Dearest Friends @ CASonline,

 

We are sending you nice information on the last two Meditational-Deities to be bestowed by Palpung Khen Rinpoche Samten Gyatso in January 2007 --

 

The full programme is available from CAS's website: 

www.casotac.com

 

Do please give all your dedications and prayers for the greatest good to come of the programme !!

 

"Namo Amitofuo !"

 

 

bb & other   tea-cups @ CAS of Thousand-Arm Chenrezig

 

p/s:

TEXT

Practice-texts of all the programmes are available upon requests and will either be make available via CAS's website ( password provided after the initiations-programmes ) OR will be make available in hardcopy during or after the programme themselves !!

 

Commitments

No commitments for taking the initiations.

The BASIC requirement will be FAITH and a wish to take the programme so that we can be Buddhas fastest for good of all !!

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Initiation of the great Victorious White Parasol Deity

The name Ushnisha Sitatapatra translates as "The Victorious White Parasol." Her parasol indicates her ability to protect sentient beings from natural catastrophes, diseases, and so forth. She is white in color, because the principal means by which she accomplishes this function is the enlightened-energy of pacification.

Ushnisha Sitatapatra is a female form of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Like him in his elaborate form, she also has a thousand eyes that watch over living beings, and a thousand arms that protect and assist them. Thus she symbolizes the power of active compassion.

She has the awe-inspiring majesty and radiates light. Taking the white parasol, she protects all beings. She has a beautiful face and two arms. She holds a parasol in her hand as the major religious instrument. The parasol is one of the seven treasures and eight auspicious things. It helps eliminate evil thoughts and symbolizes that the Buddhist virtues shine on all beings.

She symbolizes the immaculateness of Buddha dharma as an umbrella covering everything.


According the doctrine of Tantric Buddhism, the Buddha's cranium has a topknot, called the "cranial protuberance" (usnisha). It is "the crown-protrusion" of the thirty-two major marks that symbolize the most august and noble of the Buddhist dharma. Tantric Buddhism incarnated and deified the cranial protuberance to five Buddhas on top to represent the five wisdoms of Buddha. The Mahavairocana sutra (translated in 716-732) records that : "The first one of five Buddhas on top of Tathagata is the white parasol.


Regarding the appearance of Sitatapatra, legend has it that Sakra-devanam-Lndra was pursued by the bad deity Asura and asked for help from the Buddha.The Buddha emanated Sitatapatra from his crown protrusion. Sitatapatra took a big umbrella and read her mantra to force Asura to leave and head off the danger for Sakra-devanam-Lndra. Because of this, the people believe deeply in the power of the Sitatapatra tantra. They believe that it can put an end to disasters, bestow blessings, increase profits, and release the soul from suffering. It was very popular during Yuan Dynasty and a festival was held annually called the "Welcome Sitatapatra to visit."


In the representations of Sitatapatra, the deity appears with one face, two arms; three faces, six arms, four faces, eight arms; eleven faces, twelve arms; a thousand faces, a thousand arms, etc. The main face and body color of thousand-armed Sitatapatra is white. The nine hundred more faces on top appear in different colors. White skin and a thousand-arms represent to cover dharma realm by immaculate compassion. The head with the five-leaf crown and forehead with the third eye that combined the silent posture of Bodhisattva and wrathful posture of Guardian, was named "the silent and wrathful posture." The deity stands with his feet treading on the living six destinies. She is also represented in a seated posture, lotus posture, half-lotus posture on big white lotus. The main attribute is a white umbrella, holding the long handle and the parasol above her head. In some variations, she holds a lotus and puts a small white umbrella on it. The other attributes are sword, ax, dharma wheel, bow, arrow, book, lasso, bell, bolt, rosary, pitcher, etc.

There are four Sitatapatra texts classified as canonical through their inclusion in the Tibetan Kanjur. All these canonical Tibetan texts are translations from Sanskrit originals. In these texts the goddess Sitatapatra is invoked to protect the devotees against calamities and malignant beings. The goddess and her mantras have been very popular from the fifth or sixth century onwards, and remain so among the Tibetan as well as the Mongols even today.

Excerpted from the exhibition catalog written by Glenn Mullin, Andy Weber and Buddha?.s Village Forum.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Initiation of the Five Jambhalas

 

It is stated in the holy scriptures that Jambhala was a protector of the Buddha, in addition to being related to Vaisravana, the King of the North. While in Buddhism there is no belief in the supplication of favors from external gods, there is a recognition of the power of attitude and mind which can be harnessed using expedient means. The practice of Jambhala is associated with generosity and the quality of richness and abundance and is therefore considered the most effective in eradicating poverty, both on the psychological and material level.

In Tibetan Buddhism, Jambhala embodies the Wealth Deity aspect of all the Buddhas & bodhisattvas of past, present and future, and grants longevity & prosperity in daily life.

Jambhala is an 8th level Bodhisattva who completely mastered the art of the ten perfections, and is especially committed to the perfection of prayer. With his wisdom, he knows the situations of all sentient beings, and with his compassion, he acts for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Subsequent to the initiation, reciting the prayers from a text and visualizing the deity, and chanting the mantra helps the practitioner to develop within himself the qualities of that deity. The practice of Jambhala is associated with generosity and the quality of richness and abundance, and is therefore considered the most effective in eradicating poverty, both on the psychological and material level.


Vai?rava?a ( the main form of Jambhala ) in the Therav:?da tradition

In the P:?li scriptures of the Therav:?da Buddhist tradition, Vai?rava?a is called Vessava?a. Vessava?a is one of the C:?tummah:?r:?j:?no, or four Great Kings, each of whom rules over a specific direction. Vessava?a's realm is the northern quadrant of the world, including the land of Uttarakuru. According to some suttas, he takes his name from a region there called Vis:??a; he also has a city there called :?lakamand:? which is a byword for wealth. Vessava?a governs the yakkhas :C beings with a nature between 'fairy' and 'ogre'.

Vessava?a's wife is named Bhu?jat:?, and he has five daughters, Lat:?, Sajj:?, Pavar:?, Acchimat:?, and Sut:?. He has a nephew called Pu??aka, a yakkha, husband of the n:?ga woman Irandat:?. He has a chariot called N:?r:?v:?hana. His weapon was the gad:?vudha (Sanskrit: gad:?yudha), but he only used it before he became a follower of the Buddha.

Vessava?a has the name "Kuvera" from a name he had from a past life as a rich brahmin mill-owner, who gave all the produce of one of his seven mills to charity, and provided alms to the needy for 20,000 years. He was reborn in the C:?tummah:?r:?jik:? heaven as a reward for these good kammas.

As with all the Buddhist deities, Vessava?a is properly the name of an office (filled for life) rather than a permanent individual. Each Vessava?a is mortal, and when he dies, he will be replaced by a new Vessava?a. Like other beings of the C:?tummah:?r:?jika world, his lifespan is 90,000 years (other sources say nine million years). Vessava?a has the authority to grant the yakkhas particular areas (e.g., a lake) to protect, and these are usually assigned at the beginning of a Vessava?a's reign.

When the Buddha was born, Vessava?a became his follower, and eventually attained the stage of sot:?panna (Sanskrit: srota:?panna, one who has only seven more lives before enlightenment). He often brought the Buddha and his followers messages from the gods and other humans, and protected them. He taught the Buddha the :??:?n:??:? verses, which Buddhists meditating in the forest could use to ward off the attacks of wild yakkhas or other supernatural beings who do not have faith in the Buddha. These verses are an early form of paritta chanting.

Bimbis:?ra, King of Magadha, after his death was reborn as a yakkha called Janavasabha in the retinue of Vessava?a.

In the early years of Buddhism, Vessava?a was worshipped at trees dedicated to him as shrines. Some people appealed to him to grant them children.

Vai?rava?a in Japan

In Japan, Bishamonten (or just Bishamon) is thought of as an armor-clad god of warfare or warriors and a punisher of evildoers :C a view that is at odds with the more pacific Buddhist king described above. Bishamon is portrayed holding a spear in one hand and a small pagoda in the other hand, the latter symbolizing the divine treasure house, whose contents he both guards and gives away. In Shint:­ beliefs, he is one of the Japanese Seven Gods of Fortune.

Bishamon is also called Tamonten (?┐??━━), meaning "listening to many teachings" because he is the guardian of the places where Buddha preaches. He lives half way down the side of Mount Sumeru.

Vai?rava?a in Tibet

In Tibet, Vai?rava?a is considered a worldly dharmap:?la or protector of the Dharma. He is also known as the King of the North. As guardian of the north, he is often depicted on temple murals outside the main door. He is also thought of as a god of wealth. As such, Vai?rava?a is sometimes portrayed carrying a citron, the fruit of the jambhara tree, a pun on another name of his, Jambhala (in Tibetan pronunciation Dzambala or Zambala). The fruit helps distinguish him iconically from depictions of Kuvera. He is sometimes represented as corpulent and covered with jewels. When shown seated, his right foot is generally pendant and supported by a lotus-flower on which is a conch shell. His mount is a snow lion.

Tibetan Buddhists consider Jambhala's sentiment regarding wealth to be providing freedom by way of bestowing prosperity, so that one may focus on the path or spirituality rather than on the materiality and temporality of that wealth.

Excerpted from wikipedia, Jamyang Khyentse and Lodu Rinpoche?.s teachings. 

 

 

 

 

 

.

__,_._,___