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[Positive Change]

5. Wrathful Look

An enigmatic aspect of Tibetan Buddhist iconography is the presence of "ferocious", "terrifying" forms known as the wrathful deities. Though these hideous, hair-raising images seem contradictory to Buddhist ideals, they are not personifications of evil or demonic forces at all.

Rather, the wrathful deities are benevolent gods who symbolize the tremendous effort it takes to vanquish evil, the violence that is a fundamental reality of the cosmos and the human mind and protect the faithful by instilling terror in evil spirits.

In Sanskrit, the wrathful deities are known as dharmapalas, which means "defender of the dharma." In Tibetan, they are drag-gshed, meaning "cruel, wrathful hangman."

Images of the wrathful deities are kept in the homes and temples of Tibetan Buddhists to protect them against evil influences and remind them to destroy passion and evil in themselves.

A typical wrathful expression: the mouth is contorted to an angry smile, from its corners protrude long fangs or the upper teeth gnaw the lower lip. The protruding, bloodshot eyes have an angry and staring expression and usually a third eye is visible in the middle of the forehead.

[Tenzin Malgyur]

Thank you for highlighting this subject, Jessica. Those are all very informative input. This is what I understand on number 6- Heart of the enemy. The thangka shows Dorje Shugden holds the heart that he ripped out at his heart level.To the eye of someone who is not been introduced to Dorje Shugden yet, it may look very gruesome. Here the enemy that is being refered to is not our physical enemy but the greatest enemy within ourselves-that is our ignorance which is the root of all our problems. When our ignorance is ripped out, we are blessed with more wisdom because with wisdom we can realize  the path that will lead us to enlightenment. Holding the ripped heart close to his own heart also means Dorje Shugden is near to us and we can rely on him to guide and protect us.

[Manjushri]

6. Heart of the Enemy

The heart of the enemy symbolises the deepest seeded problem that causes you all the suffering that you are to endure, being your worst enemy. The root of all delusions and problems that we create for ourselves is ignorance - not knowing better, thinking that what you already know is the best. So, Dorje Shugden holds in his hand the heart of the enemy, symbolising that he has ripped out, or has the ability to rip out, the root of all our problems - the ignorance with us.

How does he rip out our ignorance? He is the Buddha of Wisdom, he is Manjushri, therefore, with wisdom and knowledge, our ignorance subsides.

What does he replace it with? The heart also symbolies our innermost essence, and our deepest wish – enlightenment. The heart, also shows Dorje Shugden's bodhicitta motivation, to refrain from personal peace (nirvana) for the sake of all living beings.

Read more about the appearance of DS here:
http://dorjeshugden.com/wp/?page_id=35

[Manjushri]

7. Monk Robes

The monk robes represent that Dorje Shugden symbolizes pure ethical outer conduct. Wearing the monk robes, also represent that Dorje Shugden is a fully ordained monk (NOT A SPIRIT!!) who holds his vows of a monk well. It also shows that the practice of pure moral discipline is essential for those who wish to attain enlightenment.

Unlike Nechung, who is a spirt, Dorje Shugden is a monk, therefore has more credible attainments reflective of a monk than a spirit subdued by Guru Rinpoche, but has the whole CTA relying on him. hmm.

Dorje Shugden's line of incarnations held their monk vows very well, as illustrated perfectly by Duldzin who exhibited immense guru devotion, Panchen Sonam Drakpa who composed texts still being studied in the monastery till today and of course, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen who was so compassionate to let his assasinators the way in which they could successfully assasinate him.

[Rihanna]

I have a question tho. Manjushri's wisdom sword is straight, while Dorje Shugden's sword is crooked. Why is this so? is there an additional meaning to this?

Good question Ensapa. I cannot confirm if it is correct but I have read that Dorje Shugden's sword is wavy to symbolize the skillful means in his practice that serves to sever our delusions. It has also been suggested that a wavy sword has more utilizations i.e. for chopping as well as cutting. This again serves to reinforce the idea of Dorje Shugden's dharma covering a wider scope and having application in more diverse conditions. My interpretation is that during the degenerate times, the Buddha needs to infiltrate us with more than just a straight forward teaching, as there are more obstacles between us and the dharma.

Dorje Shugden's sword is closest in appearance to the 'Kris' which is indigenous to Southern Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore. Legend has it that the Kris contains talismanic powers and the more wavy a Kris is, the more powerful the magic is. How this may apply to Dorje Shugden's sword is something I have no answers to other than a reiteration of what I have written.

Does anyone have other answers or more correct ones, or even hypothesis?


Dear Vajratruth, yes i have heard from one Taiwanese monk that it is curved symbolising that Dorje Shugden uses skillful ways to bring one into the Dharma. In layman's explanation, when dealing with a difficult person, we have to think of indigenous methods to get through to the person. So we have to bend left and right to get through.

[Ensapa]

Dear Vajratruth, yes i have heard from one Taiwanese monk that it is curved symbolising that Dorje Shugden uses skillful ways to bring one into the Dharma. In layman's explanation, when dealing with a difficult person, we have to think of indigenous methods to get through to the person. So we have to bend left and right to get through.

Ah that is a very interesting explanation of the curved blade. It does make sense in some way that the curving of the blade represents that we have to be creative in dealing with difficult people and bend left and right in our direction, action and speech to get them to do what we want them to do. This really does represent Dorje Shugden's ability to bend back and forth and his skilful means in leading various beings to enlightenment.