Tag Archives: Dharma

The Queen’s Mahayana

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Vajragoni

The Buddha told Srīmālā, “You should now explain further the embracing of the true Dharma, which l have taught, and which is cherished by all Buddhas alike.” read more

Posted in The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā | Tagged Arhat, Arhats, Dharma, Mahayana, manomaya-kāya, Pratyekabuddhas, Ultimate Extinction of the Dharma Sutra | 2 Comments

The Illustrious Way

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Vajragoni

Then Queen Srīmālā made three more great vows before the Buddha, saying.

“I will benefit an infinite number of sentient beings through the power of these vows: first, I will, by my good roots, attain the wisdom of the true Dharma in all my lifetimes; second, after I have attained the true wisdom, wherever I may be born I will explain it untiringly to all sentient beings; third, in whatever form I may be born, I will not spare life or limb in embracing, protecting, and upholding the true Dharma.” read more

Posted in The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā | Tagged Dharma, Dharma-eye, Gnosis of the Dharma, Mahayana, pāramitā, Six Paramitas, women | Leave a comment

Supplication and Vowed Fidelity

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Vajragoni

Thus have I heard. Once the Buddha was dwelling in the garden of Anāthapindada, in the Jeta Grove, near Śrāvastī. At that time, King Prasenajit and Queen Mallikā of Kosala had just had an initial realization of the Dharma. They said to each other, “Our daughter, Srīmālā, is kind, intelligent, learned, and wise. If she could see the Tathāgata, she would be quick to understand the profound Dharma and would have no doubt about it whatsoever. We should now send an eloquent messenger to her to rouse her sincere faith.” read more

Posted in The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā | Tagged attainment, Buddha-land, Dharma, dharma-womb, form, King Prasenajit, Kosala, muni, Queen Mallikā, Queen Srīmālā, suffering, Ten Great Vows, Urna | 8 Comments

The True Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā (Intro)

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Vajragoni

The sutra is also known as the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra and in its abbreviated form as Śrī-mālā-sūtra ; the original author is unknown. Scholars concur that it was written in the Andhra region of South India in the third-century A.D. and since its inception has greatly influenced Buddhist China, Korea and Japan. According to Alex Wayman the Queen in its title is referenced to the glorious garland (Śrīmālā) given to the main protagonist in the sutra by her mother, Mallikā, whose name means the daughter of the garland maker. All in all, though, the opening setting of the sutra that introduces her is half historical and half fictional. The central thrust of the sutra is that all sentient beings potentially have the Buddha-seed; this is reinforced through the dominant doctrines of the One-Vehicle and Its primary conduit of the Tathagatagarbha. Wayman states: read more

Posted in The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā | Tagged Alex Wayman, Dharma, gotra, Great Vehicle, One-Vehicle, Queen Śrī-mālā, Śrī-mālā, Tathāgatagarbha | 3 Comments

Seeds of Faith

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Vajragoni

(Hakeda)

CHAPTER THREE

Analysis of the Types of Aspiration for Enlightenment, or The Meanings of Yāna read more

Posted in The Awakening of Faith | Tagged Bodhi-Child, Buddha-seed, cittotpāda, Dharma, dharmakaya, faith, Principle of Suchness, Reality, Suchness, Vimalakirti | Leave a comment

Awakening of Faith: Preliminaries

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Vajragoni

INVOCATION

(Hakeda)

I take refuge in [the Buddha,] the greatly Compassionate One, the Savior of the world, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, of most excellent deeds in all the ten directions;
And in [the Dharma,] the manifestation of his Essence, the Reality, the sea of Suchness, the boundless storehouse of excellencies;
[And in the Sangha, whose members] truly devote themselves to the practice,
May all sentient beings be made to discard their doubts, to cast aside
their evil attachments, and to give rise to the correct faith in the Mahāyāna, that the lineage of the Buddhas may not be broken off. read more

Posted in The Awakening of Faith | Tagged Awakening of Faith, Bhūtathatā, Buddhasoul, Dharma, faith, Higher Amala modality, Mahayana, samyaktvaniyatarasi, soul, t'i, tathagata-garbha, Wŏnhyo, yung | Leave a comment

The Fragrance of Suchness

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Vajragoni

“If you truly want to read the sutras, you first have to awaken the mind that does the reading. All formal readings from the sutras are ultimately destructive. The wonderful dharma of one’s mind does not change through successive eons; it is the essence of all the sutras. If you want to comprehend this essence, you should know that the voices of frogs and worms, the sound of wind and raindrops, all speak the wonderful language of the dharma and that birds in flight, swimming fish, floating clouds, and flowing streams all turn the dharma wheel. When you see the wordless sutra only once, the sutras of all the heavens with their golden words which fill one’s eyes clearly manifest. If you read the sutras with this kind of understanding, you will never be idle throughout endless eons. If you do not have this kind of understanding, you will spend your whole life covering the surface of black beans.*” read more

Posted in Mud and Water: Bassui Zen | Tagged Dharma, dharma-mind, Mind, Suchness, understanding | 3 Comments

This Little Light of Mine

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Vajragoni

“It is said that when the Little Buddha is imprinted on the void and on the fragrance, one will receive unlimited merit. What does this mean?” read more

Posted in Mud and Water: Bassui Zen | Tagged Dharma, intelligence, Little Buddha, merit, Nirmanakaya, One Dharma | Leave a comment

The Inner Science

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Vajragoni

Buddhadharma, which concerns our deepest inner nature, is called the inner science. This is the traditional name of what in the West is called Buddhism. The Tibetan expression rendered in Western languages as “Buddhism” is nangpa sangyepai cho. The last two terms taken together, sangyepai cho, refer to Buddhadharma, or the Dharma of awakening. “Dharma” in this context means “teaching,” and the word “Buddha” refers to the origin of these teachings-the historical Buddha-as well as to the spiritual realization he attained, or buddhahood. Nangpa means “inner” and emphasizes the fact that these teachings are concerned not so much with the physical body and the outer world as with the mind abiding there, since the teachings’ main purpose is to provide mental peace, well-being, and liberation. Buddhadharma is therefore the inner science, or the science of the interior, understood as the science of mind. read more

Posted in The Hermit's Den | Tagged Buddhadharma, Dharma, Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, Nangpa | Leave a comment

Self-Immolation

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Vajragoni

Without question the most extreme forms of homage that traces its roots back to the Lotus Sutra (in particular Chapter 23) is that of self-immolation. Of course the most recent occurrences of this extremity are occurring in Tibet, where Tibetans are choosing to self-immolate themselves in order to win freedom from Chinese Rule. Yet, this practice can trace itself back to the Lotus: read more

Posted in The Lotus Sutra | Tagged Dharma, Ganges Rivers, Medicine King, Mount Sumeru, perseverance, sacrifice, self-immolation, ten-directions | 2 Comments