Thought of the day.

Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox. Read more...

The Medicine Buddha

Bhaisajyaguru is known as Medicine Buddha, also called the Healing Buddha.His full name is "Medicine Buddha Lapis Lazuli Radiance Tathagata". In Mahayana Buddhism, Bhaisajyaguru represents the healing aspect of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha.

He is widely believed to dispense spiritual medicine if properly worshipped. In Tibet, he may be represented either as a Buddha or as a Bodhisattva. The practice of Medicine Buddha(Sangye Menla in Tibetan) is not only a very powerful method for healing and increasing healing powers both for oneself and others, but also for overcoming the inner sickness of attachment,hatred and ignorance, thus meditating on the Medicine Buddha plays a significant role in reducing physical and mental illness and suffering as well as purifying the negative Karma.

What is done to cure the patient?
In simple words, the patient is asked to recite the long Medicine Buddha mantra 108 times over a glass of water. The water is now believed to be blessed by the power of the mantra and the blessing of the Medicine Buddha himself, and the patient is allowed to drink the water. This method/practice is then repeated each day until the illness is cured.

The Mantra:
The long version of the mantra is pronounced like this;
om nah moe bah-ga-va-tay bye-saya-guru vye-dur-yah proba-raja-yah, tata-gata-yah, arh-ha-tay, sam-yak-sam buddha-yah tay-ya-tah om bay-kah-jay bay-ka-jay mah-hah bay-kah-jay bay-ka-jay rah-jah sah-moo-gah-tay, so-hah.

The shorter version of the mantra is pronounced like this;
(tey-yah-tah) oh, beck-ahn-zay beck-ahn-zay, mah-hah beck-ahn-zay, rod-zah sah-moo-gah-tay, so-hah!

Read more...

Manjushree

In Buddhism, Manjushri is the Bodhisatva (Buddha-to-be) of Wisdom, doctrine, awareness, eloquence & memory. Manjushree is a sanskrit word which bears the meanings like "wonderfully auspicious" or "gently glorious".

In Tibet, he is known as Jampel-Yang(also Jamyang) which means "gentle friend". Likewise, Monju in Japan, Munsu in Korea and Wen Shu Shi Li in China. Manjushree is believed to be the emanation of the primordial Buddha "Vairochana"(The first among the five meditating Buddhas, who is considered to be omnipresent).Manjushri is said to have the power of discriminating wisdom. He can differentiate between correct and incorrect views and between beneficial and non-beneficial actions that must be taken on one's spiritual path.In Buddhist art, Manjushri is depicted as an attractive 16-year-old prince. He often holds the stem of a blue lotus blossom in his left hand and on the blossom rests one of the Prajnaparamita scriptures, which deal with the realization of Prajna or wisdom.Likewise, with the right hand he holds a sword that conquers ignorance & cuts away delusion, desire & aversion.

Manjushri's Mantra;
"OM AH RA PA TSA NA DHIH" is the mantra of Manjushri which is believed to enhance various wisdoms -- of explaining, debating, writing, reading, memory and so on.

Note:- "Dhih" is the seed syllable of the mantra and is chanted with greater emphasis or it is repeated as many times as possible.

Read more...

The Goddess Tara

The beautiful goddess Tara (pronounced Tah' rah) is a female Bodhisattva of compassion & action. It is believed that her compassion for living beings is much more stronger than a mother's love for her children.She is also the most popular figure in the Tibetan Pantheon of deities.In Tibet she is known as Jetsun Dolma, meaning "she who saves."

     She is the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. Tara was adopted in Buddhism in the 6th century C.E. during the era of the Pala Empire, before that she was worshipped as the manifestation of the goddess Parvati in Hinduism. According to the Buddhist tradition, Tara came in to the existence from the tears of compassion of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. It is believed that he wept as he looked upon the world of suffering beings, and his tears created a lake in which a lotus bloomed. When the lotus was opened, the goddess Tara was revealed. Like Avalokitesvara, she is a compassionate deity who hears the cries of beings experiencing misery in Samsara & helps souls 'cross to the other shore'.

     Today, Green Tara and White Tara are probably the most popular representations of Tara. Green Tara/Khadiravani is usually associated with protection from fear and the following eight obscurations Lions = Pride; Wild Elephants = Delusion/Ignorance; Fires = Hatred and Anger; Snakes = Jealousy; Bandits and Thieves = Wrong Views (incl. fanatical views); Bondage = Avarice and Miserliness; Floods = Desire and Attachment; Evil Spirits/Demons = Deluded Doubts. White Tara/Sarasvati is associated with longevity of life (she is one of the three deities of long life). White Tara counteracts illness and thereby helps to bring about a long life. She embodies the motivation that is compassion and is said to be as white and radiant as the moon.

The most widely known Taras are:

Green Tara, known for the activity of compassion, the consort of the Dhyani Buddha Amogasiddhi, and is incarnated in all good women.

White Tara, also known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra. As White Tara, she rose from a lotus blooming in the lake that formed from the first tear of compassion of great bodhisattva Avalokiteswara (whose human incarnation is the Dalai Lama), and is considered his consort.

Red Tara, of fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things.

Black Tara, associated with power .

Yellow Tara, associated with wealth and prosperity.

Blue Tara, associated with transmutation of anger.

Cittamani Tara, a form of Tara widely practiced in the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism, portrayed as green and often confused with Green Tara

Read more...

The widower & his lost son.

Once upon a time there was a widower living with his 4 year old son. He was quite attached with his son. One day while he was away for the business purpose, the looters came & burnt the whole village & took his son away. When the widower returned back, he was so shocked & terrified to know what had happened while he was away. He cried a lot & took the burnt corpse of a little boy to be his son & cried uncontrollably. He then organised a cremation ceremony, gathered the ashes and put them in a nice bag which he always kept with him in the memory of his son. After sometime his son managed to run away from the looters & went back to his father's new cottage at the midnight and knocked the door. The father, still in trauma asked:"Who are you?" The boy answered, it's me dad, open the door! but in his troubled state of mind he was convinced that his son was dead, the father thought that some other boy was playing a prank on him. He scolded: "Go away" and continued to cry. After sometime, his son left the place and from that night the father and son never saw each other.

After this story, the Buddha said: "Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it."

Read more...

Bodhisattvas

Bodhisattva is a sanskrit term which is translated as: Bodhi (enlightenment) and Sattva (being). Bodhisattvas are the beings who are not completely enlightened but are on the verge of being completely enlightened.Bodhisattvas symbolize the various attributes of the Buddha. They originally appear as the attendants of the Buddhas. Bodhisattvas can simply be understood as the beings who postpone their own Nirvana & will undergo any type of suffering to help each & every sentient being & put them on the path to enlightenment. Two modern bodhisattvas of the present time are the 14th Dalai Lama & the Karmapa, both considered as an incarnation of the same bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Chenrezig). Some of the important Bodhisattvas are Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin in Chinese), Manjushree, Samantabhadra, Ksitigarbha, Maitreya, Vajrapani.

Read more...

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama's sayings....

-Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.

-Sleep is the best meditation.

-If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

-Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

-When I meet people from other cultures I know that they too want happiness and do not

-want suffering, this allows me to see them as brothers and sisters.

-We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.

-Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

-Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

-In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

-Spend some time alone every day.

Read more...