> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Berzin-Initiation-de-Kalachakra/993053

> L'INITIATION DE KALACHAKRA, Alexander Berzin, Dalaï-Lama (préf) - Ed. Dangles. — Kalachakra est un système de méditations appartenant à l'Anuttara Yoga tantra, la plus haute des quatre classes de tantras (le mot anuttara signifie "insurpassable"). Cet enseignement supérieur, mais pas inaccessible, vise à abolir les limites imposées par les cycles du temps extérieur et intérieur, que l'on pourrait rapprocher des notions de macrocosme et de microcosme dans la philosophie grecque. Ces dernières décennies, nombre de grands maîtres tibétains, dont Sa Sainteté le Dalaï-Lama, ont conférée cette initiation à travers le monde ; des pratiquants du tantra ont ainsi reçu la pleine transmission de pouvoir de Kalachakra, mais des milliers de néophytes ont également pris part à ce rituel en tant qu'observateurs, recevant ainsi une inspiration certaine pour leur progression spirituelle.
—Infos Yoga, (27), Mars/Avril 2000, (p. 37)

From goodreads:

I appreciate Berzin's deliberate efforts to explain Buddhist technical language. Many Tibetan Buddhist books are loaded with terms that are foreign or with everyday words that have a different meaning in the context of Tibetan Buddhism. Navigating Buddhist technical language can be a challenging, and Berzin understands the importance of not only defining technical terms but using them consistently in his writing.

One thing that caught my attention in this book is the role technology is given in the Kalacakra literature in promoting world peace. The idea is that technological advancements bring a higher quality of life, and that if a society may come under attack by "barbarians," if technology (and the higher life quality that comes with it) is shared with the barbarians, they are likely to give up their interest in war, settle down, and make peace.

Another thing that caught my attention was a brief discussion on modern technology and on the Buddhist belief that there are four manners in which rebirth happens. The four manners are birth from an egg (e.g. birth as a bird), birth from a womb (e.g., birth as a dog), birth from heat and moisture (a traditional example of this is birth as an insect, but I'm not clear how this is different from birth from an egg since most insects are born from eggs), and spontaneous birth (e.g., birth without a gestation period in which a being appears "out of thin air" such as birth as a god). Berzin speculates that a human birth is possible by all four manners. Regular birth is from a womb. "Birth from an egg is from a joined sperm and egg, but in a container different from the bare womb itself. Test-tube babies undoubtedly fall in this category. Birth from heat and moisture, in other words not from a sperm and egg, may refer to birth by cloning techniques. In the case of birth by transformation [i.e., spontaneous birth], the body is fully formed at the moment life begins. Rebirth as an android in a computerized body seems the closest equivalent" (p. 58). What is interesting to me about this is how Berzin uses Buddhist beliefs to integrate scientific advances peacefully into society. If androids are, for example, just as sentient as "womb-born" humans, androids would deserve the same rights as womb-born humans. I could imagine some people arguing that androids have no rights, so it is interesting to hear a Buddhist argument in favor of androids having rights.

Berzin brings out the richness of the Kalacakra materials by discussing all of the myriad things that the Kalacakra weaves together such as astrology, medicine, the role of technology in society, how to create a peaceful society, a description of how the universe is created and destroyed, how the death process happens and how one is reborn, and, of course, tantric practice.

I really appreciate Berzin's breakdown of all the vows associated with Kalacakra tantra specifically and with tantra in general. I also appreciate his breakdown of the Kalacakra initiation process into very distinct steps