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Spiritual Benefactors
World Scripture
SPIRITUAL BENEFACTORS
The world's religions testify to the existence of a host of spiritual beings,
occupying the various realms in the spiritual world. The good and beneficent
spiritual beings are for Christians the angels and departed saints, for
Mahayana Buddhists the great Bodhisattvas, and for Shintoists the Kami. Indian
religions speak of devas and devis, the Thirty-three, gandharvas or celestial
musicians, and diverse other classes of spiritual beings. Chinese religion has
among its ranks of gods the Yellow Emperor, the Jade Emperor, Lord Scripture
Glory (Wen Chang), and countless personal spirits such as the spirit of the
hearth. In Native American religions the spiritual benefactors are forces
active in the natural world: viz., the Thunders, Mother Corn, sacred Stones,
the Winds, Eagle, Sun, and Moon.
In the monotheistic religions, and in religions with an impersonal and utterly
transcendent conception of Absolute Reality, these spiritual benefactors, no
matter how exalted, are regarded as subordinate to Ultimate Reality. Yet since
the Ultimate Reality is often inaccessible to humans, the higher spiritual
beings are frequently revered as intermediaries. Gabriel, an angel, is the
intermediary of divine revelation in Islam and the Latter-day Saints. For
Buddhists, Bodhisattvas personify aspects of Ultimate Reality in ways that can
be more easily apprehended by human beings who are too dull to grasp the
perfect wisdom of Emptiness. In the primal religions, in Shinto, and in Taoism
the spirits of nature, the heavenly beings, and the most prominent ancestors
constitute the fellowship of spiritual beings that together cause the movements
of heaven and earth.
These spiritual beings have power. In many traditions the gods, goddesses, and
benevolent spirits of nature dispense blessings to the human world and keep
their devotees from harm. Therefore, it is requisite in many traditions that
they be worshipped and supplied with offerings. We also include traditions
about making offerings for ancestors and relatives who have passed on. These
offerings ease their way into the next world and give them additional spiritual
merit.
O gods! All your names are to be revered, saluted and adored; all of you who
have sprung from heaven and earth, listen here to my invocation.
1. Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.63.2
I [the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra] relieve the distress of the beings of all
evil realms, and equally bestow happiness on them. I continue to do so through
the lapse of boundless kalpas, and in the extent of the ten quarters of the
universe. The benefits of all are eternal, and omnipresent.
2. Buddhism. Gandavyuha Sutra
The Lord Scripture Glory says, "For seventeen generations I have been
incarnated as a high mandarin, and I have never oppressed my people nor
maltreated my subordinates. I have helped them in misfortune; I have rescued
them from poverty; I have taken compassion on their orphans; I have forgiven
their transgressions; I have extensively practiced secret virtue which is
attuned to Heaven above. If you are able to keep your hearts as I have kept
mine, Heaven will surely bestow upon you blessings."
3. Taoism. Tract of the Quiet Way
Parvati, on seeing her son Ganesha resuscitated, embraced him joyously and
clothed him with new garments and ornaments. After kissing his face, she said,
"O Ganesha, you have had great distress since your very birth. You are blessed
and contented now. You will receive worship before all the gods. You will be
free from distress. Vermillion is on your face now. Hence you will be
worshipped with vermillion by all men always.
"All achievements certainly accrue to him who performs your worship with
flowers, sandal paste, scents, auspicious food offerings, waving of lights,
betel leaves, charitable gifts, circumambulations, and obeisance. All kinds of
obstacles will certainly perish."
Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu declared in unison, "O great gods, just as we three
are worshipped in all the three worlds, so also Ganesha shall be worshipped by
all of you. He is the remover of all obstacles and the bestower of the fruits
of all rites."
4. Hinduism. Shiva Purana, Rudrasamhita 18
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Rig Veda 10.63.2: Cf. Rig Veda 1.164.46, p. 59, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.9.1,
p. 81. Gandavyuha Sutra: The great bodhisattvas, who are worshipped in popular
Buddhism, embody and symbolize different aspects of the Buddha. Samantabhadra,
which means Universally Good, is the embodiment of the Buddha's vows and
practices. Manjusri embodies the Buddha's wisdom. Avalokitesvara (Chinese:
Kuan Yin) embodies the Buddha's compassion for beings in distress. See also the
famous hymn to Kuan Yin in Lotus Sutra 25, pp. 566f. Tract of the Quiet Way:
In popular Taoism the great officials and emperors of old have ascended to
heaven and become blessed spirits. Lord Scripture Glory (Wen Chang) is one of
the chief Taoist deities.
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Are they [the angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the
sake of those who are to obtain salvation?
5. Christianity. Bible, Hebrews 1.14
The work of the Holy Spirit is the phenomena which have been working to
harmonize the spiritual world and the human world through love.
6. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 5-1-81
Those who have said, "Our Lord is God," then have gone straight, upon them the
angels descend, saying, "Fear not, neither sorrow; rejoice in Paradise that you
were promised. We are your friends in the present life and in the world to
come; therein you shall have all that your souls desire..."
7. Islam. Qur'an 41.30-31
If a man perform a religious precept, one angel is assigned to him; if he
perform two precepts, two angels are assigned to him; if he perform all the
precepts, many angels are assigned to him; as it is said, "For He shall give
His angels charge over you, to keep you in all thy ways" (Psalm 91.11). Who
are these angels? They are his guardians from the harmful spirits; as it is
said, "A thousand shall fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand"
(Psalm 91.7).
8. Judaism. Midrash, Tanhuma Numbers 19
Now the Lord had shown to me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized
before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and
great ones;
And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them,
and he said, "These I will make my rulers"; for he stood among those that were
spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said to me, "Abraham, you are
one of them; you were chosen before you were born."
And there stood one among them who was like unto God [Jesus Christ], and he
said to those who were with him, "We will go down, for there is space there,
and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth on which these
may dwell;
"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things that the
Lord their God shall command them...."
And the Lord said, "Let us go down." And they went down at the beginning, and
they, that is the gods, formed the heavens and the earth.
9. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Pearl of Great Price, Abraham
3.22-4.1
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Shiva Purana, Rudrasamhita 18: Ganesha is depicted with an elephant head and a
human body. His worship is popular among contemporary Hindus. In this, his
foundation legend, Ganesha had been decapitated in battle, and to restore him
to life the head of an elephant was affixed to his body. He is given blessings
and is offered to humanity to be worshipped as 'the remover of all
obstacles'--a role suitable to the symbolism of an elephant. Hebrews 1.14: Cf.
Qur'an 21.19-22, p. 84; Michi-no-Shiori, p. 84; Hebrews 13.1, p. 991. Many
Christians revere the saints: chief among them Mary, the mother of Jesus--cf.
The Rosary, p. 834--from whom emanate grace for the people of the world. Sun
Myung Moon, 5-1-81: Cf. Acts 2.1-18, p. 577; Romans 8.26-27, p. 648. Qur'an
41.30-31: Cf. Qur'an 13.10-11, p. 190; 50.17-19, p. 347. Tanhuma Numbers 19:
Cf. Midrash, Psalms 17.8, p. 312; Abot 4.13, p. 338; Psalm 91.1-13, Tract of
the Quiet Way, p. 1009.
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Sansang suira!
There are eight peaks within the inner mountain,
And thirteen famous places in the outer mountain.
Within these famous mountains and the great heavens of all Buddhas,
The great altar of the nation is protected by the great generals.
Was not the general Chae Yong one of them?
The famous general of Korea,
Who was favored by his people....
Oh, I am the great mountain god.
If I sit down, I cover three thousand li [the entire land of Korea].
If I stand up, I stretch over ninety thousand li [the whole world].
If I look down with my clear mirror, I can observe ten thousand li.
Oh, I am the great mountain god.
What can you offer to satisfy me?
Is the whole pig covered with a red cloth enough?
Is the bundle of three different colored silks enough?
Offer many rich silks to me.
Oh, you, the husband and wife of this home.
Do you remember who gives you the food that sustains you?
Who gave you a home?
Who gave you wealth?
Who gave you long life?
I, the Sansang, gave you blessings and aid in times of need.
10. Korean Shamanism. Invocation of the Mountain Spirit
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Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3.22-4.1: In the teaching of the Latter-Day
Saints, all people pre-existed as spirits and as gods, and they participated
with God in the creation of the world. The text goes on to review the contents
of Genesis 1, pp. 126f, but with 'the gods' acting at each stage of creation.
Shaman's Invocation: Sansang is the Mountain God. As the mountain is a symbol
of strength and power, Sansang is also the god of great generals, and is
personified by the famous general Chae Yong of the Silla dynasty. The Mountain
Spirit is also often symbolized by a tiger, who in legend inhabits the mountain
recesses. The shamaness (mudang) who invokes Sansang by singing this song
wears a general's costume and a hat with tiger's fur, and holds flags and a
sword. Sansang is one of twelve spirits which are invoked in turn during the
shamanist ritual, which is called a kut.
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I looked at the moss-covered stones. Some of them seemed to have the features
of a man, but they could not answer me. Then I had a dream, and in my dream
one of these small, round stones appeared to me and told me that the maker of
all was Wakan Tanka, and that in order to honor him I must honor his works in
nature. The stone said that by my search I had shown myself worthy of super-
natural help. It said that if I were curing a sick person I might ask its
assistance, and that all the forces of nature would help me work a cure....
Some believe that these stones descend with the lightning, but I believe they
are on the ground and are projected downwards by the bolt. In all my life I
have been faithful to the sacred stones. I have lived according to their
requirements, and they have helped me in all my troubles. I have tried to
qualify myself as well as possible to handle these sacred stones. I know that
I am not worthy to speak [directly] to Wakan Tanka, so I make my requests of
these stones and they are my intermediaries.
11. Native American Religions Sioux Tradition
"The path of the hekura is visible, luminous; there arises from it something
like a fiery breath that makes the air heavy and almost unbreathable. One does
not see the hekura, one feels the wind they raise when they move. During the
hunt from which I just returned, I scattered the hekura who were in me."
"Ordinary men are unable to recognize them. Yet the wind tells us that they
are there."
"I see them only at night, when I close my eyes."
"One can see them only then."
"Their paths become luminous for me. I am sleeping; they approach and summon
me to answer them. They suddenly wake me by shaking my arm or pulling on my
ankle."
"Those who are not truly shamans do not hear them. He who is really a shaman
hears a kind of buzzing, 'bouu...' during his sleep, and this song echoes,
rebounding off the celestial vault. He opens his eyes and says to himself, 'I
am going to see them now!' The parrotlets sing, 'bre, bre, bre...,' he knows
that it is they. A cool breeze then glides along his legs..."
"I saw the hekura walk on a rotten branch; I was passing right underneath."
"Indeed, it was they; but they were not friendly toward you. The strong odors
of the smoking grill, the smell of singed hair, of scorched meat near the fire,
all this drives them off. Yet they did seem inclined to approach you."
"They give off a heady perfume; it comes from the dyes and the magic plants
they carry with them. Suddenly, I stopped smelling these aromas, my nostrils
no longer perceived them."
"Therefore when one is at the end of the initiation, it is advisable not to
hunt. If a flock of toucans takes flight and one of them lands near you, then
all the others immediately follow suit. Be sure not to frighten them: stare at
them fixedly and continue on your way; you be sure that they are hekura. Of
course, there are those you drove away during the hunt; but don't be overly
concerned, I foresee that those were not the good ones. The others remain, who
came into your breast while you were lying in your hammock. Those are truly
yours, they are in you."
12. Native American Religions. Yanomami Shaman's Instruction (Brazil)
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Sioux Tradition: Cf. Dakota Tradition on Wakan Tanka, p. 83; Cree Round Dance,
p. 55; Cheyenne Song, p. 294; Zuni Song, pp. 295f.; Gros Ventres Tradition of
the Pipe Child, p. 247.
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"Ah, the spirits of my ancestors have looked down from heaven, watching over
and helping me. The hosts of evil have now been subdued one and all, and we
are without enemy or misfortune. Let us now therefore give worship to the
heavenly deities, vowing to abide by the teachings of our imperial ancestors."
With that, Emperor Jimmu prepared places of worship in the mountains of Tomi...
and thus performed worship to the imperial ancestors and to the heavenly
deities.
13. Shinto. Nihon Shoki 3
The light which these souls [of departed saints] radiate is responsible for the
progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples. They are like leaven
which leavens the world of being, and constitute the animating force through
which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest.... These souls and
symbols of detachment have provided, and will continue to provide, the supreme
moving impulse in the world of being.
14. Baha'i Faith. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 81
The spirit that eats a man's offering, pays him back with life.
15. African Traditional Religions. Proverb
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Yanomami Shaman's Instruction: This is a conversation between an experienced
shaman and his apprentice. Note how the shaman is trained to become sensitive
to faint odors, sounds, and touch which indicate the presence of spirits. More
of this instruction is given on p. 528. Nihon Shoki 3: In Shinto, there is
little difference between the kami and the spirits of ancestors, deceased
emperors, great saints, and heroes. All are worthy of worship; all merge i