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crowns. They are believed to be infinitely wealthy and to owe their present form to a previous life of unethical generosity. [Comment: This is called bhogonmukhi-sukrti, or pious activities that bestow material opulence. They are of godless nature but involve kindness to other beings, with a view toward material happiness. ] “Human activity is bound to encroach on the well-being of living creatures including those of other realms. Coming to a plot of land and inadvertently building a house, cutting trees or mining and digging natural resources will upset nagas and sa-dags just as it does animals and insects in such a situation. It is said that sa-dags and nagas equate the unauthorized use of land and natural resources they occupy to pil- fering their personal possessions. The weaker ones among them will undergo great hardship or die off, while the more powerful will react with anger and strike back at the offenders, inflicting disease, death, and sudden catastrophe. They will not necessarily strike at the humans having committed the harm, as most cannot identify the actual offenders, but at any human they see, and innocent people may fall ill or die for no apparent reason, or the whole area be affected with epidemics or cases of leprosy. “The following story was related by a Dema Locho Rinpochey, from Drepung, and occurred in the 1950s in Tibet. One day, one of the monks who was responsible for having the trees in the debating square watered, developed a large sore on his thigh. Suspecting it was caused by harm from nagas, he asked Rinpochey to consult an oracle in a nearby village - a nun who was possessed by nagas - to find out the cause of his illness. The naga, speaking through the oracle admitted having caused the harm: "Yes, it was I who struck at that monk.’ When Rinpochey asked the reason, it replied: 'I was angry at humans for other reasons and I saw this monk's luck was down and that he was vulnerable, so I caused him to develop this sore’. “Humans are most vulnerable to nagas and sa-dags when their luck is low, as it is said that any weak- ness is immediately apparent to these other-worldly creatures. In order to avert unlucky circumstances which may bring one harm, people hang up strings of different prayer flags bearing the image of a horse. The 'wind-horse' or Lung-ta is the symbol of one's luck. The Tibetan expression 'His wind-horse is running’ or ‘is broken’ refers to this luck, and the prayer flags fluttering in the wind, a tradition of Bon origin, is believed to give the upper hand to one's wind-horse. “Since humans cannot survive without some form of land exploitation and building, Tibetans take cer- tain measures to prevent unnecessary mishaps. While the hanging of prayer flags is like a general pre- ventive measure, that of avoiding harm which has no direct cause, more particular measures are sought when any kind of digging is involved. Whenever choosing a site for building, whether for a mandala, temple or house, a lama is consulted as to the method by which the nagas and sa-dag on the site might be appeased and treated. The lama will know something about them either through dreams, divination or clairvoyance. According to Buddhist tantric practice, there are other ways of performing rituals. These are: peaceful, increasing, forceful and wrathful.The methods that apply to pacifying creatures of other realms are peaceful and wrathful, and the rituals used are extremely varied, in type as well as in tradition.” “Generally, in either case, a ritual based on sutra called Tashi Sojong is performed, to bring good luck and please the dwellers. If performing tantric rituals, the lama will offer tormas to the sa-dag or nagas abiding on the land. Tormas are conical-shaped offering cakes which have been blessed in three ways by a highly realized being by mantras, where they are purified from any defilements of ordinariness, by meditational stabilization, by which they are made infinite and by gestures, or mudras, which ensure that the recipient is satisfied. The idea of this ritual is to offer gifts to the sa-dag and nagas in exchange for use of their land. It is a deal, a give and take situation like selling a house, and if the 'sellers' are sat- isfied, things will proceed smoothly. There are some situations, however, where the land may be owned by particularly powerful sa-dags, who will not want to give in to humans and will do their utmost to cre- ate obstacles and harm. Such places are known as ‘rough’. The spirits and demons inhabiting them will be unyielding in their views and generally delight in causing harm to human trespassers causing illness 307 Appendix E: Dragons and Serpents Atlantis, Alien Visitation, and Genetic Manipulation