> > Note: I am not a scholar, so take this with a grain of salt.
>
I'm not a great one myself, merely a gamer and seeker. I do have the advantage of cultural exposure.
>
> Tantric practices involving sex do exist in Tibetan Buddhism, but are only
> supposed to be performed by very highly realized yogis. It is otherwise a
> serious violation of celibacy vows and can be the cause for major scandal.
>
Things are similar in modern day Tantric Hinduism, but there is a huge amount of variety between guru lineages, chosen deities, and scriptural sources.
> Most buddhist tantra that I have any familiarity with involves something
> akin to heroforming. The initiate meditates on the qualities of a
> particular
> buddha and then "becomes" that buddha for the duration of the ritual - or
> as
> long as concentration can be maintained. This is said to be a very
> effective
> way to gain merit and cleanse negative karma, particularly for those who
> are
> not well suited to the more scholarly sutra path.
>
Neat! I'm sort of aware of this practice. There are things like in Tantric Hinduism, the most common being elaborate deity visualizations, mostly in the form of ritualized mantric chants, done during meditation. It's a more theistic approach, understandably - the meditator doesn't try to "become" the deva or devi in question, but attempts to commune with or venerate it. Also related are various mantras in which the meditator "invites" the deity (usually using many names) to take up residence in their body. Spiritual armor and weaponry!
> I think this can be modeled pretty easily in Gloranthan terms using the
> existing theist rules if you want flashy magical fireworks. Otherwise it is
> "just" a meditation tool for eventually achieving a transcendent state.
>
True, you could use the rules for any of the other systems of magic to model Eastern Gloranthan Magic.
- Grimoires to represent groups of related mantras - Affinities to represent basically "incarnating" a mystical god. - Spirits to represent awakened centers of internal energy
But to me it's seems a bit understated. Especially considering how much more streamlined the HQ2.0 magic system is, I think it wouldn't be too hard to finally come up with something that makes sense.
-S
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