Manjushri

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The bodhisattva Mañjushri

Mañjushri (Skt. Mañjuśrī; Tib. Jampal; Wyl. 'jam dpal) or Mañjughosha (Skt. Mañjughoṣa; Tib. Jamyang; Wyl. ‘jam dbyangs; 'the Gentle Voiced') is

  1. one of the eight great bodhisattvas who were the closest disciples of the Buddha,
  2. the embodiment of the knowledge and wisdom of all the buddhas, traditionally depicted with a sword in his right and a text in his left hand.

Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo says:

In definitive terms, Mañjushri, you are now, and from the very beginning you have always been, a genuine buddha, in whom all the qualities of abandonment and realization are totally perfected, because you completely traversed all ten bhumis, such as the Joyous and so on, and purified the two obscurations, together with any latent habitual tendencies, many incalculable aeons ago. Nevertheless, from a merely provisional perspective, you appear as the foremost of all the bodhisattvas, and demonstrate the means of training as a bodhisattva in the presence of all the victorious ones and their heirs throughout the ten directions.
Moreover, from the perspective of the mantrayana, there is no doubt whatsoever that you, Mañjushri, are a buddha. In fact, this is even stated in the sutras. In the Sutra of the Array of Mañjushri’s Pure Land, for example, it says you have completed the ten bhumis. And in two other sutras—the Shurangama-samadhi Sutra and the Angulimala Sutra—you are clearly referred to as a buddha. [1]

Notes

Further Reading

  • Jamgön Mipham, A Garland of Jewels, (trans. by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso), Woodstock: KTD Publications, 2008

External Links