A traditional depiction of Arya Nagarjuna with a parasol of nagas over his head and a naga below offering the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra

After the Buddha’s passing, Arya Nagarjuna became one of the main pioneers of the Mahayana tradition in India. From Nagarjuna descended the lineage of teachings on wisdom or the profound view of emptiness via his sacred communion with Bodhisattva Manjushri. Before Nagarjuna’s birth, there were numerous predictions of his coming that were recorded in various sutras, such as the Lankavatra Sutra and so forth. Nagarjuna is also traditionally accepted as one of Lama Tsongkhapa’s earlier incarnations.

According to scriptural sources, Nagarjuna was born to a Brahmin family from the ancient kingdom of Vidarbha in the southern part of India. Upon being presented with the newborn baby, the soothsayer observed auspicious signs of a holy being but also made an ominous prediction that the baby would not live past the seventh day. However, he added that the parents could prolong the baby’s life by up to 7 years if they made offerings to a hundred Buddhist monks. Naturally, the parents obliged and the young Nagarjuna lived to seven years of age. During his seventh year, Nagarjuna’s parents feared for his life and they decided to send him to the renowned Nalanda Monastery, where he met the great master Saraha.

Saraha, a great Indian Mahasiddha

Saraha told Nagarjuna that he could extend his life if he was ordained as a monk and engaged in the meditational practice of Amitayus. The boy gladly accepted and was given the Amitayus initiation, which he diligently practiced. He was thus able to survive past his seventh year.

The following year, Nagarjuna received his novice vows and began his life at Nalanda. He turned out to be brilliant in his studies and quickly became an expert in all the major fields of learning at Nalanda. Saraha, his tutor, also initiated him into the Tantric teachings, first with the initiation of Guhyasamaja, and personally taught him the commentary to this Tantra along with other oral teachings, which Nagarjuna gradually mastered.

When he came of age, Nagarjuna returned to his parents and sought their permission to be ordained. Permission was granted and he returned to the monastery where he was ordained according to the Vinaya by the Abbot of Nalanda and given the ordination name of Sriman (Tibetan equivalent, Palden).

Over the years, Manjushri cared for him as he had done in his previous lives. Once, Saraha requested Nagarjuna’s assistance to provide for the monastery during a time of great famine. Nagarjuna traveled to an island by means of his spiritual powers and he learnt the art of alchemy from a hermit there. Upon his return, he was able to provide for the entire monastery with the knowledge he had gained.

As he grew older, Nagarjuna became so highly respected that he was eventually appointed as the Abbot of Nalanda. Fair governance of the monastery characterized his abbotship and he always ensured that monks who upheld the three higher trainings (discipline, meditation and wisdom) were honored and given due recognition. He was also very strict with errant monks and had no qualms expelling monks who had violated their vows.

However, Nagarjuna was not without his detractors. There was a monk by the name of Sankara who composed a text called Ornament of Knowledge, criticizing Nagarjuna’s teachings in twelve thousand stanzas. There was also a text written by a Hinayana monk, Sendah, who refuted the validity of the Mahayana tradition that Nagarjuna upheld. Nagarjuna easily refuted these two texts along with many other texts that spread wrong views.

Once, while Nagarjuna was teaching to a great assembly, two strange men joined the teachings, bringing with them a powerful scent of sandalwood that permeated the hall. The Acharya noticed the two strangers and asked them who they were. The strangers revealed that they were nagas in disguise and that they were sons of the Naga King Taksaka. They added that they had anointed themselves with the essence of sandalwood so that they could enter into the presence of men without being repelled by their smell. Nagarjuna immediately requested for sandalwood to be carved into an image of Tara and for the nagas’ assistance in building a temple.

The Naga Princes said they would first enquire with their father and promised to revert to the Acharya. The next day, the two Naga Princes returned and sought audience with Nagarjuna, telling him that their father had agreed to help the Acharya, but only if he would follow them to the Land of the Nagas. The Acharya pondered and it dawned on him that traveling to the Naga realm would be beneficial for the welfare of all beings. Therefore, he agreed and was brought to the Land of the Nagas by the two Princes, where he was warmly received and accorded the deepest respect.

Nagarjuna discovered that the Naga King and his subjects were all inclined towards virtue. They made many offerings to the Acharya requesting him to turn the wheel of Dharma, to which the Acharya obliged, much to the delight of the Naga Kings and his subjects.

Finally, the Acharya said he needed to return and the Naga King along with subjects begged him to remain. However, Nagarjuna said he could not stay as he came to bring back the sandalwood, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and the Nagas’ assistance in building temples and stupas. The Naga King finally consented when the Acharya said that he might return one day.

Nagarjuna returned to the monastery, bringing with him the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in One Hundred Thousand Verses, other abbreviated forms of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, and several other dharanis. The Acharya also brought back sandalwood and naga clay, and built many temples and stupas with these materials.

When the Buddha taught the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, it was believed that the nagas took one version back to their realm for safekeeping, the gods another, and the yakshas who were lords of wealth took yet another. The version of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra that Nagarjuna carried with him were missing the last two chapters, which were withheld by the Nagas in the hopes that he would one day return to teach them further. However, the last two chapters were filled with the last two chapters of The Eight Thousand Verse Prajnaparamita Sutra instead.

With these precious texts, Nagarjuna firmly established the Madhyamaka tradition and spread it all over India. Madhyamaka literally means ‘Middle Way’ and it quickly became the central philosophy of the Mahayana tradition. In order to perpetuate the Mahayana, the Acharya also composed various treatises and commentaries on the Perfection of Wisdom, Buddhist Logic and the Guhyasamaja Tantra.

Once, while Nagarjuna was expounding the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, six nagas came and formed a parasol over his head to shield him from the sun – a scene which has since been immortalized in traditional depictions of him.

The first half of his name – ‘Naga’ – was derived from his close encounters with these serpentine beings. The second half of his name – ‘Arjuna’ – was given to him because of the precise manner in which he delivered his teachings, likened to the famous archer of the same name in the Hindu epic, Bhagavad-Gita. Thus with both names, he became known as Nagarjuna.

In his lifetime, Nagarjuna had many illustrious students but amongst them, there were four primary spiritual sons and three close sons. The Acharya’s four primary sons were Sakyamitra, Nagabodhi, Aryadeva and Matanga while his three close sons were Buddhapalita, Bhavaviveka and Asvagosha. The Acharya also met another of his foremost students, Chandrakirti, when he was older and said to him,

To my last disciple Chandrakirti, I shall show the ultimate Dharma which is not born.

And the Acharya taught the Sutra and Tantra to this promising student. Chandrakirti would later become highly attained and eventually propagated a view of emptiness called the Prasangika tradition based on Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka teachings.

Nagarjuna later traveled to the Northern Continent to teach. Along the way, he came across some children playing by the wayside. Noticing one with an unusual countenance by the name of Jetaka, Nagarjuna prophesied that he would one day be a king. Then, the Acharya went on his way and did not return for many years.

By the time Nagarjuna returned, the little boy had grown up and had become the king of a large and powerful kingdom in South India. The Acharya was invited by this king to stay with him and be his tutor. This was the same king to whom Nagarjuna wrote ‘A Letter to a Friend’ and he referred to King Udayibhadra of the Shatavahana Dynasty. The Shatavahanas were patrons of the stupa in Amaravati, where Buddha had first taught The Kalachakra Tantra and which was also close to Shri Parvata, the place where Nagarjuna engaged in retreats and composed many of his great treatises.

Shatavahana Dynasty

King Udayibhadra had a son, Kumara Shaktiman, who was power hungry and wanted to become king. However, his mother told him that he could never become king until Nagarjuna died because the Acharya and the King were deeply connected.

His mother then told him to ask the Acharya for his head and since he was a Bodhisattva, he would undoubtedly consent. Nagarjuna did in fact agree, but Kumara could not decapitate him with a sword. Nagarjuna then revealed that in a previous life, he had killed an ant while cutting grass. As a karmic result, his head could only be cut off with a blade of kusha grass.

Kumara went on to procure kusha grass and decapitated Nagarjuna. It is said that the blood from the severed head turned into milk and just before dying, the Acharya said,

Now I will go to Sukhavati Pure Land, but I will enter this body again…

Kumara disposed of Nagarjuna’s head a great distance away from the body, but it is said that the head and the body are coming closer together each year and will eventually rejoin; when this happens, the Acharya will return and teach again. According to traditional accounts, Nagarjuna lived for 600 years.

Much later, when Lama Tsongkapa asked Manjushri if he could rely on Chandrakirti’s text in order to comprehend Nagarjuna’s view, Manjushri replied that Chandrakirti’s purposes in appearing on earth was to clarify Nagarjuna’s excellent view. Manjushri then added that Lama Tsongkapa could have full faith in Chandrakirti because he had clearly understood Nagarjuna’s complete view of emptiness.

Lama Tsongkapa finally gained full direct perception of emptiness through his study and meditation on Buddhapalita’s text, which was praised by Chandrakirti who shared the same view. Then, Lama Tsongkapa infused his own writings and teachings with the same, based on his own exhaustive study and divine teachings from Manjushri.

It is said that those who follow Lama Tsongkapa’s writings and lineage would be blessed by Manjushri to gain quicker realizations of emptiness. Thus, Dorje Shugden arose as a Dharma Protector to assist and protect this special uncommon lineage. That is why Dorje Shugden wears the round yellow hat, which is a physical representation of Nagarjuna’s view that he had sworn to protect.

Arya Chandrakirti, one of Nagarjuna’s foremost students

Thus, Nagarjuna is remembered and revered as the founding father of the Mahayana Tradition. The Prajnaparamita Sutras recovered from the realm of the nagas form the doctrinal basis of Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka or Middle Way view. Its philosophical view quickly became the basis from which innumerable practitioners, yogis and great masters achieved direct perception of emptiness of inherent existence, which is known as Shunyata in Sanskrit. Realization of emptiness and Bodhichitta are the means from which a practitioner becomes fully enlightened. Therefore, the study of the Perfection of Wisdom texts and Madhyamaka from an integral part of Tibetan monastic curriculum and the doctrinal basis for contemplation and practice.

References:

1. Lobsang N. Tsonawa (1984), Indian Buddhist Pundits
2. New Delhi. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.
3. Berzin Archives

What immediately comes to mind when we hear or see the name, Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen, are two things – he built Ganden Monastery, which stands to this day, and he offered it to his Guru, Lama Tsongkhapa.

These two great deeds alone would be enough to illustrate what kind of Lama and disciple this extraordinary individual was.

Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen was well known for being a great holder of the vinaya (the monks’ vows), or pure morality. It is said that he held his vows so purely and his monkhood that his body smelled of clean, fragrant flowers. This is why they called him “Duldzin” – “dul” means vinaya; and “zin” means hold. Thus, a direct translation of his name means “Holder of the vinaya”.

He was considered as an emanation of Lama Tsongkhapa himself, as his attainments were said to be of Tsongkhapa’s equal. In this case, Duldzin emanated as a direct disciple of Lama Tsongkhapa in order to play the role of “Teacher and Student”. This arrangement enabled Dharma to be brought to many others.

It was Duldzin who raised the funds needed to construct Ganden, the first and greatest Gelugpa monastery in Tibet. He also personally oversaw the construction of Ganden until its completion. Upon its completion, Duldzin offered the monastery to his Guru, Lama Tsongkhapa.

Duldzin was so highly respected among the Sangha that he was offered the position of the first Ganden Tripa (Tsongkhapa’s successor or throne holder) after Tsongkhapa’s passing. However, he turned down the offer. He chose instead to dedicate the rest of his life to upholding these precious teachings. It was with this incredible devotion and commitment that he made a promise to arise as an “Uncommon Protector” to preserve and guard the lineage of his teacher, Tsongkhapa.

This promise was made to Nechung, a worldly spirit subdued by the 8th Century Indian Master Guru Rinpoche to be the general Dharma Protector of the Buddhadharma, who appeared in one of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings as a white dove.

It was said that one day while Lord Tsongkhapa was giving teachings in the Ganden prayer hall among a vast assembly of Sangha, a white dove appeared and flew about the prayer hall, creating a disturbance. It even hovered above Tsongkhapa’s head.

After the teachings, Tsongkhapa descended from the throne and retired to his quarters. Duldzin recognised that the dove was not a mere dove, and remained behind to investigate.

Then the dove, who was actually Nechung, transformed into a young boy dressed in white and spoke to Duldzin. He requested Duldzin to become an “Uncommon Protector” of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings on Nagarjuna’s precious philosophy of the Middle Way.

An ‘Uncommon Protector’ is not a general protector but one who arises specifically to protect something. In this case, Nagarjuna’s Madyamika view, as taught by Lama Tsongkhapa.

Duldzin promised Nechung that he would do so. Nechung then said, “Don’t forget your promise, I will come back to remind you.” Then the boy left.

Later, after he had completed building Ganden Monastery, Duldzin went into retreat in a cave and passed away.

Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen is the Drakpa incarnation that began the lineage of the uncommon and most powerful Protector, Dorje Shudgen.

Dorje Shugden’s form teaches the complete stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra. This proves that he is an enlightened being because such qualities are not possessed by the forms of worldly beings.

He appears as a fully ordained monk to show that the practice of pure moral discipline is essential for those who wish to attain enlightenment. In his left hand he holds a heart, which symbolizes great compassion and spontaneous great bliss — the essence of all the stages of the vast path of Sutra and Tantra.

His round yellow hat represents the view of Nagarjuna, and the wisdom sword in his right hand (like the one held by Manjushri and Je Tsongkhapa) teaches us to sever ignorance, the root of samsara, with the sharp blade of Nagarjuna’s view. This is the essence of all the stages of the profound path of Sutra and Tantra. He rides a snow lion, symbolizing the four fearlessnesses of a Buddha.

The explanation of his remaining features can be found in Heart Jewel, as can the specific enlightened function of each of the thirty-two Deities of his mandala, which are explained in a prayer written by Sachen Kunlo, one of the great Sakya Lamas.

Only enlightened beings display a meaningful aspect that teaches the entire path to enlightenment. Therefore, Dorje Shugden is a Buddha.

Excerpt for video : http://dorjeshugdenimagelibrary.wordpress.com

However, from the sketches of historical detail and the legend meant to be pedagogical in nature, combined with the texts reasonably attributed to him, some sense may be gained of his place in the Indian Buddhist and philosophical traditions.

Nagarjuna was born a “Hindu,” which in his time connoted religious allegiance to the Vedas, probably into an upper-caste Brahmin family and probably in the southern Andhra region of India. The dates of his life are just as amorphous, but two texts which may well have been authored by him offer some help.

These are in the form of epistles and were addressed to the historical king of the northern Satvahana dynasty Gautamiputra Satakarni (ruled c. 166-196 CE), whose steadfast Brahminical patronage, constant battles against powerful northern Shaka Satrap rulers and whose ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful attempts at expansion seem to indicate that he could not manage to follow Nagarjuna’s advice to adopt Buddhist pacifism and maintain a peaceful realm. At any rate, the imperial correspondence would place the significant years of Nagarjuna’s life sometime between 150 and 200 CE.

Tibetan sources then may well be basically accurate in portraying Nagarjuna’s emigration from Andhra to study Buddhism at Nalanda in present-day Bihar, the future site of the greatest Buddhist monastery of scholastic learning in that tradition’s proud history in India. This emigration to the north perhaps followed the path of the Shaka kings themselves. In the vibrant intellectual life of a not very tranquil north India then, Nagarjuna came into his own as a philosopher.

The occasion for Nagarjuna’s “conversion” to Buddhism is uncertain. According to the Tibetan account, it had been predicted that Nagarjuna would die at an early age, so his parents decided to head off this terrible fate by entering him in the Buddhist order, after which his health promptly improved. He then moved to the north and began his tutelage.

The other, more colorful Chinese legend, portrays a devilish young adolescent using magical yogic powers to sneak, with a few friends, into the king’s harem and seduce his mistresses. Nagarjuna was able to escape when they were detected, but his friends were all apprehended and executed, and, realizing what a precarious business the pursuit of desires was, Nagarjuna renounced the world and sought enlightenment.

After having been converted, Nagarjuna’s adroitness at magic and meditation earned him an invitation to the bottom of the ocean, the home of the serpent kingdom. While there, the prodigy initiate “discovered” the “wisdom literature” of the Buddhist tradition, known as the Prajnaparamita Sutras, and on the credit of his great merit, returned them to the world, and thereafter was known by the name Nagarjuna, the “noble serpent.”

Despite the tradition’s insistence that immersion into the scriptural texts of the competing movements of classical Theravada and emerging “Great Vehicle” (Mahayana) Buddhism was what spurred Nagarjuna’s writings, there is rare extended reference to the early and voluminous classical Buddhist sutras and to the Mahayana texts which were then being composed in Nagarjuna’s own language of choice, Sanskrit.

It is much more likely that Nagarjuna thrived on the exciting new scholastic philosophical debates that were spreading throughout north India among and between Brahminical and Buddhist thinkers. Buddhism by this time had perhaps the oldest competing systematic worldview on the scene, but by then Vedic schools such as Samkhya, which divided the cosmos into spiritual and material entities, Yoga, the discipline of meditation, and Vaisesika, or atomism were probably well-established.

But new and exciting things were happening in the debate halls. A new Vedic school of Logic (Nyaya) was making its literary debut, positing an elaborate realism which categorized the types of basic knowable things in the world, formulated a theory of knowledge which was to serve as the basis for all claims to truth, and drew out a full-blown theory of correct and fallacious logical argumentation.

Alongside it, within the Buddhist camp, sects of metaphysicians emerged with their own doctrines of atomism and fundamental categories of substance. Nagarjuna was to undertake a forceful engagement of both these new Brahminical and Buddhist movements, an intellectual endeavor till then unheard of.

Nagarjuna saw in the concept sunya, a concept which connoted in the early Pali Buddhist literature the lack of a stable, inherent existence in persons, but which since the third century BCE had also denoted the newly formulated number “zero,” the interpretive key to the heart of Buddhist teaching, and the undoing of all the metaphysical schools of philosophy which were at the time flourishing around him.

Indeed, Nagarjuna’s philosophy can be seen as an attempt to deconstruct all systems of thought which analyzed the world in terms of fixed substances and essences. Things in fact lack essence, according to Nagarjuna, they have no fixed nature, and indeed it is only because of this lack of essential, immutable being that change is possible, that one thing can transform into another. Each thing can only have its existence through its lack (sunyata) of inherent, eternal essence.

With this new concept of “emptiness,” “voidness,” “lack” of essence, “zeroness,” this somewhat unlikely prodigy was to help mold the vocabulary and character of Buddhist thought forever.

Armed with the notion of the “emptiness” of all things, Nagarjuna built his literary corpus. While argument still persists over which of the texts bearing his name can be reliably attributed to Nagarjuna, a general agreement seems to have been reached in the scholarly literature.

Since it is not known in what chronological order his writings were produced, the best that can be done is to arrange them thematically according to works on Buddhist topics, Brahminical topics and finally ethics.

Addressing the schools of what he considered metaphysically wayward Buddhism, Nagarjuna wrote Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way (Mulamadhyamakakarika), and then, in order to further refine his newly coined and revolutionary concept, the Seventy Verses on Emptiness (Sunyatasaptati), followed by a treatise on Buddhist philosophical method, the Sixty Verses on Reasoning (Yuktisastika).

Included in the works addressed to Buddhists may have been a further treatise on the shared empirical world and its establishment through social custom, called Proof of Convention (Vyavaharasiddhi), though save for a few cited verses, this is lost to us, as well as an instructional book on practice, cited by one Indian and a number of Chinese commentators, the Preparation for Enlightenment (Bodhisambaraka).

Finally is a didactic work on the causal theory of Buddhism, the Constituents of Dependent Arising (Pratityasumutpadahrdaya).

Next came a series of works on philosophical method, which for the most part were reactionary critiques of Brahminical substantialist and epistemological categories, The End of Disputes (Vigrahavyavartani) and the not-too-subtly titled Pulverizing the Categories (Vaidalyaprakarana).

Finally are a pair of religious and ethical treatises addressed to the king Gautamiputra, entitled To a Good Friend (Suhrlekha) and Precious Garland (Ratnavali). Nagarjuna then was a fairly active author, addressing the most pressing philosophical issues in the Buddhism and Brahmanism of his time, and more than that, carrying his Buddhist ideas into the fields of social, ethical and political philosophy.

It is again not known precisely how long Nagarjuna lived. But the legendary story of his death once again is a tribute to his status in the Buddhist tradition.

Tibetan biographies tell us that, when Gautamiputra’s successor was about to ascend to the throne, he was anxious to find a replacement as a spiritual advisor to better suit his Brahmanical preferences, and unsure of how to delicately or diplomatically deal with Nagarjuna, he forthrightly requested the sage to accommodate and show compassion for his predicament by committing suicide.

Nagarjuna assented, and was decapitated with a blade of holy grass which he himself had some time previously accidentally uprooted while looking for materials for his meditation cushion. The indomitable logician could only be brought down by his own will and his own weapon. Whether true or not, this master of skeptical method would well have appreciated the irony.

Source:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/nagarjun/
http://www.meditationincolorado.org/nagarjuna.htm

Every one of us has universal responsibility. If you have a good heart, loving kindness-compassion, then in your daily life, numberless living beings, including the people around you, animals, insects, in fact, all other living beings, do not receive harm from you.

If you develop a good heart, loving kindness-compassion, not only do other sentient beings not receive harm from you, they also receive benefit and help.

That absence of harm means peace and happiness in this life, happiness in all the coming future lives, and the ultimate benefit of bringing all sentient beings into total liberation from the entire ocean of samsaric sufferings by ceasing its cause, delusion and the karma.

Not only that, but by having compassion, you benefit numberless other sentient beings by bringing them into great liberation, the non-abiding sorrowless state of full enlightenment, which is total cessation of not only the gross, but even the subtle mistakes of mind, the subtle defilements; the subtle negative imprints left by the disturbing thought, the simultaneously-born ignorance, grasping at the I, the aggregates and all other phenomena as inherently existent, the subtle negative imprint that projects the hallucination, the dual view, of inherently-existent appearances. The cessation of all this is the great liberation.

Thus, by developing compassion, you collect extensive merit, and through that you are also able to develop wisdom and cease all the defilements. In this way, you are able to bring all sentient beings into the peerless happiness of full enlightenment.

Thus, you can see how you can bring all these various levels of happiness to other sentient beings. So whether or not numberless sentient beings receive all this happiness from you is in your own hands; it depends upon what you do with your mind.

It’s up to what you do with your mind—whether you generate the good heart, loving kindness-compassion, towards all the sentient beings or not. Therefore, every one of us has complete responsibility for all the happiness of sentient beings from this life’s temporary happiness up to that of full enlightenment.

Fulfilling this responsibility to bring happiness and benefit to other sentient beings is the purpose of your life, the reason you are alive. In order to liberate the numberless sentient beings from all their suffering and its cause, and bring them all happiness up to that of full enlightenment; to accomplish such perfect work for all sentient beings, first you need to achieve full enlightenment yourself.

In order to be able to heal all the sicknesses of others, to give them the happiness of freedom from disease, you need to be a fully qualified doctor, knowing how to diagnose illness and what all the various treatments are.

In the same way, then, to free others from all suffering and its cause and lead them to the peerless happiness of enlightenment, first you need to become fully enlightened yourself. Of course, getting enlightened doesn’t happen without cause—you have to actualize the path to enlightenment.

Therefore, without creating the cause, completing the general path, you cannot achieve enlightenment. Also, the path you actualize has to be an unmistaken path; if it’s a mistaken path, you cannot achieve enlightenment.

Furthermore, you have to complete that unmistaken path. Just having a few realizations isn’t enough for you to achieve enlightenment. You have to complete all the realizations of the path to enlightenment.

Now, achieving full enlightenment depends on actualizing the graduated path of the being of greatest capacity. That depends on actualizing, as a preliminary, the path of the being of intermediate capacity and the common graduated path. And that depends on actualizing, as a preliminary, the path of the being of lowest capacity and the common graduated path.

Success from the beginning of the path—the graduated path shared in common with the being of least capacity, which starts with realization of the perfect human rebirth, this precious human body qualified by eight freedom and ten richnesses—all the way up to the end, enlightenment, depends on the root of the path to enlightenment, first analyzing prospective gurus and, having found the right one, correctly devoting yourself to him through thought and action.

In his commentary to the Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion, Lama Tsongkhapa explained the different qualities of the guru according to the various teachings he quotes (see The Fulfillment of All Hopes, Wisdom Publications, 1999, p. 41 ff. See also Geshe Ngawang Dhargye’s commentary here: http://www.lamayeshe.com/otherteachers/dhargyey/index.shtml).

According to one explanation, the guru should [1] have stable devotion in the Mahayana teachings, [2] be learned in the different levels of the teachings—the Lesser Vehicle, Paramitayana and tantra—[3] be skillful and wise in guiding disciples along the path to enlightenment, [4] have strong compassion for others and [5] be subdued in his three doors of body, speech and mind. One set of five qualities is explained like that.

Then, in his Mahayanasutralamkarakarika, Maitreya Buddha explained the ten qualities of a Mahayana guru. The first three he mentioned were having his three doors [1] subdued, [2] pacified and [3] highly pacified.

The first one means the higher training in morality—abstaining from vice, protecting himself from creating negative karma. The second one, pacified, means having controlled his mind, his disturbing thoughts, through having developed shamatha, the realization of calm abiding; in other words, having the higher training in concentration. The third one, highly pacified, means having the realization of great insight, emptiness; the higher training in wisdom.

The fourth of the ten qualities is [4] having greater knowledge and higher qualities than the disciple. He should also [5] have perseverance and [6] his holy mind should be enriched with scriptural understanding and the lineage of the teachings. He should [7] have realized emptiness.

Even though this realization has already been mentioned as the third quality, here it specifically means having the realization of emptiness according to the view of the Prasangika, the highest of the four schools of Buddhist philosophy. The previous mention of great insight meant the realization of emptiness according to any of the Buddhist schools; here it means specifically the Prasangika view.

The remaining three qualities are [8] skill in explaining Dharma, [9] compassion for the students and [10] never feeling too discouraged or upset to explain Dharma, to guide and benefit the disciples. Anyway, if there’s strong compassion, there’s no way a mind feeling lazy or too tired to guide the disciples can arise.

Also, as it is mentioned in the Guru Puja (Lama Chöpa) and other texts, there are further qualities of the guru who reveals the tantric teachings—the ten outer qualities of the guru who teaches the lower tantras and the ten inner qualities of the guru who teaches Highest Yoga Tantra.

However, the very essence of all these qualities is that the guru should emphasize cherishing others. If the guru does not exhort the students to cherish others, it becomes an obstacle to their developing a good heart and actualizing bodhicitta, the realization required to enter the Mahayana path to enlightenment.

But if the guru does not emphasize that, at least he should emphasize liberation from samsara, attainment of ultimate, everlasting happiness. And if not that, at the very least he should emphasize that the happiness of future lives is more important than the happiness this life. That is the very bottom line—it is more important to work for happiness of future lives than for the happiness of this life.

If the teacher does not emphasize this, the disciples’ attitude for practicing Dharma will not become Dharma. Whatever they do—meditation, retreat, any other activity—there’s danger that they will waste their whole life.

Whatever they do will not become Dharma, will not become virtue. Everything they do will be done with pure attachment, pure non-virtue, seeking only happiness of this life. Whatever the student does—meditation, prayer, all twenty-four hours’ activities—becomes non-virtue, negative karma.

That’s the danger of having a guru who does not teach the importance of working more for future lives than this. You can waste your entire life if your teacher doesn’t emphasize detachment from the pleasures of this life and to work for long-run happiness, the happiness of all the coming future lives; not just one future life’s happiness but that of all future lives.

So, whether the teacher is ordained or lay, the very essence is who emphasizes these things, especially bodhicitta. In that way, the teacher is able to bring the disciple to enlightenment.

By emphasizing liberation from samsara, the teacher can bring the disciple to liberation. By emphasizing letting go of attachment, not clinging to this life, and emphasizing to work for happiness of all the coming future lives, the teacher allows the disciple to achieve happiness in future lives. This is how various teachers guide their disciples.

The other fundamental quality that a teacher needs is to emphasize ethics, morality. In that way, the teacher is able to guide the disciple away from negative karma and protect the disciple from creating negative karma, the main obstacle to achieving enlightenment, liberation from samsara and the happiness of future lives.

It is important, therefore, at the beginning, before making a Dharma connection with a teacher, to analyze that person well. After thinking well, then establish a Dharma connection. The tantric teachings explain that in degenerate times such as these, it is difficult to find a teacher that has all the qualities as they are explained in the teachings.

If that is so, still, your teacher should have eight of them, or five, or at least four. At least the teacher should possess the basic qualities that I mentioned before. This will help you avoid trouble in future, avoid creating very heavy negative karma, such as rising heresy, anger, many negative thoughts, and also, after having made a connection, giving up. Checking carefully will help you avoid all these dangers.

The Meaning of Guru

The holy mind of all the buddhas, the Dharmakaya, the transcendent wisdom of non-dual bliss and void, which is eternal, which has neither beginning nor end, which pervades all existence—that is the real meaning of guru.

When you think of your guru, when you visualize your guru, when you see your guru, when you hear you guru, this is what we should come into your heart and mind. When, in your daily life, you see, hear, visualize or remember your guru, the real meaning, or understanding, should come into your heart. The word is guru, but the real meaning is that.

When you have a stable realization of guru devotion, always in your heart, your recognition of guru is that. From the side of the disciple who has a stable realization of guru devotion, when you see or think of Buddha, it’s your guru.

There’s no other Buddha; there’s no Buddha separate from your guru. You don’t see that. Your realization is the oneness of guru and Buddha. Even when you visualize yourself as Buddha, it’s guru. Because you’re the deity, the guru. Even when you visualize the deity in front of you, it’s the guru. This understanding is in your heart.

Even when you see statues and thangkas, you think, “My guru has manifested in these forms to allow me to purify my mind and collect merit.”

Also, this is such an easy way of purifying and creating merit. It does not depend on your generating virtuous motivation; it happens without your mind becoming Dharma.

Even if your motivation is not Dharma, just by seeing, circumambulating, prostrating to, making offering to these holy objects, immediately your actions become the cause of enlightenment, liberation from samsara, happiness for hundreds of thousands of future lives.

If that’s so, then there’s no question that that powerful merit also affects this life. Since you purify so much negative karma, of course it reduces the problems of this life—relationship problems, sicknesses, cancer; all such things.

However, simply by existing, these holy objects make it so easy for us sentient beings to create merit and purify our minds. With most other activities, first we have to put great much effort into making our minds Dharma — pure, unstained by ignorance and attachment and, in particular, the self-cherishing thought. Only after we make a great effort can our actions become virtue and result in happiness. In that way, we have to work hard for happiness.

But the existence of holy objects makes it easy for us sentient beings to purify our heavy negative karmas and collect extensive merit, creating the space in our mind that enables us to gain the realizations of the path to enlightenment.

The thing to understand or realize here is that all these holy objects exist through the kindness of the guru. That they make it so easy to purify negative karma and defilements, gain realizations and freedom from the ocean of samsaric suffering and achieve enlightenment is due to the kindness of the guru manifesting in this way.

You can understanding or realize this by understanding that the meaning of the guru is Dharmakaya, the holy mind of all the buddhas—all these holy objects happened through the kindness of guru manifesting in these aspects to liberate you from samsara and bring you to enlightenment.

If the absolute guru, the Dharmakaya, all the buddhas’ holy mind, manifests in an aspect more pure than I am able to see, in an aspect more pure than my karma allows me to see, I cannot see that aspect until I make my mind purer than it now is.

At present, your mind is so heavily obscured that even though Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Nagarjuna, Lama Tsongkhapa and all the other great enlightened beings have explained the complete path and that there’s no inherently existent I — there’s no real I, in the sense existing from its own side, there’s no such thing; that such a thing is totally non-existent; that I is totally non-existent, empty, right there, from where it is appearing, from where it is appearing as a real one, existing from its own side, it is totally non-existent; it is totally non-existent right there, totally empty right there — even though all those great enlightened beings explained that by analyzing you cannot find that I, it is totally empty, still you cannot see, cannot realize, the truth of this. Even though that’s the reality, your mind cannot see it; you are unable to see that is totally empty.

Similarly, all these sense objects do not have the slightest even atom of inherent existence either. They, too, are totally empty. But you cannot see even that emptiness.

Even though all causative phenomena are in the nature of impermanence, they do not last for even a minute or a second, are in a constant state of decay, you cannot see or realize them as such. You are so obscured that you cannot see what’s going to happen tomorrow, in an hour’s time hour, even in a minute’s time. With respect to such things, your mind is totally dark.

Even if you have some sickness in the body, you have to go to hospital to get x-rayed to see it. You can’t even see the back of your own body. As His Holiness Song Rinpoche often used to say when talking about reincarnation, just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You cannot use your not seeing something as a reason for its not existing. For example, he would say,

You can’t see the back of your head. Does that mean it doesn’t exist?

Anyway, your mind is heavily obscured. There are numberless phenomena that exist but you can’t see. Therefore, all the buddhas’ holy mind, the absolute guru, bound with infinite compassion that embraces you and all other sentient beings, manifests in an ordinary aspect, which by definition has delusions, a suffering body, mistaken actions and so forth.

The Dharmakaya manifests like this and through this aspect gives commentaries, oral transmissions, vows — pratimoksha, bodhisattva and tantric — initiations and tantric teachings. In Tibet, we used to say that if you are learning the alphabet order to study Dharma, the person who teaches you the alphabet is also a guru, a manifestation of the Dharmakaya.

Even one verse of oral transmission, one stanza of teaching, can definitely brings you to enlightenment. By leaving a positive imprint, it can cause you to understand the teachings and realize the aspect of the path it contains; that verse can cease certain defilements and bring you to enlightenment. That one verse of oral transmission given by that guru definitely brings you to enlightenment. Therefore, there’s no question that other, more extensive teachings do so too.

Therefore, the meditation to do at this point is to think, If these are not the actions of Buddha, guiding me to enlightenment, then there’s no other action I could point to as that of Buddha liberating me from suffering and bringing me to enlightenment.

So, these are definitely Buddha’s activities; activities of the Dharmakaya. This is one reason to use in meditation, to realize that these actions are those of the Buddha; for you to realize from your own side, from the side of the disciple, that these are Buddha’s actions.

Also think, “If any of these gurus are not Buddha, because I see them as ordinary, because I see faults in them” — you might see small faults in some and great faults in others, but you see faults in all of them. Then, if none of these gurus are buddha, if they are ordinary beings, if these are ordinary beings who are bringing me to enlightenment, what are the buddhas doing?

They’re not doing anything; the buddhas are just keeping quiet. The buddhas not doing anything for me but these ordinary beings are being so beneficial by doing all these activities, such as giving teachings, vows and so forth, all those things that definitely bring me to enlightenment. These ordinary beings are bringing me to enlightenment but the buddhas are doing nothing to bring me to enlightenment. That’s the conclusion you have to come to.

Then you make the mistake of thinking, What’s up with the buddhas? What’s wrong with them? If none of these teachers are buddha and their activities are not buddha activities, what’s happened to the buddhas? They don’t have omniscient mind? They don’t have the perfect power to bring me to enlightenment? They don’t have compassion?

This is the way to meditate and analyze. In this way, you actually come to the conclusion that every one of your gurus is buddha. From your own side, you make that determination.

Therefore, they are extremely kind, manifesting in an ordinary aspect, having all the delusions, suffering and mistaken actions that exactly fit my mistaken mind, so that I can see and communicate with them; that they can do all the various activities, such as giving me guidance, teachings, initiations and so forth. They can do this for me only in an ordinary aspect.

They are extremely kind; so precious, manifesting like this, in an aspect having faults. This aspect showing faults is most precious in my life, because through this aspect, all the buddhas can communicate with me and guide me to enlightenment. This ordinary aspect is the most precious thing in my life.

Without this ordinary aspect manifesting suffering, faults and so forth, my life would be totally lost; I’d be totally lost; guideless, like a baby left alone in a hot desert or left in a dark, moonless jungle filled with wild, vicious animals.

Imagine being a baby left alone like that; how much fear and danger there would be. Just like that, without this aspect manifesting faults, I’d be completely lost, guideless.

Appearing in the aspect of having faults is the only way my gurus, all buddhas, can communicate with me. This is the only way that I can communicate with them. So, they are extremely kind to me, manifesting in this aspect of having faults.

This is Lama Tsongkhapa’s technique, where you use even the faults you see in your guru to develop guru devotion. You look at your guru as buddha and you see your guru as buddha.

Pabongka Rinpoche refers to this special technique of Lama Tsongkhapa in his extensive commentary on guru devotion, where you not only reflect on the qualities of the guru to develop guru devotion, the root of path to enlightenment, but also use the faults you see in the guru to develop your mind in guru devotion and receive the blessings of guru devotion. The blessings you receive help you gain realizations of the path to enlightenment.

One lama said in his teachings, Until you are free of defilements and negative karma, even if all the buddhas were to descend directly in front of you, you will not have the fortune to see the supreme holy body adorned the holy signs and exemplifications; you will have only your present view.” “Present view, or perception, means the view that comes from your ordinary, impure mind.

The logic here is illustrated by the story of Devadatta (Legpa’i Karma), Buddha’s disciple, who served Guru Shakyamuni Buddha for twenty-two years. Despite helping Buddha for twenty-two years, he never saw Shakyamuni Buddha as Buddha; he never looked at him from the side of his qualities. He always saw Buddha as a liar, he saw him only as having faults.

Because Devadatta didn’t have an omniscient mind or clairvoyance, whenever Lord Buddha would make prophesies, he’d think he was lying. Once, when the Buddha was on his alms round, one girl out food in his begging bowl and the Buddha predicted, “Due to the karma of this offering, in future you will become such and such Buddha.” I’m not sure which buddha was predicted, but one of the thousand buddhas of this fortunate age.

But Devadatta thought Lord Buddha was making a huge deal out of this little offering and praising her with some kind of ulterior motivation. But this was Lord Buddha often did, because he had an omniscient mind and could see even the far-distant future results of karma.

But Devadatta didn’t know that and for all the years he served him, didn’t see any good qualities and simply labeled Lord Buddha a liar. Even though Lord Buddha was enlightened inconceivable eons ago, Devadatta didn’t see him as an enlightened being, only an ordinary being riddled with faults.

Therefore, in the first stanza of his Foundation of All Good Qualities, Lama Tsongkhapa says,

The foundation of all good qualities is the kind and venerable guru;
Correct devotion to him is the root of the path.
By clearly seeing this and applying great effort,
Please bless me to rely upon him with great respect.

The reason that Lama Tsong Khapa stresses great effort is that seeing the guru as buddha doesn’t come from side of the object, the guru; it has to come from your own mind, and that takes great effort.

Also, in the lam-rim text Essential Nectar, it says [verse 122],

Therefore, all these apparently faulty aspects
Of my gurus’ actions must be either
Just my mistaken perception from negative karma,
Or alternatively, a deliberate manifestation.

As it says, the faults you see are either a projection of your own ordinary, mistaken mind or intentional manifestations for the benefit of yourself and other sentient beings. So, that’s another way to think; that your gurus manifest faults on purpose.

So, now, after this lengthy explanation, this is where you bring in those other gurus who practice the protector; then it’s easy to understand. One way—it’s the view of your mistaken mind—one way to think is like that. The other way to think is that they have purposely manifested in that way, showing faults, because it’s the only way they can communicate with you, guide you to enlightenment. So you can think either way.

Therefore, if you think like this, you’ll have no problem. You don’t have to criticize the gurus with whom you already have a Dharma connection and who practice the protector. In this way you’ll avoid conflict in your mind and will protect yourself from destroying your devotion.

Source: http://www.lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=227

Lama Lobsang Tubwang Dorje Chang

Dorje Shugden and the Deities of his mandala are the same nature as the Deities of the body mandala of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang, who is in essence Je Tsongkhapa.

After Je Tsongkhapa passed away, Khädrubje received five visions of him, each time appearing in a different aspect. Later, the great Yogi Dharmavajra saw Je Tsongkhapa in the aspect of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang.

This name was given to Je Tsongkhapa by Manjushri. It indicates that Je Tsongkhapa is the embodiment of both Conqueror Vajradhara and Buddha Shakyamuni. ‘Losang Dragpa’ is Je Tsongkhapa’s ordained name, ‘Tubwang’ or ‘Powerful Able One’ is an epithet of Buddha Shakyamuni, and ‘Dorjechang’ is Tibetan for Vajradhara.

Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang is an enlightened being and the principal Field for Accumulating Merit in the Guru yoga of Offering to the Spiritual Guide, or Lama Chöpa.

In reality the Lama Chöpa instruction comes from Manjushri’s Emanation Scripture, which includes special instructions on Mahamudra. The Emanation Scripture, which cannot be read by ordinary beings, was revealed directly to Je Tsongkhapa by Manjushri.

It was passed down to successive lineage Gurus and when it reached the first Panchen Lama, Losang Chökyi Gyaltsän, he extracted the instructions on Lama Chöpa and the Root Text of the Mahamudra, the Main Path of the Conquerors and wrote them down in Tibetan. This was an act of great kindness because it meant that for the first time ordinary beings could read and practise Lama Chöpa and the special close lineage of Vajrayana Mahamudra.

The Guru yoga of Lama Chöpa is one of the most blessed practices within Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition, being the essential preliminary practice for Vajrayana Mahamudra. An extensive commentary to this practice can be found in Great Treasury of Merit.

There are thirty-two Deities within the body mandala of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang, and it is these Deities who manifest as the thirty-two Deities of Dorje Shugden’s mandala. This was explained by Je Phabongkhapa, an emanation of Heruka, in his prayer to Dorje Shugden:

The aggregates, elements, sources, and limbs of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang appear in the aspect of the five Lineages of Dorje Shugden and their retinues. Realizing that in reality I am practising the yoga of the thirty-two Deities of the body mandala, I offer this practice to you, O five lineages of Dorje Shugden; please accept it with delight.

Of the Deities of the five lineages of Dorje Shugden, the principal Deity is Duldzin Dorje Shugden. He is a manifestation of the aggregate of consciousness of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang.

Vairochana Shugden is a manifestation of the form aggregate of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang, Ratna Shugden is a manifestation of his aggregate of feeling, Päma Shugden is a manifestation of his aggregate of discrimination, and Karma Shugden is a manifestation of his aggregate of compositional factors.

Many sadhanas of Dorje Shugden state that Dorje Shugden is the embodiment of the ‘Guru, Yidam, and Protector’. Here, ‘Guru’ refers specifically to Lama Tsongkhapa. Thus, when we practise the sadhana of Dorje Shugden we are indirectly practising the Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa, as well as the practices of Yamantaka and Kalarupa.

Atisha said, ‘You Tibetans rely upon hundreds of Deities but do not achieve even one attainment, whereas we Indian Buddhists rely upon only one Deity and achieve the attainments and blessings of hundreds of Deities.’ We should bear Atisha’s comment in mind and realize that it is much more meaningful to practise one Deity sincerely, regarding that Deity as the synthesis of all Deities, than it is to practise many Deities superficially.

Dorje Shugden – an emanation of Manjushri

Some people believe that Dorje Shugden is an emanation of Manjushri who shows the aspect of a worldly being, but this is incorrect. Even Dorje Shugden’s form reveals the complete stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra, and such qualities are not possessed by the forms of worldly beings.

Dorje Shugden appears as a fully-ordained monk to show that the practice of pure moral discipline is essential for those who wish to attain enlightenment. In his left hand he holds a heart, which symbolizes great compassion and spontaneous great bliss, the essence of all the stages of the vast path of Sutra and Tantra.

His round yellow hat represents the view of Nagarjuna and the wisdom sword in his right hand teaches us to sever ignorance, the root of samsara, with the sharp blade of Nagarjuna’s view. This is the essence of all the stages of the profound path of Sutra and Tantra.

Dorje Shugden rides a snow lion, the symbol of the four fearlessnesses of a Buddha, and has a jewel-spitting mongoose perched on his left arm, symbolizing his power to bestow wealth on those who put their trust in him. The single eye in the centre of his forehead symbolizes his omniscient wisdom which perceives directly and simultaneously all past, present, and future phenomena. His wrathful expression indicates that he destroys ignorance, the real enemy of all living beings, by blessing them with great wisdom; and also that he destroys the obstacles of pure Dharma practitioners.

Each of the thirty-two Deities of Dorje Shugden’s mandala has a specific function, which are explained in a prayer written by Sachen Kunlo, one of the great Sakya Lamas.

In this prayer he explains that the function of Duldzin Dorje Shugden, the principal Deity of the mandala, is to lead faithful followers to correct spiritual paths by bestowing great wisdom; the function of Vairochana Shugden is to help us to pacify our negative karma and obstacles; the function of Ratna Shugden is to help us to increase our good fortune, lifespan, and virtuous realizations; the function of Päma Shugden is to help us to control our own mind so that we can help others achieve controlled, calm, and peaceful states of mind; and the function of Karma Shugden is to overcome the four maras and evil spirits who try to harm faithful disciples.

The nine Great Mothers help faithful followers of Dorje Shugden in their Tantric practices, the eight Fully-ordained Monks help them in their practices of Sutra, and the ten Wrathful Deities aid them in their various daily activities. In these spiritually degenerate times Dharma practitioners experience many obstacles, but if we rely upon Dorje Shugden with unwavering faith he will care for us just like a father caring for his children.

In general, all Buddhist practitioners need to develop unwavering faith in Buddha Shakyamuni, for without it their Dharma practice will have little power and bring few results; and in particular all Gelugpa practitioners need to develop firm and lasting faith in Je Tsongkhapa, otherwise they will never experience the unique qualities of his doctrine. Faith is the very root of all Dharma experience.

Gelugpa practitioners who have a sincere trust in Dorje Shugden will have no difficulty in generating unshakeable faith in Je Tsongkhapa. Their practice of view, meditation, and action will naturally become pure and they will easily realize the special uncommon qualities of Je Tsongkhapa’s teachings. Thus they will be able to gain experience of the stages of the path of both Sutra and Tantra without any difficulty.

Source: Tharpa Publications / Wisdom Buddha Dorje Shugden website, 2008
http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.org/dorjeshugden-nature.php

The Emergence of Dharmapala Dorje Shugden

While Je Tsongkhapa was giving a Dharma discourse, Nechung appeared to Duldzin Drakpa Gyaltsen in the form of a white dove, urging him to manifest as a protector of Je Tsongkhapa’s teachings who are so sublime and precious that a special protector is needed to guard and further them in this world.

Nechung repeated his request to Duldzin Drakpa Gyaltsen’s subsequent incarnations and during the time of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen approached again, asking him if he remembered his promise. Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen replied that since there was no anger in his mindstream, how could he manifest the wrathful energy of a Dharma protector?

Thus the event of strangulation was displayed with bodhicitta motivation, enabling the enlightened being Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen to manifest wrath at the moment of death and to emerge in this way as the transcendent supramundane Dharmapala Gyalchen Dorje Shugden.

Gelugpa Guru Tree, Updated by Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche

Magnification of the bottom row of the Guru Tree , showing Dorje Shugden as one of the protectors

Since his emergence as a supramundane Dharma protector, Gyalchen Dorje Shugden has played a major role in nurturing and protecting Dharma realizations in the minds of all practitioners.

Specifically and most importantly, he guards the “the system of Nagarjuna, the highest view, free from extremes, and the supreme behaviour of vinaya, the code of conduct of the Buddha” – the sublime Middle Way philosophy and the pure ethics as realized, exemplified and taught by Manjushri Je Tsongkhapa.

That in our turbulent times of manifold distractions and temptations ordinary beings like us are attracted to such teachings, are guided to a valid teacher, and feel the wish to study and practice with altruistic motivation is a visible sign of Dorje Shugden’s blessed activity. If we then go further and determine “to really tame our minds, he will even give us his heart,” as the great Geshe Rabten said.

Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche, reincarnation of Ra Lotsawa (the originator of the Yamantaka transmission lineage) and holder of all Geluk lineages, has been very kind to give the world this magnificent, ‘updated’ Guru Tree which shows Dorje Shugden amongst our other Dharma protectors.

As visualization aid of the merit field during Lama Chopa puja, or as a holy image on our altars – we invite you to experience the blessings of this sacred thanka!

Praise

You said, “I will protect the highest stainless essence of the Sugata’s teachings
As the precious jewel of the merit of all beings!”
Heroic Manjushri Yamantaka in a worldly, haughty disguise,
To you, endowed with strength of ten million dharma protectors,
I offer praise.

Smiling with ruby complexion of affection and compassion,
Elegant in whatever emanation of wrath, passion, or smiling peace,
The instant one remembers the limitless secrets of your body,
All needs and desires are granted,
To you I praise.

Your razor sword of superior wisdom rips through the foe, samsara,
And you hold the heart of great bliss which slaughters the extreme of nirvana;
To you who, for the glory of infinite migrators, shows signs of the skilful means,
Which have arisen from extremes of both samsara and nirvana,
I offer praise.

The system of Nagarjuna, the highest view, free from extremes,
And the supreme behaviour of vinaya, the code of conduct of the Buddha;
As an instruction to migrators that one should practice thus,
You are adorned by the domed hat and saffron robes,
To you I praise.

Having various mounts, unfixed, such as lions, agile garudas, and dragons,
Emanating as whatever will tame beings in infinite realms,
For the sake of migrators, ever tireless,
To you I praise.

Although you have the manner of a very fierce slaughterer,
In the midst of a tumultuous mass of extremely blazing fire,
You don’t move even slightly from a state of peace, love and compassion;
To this especially exalted wonder,
I offer praise.

Motivation, Meaning, Method

Foundation View Practice

Meaning

The path of selflessness (enlightenment) is like a razor’s edge. If you fall left or right, into the abyss of dualism, good and bad, you turn from a Buddha into ten thousand devils… one of the great Zen masters has been quoted to this extent, and it may well serve as a motto for this article.

Motivation

Lord Atisha was asked about what those will get who practice for worldly – selfish – aims only; his answer was that they will get what they want. When further asked what the future life result of such practice will be, his answer consisted of merely three words:
Hell, hungry ghost, animal.

Method

All of the Buddha’s 84.000 methods aim to destroy self-grasping and self-cherishing. Reaching out with compassion and reaching in through wisdom realizing emptiness, ‘in’ and ‘out’ become interchangeable and eventually disappear altogether in the union of the ‘two truths’, relative and absolute.

Middle Way

In a nutshell’s nutshell, the middle way is the harmony of emptiness – the ultimate nature of everything, and dependent arising – the appearance of everything.

As Je Tsongkhapa pointed out, unless grasping at even the most subtle concept of inherent existence is overcome, enlightenment can not happen, which has been misunderstood as nihilism.

It’s easy to see though, that every contributing factor to a dependently-arising phenomenon is yet again consisting of myriad factors, which in turn have arisen depending on causes and conditions, and so on without end. That cause and result have no inherent existence doesn’t mean they are not effective, quite the opposite, as cause and result imply change, which would be impossible if phenomena were fixed or existent per se.

Therefore – Medicine Buddha is the result of his aspiration prayers and his meditation practice, for example. Whether we can attain his view and his qualities, depends on our motivation and practice.

In the discussion about Dorje Shugden, some nihilists argue that since nothing exists inherently, why worry if he’s good or bad, while some eternalists say he truly exists, and argue whether he is enlightened or a demon.

Yet, wouldn’t it be more interesting and revealing if we applied the same principles of emptiness/dependent arising, which also clearly include us – our motivation and method – to arrive at a view that will help us on?

Indeed, one good look shows what Dorje Shugden is ‘made of’ (arisen from) and what he stands for…

Meaning is the result of MOTIVATION and METHOD. 

Dorje Shugden’s Main Attributes

• Robes – pratimoksha, keeping the vows, holding them sacred: the foundation.
• Wisdom sword – cutting through the notion of ‘Self’/seeking samsaric pleasures, and
• Enemy heart – destroying the notion of attachment to the bliss of liberation/seeking nirvanic pleasures: the practice, union of wisdom and compassion.
• Nagarjuna hat – prasangika madhyamika philosophy, free of the extremes of existence and non-existence: the highest view.

Our Main Attributes

Something that is dangerously overlooked, now that so many have found their favorite new enemy, is our own involvement, our own being-a-factor in anything that appears to us.

Making anything into THE source of our happiness or problems is just the kind of extreme that Buddhist are proud to be free of, and can indeed be called a degeneration into spirit worship.

An old lady attains rainbow body by worshipping a dog’s tooth with total faith, believing it to be a holy relic, while Asanga can’t see always-present Maitreya during years and years of retreat because of lacking compassion…

It is quite rare to find someone who, having chanted a few Manis, is permanently overwhelmed with irresistible compassion, and finds it impossible to have an evil thought ever after, yet does that make us doubt the power of Chenrezig?

The foundation of our practice, and the view with which we perform it – or in other words, our motivation and our understanding of its meaning, these are crucial factors to the results attained, and in a way even more important than the method used.

Many great masters have therefore said that the preliminaries are more important than the main practice… quantum physics (Bohm etc) have proven that there’s no such thing as a neutral observer… we, our karmic disposition, arise simultaneously with whatever ‘we’ experience, and cannot be extricated from this whole, this conglomerate of cause-and-effect strands that are continuously weaving the tapestry of here-and-now.

The MEANING of something is derived from MOTIVATION and METHOD; yet the METHOD is influenced by understanding its MEANING and MOTIVATION, which in turn increases or decreases with our present METHOD that hopefully penetrates deeper into the MEANING… I wish I could write this in the form of a spiral…

May I be forgiven if these thoughts lack subtlety, exactness and depth, this is just to point out something that should be ever so obvious, and easily observable in our day-to-day experience.