Question asked by Demian
How can one visualize the deities? I have been trying to visualize the deities and Buddhas in reality as humans, but I can't make them come to life and only make as paintings and animations. Is there any way to fix this or is visualizing them as paintings or animations is okay?
Can an enlightened deity have more than one mantra? I found that Dukkar(aka. Sitatapatra) had the mantras "Om Mama Hung Ni Soha" and "Om Sita Ta Pa Trey Soha".
For goddess Saraswati, is it okay to visualize her in Buddhist form and say her traditional Hindu mantras and vice versa? I have been visualizing Saraswati as her Hindu form and been saying her Buddhist mantra "Om Sarasiddhi Hring Hring". Is this okay?
As for Palden Lhamo, is she also the mother goddess Kali? Since the White Tara and Saraswati are the same and Palden Lhamo and Saraswati are the same, does that mean that Tara, Saraswati, Vajrayogini, Guan Yin, Vajra Vetali, Kurukulle, and all the goddesses are the same being, Devi that Hindus talk about?
What is the Buddhist view of Hindu Mantras like the Gayatri Mantra or mantra of Kali? Can there ever be an empowerment that you can do by yourself?
The 6th Dalai Lama seemed to have been mischevious, does that mean that he was the wrong Dalai Lama along with all his current incarnations?
And finally, for the Buddha Maitreya, is it bad to worship Pudai with his mantra "Om Maitreya Mam Soha"?
Does it ever matter how we bow to the bodhisattvas, dharmapalas, and Buddhas? I've found many types of bows ranging from whole body bowing to lack of space bowing?
Dear Demian,
Thank you for your questions. As for the visualisations, they are supposed to be as life-like as possible, not as animations or static paintings. This means that you even visualise them moving as well. For example in the refuge visualisation according to the Lam Rim tradition, the Buddhas and deities in your visualisation should be moving. But I understand that this is hard to accomplish for most people at the beginning. This sort of visualisation actually takes time and effort to develop. Therefore when you are first familiarising yourself with the visualisation of any practice, you can start off with a static painting-like figure, but gradually develop them into full visualisations with movement. For those beginning to use visualisations, you should focus on one visualisation of a particular deity. For example if you engage in Lama Tsongkhapa’s Guru Yoga every day, you should concentrate on the visualisations for this practice. Once you have familiarity with one, it will be easier for your engage in other visualisations because you are used to the concentration that is needed for visualising. You just need to keep practicing and you will be able to visualise better over time.
Yes, an enlightened being can have more than one mantra. For example Vajrasattva has a long mantra which is 100 syllables long and a short mantra. In certain practices, such as Highest Yoga Tantra, a deity can have many mantras. For example in the practice of Yamantaka there are four mantras which are all the mantras of Yamantaka. On the other hand, there may be differences in mantras according to which tradition and lineage you are practicing.
When we visualise a deity we should visualise according the practice we are following. For example, if we are engaging in Saraswati practice according to the Buddhist tradition then our visualisation should follow the Buddhist tradition. The reason is that the mantra and the form of Saraswati are both the exact same facet of enlightened energy. Without the combination of both, you cannot gain true benefit from the practice to its fullest extent, which you should be aiming for. For example the physical form of Saraswati is itself a roadmap to enlightenment as well as the example of what you can achieve – an enlightened body. Therefore if you practice the Hindu mantra, then you should be visualising the Hindu form of Saraswati. If you practicing the Buddhist mantra of Saraswati, you should visualise according to the Buddhist tradition.
In regards to all female Buddhas being the Devi that is described in Hinduism, unfortunately they are not. Within Buddhism, when you achieve enlightenment, your mind becomes one with all the other Buddhas. This is called the Dharmakaya or Truth Body, and is a word to describe the ultimate meaning of enlightenment. This state is genderless and has no labels. Out of compassion certain Buddhas take form in order to benefit sentient beings. For example, Saraswati. Saraswati then emanated herself in a wrathful form – Palden Lhamo. That is why they say Saraswati and Palden Lhamo are the same. As for Guan Yin, she is actually Chenresig but in the form of a female. In India Chenresig appeared in the form of a man, while in China Chenresig appeared in the form of a woman. This is because in China the principle of compassion was attributed more to women than men. This is in contrast to the Hindu principle of Devi. While all goddesses are said to be emanations of the Devi, Devi herself is intrinsically female and has characteristics, as opposed to the Dharmakaya, which has no labels as all.
In regards to the Gayatri or Kali mantras, from a Buddhist perspective they are the mantras of goddesses. While they can grant wishes and attainments, ultimately they cannot lead you to enlightenment, as only the mantras and practice of enlightened beings can do so.
In regards to performing empowerments yourself, I remember writing something about this to you previously. There is such a thing as self-empowerment, but this empowerment does not give you permission to engage in new practice. Rather, when you hear the term self-empowerment, this refers to granting the empowerment on yourself after you have met certain requirements: receiving the original empowerment from a qualified Guru, keeping the tantric vows and commitments, engaging in a retreat with concluding fire puja if necessary, and then obtaining your Guru’s permission to engage in the self-empowerment. Actually these are the requirements for passing on the practice to others as well. This is the only sort of empowerment that you can do yourself. But to do this, you must already have received the empowerment yourself from a Guru and then kept the necessary requirements.
You can worship Budai with the Maitreya mantra. There is nothing wrong with this because he is considered an emanation of Budai.
As for prostration, yes there is a certain method to use when bowing to the Buddha. Within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition this is emphasised a lot. In fact when done correctly prostration can be a method to purify negative karma. You can watch two short video clips here, in which His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche teaches how to prostrate properly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbMFtzTGgkE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qon9lYJ_7M
I hope this helps. Thank you.