Author Topic: Who is Jambala?  (Read 19949 times)

bambi

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Who is Jambala?
« on: February 12, 2013, 09:36:24 AM »
A Dharma brother asked me the other day... 'Who is Jambala?'.
Of course, I was not very good in explaining as I am not very sure myself. I only know that He is the Buddha of Wealth and I heard that Jambala is also the disciple of Shakyamuni. Is it true?
I tried googling for more info but it doesnt seem to give me a satisfied answer. Can someone help?
Thank you in advance.

buddhalovely

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Re: Who is Jambala?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2013, 04:58:34 AM »
Red Jambhala has many images: four-armed, six-armed and twelve-armed etc. He can be found in either the sitting or standing posture. In Tantrism, there is also distinction between the red, white and yellow elephant heads. The four-armed Red Jambhala has a red human-like body, four arms, a big elephant head, smiling face, golden hair, a pair of widely opened green eyes and is surrounded by radiance. His long trunk is extended and curled inwards. He holds a radish in his first right hand, a demon-subduing axe in the second, some radish leaves in the first left hand and a string of chanting beads in the second. He is adorned with many treasures and precious necklaces, covered by a piece of tiger skin and stands on an eight-petal lotus.

The special characteristic of Red Jambhala lies in his trunk. His trunk can be extended to very far distance and hook back whatever object one has prayed for. Various precious treasures are poured from his nostrils. The Red Jambhala also likes to count the radish leaves; from the radish leaves, he can calculate in detail the wealth and possessions of a person in this lifetime.

Cultivating the Red Jambhala Practice can enable one to acquire wealth, food, followers, a spouse, power and better human relations. There is also the Red Jambhala magnetizing method that can bless the practitioner with marital bliss and a harmonious family. Wishes are fulfilled and all endeavors become auspicious.

RedLantern

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Re: Who is Jambala?
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2013, 06:25:22 AM »
Dzambala is the Buddha of wealth and an emanation of Chenrezig,the Buddha of Compassion.As with all Buddhas,his practice can help us gain the ultimate attainment of Enlightenment.T he purpose of worship or practicing Dzambala is to eliminate the insecurity of worrying about money so that one is not distracted by poverty and lack of funds.
His form is short,fat and strong,which comes from a time when it is widely believed that obesity is synonymous
with wealth and luxury.is face carries an arrogant expression and sits in a royal posture.,to tell us that if we continue to look and act in this arrogant way in our attempts to gain material wealth,we actually gain poverty instead.Is our greed hurting others?
The royal ease of his form indicates free from Samsara and he steps on a conch shell with his right foot,meaning that he has attained all this great wealth ,he is above it and no longer allow the ties of samsara
to subjugate him again.
He holds a fruit in in his right hand to signify that if we follow his practice,we can "bear the fruits"of our efforts
to gain spiritual attainments and Enlightenment.
In his left hand,he holds a mongoose which stood as an omen of good things to come.The mongoose spits beautiful precious wish granting jewels and both work to attract us to practice Dzambala with an immediate promise of wealth.
The best way to worship Dzambala is by making continuous water offerings.The five Dzambala are:
Yellow Dzambala,White Dzambala,Black Dzambala,Green Dzambala and Red Dzambala.

Big Uncle

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Re: Who is Jambala?
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2013, 10:46:59 AM »
Yes, Jambala was definitely one of Buddha's disciples and here's the story that was traditional given with regards to Jambala:-

Jambala was one of Buddha’s disciples and students who travelled with Buddha for his teachings and he was very strong and very powerful. He had attained certain level of meditational powers already, a certain level of bodhisattvahood.

So as Buddha was crossing, Devadatta threw the rocks down, hurled them down to kill Buddha. When Jambala saw this, to protect his Guru, without thinking about himself he stood in front of Lord Buddha immediately and blocked the boulders, and as he blocked them, the boulders were crushed. Pieces went flying, and one piece went and hit Jambala’s head. When it hit Lord Jambala’s head, he collapsed and fell down onto the ground. Lord Buddha came over to Jambala and blessed him. Lord Buddha stood over him and from Lord Buddha’s hand came a white, nectar-like substance of wisdom and compassion and love and touched Jambala’s head. When it touched Jambala’s head it made him feel very blissful, very happy, very calm, and cleaned his impurities and cleaned his obstructions and healed his wounds. Immediately Lord Jambala bowed down to Lord Buddha and thanked him.

And the Buddha said to Lord Jambala at that time,

“As I have healed you and I poured this holy nectar onto you, in the future anyone of my students or student’s students who invokes your power and pours water onto your head - bestow on them wealth, give them the two types of wealth, material wealth and spiritual wealth, more importantly spiritual wealth.”

Immediately when he said that Lord Jambala folded his hands in respect to Lord Buddha again and said “I will do as you have said and I promise that I will do that.”

So from then on Lord Jambala, one of Buddha’s main disciples, became a very powerful figure. He became a very powerful Buddha for students to propitiate to get the wealth that they need in order to practice Dharma. His lineage has come down like that.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2013, 02:50:45 PM by Big Uncle »

Q

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Re: Who is Jambala?
« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2013, 11:07:58 AM »
A Dharma brother asked me the other day... 'Who is Jambala?'.
Of course, I was not very good in explaining as I am not very sure myself. I only know that He is the Buddha of Wealth and I heard that Jambala is also the disciple of Shakyamuni. Is it true?
I tried googling for more info but it doesnt seem to give me a satisfied answer. Can someone help?
Thank you in advance.

Jambala or Dzambala/Dzambhala/Jambhala is the Buddha of prosperity. He is commonly represented in gold which shows His ability to grant wealth and prosperity. His practice not only bring material wealth but also spiritual richness in ourselves to help with our personal growth. And just like all Buddhas, he can help us gain enlightenment.

You are right, Jambhala is a direct disciple of Shakyamuni. In the time of Shakyamuni, there are many other beings that exist during that time, and one of them are Yakshas. They are very fat, short, very strong and stout, and are celestial beings with lots and lots of wealth... Jambhala is a Yaksha.

So the story goes, while Buddha Shakyamuni was crossing a path near the mountains, Devadatta pushed a large rock down the hill in attempt to murder the Buddha. When Jambhala saw the rock, he protected Shakyamuni without thinking about his own safety... he stood right infront of Shakyamuni to block the rock (without realizing that Buddha never had the karma to receive such harm, so even if Jambhala did not block the rock, Shakyamuni would not be hurt anyway). When the rock hit Jambhala, it split into pieces and flew with great velocity... and one of the shards hit Jambhala's head, causing him to fall over.

Upon seeing this, with great compassion, Shakyamuni kneeled by Jambhala and then came a white substance from Shakyamuni's right hand... which flow to Jambhala's forehead and healed him. All of Jambhala's defilements and impurities was wiped off, as Shakyamuni's hand touches His forehead, Jambhala felt blisfulness, happy, and calm... and with that his wound on the head was healed. He got up on his knees and thank Shakyamuni.

So Shakyamuni told Jambhala just as how He has healed Jambhala , in the future, the students of Shakyamuni who invoke Jambhala's powers and pour water on his head, bestow them spiritual and material wealth.

So that's how the practice of Jambhala came about, and why we pour water over Jambhala during pujas.

If we see Jambhala's iconography, we will see how royal his posture represents. The ease of sitting in this posture shows He has gained Enlightenment through his practice and attainments. In his right hand holds a fruit which tells us if we do His practice, it will bear fruits, while on the left holds a mongoose which is regarded as a good omen AND the promise of wealth.

dslucky

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Re: Who is Jambala?
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2013, 11:51:45 AM »
Jambala (also Dzambala) is the God of wealth and appropriately a member of the Jewel family.
In hindu Mythology Jambala known as Kuvera. Is also believed to be an emanation of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion , manifesting as the wealth-giving Buddha.

About manifest of Chenrezig, the story goes that Lama Atisha, a very revered high lama of the Gelug-pa tradition, was walking in Bodhgaya when he encounter an old man dying of starvation. Lama Atisha very sad about old man's suffering . Lama Atisha doesn't have any food to offer old man, so immediately cut his flesh to offer the old man. How can I eat a monks flesh? the old man refused to eat flesh. Lama Atisha lay down, feeling sad and helpless when a white light suddenly appears before him. It is the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshwor, says to Atisha, I will manifest as Jambhala, the Buddha of wealth to help suffering beings. I shall alleviate their poverty so they will not be distracted from practising the good heart.

Everybody wants money! As everyone knows, when one is rich, it is easier to be unselfish and to develop an attitude of generosity.( Jambala With Five meditation Buddha Thanka hand Painting. ) The rich gold colouring of his skin represents increase and growth: in the short term, he can bring us material wealth and help us out of poverty but more importantly, his practice or worship can also bring us to spiritual wealth and personal growth to become a better person. As with all Buddhas, his practice can help us gain the ultimate attainment of enlightenment. So the purpose of worship or practicing Jambala is to eliminate the insecurity of worrying about money so that one is not distracted by poverty and lack of funds. The best way to request help from the Jambala is by making continuous water offerings to him. If possible, do also try to simultaneously recite the appropriate mantras, and then the practice will be extremely powerful.

His form is short, fat and strong, which comes from a time when it was widely believed that obesity is synonymous with wealth and luxury. His face carries an arrogant expression and sits in royal posture. This acts as a warning to tell us if we continue to look and act in this arrogant way in our attempts to get material wealth, we actually gain poverty instead. So Think! Is our greed hurting others?

The royal ease of his form indicates that Dzambala is free from samsara through his practice and attainments, he has also acquired all the money, fame and wealth of the universe and no longer experiences suffering. He can afford to be laid back, chilled out he got everything that he needs! He shows us how our practice to him can ultimately lead us to enlightenment, where we too can literally have everything we want. At the same time, he steps on a conch shell with his right foot to mean that though he has attained all this great wealth, he is above it and will no longer allow the ties of samsara to subjugate him again.

Dzambala holds a fruit (or a flaming wish-fulfilling jewel) in his right hand to signify that if we follow his practice, we can bear the fruits of our efforts to gain spiritual attainments and enlightenment. In his left hand, he holds a mongoose, which in ancient India stood as an omen of good things to come. The mongoose spits(vomits) beautiful precious wish-granting jewels, and both work to attract us to practice Dzambala with an immediate promise of wealth.

Dzambalas blessings and the value of his practice are universal. Keeping an image or statue of him, or giving a Dzambala statue away as a gift is beneficial to anyone, anywhere.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):


OM ZAMBALA ZALENDHRAYE SOHA (or SVAHA)

Jessie Fong

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Re: Who is Jambala?
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2013, 12:13:31 PM »


Yellow Jambhala (Yellow Dzambala)

He is a manifestation of Ratnasambhava. Yellow in color, he is richly adorned with a crown, jewels and gold ornaments, silk garments.  He sits in the centre of a lotus throne, his right leg is placed on top of a conch shell.  His left hand holds a mongoose from whose mouth jewels are spit forth.  He holds a fruit in his right hand, signifying the fruits of our effort in following his practice.

His Mantra: Om! Jambhala Jalandraye sv?h?!

There are also

* Red Dzambala
Complete Mantra: Om! Jambhala Jalendraye Nama Mumei E She E,
Om! Dzachini Jambhala Jambhala sv?h?!

* Green Dzambala
His Mantra: Om! Jambhala Jalandraye sv?h?!

* White Dzambala
His Mantra: Om! Padma Trotha Arya Jambhala Siddhaya Hum Phat!
 
* Black Dzambala
Om! Indzali Mu Kan Dzamali Svaha!

bambi

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Re: Who is Jambala?
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2013, 02:38:57 PM »
Thank you everyone! This explains why we pour nectar onto Jambala every time we invoke His prayers!Love all the explanations! I will definitely explain it to my friend just as you all have. The Buddha of wealth for spiritual and material increase! Btw, love the pic Jessie! Am going to download and save it!