Re: Nazi Symbol Reaches Everest Summit

Hey, I'll just throw this into the pot ...

Hitler, Buddha, Krishna.

An unholy alliance from the Third Reich to the present day

(Ueberreuter Verlag – Vienna – 2002 )
http://www.trimondi.de/H-B-K/inhalt.hi.en.htm

The Nazi "myth makers" were especially fascinated by the Far East. It
was there - more so than in the cultural roots of Europe - that they
hoped to find the foundations of a "political theology", which the
gigantic regime which was the Third Reich could use as its
metaphysical basis. In the philosophies, mythologies, visions and
dogmas as well as in the religious practices and texts of the
spiritual traditions Asia had to offer they found the models for
glorifying war, for the deification of the "Führer" and the white
race. They discovered the spiritual remnants of a long-lost indo-Aryan
and anti-Semitic primeval religion which they now wanted to
reconstruct in the sign of the swastika. Fascinating portraits of the
"Fathers of the Nazi Church".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recent years have seen a marked rise in public interest in National
Socialism, with fresh research carried out and new interpretations
arrived at. Hitler’s private life and his relations with women
continue to occupy the media. Noteworthy too is the growing attention
being given to interpretations of Nazism as a “political religion” and
a “cult movement”. It is less widely known, however, that the content
and structure and foundation of a “Nazi Religion” were often discussed
within the SS in general and it’s Ahnenerbe [Forefathers Heritage
Society] in particular. The SS, headed by Heinrich Himmler, considered
itself to be the “advance guard of German research into religion. All
the leading figures in this “religion smithy” based their work on the
assumption that a
racially pure Aryan faith had existed in prehistoric times and should
therefore be rediscovered and resurrected.

After sifting through archival material, secondary literature and Nazi
documents the authors have been able to demonstrate that this
restoration of an Aryan religion drew on ideas, philosophies,
mythologies, visions, dogmas and sacred practices pertaining to
traditional Oriental belief systems. A coterie of fascist cultural
scholars sprang up asserting that Buddhism, the Vedas, the Puranas,
the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, yoga and even Tantrism were
intellectual remnants of a vanished, global, indo-Aryan, anti-Semitic
religion.
There were also borrowings from Tibetan culture and especially from
Japanese Zen and Samurai traditions. The archaic cultural legacy of a
despotic and warlike Orient provided Nazi ideologues with their
theories for:

the apotheosis of the ‘Führer’

a social caste system based on race

the enshrinement of war and warriors

mastery over ones feelings

the manipulation of consciousness

the political exploitation of symbols and rituals

the significance of archaic sacrificial rites

The book has two sections. The first focuses on religious and
political activity within the SS-Ahnenerbe. The aspects of Eastern
religions that were influencing Nazi thought were discussed and
debated from an esoteric as well as an academic stance since Heinrich
Himmler, the Society’s leader, encouraged both approaches to the
subject. The authors were surprised to uncover here discussions on:

Incarnation

Karma law

Buddhist meditation

Samurai ethics

Bhagavad Gita warrior mysticism

Hitler as sacred ruler of the world (Chakravartin)

Truly astonishing is the extent to which Himmler’s world view ‘think
tank’ applied itself so assiduously and comprehensively and with such
foresight to the subject. This section of the book also studies the
Nazi-Tibet-Connection.

The second section sets out the fateful legacy left by the SS-
Ahnenerbe and offers an insight into post-war religious neo-Fascism.
We are confronted here with an occult subculture wielding substantial
power, a
school of thought in which myths, religious paradigms, dogmas,
conspiracy theories, esoteric doctrines, superstition, visions,
illusions and the stuff of fables and science fiction all merged so
seamlessly with Nazi ideologies and Nazi history that they could no
longer be distinguished one from the other. The Indo-Tibetan element,
however, is sufficiently prominent to justify talk of “Indian
teachings with National Socialist content”. Hitler appears here as an
avatar, the incarnation of the Indian god Krishna, the Bodhisattva,
the
Chakravartin (sacred ruler of the world). The second section also
considers the interest shown by fascists in the Tibetan Kalachakra
Tantra ritual.

Who are the key exponents of theories featured in the book?

“Hitler, Buddha, Krishna” sets out the biographies and ideas of
important Nazi ideologists, highlighting the Asian and in particular
the Buddhist influence on their thought and vision. Pre-1945
personalities covered are:

Heinrich Himmler, SS Reich Commander, architect of mass murder and
admirer of Asian philosophy. A quotation from Himmler: “I marvel at
the wisdom of the founders of Indian religions.” Himmler was a
follower of the Buddhist doctrine of Karma and incarnation.

Walther Wüst, SS colonel, curator of SS-Ahnenerbe, vice chancellor of
Munich University, Orientalist. Wüst has to be viewed as the driving
force behind the SS-Ahnenerbe’s endeavours to forge a religion. He
operated on the assumption that the Nazi religion under construction
should be rooted in the Vedic and Buddhist writings of India.

Founder of the “German Faith Movement” and later SS captain Jakob
Wilhelm Hauer. Scholar of Indian culture and Sanskrit expert, he drew
on Bhagavad Gita and Buddhist texts in an attempt to elaborate the
typology of an invincible war machine.

SS brigadier Karl Maria Wiligut (“Himmler’s Rasputin”), occultist in
the SS-Ahnenerbe. He claimed to be in spiritual contact with Tibetan
Lamaist monasteries.

SS Tibetan researchers Ernst Schäfer and Bruno Beger saw Lamaism as a
treasury in which the core Aryan knowledge was stored. The book also
looks at the relationship of Sven Hedin to the Nazi regime and Hitler.

Why the title of the book: “Hitler, Buddha, Krishna” ?

Even before the outbreak of war attempts were made by a number of the
above-mentioned Nazi ideologues to identify Hitler as the latest link
in an Indo-Aryan chain of divine kings and philosophers. Indian
religion founders such as the “Buddha” and Indian hero divinities like
“Krishna” were proclaimed pioneers and heralds of the
dictator. This apotheosis reached its climax in the work of the
Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano, who revered Hitler as the 10th avatar
of the god Krishna/Vishnu. For Serrano the German dictator is immortal
and
will reappear as “avenger” to bestow global supremacy on the Aryan
race in an apocalyptic war to end all wars.

What did Nazi ideologues look for in India, and what did they find ?

In their eyes the classical culture of India was a reserve in which
knowledge of an Aryan stem civilisation was supposed to have survived.
Indian writings furnished them with the religious bases for a cruel
warrior religion and an inhuman ethic for the conduct of war. They saw
the Indian caste system as providing a social orientation model that
fitted their racialist ideology. They linked the Indian idea of the
“global ruler” to their own “Führer principle” and applied it to
Hitler. From the Tantric systems of India and Tibet they developed
their own fascist sexual theory.

What was the Nazi ideologues’ particular interest in the Bhagavad Gita ?

Heinrich Himmler is said to have always carried a copy of the Bhagavad
Gita on his person. He compared Hitler with the god Krishna who
features in the poetical work. The Bhagavad Gita was read like a
catechism for the SS. Consequently many of the above-mentioned Nazi
ideologues referred continually to this Indian war manual. The
Bhagavad Gita’s philosophy is used by rightwing extremists after the
war to legitimise Auschwitz.

What was the Nazi ideologues’ particular interest in Buddhism ?

In their eyes Buddha was an “Aryan” and Buddhism an “Aryan doctrine”..
They emphasised the warlike and virile elements of Buddhism. Nazi
ideologues hold Buddhism to be a doctrine pertaining solely to power.
Buddhist meditation and yoga techniques are recommended for the
spiritual discipline of the “warrior”.

What did Nazi ideologues look for in Tibet and what did they find ?

The Nazi ideologues were convinced that remnants of an original Aryan
race had survived in Tibet. They organised an expedition to locate
these vestiges. They believed the ancient Aryan knowledge to be
preserved in Lamaist texts and in Tibetan monasteries. It was intended
that SS-Ahnenerbe Tibetologists decipher this knowledge using
translation and text analysis. The Tibet researchers of the SS were in
thrall to the magic, occult nature of the Lamaist culture. The
occultist within the Ahnenerbe even believed themselves to be in
spiritual contact with Tibetan lamas. The two leaders of the SS Tibet
expedition, Ernst Schäfer and Bruno Beger, were both especially drawn
to the morbid, warlike elements of Tibetan Buddhism. The Himalayas
were a key objective for Nazi mountaineers.

What do the Kalachakra Tantra and the Shambhala have to do with National Socialism ?

SS-Ahnenerbe researchers were especially interested in the Kalachakra
Tantra. The Shambala vision recorded in the Kalachakra Tantra has
become a central pillar in the mythology of religious neo-Nazism. Many
of the themes raised in the Kalachakra Tantra (a cyclical view of the
world, global domination, the use of super weapons, magic and ritual
in sexual practices etc) are key themes in religious fascism. The
Kalachakra Tantra challenges the monotheistic religions, all three of
which are Semitic in origin. For this reason it was harnessed by
extreme rightwing, anti-Semitic circles for their racist propaganda.
Contact between the XIVth Dalai Lama, as the supreme Kalachakra
master, and representatives of religious fanaticism and former SS men.

namaste;
bodhi
.

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