Since the pro-Lamaist intellectuals can no loner deny that fascist authors increasingly sought out contact with Lamaist cultural images after the war, they emphatically reassure us that these were a matter of Western “illusions”, or at least Western hybrids of Lamaism which were in no sense just. With this they seem to think the problem is solved (in this regard, see Brauen 2000). But they leave us waiting for an examination of contents which reveals to what depth and extent ideas and practices from Lamaism have been directly incorporated by the fascist side. Yet a debate about the images, archetypes, metapolitical visions, political structures, and rituals from the Tibetan cultural sphere which the neo-Nazis refer back to is of far greater interest than the question of whether there was personal contact between lamas and Nazis. Here the actual work of cultural criticism begins, which entails
1. discovering Lamaist myths of origin behind the “Nazi fantasies”
2. investigating these Lamaist myths of origin
3. examining structural similarities between neo-fascism and Lamaism
Only then when such “myths of origin” are not to be found can the Nazi- Tibet connection be said to have been exposed as a purely Western fiction.
The following list of paradigms, concepts, theories, methods, and myths which have essentially shaped the culture of Lamaism (and still do) have become central for the neo-fascist movement:
· The combination of religious and political power
· A strictly hierarchical state structure that rests upon a spiritually based “Führer principle”
· The out and out patriarchal orientation of the state and society
· A pattern of complete subordination of pupil to master
· The appearance of divine beings of earth to fulfill political missions (the avatar, incarnation, and Bodhisattva principle)
· A political micro-/macrocosmic theory according to which a Buddhist ruler represents a likeness of the entire universe.
· The idea of a world ruler (Chakravartin) and a violent conquest of the world
· The motif of spiritual/political redemption
· The idea of a superhuman center of power in Asia, from where an influence on world politics is exercised (the Shambhala myth)
· The legitimation of contemporary politics through mythic roots
· The derivation of political control from myths of the sun and light
· The myth of the “black sun” (Rahu myth in the Kalachakra Tantra)
· Alchemic speculations (as in the Kalachakra Tantra)
· An interest in secret men’s associations (members of orders)
· The existence of a supernatural community of “priestly warriors” (Shambhala warriors) who observe and influence the history of the world
· A “Buddhist” warrior ethic based upon spiritual control of the body and emotions
· An apocalyptic final battle, in which good and evil stand opposed and all nonbelievers are annihilated (Shambhala war)
· A fascination with the machinery of war (Shambhala myth)
· Flying discs (UFOs) — corresponding objects (flying wheels) will be put to use in the final Shambhala war
· A magical view of the world and the associated conception that the manipulation of symbols can affect history
· Techniques for manipulating consciousness
· A great interest in paranormal phenomena and their combination with politics (visions, oracles, prophecies)
· A magic/political understanding of the system of rituals in the service of the state
· Sexual magic practices for transforming erotic love and sexuality into worldly and spiritual power (Kalachakra Tantra)
· The functionalization of the feminine principle for the purposes of politico-religious power
All these pillars of Tibetan Buddhist culture are likewise ingredients of the Kalachakra Tantra constantly practiced by the Dalai Lama and the Shambhala myth this evokes. For centuries they have determined the form of Tibetan monastic society, completely independent of any Western imaginings or influence. Hence the question about neo-fascism's inordinate interest in Tibet and its atavistic culture is easily answered: fascists of the most varied persuasion see their own “political theology” confirmed by the Tibetan Buddhist religious system, or discover new images and practices in it with which they can enrich and extend their ideologies. |
