#manjushri

[ryin-silverfish]

Me, staring at the "Nezha is eternally 12/Nezha is often depicted as a kid so he's just a kid and nothing else" crowd: man, have you heard of Child Manjushri a.k.a. Wenshu Tongzi

(This is totally not an excuse for me to find cool statue pictures and talk iconography)

So, here is Bodhisattva Manjushri in his standard "graceful aristocratic prince" form, riding his azure lion. The statue in the picture doesn't have it, but oftentimes, he'll also be holding a flaming sword that symbolizes wisdom's ability to cut through ignorance and delusions.

This is "Holy Old Monk Manjushri", a variant that I came across a few times while temple-touring, but couldn't find many good online pictures of. It seemed like a thing that was popular around Mt. Wutai, based on the "Buddha-palita met Old Man Manjushri" tale. Sometimes his BFF Samantabhadra is depicted as an old man too, for matching purposes.

And this is Child Manjushri, with his five hair buns, often worshipped in an esoteric context. On Mt. Wutai, there are five major temples atop five peaks, each worshipping a different form of Manjushri, and the "middle peak" temple has a Child Manjushri in their main hall. Like, it's far from the most common variant, but neither is it this super obscure form that no longer enjoys active worship.

Lastly, just for fun: this is Yamantaka, a guardian deity/Wisdom King, who, in Tibetan Buddhism, is believed to be Manjushri's wrathful form.

If you wouldn't call Manjushri "the eternal child Bodhisattva" just because he has a child form, why would you say Nezha is an eternal child when he, too, has both child and adult forms?

Even though Nezha's child form is vastly more popular and well-known than Child Manjushri, I think my point still stands: A deity is capable of having multiple manifestations, of varying ages and appearances, each fulfilling a particular function and niche——none of which is the "One True Form TM", just different clothes they wear based on occasions and audiences.

To stretch the analogy a little, Manjushri's child form is the formal dress he puts on before attending a religious event, while Nezha's child form is the lotus T-shirt he wears a lot while appearing on TV, to the point it becomes his most iconic attire.

This doesn't mean he only has a single shirt, for goodness sake, and using his child form as evidence for the "eternal child" claim is like saying Nezha's only allowed to wear that one shirt and nothing else.

[mahayanapilgrim]

"My friends will become nothing,

My foes will become nothing,

I too will become nothing.

Just like a dream experience,

whatever things I enjoy will not be seen again.

The Buddhas neither wash ill deeds away with water, Nor remove beings suffering with their hands.

Beings are released through the teachings of the truth, the final reality.

Thus by the virtue of all that I have done,

May the pain of all living beings be cleared away."

~ Shantideva

From: «The Way of the Bodhisattva»

[weaverpop]

Hey!

Did you know that in the original story azure was not only known as the “lion-lynx demon” but was also the steed of manjusri?

Also! I heard that in the original Chinese translation he was actually female! Which would kinda make sense since he’s most likely castrated and would’ve lost his mane if he was a guy.

Anyway, how would Li Jing and even azure react to this? Is it cannon within your story?

While that is HILARIOUS to think about, Azure being female would not be canon. The whole castration thing was kinda fixed after the JE died and his magic, well, magically fixed azure.

Also yes! I was aware of the first bit! Manjusri is a very happy grandparent!

[arjuna-vallabha]

Mahamanjushree by Devendra Sinkhwal, Nepal

[teddycicada]

En la novela, Azure Lion es la mascota del boddishatva Manjushri. Simpre he querido ver un dibujo de ellos juntos. Me pregunto como hubiera sido su dinamica si el hubiera existido en LMK. Ya que el lore de Azure es diferente en LMK

[the-monkey-ruler]

I am a little confused. Someone on twt says that the lion that takes the place of King Wuji and the Azure Lion that is with his sworn brothers are two different lions and are not the same, however, some articles say that they are the same.

I’ve seen that as well! I personally never heard of this take before but I asked a friend and they told me that this is a real theory. I'm not sure how popular the two-lion theory is since I've never seen anyone else ever talk about it but I'll explain it here.

Two Lions theory - Wukong didn’t mention anything to Azure Lion when they met in the Camel Ridge arc. He mentioned nothing of their first fight in the Wuji Kingdom and this makes it strange he wouldn’t at least reference this. The master also says nothing of his Lion running away in the few short years that he was the one to release him from the Wuji kingdom. Never referenced in the book and thus it didn't happen.

Same Lion theory - Bodhisattva are only known for having a single beast they ride or their Diting and it would be strange that Manjushri has two of the exact same Lion. While other Bodhisattvas like GuanYin are connected to multiple animals (she has a pet goldfish and her Diting is a wolf) but only Manjushri has the same animal. He is never mentioned on having different animals and thus it is the same animal but he ran away the second time and that is why it wasn't mentioned.

In the most likely case, you have to think of it as a more out-of-story reason as to why there were multiple stories of Manjushri's animal companion in the story and they are both meant to be based on the same animal. Wu Cheng'en didn't write Xiyouji himself, he took what existing stories that were already there and was the man to make it into a single-story compilation. The stories most likely used the same Lion since Manjushri is an old and well-known figure but Wu Cheng'en still added both since it could work. Wu Cheng’en most likely didn’t bother to add any acknowledgment that these were the same beast within the story because it wasn't contradicting anything in the story for having this animal commit two crimes there would be no reason to not add both stories.

That being said I personally believe they are the same Lion even if it was overlooked to acknowledge how the same beast commits two different crimes. I think that plot wise it doesn’t disqualify that this Lion could have done both as unlikely as it is. The first time being out of his master's wish and the second time being of his own volition. I never heard of the Two Lion Theory being a popular thing and not sure if other people even heard about it but maybe @journeytothewestresearch knows something.

[horizon5adventure]

[buddhismnow]

Monju, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, and Lion

Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom known as Monju in Japan, sits on the back of his lion. https://wp.me/pFy3u-8AI

Monju on a LionShūsei Japanese, late 15th century Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom known as Monju in Japan, sits cross-legged on the back of his lion. Monju appears as a youth in flowing robes, his hair worn long and loose; one of his attributes, a scepter, is placed casually on the ground before him. Although it is a decidedly carefree interpretation, the iconography seen here is consistent…

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[Thangka art is not signed and the artists, sometimes working alone or sometimes in a small group or school, remain unknown. Some of their work takes years to complete. The staff atop an elephant, it is likely the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (on many Zen altars, Manjushri and Samantabhadra are to either side of the Buddha)]

[Red Pine (translator) :: Bill Porter (author)]

* * * *

“So what will happen to your consciousness? Your consciousness, yours, not anyone else's. Well, what are you? There's the point. Let's try to find out. What is it about you that you have always known as yourself? What are you conscious of in yourself? Your kidneys? Your liver? Your blood vessels? No. However far back you go in your memory, it is always in some external active manifestation of yourself that you come across your identity—in the work of your hands, in your family, in other people. And now listen carefully. You in others—this is your soul. This is what you are. This is what your consciousness has breathed and lived on and enjoyed throughout your life—your soul, your immortality, your life in others. And what now? You have always been in others and you will remain in others. And what does it mater to you if later on that is called your memory? This will be you—the you that enters the future and becomes a part of it.”

― Boris Pasternak, Dr Zhivago

[princess-busscatto]

[mahayanapilgrim]

Yab-Yum

Yab-yum represents the ideals of tantric sexual practice as a posture for making love. It weaves the transcendent and the immanent together by combining verticality with a deep sense of closeness.

Yab-Yum: Symbol of Divine Union

Yab-Yum is the symbol of divine union. It is the posture in which man and women are united between Heaven and Earth: a classic meditation posture. In many lovemaking postures one of the couple is underneath the other, but in Yab-Yum, both partners are equally upright.

"Yab-Yum" is a Tibetan term meaning "father-mother".

In Tibetan Tantra it is about the union of Compassion and Truth/ Wisdom. In Indian Tantra it is about the masculine as a passive meditator with the feminine as a dancing shakti in his lap... pure awareness meeting pure energy. On a metaphysical level, Yab-Yum represents the union of dualistic forms in order to attain transcendence.

In other words, when we bring apparent opposites together in love we can enter a state beyond normal consciousness: a state of oneness or unity consciousness. A remembrance of who we are beyond name and form...

This is the ultimate goal of Tantra.

[mahayanapilgrim]

One day, a young student approached the Buddha and asked him to teach him about the nature of reality.

The Buddha led the student to a nearby river and pointed to the water rushing by.

"Do you see that water?" he asked.

"It's constantly moving, always changing. It flows downstream, never staying in one place for long. This is the nature of reality - it's constantly changing, always in motion."

The student nodded, understanding what the Buddha was trying to teach him.

Buddha continued, "Just like the water flows downstream, so too do our thoughts and emotions. They come and go, never staying in one place for long. But if we learn to let them flow, if we learn to let go of our attachments and desires, we can find peace and freedom within."

The student took the Buddha's words to heart, and he made a commitment to practice mindfulness and non-attachment in his daily life. And as he practiced, he began to experience a sense of peace and freedom that he had never known before.

[mahayanapilgrim]

"Normally we operate under the deluded assumption that everything has some sort of true, substantial reality. But when we look more carefully, we find that the phenomenal world is like a rainbow — vivid and colorful, but without any tangible existence.

When a rainbow appears we see many beautiful colors - yet a rainbow is not something we can clothe ourselves with, or wear as an ornament; it simply appears through the conjunction of various conditions. Thoughts arise in the mind in just the same way. They have no tangible reality or intrinsic existence at all. There is therefore no logical reason why thoughts should have so much power over us, nor any reason why we should be enslaved by them."

- Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

[mahayanapilgrim]

Dakini

A beautiful woman may think: "Maybe I am more beautiful than all of them

people around me, and I can charm and fascinate anyone whichever I want." But her beautiful body is actually just blood,

Fat, muscle, lymph, bones and feces, nothing is good or bad interesting! The human body is like a beautiful porcelain vase filled with excrement. Opening it, you will feel nauseous. It is a waste of time to take too much care of this body, feeding it the healthiest plates of food, dressing it in the most fashionable clothes, and trying to make it appear younger than it really is. international. The body has nowhere else to go but to the cemetery, where it is burned, buried, or fed to the birds.

Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism

about the Most Important Things

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche & Padampa Sangye

[mahayanapilgrim]

[mahayanapilgrim]

"The eye organ is what sees forms outside. The eye consciousness is what, on seeing forms, thinks of them as being beautiful or ugly and accordingly clings to them or rejects them. Form is the object of the eye organ to which it appears. If we think of what we see as truly existing, then clinging to beautiful things and aversion to ugly things arise. But if instead we recognize that the object, the sense organ, and the consciousness are all three devoid of true reality and we realize their emptiness, we will recognize the inner consciousness as empty, for it does not dwell outside, inside, or in between."

Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - Zurchungpa's Testament - on Wisdom - Collected Works, Vol Ill pg 302 - Shambhala