The Great Scholar, Arya Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna (Main figure)
Click on image to enlarge
(Top to bottom): Nagarjuna and Dorje Shugden
Deity: Nagarjuna (Sanskrit)
Alternative name: Ludrub (Tibetan)
Together with Asanga, Nagarjuna was one of the two great pioneers of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Together they are known as the Two Crowns. Nagarjuna was known to be a great scholar and abbot of Nalanda Monastery. He even became known as an accomplished alchemist who provided for the monastery with his extraordinary abilities. Once while he was giving teachings, two strangers anointed with sandalwood appeared. After the teachings, the strangers revealed themselves to be nagas in disguise and extended a formal request to the master Nagarjuna to descend into their realm in order to give teachings. After some thought, he agreed. While in the realm of the nagas, he was presented with the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras (Prajnaparamita), which contain teachings on emptiness (shunyata) that were hidden away in the realm of the nagas.
Nagarjuna proliferated these teachings and wrote various commentaries to the texts he brought back with him. The doctrine he expounded is called the Madhyamaka or the Middle Way philosophy, which became the main pillar of the Mahayana tradition. He also wrote several important commentaries on the Guhyasamaja Tantra along with various other writings. He is famous for a text called “Letter to A Friend”, which was a special personal teaching to a disciple who was the king of a medieval kingdom, whom he met when he was just a child. Nagarjuna’s heart disciple, Aryadeva, carried on the legacy of his teachings.
Deity: Dorje Shugden (Tibetan)
Alternative name: Vajra Rudra (Sanskrit)
Dorje Shugden is an emanation of the Buddha of Wisdom, Manjushri. He took the form of a Dharma Protector in order to safeguard the Buddha’s teachings, especially the important teachings on the Middle Way View. Reminiscent of Manjushri’s form, Dorje Shugden carries a meandering sword and rides a snowlion that represents the fearlessness of a fully enlightened Buddha. Thus, he has great strength to overcome obstacles of the body, speech and mind, and create suitable conditions for our spiritual practice to flourish. Furthermore, he carries a jewel-spitting mongoose and a vajra hook to symbolise that he has the tremendous ability to bestow wealth and resources.
Click here for more beautiful thangkas.
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Today, at our weekly Kechara Penang Study Group Dharma Online Class by Pastor Seng Piow, we talked about Archaya Nagarjuna and the circumstances surrounding His death.
At first Pastor mentioned about Chakra teaching by Rinpoche that he posted in YouTube earlier, and then we proceeded to discuss about Lord Nagarjuna and also Maudgalyayana using a video teaching where Rinpoche spoke about puja and its effectiveness to a group of Kecharians at Mandarin Hotel. Pastor discussed that we can’t run away from experiencing karma that have been created by us. Some of us might have the thinking where, what if we counter that single negative karma through generating many virtuous actions? However, the answer was a NO. We can’t escape from experiencing the karma that we have created but of course before the ripening of negative karma, we can try to purify it by strongly engaging in purification practices. DS Kawang is one of purification practices, and also Vajrasattva. Purification alone is not enough. Hence, Pastor touched more on the 4 Opponent Powers in details i.e. Remorse, Refrain, Relliance/Refuge and Remedy. Just like Rinpoche has mentioned, we cannot eliminate karma unless we do the purification practice (which is included in 7 limbs Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga prayer). How wonderful!
We were given example on how Archaya Nagarjuna was killed by blade of grass, where He was said to have killed an ant during one of His previous lives. Then, Maudgalyayana was stoned to death even though He was highly attained at that time. No one can escape from Karma, not even Enlightened beings but we can mitigate or even annihilate it by strongly engaging in purification practice. Pastor also talked a little bit on the reasoning of having the snakes depicted on top of Nagarjuna’s picture and the connection with Prajnaparamita. On the other hand, Pastor also discussed that Maudgalyayana was also the one who was responsible for the starting of the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival. A festival that was highly mistaken by many over the years.
Thank You Rinpoche for posting this article so that we can share more with others through posting our comments in this blog. Thank you Rinpoche and Pastor Seng Piow.
The iconography of Nagarjuna is often depicted seated in meditation beneath a protective canopy of 6 nagas, the serpents which associated with awakened wisdom. It is said that during Nagarjuna’s teachings on the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, six nagas appeared behind him and formed a parasol over his head to shield him from the sun. This image became popularized in Nagarjuna’s statues and thangkas.
Read more about Nagarjuna :
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/great-lamas-masters/nagarjuna-the-founder-of-madhyamaka.html