Cambodian religious beliefs originated from Brahmanism which worships three supreme Deities: Brahma (Supreme God), Vishnu (Deity of preservation), and Shiva (Deity of destruction). Later on Mahayana Buddhism spread to Cambodia and shortly after, it was replaced by Theravada Buddhism. Today, Theravada Buddhism is the national religion of Cambodia. Theravada Buddhism and Cambodian magic arts are similar to ThaiLand, Laos and Myanmar (Burma).
It is not that simple though, Theravada monks revere Buddha Sakyamuni and not the “Buddhas and Bodhisattva of the ten directions” of Mahayana Buddhism. However, they carry with them all kinds of magic charms, and almost publicly made them available to whoever needs it (In the Cambodian Imperial Library, and in the national largest pagoda are kept numerous charms and talismans that have been passed down from previous patriarchs)

A few years ago, monk DaDa (not his real name) had brought back two copies of about fifty pages of spells, charms, and yantras from the Imperial library in Cambodia and gave Old_Guru one set as a gift. Even from a very young age, Cambodian monks are familiar with magic arts and spells because they have witnessed their gurus selling to those who requested them. Although the Theravada monks follow the Pali Buddhist scriptures, their monasteries are inundated with magical arts and spells belonging to the Brahmanism’s deities.

The high monks receive respect from the miracles they perform rather than their knowledge of dry Buddhist scriptures. DaDa even admitted to Old_Guru that, “The magic from Brahmanism is a dark one.” However, Old_Guru corrected him, saying, It may appear dark, but in reality magic is white because the Supreme God and various Deities are behind any given spells.

Brahmanism may be an unwritten faith that lies in the subconscious mind of Theravada monks in South East Asia. Thus, since he was very young, Dada has been praying for the help of various deities who were popularly known to be very efficient. As he grew older, Dada set out to learn magic arts, and used the money from his fortune-telling to offer it to more than 90 famous magicians to learn their skills.

Disciples of secret Buddhism should not be mistaken that performing miraculous feat/magic is evil. A religion that is lacking in miracles and numinous events is a dead faith, a soulless corpse.

Back to his quest for magical arts, Dada told Old Guru that all the 90 gurus he had come to learn magic from had asked him for various offerings, some asked for a buffalo, others wanted a large sum of money, the oddest request was from one who asked for a gold chain that stretched from head to toe.

It could be said that Dada’s quest for the spiritual path is comparable to that of Bodhisattva named Disposing of Hindrance mentioned in Mahayana Sutra, which says, the Buddha appeared to the above named Bodhisattva, advising him to go and offer the most precious gift to a ‘casual’ monk in order to obtain from him the mantra “Om mani padme hum,” which belongs to Kwan Shi Yin Bodhisattva.

Until next time

Old_Guru 15-08-08