 74 - 96 in Olivia Cosgrove et al. (eds), Ireland's new religious movements. Cambridge Scholars, 2011
External links[edit]
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