to enlightenment.
My guru also appears as the bodhisattvas like the sixteen arhats, dakas (the male equivalent of dakinis), dakinis (fairy maidens), and Dharma protectors, to guide me from happiness to happiness to enlightenment.
The Buddha merit field is the visualization of a skyful of buddhas and lamas, with one’s root guru at the center.
The Five Dhyani buddhas
The richness of imagery and the wealth of symbolism associated with the Dhyani buddhas struck a chord within me when I first came to know about them. Although they can be depicted in the humble robes of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni (see chapter 1), these cosmic buddhas often appear in jewel-encrusted robes, with crowns and ornaments. The mandalas of the Dhyani buddhas are especially engaging.
You can get to know the Dhyani buddhas intellectually and visually first, and then allow your mind and heart to connect with each one individually, for different aspects of the enlightenment experience. You may be especially taken by the incorporation of elements, colors, symbols, mudras, and directions in their imagery.
The Dhyani buddhas can be viewed as spiritual kings who preside over their respective mandalas. Each one can be pictured in his Pure Land, overseeing different realms and directions, and helping sentient beings to overcome particular afflictions with his special wisdom.
A Dhyani (meditation) buddha inset into the stupa at Boudhanath, Nepal.
THE DHYANI BUDDHA VISUALIZATIONS
A visualization is presented for each Dhyani buddha, in the caption accompanying their thangka images – see visualization 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Before each visualization, the person practicing performs this preliminary meditation.
First, one feels that their mind purifies into emptiness. The mind, understanding this emptinenss, then transforms into Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, with one face, two arms, and a gold-colored body. His face is extremely beautiful, with a loving smile and compassionate eye. Every second, every pore of his holy body radiates numberless buddhas to sentient beings, liberating them from suffering and bringing them to liberation and enlightenment.
Guru Shakyamuni’s mantra is chanted: Tayata Om Mune, Mune, Maha Muneye Soha, followed by the visualization for one or more of the Dhyani buddhas.
BUDDHA AKSHOBHYA
Although Buddha Akshobhya (who is blue in color) is usually visualized in the center of Dhyani buddha mandalas, sometimes he is transferred to the east and Vairochana comes to the center. Many lineages regard Akshobhya as the most important of the Dhyani buddhas because, of the five aggregates, the aggregate of consciousness can be regarded as the most important in our spiritual journey.
Askhobhya also manifests as Buddha Mitrugpa. The Buddha Mitrugpa mantra practice is said to be extremely powerful for “rescuing” those who have fallen into the lower realms of existence. Akshobhya is depicted touching the earth with his right hand and holding an upright vajra (thunderbolt) in his left hand. Touching the earth recalls the moment when Shakyamuni Buddha overcame the Mara and the earth goddess was called forth to bear witness to Buddha having practiced the Six Perfections, thereby qualifying him to attain enlightenment. The element of Buddha Akshobhya is water, and the chakra (energy center) associated with him is the heart chakra.
Akshobhya is the lord of the Tathagata family. This buddha manifests Dharma, transforming hatred and aversion into the transcendental wisdom of the sphere of the Dharma. Among the other powerful Buddhas of the Tathagata family are Buddha Vajrasattva and Buddha Vajrapani.
Akshobhya’s blessings enable us to develop the wisdomthat understands the true nature of reality.This is often referred to as becoming awakened andovercoming ignorance.
Here is the visualization of Buddha Akshobhya: Nectar beams come from Buddha Akshobhya, purifying anger. Where there is violence, war is stopped and everyone generates loving kindness, patience, and the whole path to enlightenment. The transcendental wisdom of Dharmadhatu is actualized in their minds and in the minds of all sentient beings.
THE SPECIAL PRACTICE OF BUDDHA AKSHOBHYA
There is a powerful deity of purification called Mitrukpa who is a manifestation of Akshobhya. There are tremendous benefits to be had from reciting his mantra and even seeing his image or mantra written.
One of the most memorable summaries of the benefits of reciting the Mitrugpa mantra was given by the Venerable Ribur Rinpoche, one of Lama Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus, when he visited Singapore in 1997. Already in his eighties, Ribur Rinpoche remains as sprightly and cheerful as ever. Reciting the Mitrugpa mantra, he says:
Purifies all negativities accumulated in past lives
Prevents the ripening of past negative actions
Purifies the five extreme negatives of killing your mother, killing your father, killing an arhat (a saint), causing a buddha to shed blood, and causing disharmony among the spiritual community of monks or nuns
Purifies all inauspicious signs arising from negative actions
Has the power to reverse untimely death
Prevents all those who hear it (animals and humans) from falling into the three lower realms (the animal realm, the hungry ghosts realm, and the hell realm)
Has the power to rescue anyone who has been dead a long time from the hell rea lm, if you recite it 100,000 times and dedicate it to that person
Has the power to prevent any corpse that may be one week old from being reborn in any of the three lower realms, if it is recited 100,000 times over sand, sesame seed, or flour, which is then sprinkled on the head of the dead person
Has the power to purify all negative karma, thereby protecting a person from entering the lower realms, even if they have committed very heavy karma – if, while dying or at the instant of death, they see the mantra in written form.
BUDDHA MITRUGPA’S DAILY MANTRA
NAMO RATNA TRAYAYA
ROTSANI ROTSANI TROTANI TROTANI
TRASANI TRASANI
