Panchakshari (and others)

[Guest guest]

Your warmth, keenness and humor shines through even the briefest notes.

I am, lamentably, without a good devanagari font or even decent diacritics.

This is, naturally, unacceptable if I am ever to revive and enhance my meager

Sanskrit. In any event, we can approximate.

Yes, this is one of the most important and mystically significant mantras of

Indo-Tibetan tantric Buddhism. It is (sullied by my ersatz diacritics):

OM. AAH. HUUM. VAJRA-GURU-PADMA-SIDDHI HUUM.

OM. AAH.* HUUM.** VAJRA-GURU-PADMA-SIDDHI*** HUUM.

*long vowel; visarga

**long vowel; anusvaara

*** all short vowels in this 8-syllable compound

[Here the padma segment is the stem form rather than the locative padme as in

Tibet's somewhat more famous mantra.]

There are certainly whole volumes decaded to the Vajra Guru mantra. Devotional

practices center the practice of the mantra around the eighth century Buddha

and mahaasiddha Padmasambhava, who brought tantric Buddhism and the non-dual

dzogpa chenpo (Skt. mahaa ati, mahaasandhi and/or atiyoga) teachings to Tibet.

But more primordially, the mantra and related mantric prayers can refer to the

subtleties of yogic physiology and, in the parlance of the great German

scholar-siddha Herbert V. Guenther, the "matrix of mystery" that is the

man.d.ala at the heart of Being.

Since I can't comment too meaningfully on this matrix, I'll defer to someone who

can (I'm better off in such areas somehow with poetry, as that medium *might*

permit – with the proper humbling attunement to grace – some shade of

possession by the muse or ishta devata -- something technically possible though

rather less likely in my bloated letters!) The wonderful scholar and teacher

Tulku Thondup writes the following of this mantra in his book _Enlightened

Journey_ (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1995, pp. 238-241):

-----------

THE PRAYER MANTRA OF GURU RINPOCHE [jewel-like precious guru]

In Sanskrit:

OM. AAH. HUUM. VAJRA-GURU-PADMA-SIDDHI HUUM.

[as above, but with proper diacritics]

In Tibetanized Sanskrit:

OM AH HUNG BADZAR GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUNG

or

OM AH HUNG BEDZAR GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG

THE MEANING

(The Embodiment of) the body, speech and mind (of the Buddhas), O Vajra Master

Padma (sambhava), please grant attainments

[or: please bestow your blessings (upon us), may there be the attainments, or

may the attainments be accomplished].

OM. seed syllable of Buddha body

AAH. seed syllable of Buddha speech

HUUM. seed syllable of Buddha mind

VAJRA diamand (adamantine), Dharmakaaya (absolute body)

GURU master (prosperity), Sambhogakaaya (enjoyment body)

PADMA lotus (pureness), Nirmaan.akaaya (manifestation body)

SIDDHI attainments, common and uncommon results, accomplishments

HUUM. Please grant. May it be. Supplication.

RECOLLECTION OF THE QUALITIES OF GURU RINPOCHE

THE GREATNESS OF THE QUALITIES

OM. AAH. HUUM. are the seed syllables of the three vajras (vajra body, speech,

and mind) of all the enlightened ones.

OM. - For the general meaning, it is the heart syllable of the vajra body of all

the enlightened ones. Its special meaning is the heart of the great blissful,

spontaneously accomplished primordial wisdom, arisen in the character of the

illusory net, which is the united body of appearances and emptiness.

AAH. - For the general meaning, it is the heart syllable of the vajra speech of

all the enlightened ones. Its special meaning is the essence of the

indescribable union of awareness and emptiness, and it is its appearance in the

form of sound. As such it becomes the foundation of all speech.

HUUM. - For the general meaning, it is the heart syllable of the vajra mind of

all the enlightened ones. Its special meaning is the essence of the vajra

Rainbow Body, the self-arisen primordial wisdom, and the union of awareness and

emptiness, the original purity.

Guru Rinpoche is the embodiment of the qualities of all these three vajras of

the enlightened ones.

Particular Qualities

VAJRA-GURU - Prosperous with qualities of the vajra (indestructible, adamantine,

and essence). VAJRA: The very adamantine primordial wisdom of the basis through

the skillful means of the spontaneously accomplished three vajras. GURU:

Prosperous with qualities, "master."

The Name, the One Who Possesses These Qualities

PADMA - His name denotes that he is born in a lotus; he belongs to the Buddha

family of Padma. He attained the Vajradhara state by the support of the vajra

D.aakiniis [enlightened muse-goddesses, not the alternative Indian sense of

d.akinii as witch -- JIA] He is like a lotus in the mind in that he appeared

in sam.saara but was not stained by sam.saaric defilements.

PRAYING TO BESTOW THE WISHES AND ATTAINMENTS

The Wishes

SIDDHI - For the general meaning, it is the attainment of happiness and success,

both worldly and spiritual. Its special meaning is to perfect the paths and

stages of the vajra path without any hindrance, and to attain the state of

Vajradhara by the stairs of the four Vidyaadhara practices..

The Attainments

HUUM. - It has three letters – H, UU, and M. . This is for the invocation of

the three vajras. Also, HUUM. is the vajra mind, and it is the means of

invoking the mind of Guru Rinpoche to bestow the attainments.

IN BRIEF

The body, speech, and mind (of the Buddhas): O Vajra Master Padma, please grant attainments.

or

O Padma (Padmasambhava, Lotus-Born) – prosperous with vajra virtues, (the

embodiment of the) body, speech, and mind (of the Buddhas) – please bestow

(upon us the common and uncommon) attainments.

A SHORT MEDITATION

When you do not have much time or energy, you could practice for just ten or

fifteen minutes, or even less. Take one or two deep breaths, thinking and

feeling you are expelling all the dead energies. Feel relaxed. Then see Guru

Rinpoche above in the beautiful, clear sky, as the embodiment of all the

Buddhas and the virtues in the universe. Feel the heat of the presence. Chant

(vocally or in the mind's voice) the mantra with the energy of inspiration and

the devotion of your body and mind. Receive and be one with blessing lights,

and feel the heat, warmth, bliss and openness. Finally, just relax; relax

again and again in the feeling of warmth, bliss and openness. [Then d]edicate

the merit [of this mantra practice] to all the mother beings [i.e.,all sentient

beings toward whom we should generate the same love and compassion as that we

have toward our mothers, since all such beings have also been our mothers in

previous births –JIA].

You could practice when you have just woken up in the early morning, before

faling asleep, while resting between work, or any time. And enjoy it.

-------

Sanjay, I have not provided here all the tantric Buddhist interpretations of

such terms as Vidyaadhara, vajradhara, etc. (mostly bec.ause it is so very

late here, and I am exhausted! But I may dig up a list of glosses. In any

event, hopefully you can get the flavor of the multiple course buffet that is

the Tibetan Buddhist "Vajra Guru Mantra". Tulku Thondup has additionally

written two wonderful books on healing, _The Healing Power of Mind_ and

_Boundless Healing_, which employ much of the traditional yet open and

effulgent qualities prominent in the above meditation and universalize them for

a broad audience; thus, the specific divine qualities enunciated above can also

be linked to any authentic ishta devata (Tibetan: yi dam), or in Tulku

Thondup's functional ecumenical framework, "source of power."

Thought you'd enjoy. Goodnight (or Good Day on your side of the globe!) for now.

Sincerely,

Jesse

(Jesse Ian [J.I.] Abbot)

In a message dated 10/12/2002 3:28:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, srath (AT) srath (DOT) com writes:

Dear Ji abbot (Did I get your name right? Please correct me)

The pleasure of talking to one so conversant with mantra is a pleasure. That

mantra seems to be some kind of a buddhist revelation. Shall be grateful for

inputs.

Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum

Is it aaH or aH or ah..if you have a devanagari script somewhere, will help. Is

it Guru Padma siddhi or Guru Padme siddhi - forgive me but I am one of those

technical fools..and am very inquisitive

Best Regards,

Sanjay Rath

--------------------------

71 Vasant Apartments, Mayur Vihar Ph-1, New Delhi 110091, India

Tel: +91-11-2713201 Web: http://srath.com http://.org

---------------------------

[Guest guest]

That last post inadvertently went out to all of you instead of just Mr. Sanjay

Rath, for whom it was solely intended. Nonetheless, I hope it is something

many will enjoy and benefit from. It is a meditation at the heart of the

Tibetan tantric tradition.

There are a few terms in it that would bear explanation. I cannot do this at

this impossible hour (4:33 a.m. here; no sleep yet tonight!), and I'm not sure

if I will be able to do this soon. Howvever, for those curious, three books

should be helpful. They are: the volume from which this was excerpted to begin

with, _Enlightened Journey_ (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1995); the book

_Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs_

by Nyoshul Khenpo, ed. and trans. Lama Surya Das (Ithaca: Snow Lion

Publications, 1995); and _The Rain of Wisdom: The Essence of the Ocean of True

Meaning_ compiled by Chögyam Trungpa, trans. Nalanda Translation Committee

(Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1999) [translation of the classic text the

Kagyü Gurtso]

The first book is an extraordinary compilation of profound yet accessible

resources on the Nyingmapa ("ancient ones") order of Tibetan Buddhism; the

other two are also tremendous collections of teachings and inspired songs

(dohaa -- The Rain of Wisdom_ is solely such dohaa and commentary). Both of

the last two have strong glossaries in which you can find most or all of the

terms in the mantra meditation of the last post and then some; and the glossary

in _The Rain of Wisdom_ is aptly perhaps the most famous such appendix in the

field of modern Tib. Buddhist translations.

May all phenomena blaze with their innate primordial auspiciousness!

Love,

JIA

In a message dated 10/15/2002 4:21:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, Jiabbot writes:

Subj:Re: [GJ] Panchakshari (and others)

Date:10/15/2002 4:21:46 AM Eastern Standard Time

Jiabbot

To:gjlist

Dearest Sanjay,

Your warmth, keenness and humor shines through even the briefest notes.

I am, lamentably, without a good devanagari font or even decent diacritics.

This is, naturally, unacceptable if I am ever to revive and enhance my meager

Sanskrit. In any event, we can approximate.