Some symbols recur on the walls of almost every temple,
shrine, and monastery, or on the walls of private houses.
Eight Sacred Buddhist
Symbols(Ba Bao)
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Conch Shell (dun) - used in Buddhist worship
as a trumpet or offertory vessel and symbolizes the spoken word of Buddha. |
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Vase (bum-pa) - used as the storage urn of a sacred receptacle
and thus symbolizes hidden treasures. |
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Umbrella (gdugs) - a token of loyalty and
symbolizes the protection of the Dharma (faith). |
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Endless Knot (apal-be) - an auspicious geometric diagram,
it symbolizes devotion. |
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Dharma Wheel (chakra) - represents the unity
of all things and symbolizes Sakyamuni himself. |
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Golden Fish (gser-na) - as water allows fish to swim
freely, so Buddhist belief emancipates the soul. They symbolize spiritual
liberation. |
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Lotus flower (padma) - as the flower rises
from muddy roots, so Nirvana arises from this shabby world; therefore it
symbolizes purity. |
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Banner of Victory (dpal-be) - a unique Buddhist object,
the cylindrical layered banner symbolizes victory over ignorance and death.
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The eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism consist of: a parasol, a pair
of fishes, a treasure vase, a lotus, a white-spiraling conch shell, an endless
knot, a victory banner, and a golden wheel.
Groupings of eight auspicious symbols were originally used in India at ceremonies
such as an investiture or coronation of a king. An early grouping of symbols
included: a throne, a swastika, a handprint, a hooked knot, a vase of jewels,
a water libation flask, a pair of fishes, and a lidded bowl.
In Buddhism, these eight symbols of good fortune represent the offerings made
by the gods to Shakyamuni Buddha immediately after he gained enlightenment.
The following expounds upon these symbols.
The Parasol (umbrella): This was a traditional Indian symbol
of protection and royalty. The parasol denoted wealth and status - the more
included in a person's entourage, the more influential the person was, with
13 parasols defining the status of king.
Indian Buddhists who saw the Buddha as the universal monarch adopted this concept.
Besides, 13 stacked parasols form the conical spire of the Buddha or Tath¨¢gata
stupa. In Buddhist mythology, the king of the nagas (serpent-like creatures)
gave a jeweled umbrella to the Buddha.
Symbolically, the protection provided by the parasol is from the heat of suffering,
desire, obstacles, illness, and harmful forces.
A typical Tibetan parasol consists of a thin round wooden frame with 8, 16,
or 32 thinly arched wooden spokes. Through its center passes a long wooden axle-pole
embellished at the top with a metal lotus, a vase, and the triple jewel. White,
yellow, or multicolored silk stretches over the domed frame and a folded or
pleated silk skirt with 8 or 16 hanging silk pendants attached hang from the
circular frame. The parasol dome represents wisdom and the hanging skirt, compassion.
The Two Golden Fishes: The two fishes originally represented
the two main sacred rivers of India - the Ganges and the Yamuna. These rivers
are associated with the lunar and solar channels that originate in the nostrils
and carry the alternating rhythms of breath or prana (life-sustaining force).
Fish have religious significance in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions as
well as in Christianity (the sign of the fish, the feeding of the five thousand).
In Buddhism, the fish symbolize happiness as they have complete freedom of movement
in the water. They represent fertility and abundance. They are often drawn in
the form of carp, which are regarded in Asia as sacred on account of their elegant
beauty, size, and lifespan.
The Treasure Vase: This is known as "the vase of inexhaustible
treasures" - however much is removed from it, the vase remains perpetually
full. In Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, wealth vases sealed with
precious and sacred substances are commonly placed upon altars and on mountain
passes, or buried in water springs. The symbol is often shown as a highly ornate,
traditional-shaped vase with a flaming jewel or jewels protruding from its mouth.
The Lotus Flower: The lotus blossoms unstained from the watery mire; it is a
symbol of purity, renunciation, and divinity.
The Right-Spiraling Conch Shell: The conch shell is thought to
have been the original horn-trumpet; ancient Indian mythical epics relate heroes
carrying conch shells. The Indian god Vishnu is also described as having a conch
shell as one of his main emblems; his shell bore the name Panchajanya, meaning,
"having control over the five classes of beings."
The conch shell is an emblem of power, authority, and sovereignty;
its blast is believed to banish evil spirits, avert natural disasters, and scare
away poisonous creatures. In Indian culture, different types of conch shells
were associated with the different castes and with male and female.
In Buddhism, the conch was adopted as a symbol of religious sovereignty and
an emblem that fearlessly proclaimed the truth of the dharma. One of the 32
signs of a Buddha's body is his deep and resonant voice, which is artistically
symbolized in images of the Buddha by three conch-like curving lines on his
throat.
Shells that spiral to the right are very rare and considered especially sacred,
the right spiral mirroring the motion of the sun, moon, planets, and stars across
the sky. Also, the hair curls on a Buddha's head spiral to the right, as do
his fine bodily hairs, the long white curl between his eyebrows, and the conch-like
swirl of his navel.
A shell is made into Tibetan ritual musical instruments by cutting off the
end of its tip and furnishing it with a mouthpiece and an ornamental metal casing
that extends from the shell's mouth.
The Endless Knot: This symbol was originally associated with
Vishnu and represented his devotion to his consort Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth
and good fortune. It symbolizes the Buddha's endless wisdom and compassion.
It also can represent continuity or dependent origination as the underlying
basis of life.
The Victory Banner: This was traditionally carried in battle.
Great warriors would often have banners with their own emblems, the banners
being carried on the back of their chariots. Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu)
had a banner bearing the garuda bird (a bird deity).
In early Buddhism, the banner represented Buddha's victorious enlightenment
with his overcoming the armies of Mara (hindrances and defilements). Legend
says the banner was placed on the summit of Mt Meru, symbolizing Buddha's victory
over the entire universe.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the banner represents eleven methods of overcoming Mara:
the development of knowledge, wisdom, compassion, meditation, and ethical vows;
taking refuge in the Buddha; abandoning false views; generating spiritual aspiration,
skilful means, and selflessness; and the unity of the three sam¨¢dhis of emptiness,
formlessness, and desire-less-ness.
The Golden Wheel: The wheel is an ancient Indian symbol of
creation, sovereignty, protection, and the sun. The six-spoke wheel was associated
with Vishnu and was know as the Sudarshana Chakra. The wheel represents motion,
continuity, and change, forever moving onwards like the circular wheel of the
heavens.
Buddhism adopted the wheel as a symbol of the Buddha's teachings and his first
discourse at the Deer Park in Sarnath is known as "the first turning of
the wheel of dharma." In Tibetan Buddhism, it is understood as "the
wheel of transformation" or spiritual change.
The hub of the wheel symbolizes moral discipline, and the eight spokes represent
analytical insight via rim-meditative concentration. The eight spokes point
to the eight directions and symbolize the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path: right
understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, mindfulness, and concentration.
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Om Mani Padme Hum (Six-words
Proverb)
Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum,
out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and
blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Viewing the written form
of the mantra is said to have the same effect -- it is often carved into stones,
wall, craftworks, and placed where people can see them.
Spinning the written form of the mantra around in a Mani wheel (or prayer
wheel) is also believed to give the same benefit as saying the mantra, and Mani
wheels, small hand wheels and large wheels with millions of copies of the mantra
inside, are found everywhere in the lands influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.
It is said that all the teachings of the Buddha are contained in this mantra:
Om Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or sentence.
It is appropriate, though, to say a little about the mantra, so that people
who want to use it in their meditation practice will have some sense of what
they are doing, and people who are just curious will understand a little better
what the mantra is and why it is so important to Tibetan Buddhists. We begin
in the next section with some information about the mantra itself.
Play Mantra
The mantra originated in India; as it moved from India into Tibet, the pronunciation
changed because some of the sounds in the Indian Sanskrit language were hard
for Tibetans to pronounce.
The Common Mani Scripts
The mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is found written in two different ways in (and
on) Mani wheels and on jewelry, etc.: in the ancient Indian Ranjana script and
in
Tibetan script:
Tibetan script Ranjana script:
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The Meaning of the Mantra
People who learn about the mantra naturally want to know what it means, and often
ask for a translation into English or some other Western language. However, Om
Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or even a few
sentences.
All of the Dharma is based on Buddha's discovery that suffering is unnecessary:
Like a disease, once we really face the fact that suffering exists, we can look
more deeply and discover it's cause; and when we discover that the cause is dependent
on certain conditions, we can explore the possibility of removing those conditions.
Buddha taught many very different methods for removing the cause of suffering,
methods appropriate for the very different types and conditions and aptitudes
of suffering beings. For those who had the capacity to understand it, he taught
the most powerful method of all, a method based on the practice of compassion.
It is known as the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, because practicing it benefits
all beings, without partiality. It is likened to a vast boat that carries all
the beings in the universe across the sea of suffering.
Within the Mahayana the Buddha revealed the possibility of very quickly benefiting
all beings, including oneself, by entering directly into the awakened state
of mind, or Buddhahood, without delay. Again, there are different ways of accomplishing
this, but the most powerful, and at the same time the most accessible, is to
link ones own mind with the mind of a Buddha.
In visualization practice we imagine ourselves to be a Buddha, in this case
the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. By replacing the thought of yourself as
you with the thought of yourself as Chenrezig, you gradually reduce and eventually
remove the fixation on your personal self, which expands your loving kindness
and compassion, toward yourself and toward others, and your intelligence and
wisdom becomes enhanced, allowing you to see clearly what someone really needs
and to communicate with them clearly and accurately.
In most religious traditions one prays to the deities of the tradition in the
hopes of receiving their blessing, which will benefit one in some way. In the
vajrayana Buddhist tradition, however, the blessing and the power and the superlative
qualities of the enlightened beings are not considered as coming from an outside
source, but are believed to be innate, to be aspects of our own true nature.
Chenrezig and his love and compassion are within us.
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The Powers of the Six Syllables
The six syllables perfect the Six Paramitas of the Bodhisattvas.
Gen Rinpoche, in his commentary on the Meaning of said:
"The mantra Om Mani P?dme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because
it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable
Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity,
Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection
in the practice of tolerance and patience. P?d, the fourth syllable, helps to
achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice
of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection
in the practice of wisdom.
So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the
six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is
the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more
meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?"
The six syllables purify the six realms of existence in suffering.
For example, the syllable Om purifies the neurotic attachment to bliss and
pride, which afflict the beings in the realm of the gods.
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Purifies |
Samsaric Realm |
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Om |
bliss / pride |
gods |
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Ma |
jealousy /
lust for entertainment |
jealous gods |
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Ni |
passion / desire |
human |
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Pe |
stupidity / prejudice |
animal |
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Me |
poverty /
possessiveness |
hungry ghost |
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Hung |
aggression / hatred |
hell |
"Behold! The jewel in the lotus!"
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This phrase is often seen as a translation of the mantra. However, although
some mantras are translatable, more or less, the Mani is not one of them; but
while the phrase is incorrect as a translation, it does suggest an interesting
way to think about the mantra, by considering the meanings of the individual
words.
"Thus the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence
on the practice which is in indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can
transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech, and
mind of a Buddha."
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Dorje
The dorje is the symbol of enlightenment. The shape of the dorje symbolizes
the two forms of truth, relative and absolute. The connection of the two truths
in the middle is known as the sphere of actual reality. On the outer parts of
the dorje there are two discs that represent the five Buddha families, the five
elements, and the five skandhas. In Tibetan the word dorje means, “the
indestructible stone.?The dorje is a spiritual weapon used to banish non-truths
and bring in the truth. The dorje is often used in a Tibetan Buddhist ritual,
where it is twirled in order to bring in truth.
Singing Bowl
The method of designing and decorating singing bowls is only known by a few
craftsman in Tibet and Nepal. The singing bowl contains several metals, one
for each planet in Tibetan astrology, although not each bowl contains all seven
metals, and the portions of metal is different for every bowl. Singing bowls
were first used in Tibet over 1000 years ago. The method of using a singing
bowl is like running your fingers over a crystal wine glass to make sound. To
use your singing bowl, place the bowl in the palm of your hand, without touching
the sides. Then roll the outside of the bowl with a hard wooden stick in a circular
motion around the sides of the bowl. At the beginning you can hear the wood
hitting the metal, but that sound soon fades until all you can hear is the continuous
sound throughout the room. You must make sure that the wooden stick stays connected
to the singing bowl even for a moment, because that will disrupt the sound.
You can clean your bowl by putting hot water and a piece of aluminum or hot
water with lemon juice inside the bowl. A piece of crocus paper or cloth will
also clean the outside of the bowl.
Klachakra symbol (Shi Xiang
Zi Zai)
The Klachakra symbol means 'The one with ten powers'. It is very protective
and dispels negativity. It consists of seven individual syllables combined together
with three other components to make a total of ten very powerful elements within
the image. - The Ten Powers are described as ten existences - body, awareness,
space, wind, fire, water, earth, stable, moving, and the gods unseen and uncreated.
Each part of the Kalachakra symbol has deep specific meaning, and is a great
study unto itself.
Garwoo(Gau)-Tibetan Periapt
One of the most stunning pieces of Tibetan jewelry is the famed Ghau pendant.
Also called a prayer box pendant, this jewellery piece often features rare and
unusual gemstones and incredible carved silverworks.
In Buddhism, the Ghau is actually a portable shrine that holds an image wrapped
in silk that represents the owner's personal deity. Some Ghaus have a small
opening allow you to see the personality deity.
People of other faiths use the Ghau as a prayer box. Wearers write their prayer
concerns on a slip of paper and place it in the box.
Tibetan jewelry is among the most finely crafted in the world today. Skilled
artisans use the same techniques that have been used for generations to create
the most gorgeous silverworks and gem cuts when producing Ghau pendants.
Asia is home to some of the worlds finest gemstones, so grand master artisans
have a wide variety of stunning stones to work with. Ghau pendants are often
set with green turquoise, red coral, butterscotch yellow amber, carnelian and
deep blue lapis lazuli. Stunning emeralds, rubies, sapphires, amethysts, citrines
and garnets are common as well. Look for Ghau pendants featuring hand-carved
Buddhas and other ornate designs.
Ghau pendants often includes gemstone inlays. Artisans often use shells, like
stunning abalone or mother of pearl, as well as turquoise, lapis lazuli and
coral in intricate inlay designs.
Most Ghau pendants are usually created from sterling silver, but you'll find
pieces in pure silver, bronze and gold. Some pieces feature more than one type
of metal.
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