Tibetan Buddhism and Culture: January 2023

Monday, January 30, 2023

Chakrasamvara Heruka A Wrathful Meditational Deity.

Twelve arms Chakrasamvara Heruka

Chakrasamvara Heruka in Sanskrit known as Heruka, and in Tibetan it is called "Khrag Thung". Chakrasamvara Heruka is the name of a category of wrathful deities, enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient beings. In East Asia, these are called Wisdom Kings.

Heruka, in the Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet and Central Asia, a fierce protective deity. He is an emanation of the Buddha Aksobhya, whose figure is incorporated in his headdress. He is depicted as blue in colour with two arms, which hold a Vajra (thunderbolt) and a Kapala (skull cup) full of blood. When represented in union with the female consort Vajrayogini, he is known as Hevajra, and he is widely worshipped in this form in Tibet.

Chakrasamvara Herukas represent the embodiment of indivisible bliss and emptiness. They appear as Istha-devata (Tibetan: Yidam) or meditational deities for Tantric Sadhana, usually placed in a mandala and often appearing in Yab-Yum.

Chakrasamvara Heruka is also known as Samvara, a potent form of Heruka, which is one of the principal Yidam meditation deities of the Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Samvara is most often depicted with a blue-colored body, four faces and twelve arms.

The archetypal nature of Chakrasamvara empowers us to use our inherent enlightened ability to simultaneously operate both within the worlds of samsara (illusion) and nirvana (absolute truth and bliss). This capacity allows us to be of greater service to other sentient beings due to the fact that we gain greater insight into the circumstances of samsara and thus know how to deal with difficult situations more effectively.

Chakrasamvara Heruka represents wrathful imagery with indivisible emptiness (Sunyata), bliss, peace, wisdom, compassion (Bodhicitta), and love. Herukas represent unified consciousness, with emptiness being a reflection of "non-phenomena" or emptiness which is "all love," or removal of imagery to reach universal love, mercy, and compassion-mind. Interpretation of Heruka is similar to the female ḍākiṇī or Buddha Vajrayogini.

*Chakrasamvara Heruka Tantra Empowerment

The purpose of the Chakrasamvara Empowerment is to provide the conditions to link the practitioners' mind with the state of Enlightenment. Buddha Shakyamuni manifests as Chakrasamvara to remove obstacles, cut through the causes of ignorance and protect practice for the benefit of all beings.

Chakrasamvara Heruka is blue in colour, the right foot is extended pressing on red Kalaratri and the left drawn in [pressing] on black Bhairava. With one face and two hands, three eyes, the right hand holds a Vajra and the left a bell; embracing the consort, with a crown of five dry human heads as a crown, a necklace of fifty wet, and adorned with the six bone ornaments.

Chakrasamvara Heruka is embraced by the consort Vajravarahi, red in colour, with one face and two hands. The right hand holds a curved knife pointed to the ten directions. The left holds a skull cup filled with the five nectars and embraces the Father. [She is] adorned with a crown of five dry human heads, a [necklace] of fifty dry [heads] and the five bone ornaments."

The meditational deity Chakrasamvara is common to all the New Schools of Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhism (Sarma: Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug). Within the Gelug School, the deity is commonly referred to as Heruka. Among the many different forms and mandalas of practice, this form with one face and two hands entered Tibet with the great translator Rinchen Zangpo in the 11th century.

* Footnote

For those who had received the empowerment of this Tantric practice, you are reminded not intentionally or unintentionally to disclose the mantra to the public or anyone who may not have the empowerment or permission to practice, and by disclosing the mantra intentionally or unintentionally is a form of breaking your Tantric Samaya vows to the lineage masters and Dharma protectors.

Please consult your Guru or a qualified lineage master for Vajrayana practice! Should a devotee even want to start studying and contemplating the Vajrayana practice, then it is truly necessary to first have completed the preliminaries and to be certain and sure that Bodhicitta has arisen and developed in one’s mind.

Vajrayana features countless skillful and powerful methods which, if they are practiced in the proper way, can make the process of accumulation and purification incredibly swift and direct. It is absolutely necessary to have the pure motivation and to know that Vajrayana practice is not carried out to increase one’s own ego, power and self-interests.

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Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in the year 2008, we had been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 14 years. We have exceptionally constrained supports and do not receive subsidized or funding from people in general.

Please help us and to develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you, but to all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us to enhance our work and to accomplish for a better and brighter prospect to come.

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright of the picture(s).

Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and or studios.

Picture(s) is/are intended for editorial use only

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

A Supreme Wisdom Dakini In The Vajrayana Buddhism - Simhamukha

Simhamukha is a supreme dakini in Tibetan Buddhism, who combines anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features. She is a wrathful emanation of Guhya Jnana Dakini (Tib. Sangwa Yeshe Khandroma) and is revered in the Nyingma school as one of Padmasambhava’s main teachers.

In Hevajra Tantra, she appears as one of the eight female spirits *(Tranen Gye) who arise during the intermediate state between lives (bardo). In this role she is also found in the cycle of tantric texts The Web of Magical Illusion (Gyutrul Drawa) to which the Guhyagarbha Tantra belongs. In the Eight Sadhana Teachings (Drubpa Kagye), transmitted in the 8th century in Tibet by Padmasambhava, she appears as a goddess who subdues demons and evil spirits.

*(Tranen Gye) - * The eight tramen (Sanskrit Pisaci) are animal-headed deities (tramen literally means “hybrid”). They are:

Simhamukha,
Vyaghrimukha,
Srigalamukha,
Shvanamukha,
Gridhamukha,
Kangkamukha,
Kakamukha,
Ulumukha.

Simhamukha is associated with exorcist rituals that prevent black magic and eliminate harmful effects. The ritual practice includes the use of a Kapala and a metal mirror on which dharmodaya (The source of reality”, symbolically depicted in the shape of a tetrahedron) is painted with red powder, in the center of which is written HUNG, the bija mantra of the wrathful goddesses.

The mantra of Simhamukha is extremely secretive and must be kept secret. A minimum requirement is an oral transmission. Oral transmission (Tibetan word is Lung, Sanskrit word is agama) — The verbal transmission of a teaching, meditation practice or mantra from guru to disciple, the guru having received the transmission in an unbroken lineage from the original source.

The mantra of Simhamukha is known as “the fierce mantra of fourteen letters that averts all magical attacks” (ngag drag log yige chuzhipa). It can be pronounced in a reverse way during extremely wrathful rituals, and it can also be written on the human body to create the so-called “Vajra armor” (Dorje gotrab) of the subtle body.

Simhamukha’s practice is based on the Tantric principle that emotions are an integral part of human nature and must be cultivated and subordinated to the ultimate goal. Through the process of transformation (gyur lam), negative emotions transform into enlightened awareness, which is symbolically expressed through the manifestations of various deities.

The figure of the lion-faced goddess symbolizes the enlightened essence of anger, which is the wisdom, clear as a mirror. The goddess embodies the higher wisdom that realizes emptiness and is beyond dualities. Although she is completely liberated from cyclical existence, Simhamukha manifests in a divine body to help sentient beings attain the Buddhahood through a process of meditative identification with her enlightened qualities.

Her divine forms appear as a result of her great compassion for the sole purpose of freeing beings from their suffering. Her figure is also an embodiment of great bliss (Dechen), which is spontaneous because it does not depend on external objects and great because it can never be destroyed.

According to Vajrayana philosophy, this bliss is related to the original nature of the mind and manifests itself spontaneously when the attachment to the illusory world, which is the real cause of suffering, is completely removed. This is what leads to the achievement of absolute freedom.

As a supreme Dakini, Simhamukha presents the feminine principle as an independent force that is not merely a complement to man. She is also the embodiment of the strength needed to achieve the ultimate goal. Without the merging of the masculine and feminine aspects, consciousness cannot reach the necessary wholeness and attain enlightenment.

This is the meaning of the ** third empowerment in the system of Anuttara Yoga – to initiate the practitioner in the various aspects of wisdom that appear in the form of Dakini.

** According to the inner tantras (Gang Gi Gyu), there are four types of initiations (Wang):

Vase empowerment (Bum Dbang),
Secret empowerment (Sang Wang),
Knowledge-wisdom empowerment (Sherab Yeshe Kyi Wang)
Precious word empowerment (Tshig Wang).

They aim to purify the physical, verbal, mental, and subtle defiles and to develop the potential for attaining the four bodies of the Buddha – Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, Dharmakaya, and Svabhavikakaya.

Footnote

Donations for our Buddhist research and development

Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?  

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in the year 2008, we had been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 14 years.  We have exceptionally constrained supports and do not receive subsidized or funding from people in general. 

Please help us and to develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you, but to all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us to enhance our work and to accomplish for a better and brighter prospect to come. 

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta
For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen
May it arise and not decrease
But increase further and further.

Dedication of Merit
By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.
Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.
May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.
With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

Note
I do not own or infringe any copyright of the picture(s).
Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and or studios.
Picture(s) is/are intended for editorial use only.

Friday, January 6, 2023

Wisdom Deities And Worldly Deities In Tantric Buddhism

Heruka

Chakrasamvara

and

Vajrayogini

are

emanations

of

Buddha

Shakyamuni

Mountain

Gods

and

Goddesses

of

Tibet (*Worldly local deities 

世俗的神（佛教

 ) - of 

the

Himalayan

regions

are

spirits

indigenous

to

a

specific

geographic

region

and

considered

worthy

of

worship

by

the

local

populace

.

The

gods

can

be

considered

Bon

,

Buddhist

or

regional

-

equally

worshiped

by

all

.

The

more

famous

of

the

gods

have

been

incorporated

into

religious

traditions

,

losing

their

local

flavour

,

and

worshiped

throughout

Tibet

and

the

Himalayas

.

Note* Worldly Protectors, or Deities, is a Buddhist term used to differentiate between Enlightened (Wisdom) Protectors and Worldly (unenlightened) Protectors.

It can be difficult to classify Mountain Gods and Local Deities as to their status as living beings or entities. They are certainly not human and they don't readily fit into the Buddhist description of the Wheel of Life concept coming from the Abhidharma. They are not gods of the Gods Realm, nor are they animals or hell beings. They seem to fit closer to the Ghost Realm, although not exactly hungry ghosts living in a vast empty, dusty, windswept expanse.

Gods and deities are a common feature of Tantric Buddhism. But who are they and where do they come from? Since deities make up a large percentage of the iconography in Tibetan Buddhist painting, sculpture, and more importantly, meditation practice, it is paramount to understand the answers to these questions. Initially the key thing to learn is that the terms “god” and “deity” are used interchangeably with no intended difference in meaning.

What exactly are gods and deities? There is probably no easy way to answer this question. The most direct route requires dividing the question into two topics. The first topic is a general broad but inclusive definition of the word “god/deity” (in Tibetan: lha, yi dam) based on a general Tibetan understanding and a conservative dose of Western interpretation.

In Buddhism, a yidam is a manifestation of enlightenment and may take the form of Sambhogakāya Buddhas, tantric deities such as Dakinis, Bodhisattvas, Wisdom Dharma protectors (Dharmapalas) or other historical figures such as past gurus or religious leaders.

The second topic is the enumeration of categories and the many traditional lists and subcategories of deities that are referred to in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist texts and traditions.

The Tantric Buddhist definition for “deities/gods” distinguishes between two very important and different types: worldly gods and beyond-worldly gods. Ordinarily most people refer to all deities as gods and all gods as deities, without distinguishing between worlds and beyond-worldly. In general a god is a supernatural being or presence that lives outside of our normal daily reality and who has the power to interact, for good or for ill, in our personal reality through spiritual connection, ritual, or a cause and effect relationship.

Within Buddhism, these worldly gods are understood as sentient beings who have powers and life circumstances that are different from that of normal humans, but occupy and move through the same wheel of existence—samsara—as humans do, based on the laws of cause and effect.

Examples of worldly gods are Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, and Shiva, along with all of the other less familiar Hindu characters. Included amongst these are the Guardians of the Four Directions, the local gods of the various Buddhist regions of Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan, which include many mountain and regional gods. To the upper left is an example of the worldly god Brahma, with four faces, orange skin, and riding a large goose.

The enlightened or wisdom beings are believed to be unique to Buddhism and live outside of the wheel of existence. They are considered to be enlightened individuals or emanations of enlightened individuals. They are divided into two further categories: individual entities and emanations. Examples of well-known individual entities that have escaped from samsara are Shakyamuni Buddha, Medicine Buddha, and the meditational deity forms of Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani and Tara (bottom right).

Emanations originate generally from the five symbolic Buddhas (Vairochana, Amitabha, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava and Amoghasiddhi) or from the Tantric meditation forms of Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani.

Hevajra

Examples of emanations are figures such as Hevajra, Chakrasamvara, Vajrayogini, Kalachakra, Mahakala, and many others. The lists and subcategories of deities can be long and sometimes overlap. Next week we will look at some of the more common and well-known categories of Buddhist Tantric deities such as long-life, power, and deities of protection.

Donations for our Buddhist research and development

Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?  

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in the year 2008, we had been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 13 years.  We have exceptionally constrained supports and do not receive subsidized or funding from people in general. 

Please help us and to develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you, but to all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us to enhance our work and to accomplish for a better and brighter prospect to come. 

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta
For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen
May it arise and not decrease
But increase further and further.

Dedication of Merit
By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.
Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.
May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.
With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note
I do not own or infringe any copyright of the picture(s).
Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and or studios.
Picture(s) is/are intended for editorial use only.