#great wisdom sutra

[crazyfox-archives]

A hanging scroll dating to the Edo period (1600-1868) depicting the Buddha Shakyamuni (釈迦如来 Shaka Nyorai) surrounded by the Sixteen Divine Protectors of the Great Wisdom Sutra

from the collection of Henjōzan Saifukuji Temple (遍照山 西福寺) in Ide, Kyoto Prefecture

[yoga-onion]

Heart Sutra ~ A sutra that describes “The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom" (1) [So far]

The modern translation

While Avalokiteshvara practising the perfection of profound wisdom, they* saw that the five components (the five skandhas) of all beings are all ‘empty’, without inherent nature or substance, and therefore overcame all suffering and calamities.

(*There are no established theories on the origin or gender of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.)

O Sariputra (Ref), what is form (colour: the body as matter) is not different from Emptiness, and Emptiness is not different from what is form. That which is form is Emptiness, and Emptiness is form. And perception (impression and sensation), thought (perception and representation), action (will and other mental actions), and sense (mind) are emptiness as well.

O Sariputra, since every being is characterised by Emptiness, it neither birth nor death, it neither defilement nor purity, it neither increases nor decreases. That is why, in Emptiness there is no physical body, no perception, no thought, no action, and consciousness. 

There are also no laws for the objects of the sense organs, such as form, sound, smell, taste, touch and mental objects.

The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind do not exist. The objects of these sense organs - forms, sounds, smells, tastes and things that can be touched, as well as the Dharma as an object of the mind - also do not exist. There are no Eighteen Realms from the eyes as a category to consciousness. Eighteen Realms are the 18 elements of sensory awareness which are six roots, six borders, six consciousnesses (Ref2). There is no condition without wisdom, and there is no end to wisdom. There is no old age and death, and no end to ageing and death. There are no Four Noble Truths (Ref3): 'painful', 'cause', 'thirst' and 'cessation'. There is neither knowing nor gaining.

Precisely because there is nothing to gain, the bodhisattva relies on the perfection of wisdom, because there is nothing to obstruct the mind and precisely because there is no hindrance to the mind, there is no fear. Transcending false thoughts and dreams, they attain Nirvana. The Buddhas of the past, present and future also attain the supreme perfection of enlightenment because they rely on the perfection of wisdom.

That is why you should know. The Prajnaparamita (lit. Perfection of Wisdom) is the great mantra, the mantra of the great enlightened wisdom, the greatest mantra, the most wonderful mantra that has no comparison. It excludes all suffering completely, it is real and not vague.

That is why I shall here preach a mantra in praise of the Perfection of Wisdom.

O ye who go forth, ye who go forth, ye who go to the other shore, O enlightenment, be blessed.

般若心経 〜「智慧の完成」の精髄を述べる経典 (1) （これまで）

『般若波羅蜜多心経 (梵: ﾌﾟﾗｼﾞｭﾅｰﾊﾟｰﾗﾐﾀｰ･ﾌﾘﾀﾞﾔ･ｽｰﾄﾗ) 』 現代語訳

観自在菩薩が深遠なる智慧の完成を実践していたとき、もろもろの存在の五つの構成要素（五蘊）は、皆、固有の本性・実体を持たない「空」であると見極め、だからこそ、あらゆる苦しみと災いを克服した。

舎利子よ（参照）、形あるもの（色: 物質要素としての肉体）は、空に異ならず、空は、形あるものと異なら��いのである。形あるものは空であり、空は形あるものなのである。そして、感受作用・表象作用・形成作用・識別作用もまた、同じく空なのである。

舎利子よ、あらゆる存在は空を特質としているから、生じることも滅することもなく、汚れることも清まることもなく、増えることも減ることもない。だからこそ、空であることには、形あるものは存在せず、感受作用・表象作用・形成作用・識別作用も存在しない。

眼・耳・鼻・舌・身体・心も存在しない。これらの感覚器官の対象である形・音・香り・味・触れられるもの・心の対象の法も存在しない。範疇としての眼から、意識にいたるまでの十八界もない。十八界とは、六根、六境、六識である、感覚的意識の十八の要素（参照2）のこと。智慧が無い状態もなければ、智慧が無い状態も尽きることもない。また、老いて死ぬこともなければ、老いて死ぬことが尽きることもない。苦・集・滅・道という四諦（参照3）もない。知ることもなければ得ることもない。

得るところのものが何もないからこそ、菩薩は智慧の完成に依るのであり、心には妨げるものがなく、心に妨げるものがないからこそ、恐怖があることもない。誤った考えや夢想を超越して、涅槃を究めるのである。また、過去・現在・未来の諸仏も、智慧の完成に依るからこそ、無上なる完全なさとりを得るのである。

だからこそ知るべきである。般若波羅蜜多とは、大いなる真言であり、大いなるさとりの智慧の真言であり、この上ない真言であり、比べるものがないほど素晴らしい真言なのである。よく一切の苦悩を除き、それは実在であり、虚ろなものではないのである。

だからこそ、般若波羅蜜多を讃える真言を、ここで説こう。 往ける者よ、往ける者よ、彼岸に往ける者よ、さとりよ、幸いあれ。

[ed-recoverry]

List of free audiobooks on YouTube for anyone interested

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Alice in Wonderland

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H P Lovecraft

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Village by Caroline Mitchell

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (fuck JKR)

Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Upside Down by Danielle Steel

The Fiancée by Kate White

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Theif

Accidentally Married by Victoria E. Lieske

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

The Collector (book one) by Nora Roberts

The Lies I Told by Mary Burton

Dead Man’s Mirror by Agatha Christie

The Hobbit

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey

The Good Neighbour by R J Parker

The Island House by Elana Johnson

Desperation by Stephan King

The Healing Summer by Heather B. Moore

The Last Affair by Margot Hunt

To Be Claimed by Willow Winter

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Inn by James Patterson

Wonder by R J Palacio

Faking It With The Billionaire by Willow Fox

The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom

The Janson Directive by Robert Ludlum

The Catcher in the Rye

The Lottery Winner by Mary Higgins Clark

Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean

Death of a Nurse by M C Beaton

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

Frozen Betrayal by Clive Cussler

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Line of Fire by R J Patterson

Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen

The Remnant by Tim LaHaye

The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

Payment in Kind by J A Jance

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida

The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Marriage of Anything but Convenience by Victorine E. Lieske

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The Inheritance Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The Kama Sutra by Mallanaga Vatsyayana

The Wisdom of Father Brown by G K Chesterton

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Robin Hood by J Walker McSpadden

The Poor Traveller by Charles Dickens

Days on the Road: Crossing the Plains in 1865 by Sarah Raymond Herndon

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Atomic Habits by James Clear

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Man After Man

Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Charlotte’s Web

Midsummer Mysteries by Agatha Christie

Out of Silent Planet by C S Lewis

The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle

Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

The Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harai

Hamlet by Shakespeare

[talonabraxas]

Manjushri - The Way of Devotion ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ Talon Abraxas

Manjushri is the bodhisattva that represents clear seeing and wisdom. With his sword in one hand he cuts through delusion, with the The Great-Wisdom Sutra in the other, he teaches the emptiness of self nature.

Manjushri Mantra:

"Om Ah Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih"

In his book on the Wisdom Sutras the scholar Edward Conze explains that the syllables of this mantra are a type of mnemonic for the wisdom of emptiness as follows:

A is a door to the insight that all dharmas are unproduced from the very beginning (ādya-anutpannatvād).

RA is a door to the insight that all dharmas are without dirt (rajas).

PA is a door to the insight that all dharmas have been expounded in the ultimate sense (paramārtha).

CA is a door to the insight that the decrease (cyavana) or rebirth of any dharma cannot be apprehended, because all dharmas do not decrease, nor are they reborn.

NA is a door to the insight that the names (i.e. nāma) of all dharmas have vanished; the essential nature behind names cannot be gained or lost.

The mantra is used to improve one’s own wisdom faculties as well as ability in debating, writing and memory recall, which are all skills used for teaching and spreading the Dharma.

[teenageascetic]

“When the holy Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara had truly grasped the transcendent wisdom, he realized that visible form is only illusion. The same applies to its perception, to its names and categories, to discriminative intellect and finally even to our consciousness. They are all illusion. With this realizaton he was beyond all sorrow and bitterness.

Disciple Sariputra! The material is not different from the immaterial. The immaterial and the material are in fact one and the same thing. The same applies to perception, concepts, discriminative thinking and consciousness. They are neither existing nor not existing.

Sariputra! All things therefore they are in themselves not good and not bad, they are not increasing and not decreasing.

Therefore one may say there are no such things as form, perception, concepts, thinking process, and consciousness. Our senses such as eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind are misleading us to illusion; thus one may also say there is no reality in visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch and mindknowledge. There are also no such things as the realms of sense from sight up to mind, and no such things as the links of existence from ignorance and its end to old age and death and their end. Also the caturāryasatyāni are nonexistent, just as there is no such thing as wisdom and also no gain.

Because the holy Bodhisattva who relies on transcendent wisdom knows that there is no gain, he has no worries and also no fear. Beyond all illusion he has reached the space of highest Nirvana.

All Buddhas of the past, present and future, found highest perfect knowedge because they relied on transcendental wisdom.

Therefore we ought to know that the great verse of the transcendent wisdom is unsurpassed in its splendor, and that it appeases truly all pain. It reads:

GATE, GATE, PARAGATE, PARASAMGATE BODHISVAHA!”

-The Heart Sutra.

[mahayanapilgrim]

Manjushri is represented as a male

Bodhisattva with this right hand wielding a flaming sword " Vajra Sword of Discriminating Light" that represents the sharpness of Prajna, and his left hand wielding beautiful lotus flower in full bloom. The Vajra Sword of Discriminating Light or Wisdom is believed to cut through ignorance and entanglements of conceptual views. This sword also represents light of transformation when the sword is in flames. The magnificent Lotus flower is believed to hold the Prajnaparamita Sutra (Great Wisdom Sutra) and contains the essence of the great Wisdom of Lord Buddha

[ruibaozha]

A Brief Note on Lotus Rebirth

Did you know that lotus rebirth is quite common within Buddhism, though Nezha’s case is the most well known? I’ve attached a digital rendering from the Yun’gang Caves, originally from around the fifth century.

This type of rebirth isn’t specific to any deity or bodhisattva. Rebirth into the Buddha Amitabha’s Pure Land is among the most coveted paradises for any Buddhist to be reborn into, reborn from lotus buds. The Lotus Sutra expands on this quite a lot. Simply, the most devout are reborn into Buddhas western paradise.

“When beings of this [superior] type are about to die, the Buddha of Measureless Light [Amitabha] appears before them, accompanied by a great crowd of attendants. Then, these beings follow this Buddha and go to be reborn in his land. They are reborn naturally and miraculously in the center of a lotus made of the seven precious substances, and they dwell in the state from which there is no falling back. They come to possess wisdom and courage, supernormal powers and spiritual mastery.” I have used Luis Gomez’s translation of Wuliang shou jing.

There’s nine ranks of rebirth catalogued in the fifth century Amitabha Visualization Sutra where those reborn are as infants. There’s a massive time skip from the fifth century to when Nezha’s rebirth was ever recorded, but it’s undoubtable this is the basis for why it is originally Buddha bringing Nezha back to life rather than his teacher Taiyi Zhenren.

[santoschristos]

“May all beings have happy minds.” —The Buddha

In the expanse of Buddhist teachings, there's an Ultimate Primordial Buddha known as Vairocana Buddha. Let's walk gently into the world of Buddhism to explore who this Buddha is, simplifying complex ideas for easier understanding.

Vairocana, also known as Mahavairocana, often referred to as the 'Illuminator', is a celestial Buddha. In some traditions, He's seen as the embodiment of the Buddhist concept of Emptiness, or Sunyata, and represents the interconnectedness of all things.

Vairocana Buddha is frequently depicted in Buddhist art seated on a lotus throne. His hand gesture, or mudra, is the Dharmachakra mudra. This mudra symbolizes the turning of the wheel of Dharma, or teaching the path to Enlightenment.

Vairocana is seen as a central figure in various schools of Buddhism. For instance, in Shingon Buddhism of Japan, Vairocana is regarded as a prime figure, the cosmic Buddha who shines the light of wisdom on all beings.

Vairocana represents the idea that ultimate reality is beyond our everyday experiences and categories. It is not separate from the world but shines through it, just as the sun illuminates everything without discrimination.

Vairocana is sometimes referred to as the 'Great Sun Buddha'. As the sun doesn't pick and choose where it shines its light, so Vairocana illuminates the Dharma, The Buddha's teachings, to all beings equally.

According to the Avatamsaka Sutra, Vairocana Buddha is also considered as the embodiment of the Dharmakaya, one of the 'Three Bodies' of Lord Shakyamuni Buddha. In this role, Vairocana symbolizes the ultimate, unmanifested form of The Buddha, existing beyond time and space.

While understanding Vairocana Buddha might seem complex, think of Him as a symbol for the vast, interconnected reality we live in - an embodiment of wisdom that sheds light on all of existence without discrimination.

Like the warm rays of the sun, Vairocana's teachings touch all beings, awakening the inherent Buddha-nature within each one of us. He serves as a radiant reminder of the boundless wisdom and compassion in the heart of Buddhist practice.

--Buddha Beings @ BuddhaBeings

[radical-revolution]

Dear fellow beings,

In yet another of our human narratives, we’ve labelled the old year as finished. And therefore, the old year must inevitably be followed by a “new year”. With those man-made categories, along comes something even more ludicrous called a “new year’s resolution”.

These new year’s resolutions require looking “back” and looking “forward”. When we do that, we see that things in the world haven’t been too easy in the recent past. And from the way it’s all going, it looks like the future won’t be easy either. Ecological destruction is one big reason. Another is that the old lords and masters are so threatened by newbies who want to be just like them and particularly by those who are managing to achieve that.

But we’re caught: How can we stop a billion Chinese wanting to clean their butts on the toilet seat the way a few million Japanese clean theirs? And how can we deny the aspiration of a billion Indians to water their lawns and dry their clothes with automatic dryers the way Americans do? The pain felt by those who were once lords as they watch the rise of subordinates is splendidly captured by none other than the great Satyajit Ray in his beautiful film Jalsaghar.

And if all the wannabes do get what they want, like a billion Indians and Chinese getting their own cars, taking holidays in campervans or on Mallorca and Aruba, and a whole lot more, which they surely deserve as much as those who presently have all that, then what? Surely that will not only accelerate ecological destruction but may well lead to global warfare as the former lords and masters use all their might to cling to their old privilege and control.

So, in the big picture, it’s hard to make an upbeat new year’s resolution for the world from anyone’s point of view. All I can do personally myself, is re-resolve to follow what Gautama taught.

I came to this resolution because the only way I can liberate myself from the delusion of expecting a perfect society is to follow this man Gautama. And because the only way I won’t be caught in the games of the dream is to wake up from the dream, not by adding even more systematic dreams in the name of politics, the economy, science, technology and the rest.

I also want to put effort into letting other human beings know what Gautama taught. I have come to realize that the only reason why people like Gautama, Lao Tzu and Mahavira are not widely known today is because of colonial and neocolonial might that has convinced itself that its own modernity is “the end of history” and convinced the rest of the world that westernization and modernization are one and the same.

That is why Obama quotes Kant and not Mahavira, why Deng Xiaoping quotes Karl Marx and not Gautama, and why people in the larger world only know about Kama Sutra not Arthashastra. I have read philosophers like Aristotle, Kant, Hegel and Marx, though of course not thoroughly. But I have also not read the Buddha’s teachings thoroughly. Still, I’ve so far not found any insight into so-called reality that these western writers have said that the Buddha has not said, and I’ve found so much that the Buddha said that those writers have not even begun to say.

It's one thing for traditions to die out if they are archaic, useless, or harmful like female infanticide, genital mutilation or forced enslavement. But the degeneration of genuine wisdom traditions into nothing more than objects of anthropological interest is a grave and even dangerous loss to humanity.

So I ask those who share my concern and aspiration to join me in this or a similar resolution. May this year bring you wakefulness and cheerfulness. And in doing so, may that bring us confidence and free us from panic and anxiety.

— Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

[pathofregeneration]

Joseph Parker, Untitled

* * *

The Visions of Joseph Parker, part III

“In Aldous Huxley's 1959 lecture, Natural History of Visions, Huxley articulates the visionary realm as ‘…jewel-like luminescence evoking clarity in its multi-faceted and transparent shimmer and iridescent hues.’ This description evokes Parker’s world, a spectral world with one-point perspective using the symbol of the ascending path up the mountainous road to enlightenment.

In Parker’s own words:

Attaining the mountain top has a spiritual meaning as follows: All human souls on this planet are in a school of learning to perfect themselves in order to attain a higher state of being. I have painted the mountains very steep because as the soul masters the difficulties on the path, more difficult tests lie ahead. Once the soul reaches the peak, it attains what the Buddhists call Nirvana. Then the soul does not need to be reborn, but continues its evolution in the Spiritual Sun that surrounds the physical sun. On the top of the mountain is a holy being radiating out love in all directions.

Joseph Parker is one of the great mystic painters of the late 20th century. Mysticism, according to The Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, is summarily defined as: ‘an apprehension of an ultimate non-sensuous unity in all things, a direct apperception of deity, the art of union with reality, an immediate contact or union of the self with a larger-than-self.’ Images of paradise can be found in the literature of all the world’s wisdom paths. The visionary abode of Buddha, as described in the Flower Ornament Sutra, is ‘made of jewels of various colors and decorated with all kinds of precious flowers. The various adornments emanated lights like clouds.’ Joseph Parker’s vision-scapes of the soul confirm the ideal world described by Socrates in the Phaedo, a world beyond compare to that which we know. ‘In this other earth the colors are much purer and more brilliant than they are down here. The mountains and stones have a richer gloss, a livelier transparency and intensity of hue.’”

— Joseph Parker, Carl Hammer Gallery

[crazyfox-archives]

Detail of a hanging scroll dating to the Kamakura period (1185-1333) depicting the Buddha Shakyamuni (釈迦如来 Shaka Nyorai) surrounded by the Sixteen Divine Protectors of the Great Wisdom Sutra displayed during the Setsubun spring chanting of the sutra on February 3rd at the Great Lecture Hall of Tsubosakadera Temple (壺阪寺) in Takatori, Nara Prefecture

Image from the temple’s official Twitter account

[unofficialchronicle]

“Gate Gate” CHANT

From the Heart of the Great Wisdom Sutra.   Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Sam gate Bodhi svaha – 10 times “Gone, gone, all the way gone, gone beyond the beyond.”

[santmat]

Receiving Inner Guidance in the Silence of Meditation - Spiritual Awakening Radio: https://youtu.be/dN61IeUQHpc

Wisdom from the Masters or Mystics of the East and West on the power of silence to guide our every step, so each step brings us closer to our most noble goals, leading us into a life of love, peacefulness, an enlightened existence. The art of listening in the silence of meditation provides us with countless opportunities to see clearly without the usual day-to-day distractions, perceiving the events of our life from a higher vantage point. Silence allows angels to whisper advice into our ears. It also makes it possible for the authentic self to rise to the surface, introducing a new divine power or grace into this dimension of reality. It imparts insight, and ultimately, wisdom borne out of the depths or womb of contemplative silence gives birth to the realization of the soul itself. Most of the time we human beings are distracted surface-dwellers. We live from the levels of conscious mind and ego, with our attention hopelessly held captive by the turbulence and agitation of our day-to-day circumstances. If we can develop a daily meditation practice, learn to take a break and detach ourselves, allowing some space for the silence to speak to us, we will gain access to a higher wisdom. If we can pause and listen, taking time each day to meditate, this will provide opportunities for angels, the Inner Master-Power or the Great Invisible Spirit to communicate, to whisper into our inner ear.

"Learn to sit still and be mentally still, and the silence thus generated with be more vocal than words spoken and written; and you will have an instantaneous solution not only to your own personal problems but to the problems of others as well." (Kirpal Singh, The Way of the Saints)

"I will come to you in the silence." (Acts of Thomas)

“Silence gives us a new way of looking at everything.” (Mother Teresa)

"To be pure and still means to be open to purity and stillness -- as a result you can intuit the truth." (7th Century Da Qin Scripture of China -- The Jesus Sutras of the Church of the Light)

"Within each of us there is a silence, a silence as vast as the universe. And when we experience that silence, we remember who we are." (Gunilla Norris)

"Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continually return." (A Testament of Devotion, by Thomas Kelly, Quaker mystic)

"Bestow upon us a spirit of knowledge for the revelation of your Mysteries, to come to a knowledge of ourselves: where we have come from, where we are going, and what we should do in order to live." (Book of Allogenes, Gnostic Gospels, Nag Hammadi Library)

"Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life; through it he receives the breath of the Holy Spirit -- the bestowal of the Spirit is given in reflection and meditation." (Abdul-BAHA, Bahai Faith)

All for the Love of Wisdom, Radio, and Podcasting, James Bean Spiritual Awakening Radio https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

[talonabraxas]

Manjushri – Buddha of Wisdom Talon Abraxas

Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva, personifying supreme wisdom. His name in Sanskrit means “gentle, or sweet, glory”; he is also known as Mãnjughoṣa (“Sweet Voice”) and Vāgīśvara (“Lord of Speech”). His name means “Gentle Glory” in Sanskrit, in Tibetan he is called Jamphel Yang. He represents Prajna Wisdom. Therefore, he often appears in classic Prajna.

Many legend stories often say he is the master of seven Buddhas and all the mothers of Buddha. It is said that Prajna Wisdom is the teacher and mother of all buddhas. The Lord Buddha once said Manjushri was his teacher in his past life.

Manjushri is often depicted holding a double edge flaming sword on his right hand and holding a lotus flower on which there is a scripture of Prajnaparamita sutra (Great Wisdom). He is either seen sitting on a lotus flower on a moon disc or riding a lion. The double edge sword is called Prajna Khadga (sword of wisdom). This sword represents the sharpness of wisdom that can cut the root of ignorance with its luminous rays emanating out of it. The scripture on the lotus flower symbolises wisdom as pure as a lotus. The lion symbolized the stern majesty of wisdom as it is the king of Animal. It also means Manjushri teaches Dharma without favour or fear.

He is an important presence in Mahayana sutra, especially the Prajnaparamita sutras (Perfection of Wisdom sutras, Lotus Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra. He is attributed with bringing the insight that leads many sentient beings to Enlightenment and he is considered the Bodhisattva of Wisdom; in Vajrayana, he is a completely enlightened Buddha. (This is not a contradiction, but rather, a path: the Bodhisattva path leads to Buddha Enlightenment.)

He is also one of the three “great” Bodhisattvas, along with Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani. Broadly speaking, they represent three critical concepts, or the three virtues of the Buddha:

Manjushri: wisdom and insight (prajna)

Avalokiteshvara: compassion and love (metta)

Vajrapani: power and strength and protection

His perfect Pure Land is Vimala, in the East, and he is associated with Vairochana (Tibetan, nangpar nangdze, English Buddha Resplendent.) His other names include Vakishvara (Lord of Speech.) As an emanation of Vairochana — who vowed to emanate throughout the universe as a youthful Bodhisattva of Wisdom — he represents the “beginnings” of wisdom and our own ability to achieve it.

Manjushri does not give us the answers; he grants us the process to find our own wisdom. The beginnings of wisdom, and that first all-important insight. He especially helps us see through the delusions of duality.

There are also specialized forms of Manjushri: Black, Orange, Four-armed Namsangiti, wrathful Yamantaka, and many others. For instance, as Namsangiti, he is yellow with one face and four hands and holds in the first right hand a blue sword of wisdom licked with flame, and in the left at his heart, he holds a pink utpala flower; then, the blossom at ear-level supports the Prajnaparamita sutra. In the lower two arms are a bow and arrow.

Jampal Tsanju is another emanation of Manjushri with one head and four hands holding a sword, the Prajnaparamita sutra and a bow and arrow. He is pink or white with one face and four hands. There is also a three-faced form.

Why is Manjushri always visualized as a beautiful youth of sixteen, in the prime or beginning of his manhood? This important symbol reminds us that Manjushri is the beginning of insight. Within his practice is also the ultimate completion of practice, as represented by the “Perfection of Wisdom” text in his hand. But,the youth symbolism is vital, since most suffering humans, even the most advanced among us, could be said to be just at the “beginning” of understanding and insight. He encourages us, with his smiling, gentle, face — the “gentle friend”, as he is called by many — and his simple symbolism.

Unlike other Buddhist deities, his symbolism is ultimately simple. Just as the Heart Sutra (part of the Prajnaparamita sutras‚ is short and simple — clear and concise “Form is emptiness; emptiness is form” — at the same time his elegant simplicity is also ultimate complexity and deep, profound wisdom. Just as Heart Sutra expresses the vastly profound in a few hundred words, Manjushri’s symbolism of sword, text and youth likewise deliver a concise, yet vastly profound message.

Manjushri Mantra:

"Om Ah Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih"

[onemindzen]

In the days of the original Sangha, it was thought that only a monk of the Sangha could become an Arhant—someone who sees the True Nature of existence. If you were a woman, the best you could hope for is a fortunate rebirth, possibly as fortunate as to be reborn as a monk. Fortunately the teachings have evolved since then, and due to all of us intrinsically having Buddha Nature, gender, lay or ordained status, occupation, none of that matters. We just need to realize our True Buddha Nature to actualize our inherent buddhahood. Some may still contend that it’s a lot easier to pull that off in a monastic environment, without all the distractions of modern life in the “real world.” That may be a romanticized view of life in a Zen center or temple; modern life doesn’t stop at the front door, it might just wear robes.

Dahui Zonggao, Chan Master from the 11th Century CE, lived as a monastic, but his Dharma teaching wasn’t limited only to monks. The writings we have of his (as compiled in “Swampland Flowers”) are largely correspondence he had with lay practitioners. He understood what it took to realize one’s Buddha Nature, and he also understood that there were those who were no less dedicated to the Dharma, but circumstances dictated that “leaving home” was no more an option for them than it was for Layman Pang or Vimalakirti. Being a lay practitioner does not relegate us to second-class status or being unable to awaken in this very lifetime. 

Bodhidharma said that the “Great Way is beyond words and letters.” But to function in life, there are many words-everything from Sutras to recipes—that we need to use. While knowledge does not equate to wisdom, and you can’t intellectualize yourself into awakening, knowledge and intellect do not have to be a hindrance. 

As Dahui said, “At the very moment one speaks of knowledge, knowledge itself is mind, and this very mind itself is knowledge….People with great wisdom have all taken knowledge as their companion, considered knowledge an expedient means, practiced the compassion of equanimity in knowledge, and done all the business of buddhas in knowledge, like dragons reaching the water, like tigers taking to the mountains—they never considered this knowledge an affliction, because they thoroughly understood the origin of knowledge.” 

Knowledge is nothing more than a collection of facts. In and of themselves, these facts aren’t good or bad. When our knowledge gets us in trouble is when we use it to escape from this moment, right hereandnow, and let the concepts that knowledge can bring become a hindrance. Right now, you are reading this piece. When reading, just read. When watching the video, watch the video. There may be some combination of words, ideas, and facts contained in them that will be of benefit to you and help you realize your True Buddha Nature. And more importantly they may help you point the way so that all beings can realize their True Nature as well. There is no reason to “escape the real world” in order to facilitate our following the Great Way. It’s all the real world.

Myeong Jin Eunsahn gave the Dharma talk April 10, 2024.

[mahayanapilgrim]

Manjushri is represented as a male

Bodhisattva with this right hand wielding a flaming sword " Vajra Sword of Discriminating Light" that represents the sharpness of Prajna, and his left hand wielding beautiful blue lotus flower in full bloom. The Vajra Sword of Discriminating Light or Wisdom is believed to cut through ignorance and entanglements of conceptual views. This sword also represents light of transformation when the sword is in flames. The magnificent Lotus flower is believed to hold the Prajnaparamita Sutra (Great Wisdom Sutra) and contains the essence of the great Wisdom of Lord Buddha.