Dharma
In the summer of 05 I visited Lamayuru and met a monk who said he was the only monk in Ladakh still teaching how to carve mani stones in the traditional way. This year he had no students so I volunteered. I stayed there 6 weeks, had a love affair, did lots of magic shows and was forced to sing and dance and juggle repeatedly. This was where I received my Dharma name too - Sonam Angchuk (mighty merit).
 | Lamayuru Gompa, Ladakh, 05 |
 | the tools and a suitable stone |
 | underway with lots of supervision |
 | Hughie, the finished stone, a very happy teacher! He is the Gomir, (the one with the keys), Punchok Namgyal. |
 | first stone done |
 | starting the second |
 | done - because the stone is long there is room for a 'shrih' character and the double circle 'repeat' symbol (it's not supposed to have the line between them apparently) |
 | third stone, deliberately small, made as a gift to Mareike. it had to be taken on a plane |
 | on completion of this, the fourth stone, one of the yogins told me I would now live to be 100 years old! |
 | the desert near Choglamsar. just after finding the fifth stone a Golden Eagle (a tiny dot in the picture) wheeled above me - poem 'overhead' |
 | fifth stone finished and given as a present to the Women's Alliance, Leh |
 | the yogins, Legdan, ?, Namdrol, Dupon Samten Rimpoche (in shades), Tsambel, ? (the one who shaved me head), ? |
 | sixth stone. given to John Crook at the Maenllwyd, Feb 07. An 'ordinary grey rock of the mountain'. |
 | seventh stone. made during the April 07 Holy Island Chan Retreat and donated to them on the Island. |
 Sophie's Tara stone made from Lizard Peninsular serpentine stone. John Crooks 'Dedication and empowerment of the Green Tara stone of the woods and waters': We bless this stone with the empowerment of the spirit of Green Tara: We bless this stone with the empowerment of the spirit of Green Tara: We bless this stone with the empowerment of the spirit of Green Tara: Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha.....PHE! PHE! PHE! | |
| at work on the 8th stone (this one is for Sue Hyland) - watched over by Tara. photo by Simon Child |
About the mantra
When the Bodhisattva (wisdom being) Avalokitesvara was about to get enlightened and step out of the world of birth and death, he heard the cries of the world behind him. His name, Avalokitesvara, means 'the one who hears the cries of the world'. He turned round and heard all the pain of sentient beings and made a vow to the Buddha that he would never leave any being behind. He would stay in the realms of suffering and help until all beings had gone before him into liberation. He would be the LAST one. This means that he will never, never leave you! It is this vow that makes him a Bodhisattva. Because of the vow's vastness he is sometimes also called a Mahasattva or great being too.
When he had made his vow he became overwhelmed by the enormity of what he had just done and how long it would take. A big tear welled up and fell from his eye.
There is a female form, Tara, who has her own mantra (om tare tutare ture soha). Her story is brilliant too. Before this time, in an age called the age of manifold light, she was a nun called Yeshe Dawa, or Wisdom Moon. She was so wonderful and powerful that the monks said to her that if she prayed to the Buddha to be reborn as a man she would be able to save many, many sentient beings. At that moment she made a vow that she would NEVER be reborn into a male body and would only ever manifest as a female. At that moment she was reborn from Avalokitesvara's tear as Tara, the liberator.
In Tibet Avalokitesvara is known as Chenrezig, in Japan as Kannon, in China as Kuan Yin (or Guan Yin).
The mantra, om mani padme hum, is said to be THE sacred 6 syllable mantra. Even if a being only knows about it, it is supposed to protect them from decending into the lowest hell.
Here is my current understanding of the mantra - there are very many other interpretations:
'OM' means the purification of body, speech and mind into those of a Buddha.
'MANI' means 'jewel', the 'jewel' of practice ie the maintaining of compassionate, mindful awareness.
'PADME' means 'lotus'. This stands for the wisdom that perceives emptiness (shunyata, the unconditioned, the unborn). The lotus grows out of the mud and waters of our life situation and emerges into the sunlight of awareness to open and blossom as the transcendent understanding of the lack of self nature in all beings and things.
'HUM' means 'indivisible' or 'unity'.
Putting all this together based on His Holiness the Dalai Lama's explanation, it goes something like this. Through the indivisibility of practice and wisdom, we purify body, speech and mind into those of a Buddha.
Alternatively, 'Hail to the jewel in the lotus'.
http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/chen-re-zig.htm
