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Heruka

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Heruka (Skt.; Tib., khrag. ʾthung, ‘Blood Drinker’). A class of wrathful deity in Tibetan Buddhism who presides over Tantric ritual. According to the texts, the Heruka serves not to ‘protect’ the ritual, but is rather a meditational ‘tool’ by which the yogin, through identification with the Heruka, attacks his own egotistical grasping.

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JOHN BOWKER. "Heruka." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Heruka." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Heruka.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Heruka." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Heruka.html

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Heruka

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | | Copyright

Heruka. A ‘blood-drinker’; a term for the wrathful deities, such as Hevajra or Cakra-saṃvara, associated with anuttara-yoga-tantra and often adopted by a practitioner as a tutelary deity (yi-dam).

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DAMIEN KEOWN. "Heruka." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Heruka." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Heruka.html

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Heruka." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Heruka.html

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