Budist Uygurlarda ‘Ateş Ritüeli’: Homa (Tantrik Türk Budizmi Metinleri Tanıklığında)

Öz

Homa, a fire ritual of Vedic origin, is a popular religious practice adapted from Hinduism to Esoteric Buddhism. Homa, seen in meditation and yoga practices in Tibetan Buddhism, is a ritual that aims to reach wisdom and enlightenment, which is represented in Buddhist Tantras in particular, Agni, the god of fire. The homa ritual is also known as a performance that involves the building of a fire at an altar and the burning of offerings over it. Predominantly in Tibetan Buddhism, the practice of homa, visualized with a maṇḍala, takes place under the guidance of masters of teaching called Guru or Ācārya. In the practice of homa, offerings thrown into the fire symbolically mean removing spiritual barriers. The practice of homa, which usually has functions such as protection, prolonging life, destroying evil and evil beings, is a ritual of purification and renewal. This ritual is a popular practice in all Buddhist regions of Central Asia, not just the Indian and Tibetan region. In this respect, the present study deals with the narratives of the fire ritual among the Uyghurs, who adopted Tibetan Buddhism in the Old Turkish religious life. This practice, which is seen with the term hom(a) ~ hoom in Old Uyghur, is also seen in written materials, especially in Buddhist Uyghurs, where ritual-based narratives are abundant.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Tantric Turkish Buddhism
• Old Uyghur Turkic
• homa
• religious practice

The ‘Fire Ritual’ in Buddhist Uyghurs: Homa (in the Evidence of Tantric Turkish Buddhism Texts)

Abstract

Homa, a fire ritual of Vedic origin, is a popular religious practice adapted from Hinduism to Esoteric Buddhism. Homa, seen in meditation and yoga practices in Tibetan Buddhism, is a ritual that aims to reach wisdom and enlightenment, which is represented in Buddhist Tantras in particular, Agni, the god of fire. The homa ritual is also known as a performance that involves the building of a fire at an altar and the burning of offerings over it. Predominantly in Tibetan Buddhism, the practice of homa, visualized with a maṇḍala, takes place under the guidance of masters of teaching called Guru or Ācārya. In the practice of homa, offerings thrown into the fire symbolically mean removing spiritual barriers. The practice of homa, which usually has functions such as protection, prolonging life, destroying evil and evil beings, is a ritual of purification and renewal. This ritual is a popular practice in all Buddhist regions of Central Asia, not just the Indian and Tibetan region. In this respect, the present study deals with the narratives of the fire ritual among the Uyghurs, who adopted Tibetan Buddhism in the Old Turkish religious life. This practice, which is seen with the term hom(a) ~ hoom in Old Uyghur, is also seen in written materials, especially in Buddhist Uyghurs, where ritual-based narratives are abundant.

Keywords

• Tantric Turkish Buddhism
• Old Uyghur Turkic
• homa
• religious practice

Kaynakça

1. Basavaraj, S. et al. (2020). A Comparative Study of Spirometry Between Priests Who Were Exposed to Smoke From Fire Rituals And Normal Individuals. European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine, 7(6), 38-45.
2. Beer, R. (1999). The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs. Boston: Shambhala Publication.
3. Bentor, Y. (2000). Interiorized Fire Rituals in India and in Tibet. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 120(4), 594-613.
4. Buswell, R. E. & Lopez, D. S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
5. Coulter, C. R. & Turner, P. (2000). Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. New York & London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
6. Çoruhlu, Y. (2019). Türk Mitolojisinin Kısa Tarihi. İstanbul: Alfa Basım Yayım Dağıtım.
7. Gardin, N. & Olorenshaw, R. (2019). Larousse Semboller Sözlüğü. Çev. Akşit, B. İstanbul: Bilge Kültür Sanat Yayınları.
8. Grether, H. (2016). The Ritual Interplay of Fire and Water in Hindu and Buddhist Tantras. In Payne, R. K. & Witzel, M. (Eds.), Homa Variations The Study of Ritual Change across the Longue Durée (pp. 47-66). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

9. Günay, Ü. & Güngör, H. (2018). Başlangıçlarından Günümüze Türklerin Dinî Tarihi. İstanbul: Bilge Kültür Sanat Yayınları.
10. Güray Gülyüz, B. (2019). İslam Öncesi Türk Kültüründe Ateş ve Ateşe Hükmedenler (Maddi Kültür İzleri Işığında). Trakya Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 9(17), 201-223.
11. Jones, C. A. & Ryan, J. D. (2007). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. New York: Facts On File, Inc.
12. Kara, G. & Zieme, P. (1976). Fragmente tantrischer Werke in uigurischer Übersetzung. Berliner Turfantexte 7. Berlin: Akademie Verlag (→ BT VII).
13. Keown, D. (2003). Dictionary of Buddhism. Newyork: Oxford University Press.
14. Kırcı, E. (1998). Türk Kültüründe Ateşle İlgili İnanışlar. In Özarslan, M. & Çobanoğlu, Ö. (Eds.), Folkloristik: Prof. Dr. Dursun Yıldırım Armağanı (pp. 398-407). Ankara: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları.
15. Kurfirtova, M. H. (2017). Compassionate Sacrifice: The Buddhist Incorporation of Vedic Homa Rituals. Harvard Extension School. Harvard. [Unpublished Master Thesis]
16. Küçük, A. et al. (2018). Budizm. In: Dinler Tarihi (pp. 195-244). Ankara: Berikan Yayınevi.
17. Lessing, F. D. (2017). Moğolca-Türkçe Sözlük. Çev. Karaağaç, G. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları.
18. Maraşlıoğlu, H. (2018). Geleneksel Türk Dînî İnanışlarında Ateş Kültü. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü. İsparta. [Yayımlanmamış Yükseklisans Tezi].
19. Ögel, B. (1995). Türk Mitolojisi (Kaynakları ve Açıklamaları ile Destanlar) II. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları.
20. Payne, R. K. & Orzech, C. D. (2011). Homa. In Orzech, C. D. (Ed.), Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia (pp. 133-140). Leiden & Boston: Brill Publication.
21. Payne, R. K. (2016). Buddhist Ritual from Syntax to Cognition: Insight Meditation and Homa. Religions, 7(104), 1-19.
22. Phuoc, T. (2006). Secret Doctrines: Quintessence of Esoteric Buddhism and The Nomination of the Gods and Mysticism. California: Mat Giao Friendship Association.
23. Roux, J. P. (2015). Eski Türk Mitolojisi. Çev. Sağlam, M. Y. Ankara: BilgeSu Yayıncılık.
24. Sapunaru Tamas, C. (2014). The Ritual Significance of Purification Practices in Japan. Kwansei Gakuin University Humanities Review, 19, 1-19.
25. Sárközi, A. (1995). A Buddhist Terminological Dictionary: The Mongolian Mahāvyutpatti. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
26. Shashibala & Swaminathan Gurumurthy (2015). A Photo Exhibition On India-Japan: Echoes Of Cultural Friendship. Tokyo: The Tokyo Foundation Developing Policy, Investing in People, Transforming Society.
27. Shinohara, K. (2014). Spells, Images, and Maṇḍalas Tracing the Evolution of Esoteric Buddhist Rituals. New York: Columbia Universıty Press.
28. Skorupski, T. (1995). Tibetan Homa Rites According to the gTer ma Tradition. The Tibet Journal, 20(4), 1-24.
29. Skorupski, T. (2016). Buddhist Permutations and Symbolism of Fire. In Payne, R. K. & Witzel, M. (Eds.), Homa Variations The Study of Ritual Change across the Longue Durée (pp. 67-125). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
30. Soothill, W. E. & Lewis, H. (1937). A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. (→ SH).
31. Tachikawa, M. (2016). The Structure of Japanese Buddhist Homa. In Payne, R. K. & Witzel, M. (Eds.), Homa Variations The Study of Ritual Change across the Longue Durée (pp. 126-140). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
32. Tisseghem, A. (2017). Between Artistic Rules and Ritual Realities: Homa in Nepalese Paintings. Universitiet Leiden. Leiden. [Unpublished Bachelor Thesis].
33. Tokyürek, H. (2019). Eski Uygurcada Cundī Buddha’nın Tasviri. Karadeniz Araştırmaları, 16(64), 711-723.
34. Werner, H. (2005a). Ezoterik Sözlük. Çev. Atatanır, B. et al. İstanbul: Omega Yayınları.
35. Werner, K. (2005b). A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism. UK: Curzon Press Publisher.
36. Wilkens, J. (2021). Handwörterbuch des Altuigurischen, Altuigurisch-Deutsch-Türkisch. Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen.
37. Zieme, P. (2005). Magische Texte des uigurischen Buddhismus. Berliner Turfantexte 23. Belgium (Turnout): Brepols (→ BT XXIII).