Prajnaparamita and Dorje Shugden

[Positive Change]

I came across this incredible photo of a thangka which has Prajnaparamita and Dorje Shugden together. Most interesting because Prajnaparamita in Buddhism, means "the Perfection of (Transcendent) Wisdom." The word Prajnaparamita combines the Sanskrit words prajñ? ("wisdom") with p?ramit? ("perfection").

Prajnaparamita is a central concept in Mahayana Buddhism and its practice and understanding are taken to be indispensable elements of the Bodhisattva Path. The practice of Prajnaparamita is elucidated and described in the genre of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, which vary widely in length and exhaustiveness. The Prajnaparamita Sutras suggest that all things, including oneself, appear as thoughtforms (conceptual constructs). The earliest Mahayana Sutras were of the Prajnaparamita type.

The Prajnaparamita is often personified as a bodhisattvadevi (female bodhisattva). Artifacts from Nalanda depict the Prajnaparamita personified as a goddess. The depiction of Prajnaparamita statue as a goddess is also can be found in ancient Java and Cambodian art.

Prajnaparamita in Ancient Indonesia
Mahayana buddhism took root in ancient Java Sailendra court in the 8th century CE. The Mahayana reverence of female buddhist deity started with the cult of Tara enshrined in the 8th century Kalasan temple in Central Java. Some of Prajnaparamita's important functions and attributes can be traced to those of the goddess Tara. Tara and Prajnaparamita are both referred to as mothers of all Buddhas, since Buddhas are born from wisdom.

The Sailendra dynasty was also the ruling family of Srivijaya buddhist empire in Sumatra. During the reign of the third Pala king Devapala (815-854) in India, Srivijaya Maharaja Balaputra of Sailendras also constructed one of Nalanda’s main monasteries in India itself. Thereafter manuscript editions of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra circulating in Sumatra and Java instigated the cult of the 'Goddess of Transcendent Wisdom'.[21] In 13th century, the tantric buddhism gained royal patronage of king Kertanegara of Singhasari, and thereafter some of Prajnaparamita statues were produced in the region, such as the Prajnaparamita of Singhasari in East Java and Prajnaparamita of Jambi, Sumatra. Both of East Java and Jambi Prajnaparamitas bear resemblance in style as they were produced in same period, however unfortunately Prajnaparamita of Jambi is headless and was discovered in poor condition.

The statue of Prajnaparamita of East Java is probably the most famous depiction of the goddes of transcendental wisdom. It was discovered in almost perfect condition in the Cungkup Putri ruins near Singhasari temple, Malang, East Java. Local tradition links the statue to Queen Ken Dedes the first queen of Singhasari, probably as a deified portrayal of the queen. Another opinion links the statue with Queen Gayatri, the consort of Kertarajasa the first king of Majapahit. The statue was discovered in 1818 or 1819 by D. Monnereau, a Dutch East Indies official. In 1820 Monnereau gave the statue to C.G.C. Reinwardt, who later brought the statue to the Netherlands, where it became a prized possession of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden. In January 1978, the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde returned the statue to Indonesia, where it was placed in National Museum of Indonesia. Today the beautiful and serene statue is displayed on 2nd floor Gedung Arca, Indonesian National Museum, Jakarta.

Prajnaparamita and Dorje Shugden depicted in the same thangka:

[Big Uncle]

Lovely thangka. The Prajnaparamita or Perfection of Wisdom Sutras is the heart of the whole Mahayana teachings that was spirited away in the realm of the Nagas until Nagarjuna rediscovered them and brought them back to our realm. We are very fortunate because these wisdom teachings are the one that will lead us to perfect and full Enlightenment. There is special significance to see Dorje Shugden in this thangka.

The very round yellow hat that Dorje Shugden wears on his head is a powerful sign that he is the uncommon Protector of Nagarjuna's view of Emptiness. Lama Tsongkhapa specifically meditated and discovered amongst many commentaries, Chandrakirti's to be the closest to Nagarjuna's intent and the one that brings the most expedient enlightenment. Therefore, the yellow hat represent this quick path towards enlightenment that is embodied in the hat.

Therefore, Dorje Shugden is really the main guardian of the Prajnaparamita teachings. Hence, it is really nice to see them being depicted in a single thanka.   

[dsiluvu]

Oh wow this is rare... I've not seen such a thangka before. I wonder who this thangka belongs to?

If like what you say is correct Big Uncle that Dorje Shugden is really the main guardian of the Prajnaparamita teachings, therefore we can say that Dorje Shugden is the protector for Sutra as well as for Tantra. If this is the case then truly Dorje Shugden is a protector for all of Buddha's teaching and for everyone, no???

In reality I think this is so.... hence what is exactly the big fuss about Dorje Shugden being a separatist practice... looks like the only thing separating anything is the people and politics!

I've also heard that the oracles of Dorje Shugden has many times also given advices and help to people who are from different Vajrayana schools. Now if He was a biased Protector that only protects the Gelugpa school of Buddhism, then why would he help those from a different school? Clearly Dorje Shugden is an Enlightened protector who is Manjushri, hence is not biased to anyone or anything. In other words... he is the Universal Protector of our time!   

[Vajraprotector]

Buddha taught that in order to be free of suffering, we have to abandon the cause of suffering, which is the kleshas (affliction/ destructive emotions/ mental states that cloud the mind and manifest in unwholesome actions) and only way to abandon the kleshas is to cultivate the prajna or wisdom to see the nature of these afflictions.

In order to cultivate this prajna, the Buddha taught emptiness, and these explanations are in the Prajnaparamita type of sutras. The earliest of these is the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 lines, or Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita sutra, probably written about 100CE with more material added later up until about 100 CE.

Between 100 CE and 300 CE the original sutra was expanded into large versions in 10,000, 18,000, 25,000 and 100,000 lines, collectively known at the Large Perfection of Wisdom. These differ mainly in the extent to which the many lists are either abbreviated or written out in full, the rest of the text is mostly unchanged between the different versions. Since the large versions proved to be unwieldy they were later summarised into shorter versions, produced from 300 CE to 500 CE. The shorter versions include the two best known, the Heart Sutra, and the Diamond Sutra.

Also, Prajnaparamita (phar phyin), known as the study of the grounds and paths of the mental continuum as it progresses towards enlightenment, is one of the five subject areas of studies in the curriculum of Geshe Lharampa.   

[vajratruth]

The Wisdom Sutras are about 40 texts collected under the title Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutra. Of these, the best known is the Heart Sutra as well as the Diamond (or Diamond Cutter) Sutra.

As Big Uncle wrote, the Prajnaparamita forms the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism, and is considered to be The Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma by the Buddha.  These Second Turnings reiterate the principle of 'Non Self' and goes on to introduce the principle of Shunyata or Emptiness.

I heard a story about the Prajnaparamita that I like very much. It tells of how the Heart Sutra became to be incorporated into the Mahayana Tradition.

As the story goes, the Buddha taught many teachings and the Buddha felt that the secret teaching of the Prajnaparamita was not ready to be received by the world. And so the teaching was given to Nagaraja, the serpent king, for safekeeping in a secret subterranean location, until the day comes when people would be ready for this holy information, the manuscripts of these wisdom discourses as well as the teachings found in the Heart Sutra.

It was Nagajurna who was chosen to enter this realm and was allowed by Nagaraja to study and meditate on the texts. Nagajurna was soon able to bring these valuable teachings above water. From the basis of the Transcendental Wisdom found in the Prajnaparamita, Nagajurna forged the Madyamika, a dialectic that looks at reality from the Middle Way and avoided the extremes of affirmation and rejection.

In the thangka Prajnaparamita is depicted in a female form with a golden body. She has four arms and seated in a vajra position.  Her first set of hands are in the meditation mudra and in her second left is The Heart Sutra which is symbolic of transcendental wisdom and the teachings of Dharma, whilst the second right hand holds the vajra which symbolizes the diamond like nature of the enlightened mind.

It is an absolute joy to see Dorje Shugden in the same thangka as Prajnaparamita. Dorje Shugden’s sword is symbolic of the Transcendental Wisdom with which practitioners severs the chord of delusions that keeps us from seeing the truth of reality.  The ultimate realization of emptiness contained in the Prajnaparamita is depicted in sun disc that Dorje Shugden is on, and as Big Uncle corrected stated, the golden domed hat that Dorje Shugden wears shows that he is the Uncommon Protector of Nagajurna’s Madyamika which Je Tsongkhapa presented in his teachings.

This thangka is not only beautiful but is crystalizes the important link between Dorje Shugden and the Buddha’s Teachings as contained in the Prajnaparamita.

[Positive Change]

Oh wow this is rare... I've not seen such a thangka before. I wonder who this thangka belongs to?

If like what you say is correct Big Uncle that Dorje Shugden is really the main guardian of the Prajnaparamita teachings, therefore we can say that Dorje Shugden is the protector for Sutra as well as for Tantra. If this is the case then truly Dorje Shugden is a protector for all of Buddha's teaching and for everyone, no???

In reality I think this is so.... hence what is exactly the big fuss about Dorje Shugden being a separatist practice... looks like the only thing separating anything is the people and politics!

I've also heard that the oracles of Dorje Shugden has many times also given advices and help to people who are from different Vajrayana schools. Now if He was a biased Protector that only protects the Gelugpa school of Buddhism, then why would he help those from a different school? Clearly Dorje Shugden is an Enlightened protector who is Manjushri, hence is not biased to anyone or anything. In other words... he is the Universal Protector of our time!

Even though Dorje Shugden is an uncommon protector whereby they are sworn to protect specific teachings as opposed to common protectors who have sworn to protect the Dharma in general, Dorje Shugden IS an enlightened being and thus, as would all enlightened beings, he is there for all that propitiate the teachings of Buddha.

An enlightened being sees no distinction between different schools or practitioners... they will protect all without prejudice!

Hence it comes as no surprise that the holy image of Dorje Shugden is seen depicted in a thangka as shown above. I am sure more will surface in time. And when the ban is lifted, we will than see the true magnitude of The Protector of Our Time come to light. What a time that will be!

[dsiluvu]

Actually I've enquired with some friends and found out that this thangka was actually commissioned by one of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's student. If we have a higher resolution image we can see that one of the Guru's depicted in the thangka is actually Geshe Kelsang Gyatso! 
Anyhow it is a very very beautiful peace of thangka!

However i did some research and I found something interesting that I did not know... the very text that Lama Tsongkhapa is holding on the lotus on his left is actually the text of Prajnaparamita sutra!

So if Dorje Shugden arose from under Lama Tsongkhapa's throne and is the protector of Lama Tsongkhapa's teachings then isn't obvious he would also be protecting Prajnaparamita teachings too! Amazing... the more and more we discover... the more and more we are finding out how Dorje Shugden is truly the King of all Protectors form our time.


Attached her a cut out page from the book that talked about the text that Lama Tsongkhapa is holding

Mother of the Buddhas: Meditation on the Prajnaparamita Sutra

[Positive Change]

Actually I've enquired with some friends and found out that this thangka was actually commissioned by one of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's student. If we have a higher resolution image we can see that one of the Guru's depicted in the thangka is actually Geshe Kelsang Gyatso! 
Anyhow it is a very very beautiful peace of thangka!

However i did some research and I found something interesting that I did not know... the very text that Lama Tsongkhapa is holding on the lotus on his left is actually the text of Prajnaparamita sutra!

So if Dorje Shugden arose from under Lama Tsongkhapa's throne and is the protector of Lama Tsongkhapa's teachings then isn't obvious he would also be protecting Prajnaparamita teachings too! Amazing... the more and more we discover... the more and more we are finding out how Dorje Shugden is truly the King of all Protectors form our time.


Attached her a cut out page from the book that talked about the text that Lama Tsongkhapa is holding

Mother of the Buddhas: Meditation on the Prajnaparamita Sutra

Thank you dsiluvu... this fact I too did not know. It is amazing how irrevocably linked Dorje Shugden is to Buddha's teaching!

The Prajnaparamita Sutra contains the highest teachings of the Buddha and is among the most holy of texts.

The Pajnaparamita mantra famously concludes the shorter version of the Heart Sutra:

Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.
The other four aspects of human existence --
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness --
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies,
nothing is pure, nothing is stained,
nothing increases and nothing decreases.

So, in emptiness, there is no body,
no feeling, no thought,
no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears,
no nose, no tongue,
no body, no mind.
There is no seeing, no hearing,
no smelling, no tasting,
no touching, no imagining.
There is nothing seen, nor heard,
nor smelled, nor tasted,
nor touched, nor imagined.

There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and so with no delusions,
they feel no fear,
and have Nirvana here and now.

All the Buddhas,
past, present, and future,
rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and live in full enlightenment.

The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra,
the highest mantra,
the mantra that removes all suffering.

This is truth that cannot be doubted.
Say it so:

Gaté, gaté, paragaté, parasamgaté. Bodhi! Svaha!


Which means...

Gone, gone, gone over, gone fully over. Awakened! So be it!