Manjughosa

This talk was given at Vajraloka Retreat Centre, March 2001

Manjughosa is the archetypal Bodhisattva of Wisdom. There are four things in that sentence which need to be elucidated – Manjughosa, archetypal, Bodhisattva and Wisdom and that's what I will endeavour to do in this talk, although not in that order. I will look at what is meant by archetypal first, then I will go into the term Bodhisattva, then Wisdom and finally Manjughosa. But before I say anything about these I want to talk about the weather and the landscape. We are here in North Wales with its lush green landscape watered by frequent rainfall throughout the year. This very beautiful landscape is a product of geological and meteorological conditions prevailing over large periods of time. If we move in imagination to Australia or Libya or Alaska or Ecuador, we will find very different landscapes, all beautiful and unique in their own way and all the product of a myriad of interacting conditions.

We ourselves, our minds, are like landscapes . The landscape of your mind, your consciousness, has been moulded by a vast web of conditions over a very long time and each mindscape is very different and has its own beauties and unique features. When you introduce something new into a landscape it can have a huge effect. Whether it is a new weather condition or a new insect or a new tree. So we have to be careful what we introduce onto our landscapes. Similarly with our minds, when we introduce something new it can have a big effect. In fact we often introduce something new in order to have an effect. We introduce a new language for instance so that we can become familiar with another people and culture. And we introduce meditation and Buddhism into the language of our minds so that we can become more aware and kinder and be a better person all round.

But when we introduce something new into a landscape it will often encounter resistance from what is already there and when we introduce new ideas and views into our mindscape, resistance is encountered too. Existing views and ideas don't want to be disturbed. Our minds often want to stay as they are and to a certain degree they will stay as they are. Our uniqueness is our uniqueness. But by introducing new elements such as meditation, study and retreat our whole mindscape can be vastly expanded and its creative fertility boosted to a very high degree, like bringing water to a desert.

When you listen to a talk you will have many responses. Something is being introduced into the environment of your mind and your mind will respond in various ways depending on the conditions that have brought your unique consciousness into being and into contact with these ideas of the Dharma. So as you listen you could note your responses and use them as food for reflection later. With a talk you have the content to reflect on, you have what the speaker communicates apart from the words to reflect on and you have your own responses to reflect on. If you approach a talk in this way you can gain a great deal, even from a mediocre or bad talk, because you are engaging in a practice of awareness of thoughts and emotions as well as learning from the ideas and person of the speaker. In this way the landscape of your mind becomes more expansive, as if you were seeing the stars of the night sky for the first time. We need to remember that our minds are often limited like a local landscape but we have the potential to be whole countries, continents or planets even, embracing many variations of landscape and in harmonious communication with the numberless galaxies. Our minds can become universes and the gateway to that vastness is awareness. I will return to this later but for now I will go back to Manjughosa the Archetypal Bodhisattva of Wisdom and I'll begin by looking at archetypal. What does archetypal mean?

An archetype is a pattern. It is a psychic pattern, a pattern of the mind. This pattern or archetype manifests in the form of symbols. The archetypal pattern is the deep unconscious strata of the mind. Archetypes of the mind become visible as symbols. These symbols are common to all humanity, although they may take different forms at different times and in different cultures. Examples of archetypal symbols are the wise old man, the dark lord or devil, the young hero or warrior. These are deep unconscious layers of experience and perception in the human psyche that form into patterns which manifest as archetypal symbols.

In Buddhism, the archetypal Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are manifestations of the pure or Enlightened mind. When the human psyche is purified of hatred and greed and ignorance what emerges are the basic patterns or archetypes of Wisdom and Compassion. Wisdom and Compassion are two words which hint at the basic reality of consciousness when it is free from delusion. This basic reality of consciousness finds expression in the symbolism of archetypal Buddhas and Bodhisattvas – a rich symbolism of sound, image, colour and gesture. All the myriad forms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are symbols of the same archetype, the same pattern, the psychic pattern of Enlightened, purified consciousness.

Bodhisattva literally means “Awakened being” and the word is used in many different ways. In early Buddhism, which is recorded in the Pali scriptures, the term Bodhisattva (Bodhisatta in Pali) refers to the previous lives of Gautama the Buddha. Before he gained Enlightenment or Awakened he was a Bodhisattva during many lifetimes. A Bodhisattva is someone who is striving for Enlightenment, especially someone who is motivated by compassion for the suffering of others. Any of us could be referred to as a Bodhisattva if we are genuinely striving for Enlightenment out of motives of compassion. We would be novice Bodhisattvas. More usually the term would be used to refer to someone who had attained some level of transcendental Insight and was therefore compassionate in the true sense of being concerned for the spiritual welfare of others. And then the term Bodhisattva is used to refer to purely archetypal and symbolic figures such as Avalokitesvara and Tara and Manjughosa. A Bodhisattva in this sense is a symbol of the Enlightened mind which emphasises a particular aspect of the Enlightened mind. But all Bodhisattvas symbolise the same purified Enlightened consciousness. There is in a sense only one archetype but we in our comparative spiritual ignorance see many different Bodhisattvas and are attracted to some more than others. All this symbolism is a communication from Awakened consciousness to unawakened consciousness and every means is employed to engage our minds, to attract us to the reality of Wisdom and Compassion.

An archetypal Bodhisattva arises out of the deep meditation of Transcendental awareness and communicates something of that Beauty and profundity to us. Some Bodhisattvas will emphasise compassion, like Tara and Avalokitesvara, or energy, like Vajrapani, or wisdom like Prajnaparamita and Manjughosa. Again there really is no difference between the spiritual qualities of Compassion, Energy and Wisdom. These words or concepts also just give emphasis to an aspect of Enlightenment. But there is no quality of Compassion that is separate from Wisdom, no Wisdom that is divorced from Compassion, no transcendental energy that is different form Wisdom and Compassion. There is just one state of Enlightened Consciousness that these words point to.

Manjughosa is the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. The emphasis is on Wisdom but we need to understand that Manjughosa is just as much a Bodhisattva of Energy and Compassion. But we will approach Manjughosa through this concept of Wisdom. Jnana or Prajna in the Sanskrit. Perhaps we need to understand what spiritual ignorance is first and based on that we can begin to intuit or imagine what Wisdom might be. If you watch your own mind for a while you will have a direct experience of spiritual ignorance. There are many ways to talk about spiritual ignorance and about Wisdom. We can speak in terms of hindrances and expansiveness, in terms of defilement and purity, in terms of blindness or obscurity and Insight or clarity, in terms of ignorance and realisation, in terms of duality and non-duality and so on. These are all ways in which we can talk about ignorance and Wisdom and it is good that we have many concepts and images so that different temperaments can approach the whole process of spiritual life form different angles.

In terms of hindrances, the spiritually ignorant mind is limited by craving, aversion or doubts. In very ordinary terms this means that we want some things or experiences and we don't want other things or experiences and we get confused or uncertain about spiritual practice when it doesn't give us what we want or gives us what we don't want. When we are no longer limited by preferences, likes, dislikes, wanting and not wanting, when our consciousness expands into a realm of abundance where no lack is felt, then we are moving into the arena of Wisdom. Wanting and not wanting is the functioning of the ego. Wanting and not wanting and the fear of not getting what we want or getting what we don't want. This is the limited and limiting ego at work. Egotism or selfishness is a mode of consciousness, a mode of awareness. It is the mode of consciousness that operates from the basis that there is a fixed self at the centre of life which has to be served and defended in all sorts of ways. This is an unconscious and deeply held belief that forms the basic pattern for unenlightened consciousness. And it's not true. According to Buddhism there is no fixed self. There is only the process of thoughts, perceptions, feelings and so on, ever-changing and ever-changeable. This deeply held unconscious belief is the big hindrance that limits us. And when we see through this completely our consciousness is no longer fettered by wanting and not wanting – no longer fettered by fears and preferences. It becomes expansive and happy.

We can also look at ignorance and Wisdom in terms of duality and non-duality. Duality here is the duality between self as subject and other as object, me and you, I and the world. This is how we experience the world and in a sense it is how we have to experience the world in order to function on a day to day basis. It is a relative truth. You and I are different and separate. However according to Buddhism we are not separate in an absolute sense. This is because consciousness is essentially process rather than substance. The fluid and expansive nature of mind means that we interpenetrate and flow through each other rather than remain discrete and separate. This is the reality. But that is not our normal experience and as Sangharakshita says: “For practical purposes we must think in terms of going from a lower state of consciousness to a higher state. Any kind of spiritual development has to be based upon dualistic assumptions; we posit two principles, one of which we move away from and the other of which we move towards. All spiritual systems have a practical working dualistic basis of this kind. Some, like Zoroastrianism, regard that basis as metaphysically ultimate. Others, like the Mahayana, do not regard it as metaphysically ultimate, and still others, like Hinayana Buddhism, don't say anything one way or the other.” (Complete Works, Vol.14, p.591)

From the viewpoint of Mahayana Buddhism, the dualistic framework is considered inadequate. Again to quote Sangharakshita: “....the dualistic framework is seen to be insufficient, something to be dismantled or dissolved. This is achieved through realizing the third dimension of sunyata: mahasunyata, the “great sunyata”, the emptiness or non-validity of the distinction between the conditioned and the Unconditioned. What this means from a practical point of view is that Enlightenment consists not in passing from samsara to nirvana – as though both were separate realities – but in realizing their essential non-difference. Thus in the highest sense the spiritual life is an illusion. As this cannot be realized except through the spiritual life, it must be said that non-dualism has no meaning for us at all. It is only words, or at best an abstract idea. If a non-dualistic perspective discloses itself to us as we work our way up the spiritual ladder, that's fine. But we realize that there was never any ladder in the first place, or that there is no difference between the “top” and the “bottom”, only when we have worked our way to the “top”. We cannot base our spiritual practice upon a purely intellectual understanding of non-duality.

Even on the philosophical level the idea of non-duality presents an insurmountable difficulty. Owing to the fact that thought itself is irreducibly dualistic, it is impossible to construct a statement of non-dualism that is not dualistic, at least in form.…..

….In stating your position as one of non-duality you inevitably imply a duality. Every philosophy is bound to be dualistic inasmuch as no statement is possible without at least two ultimate principles....

...We cannot win – we are not meant to win. There is really not much we can usefully discuss at all. We must change the very structure of our consciousness – especially through meditation – so that it ceases to split everything up into subject and object.” (Complete Works, Vol.14, p.591/593)

So, yes we can talk about ignorance and Wisdom in terms of duality and non-duality, but for practical purposes we have to content ourselves to work within the duality imposed by thought, language and concepts. Even when we have an intuitive realisation of non-dual mind, we can only communicate that realisation in dualistic, subject /object, terms. Although the rational mind may be confounded we still need to try to understand and experience the significance of dualism and non-dualism. Another way to look at ignorance and Wisdom is in terms of defilements or poisons and purity. Looked at from this perspective our minds are poisoned by greed, envy, doubt, hatred and pride and our task is to purify ourselves by, as it were, taking the antidotes to the poisons.

The antidote to greed or craving in the Buddhist tradition is the Recollection of Death, meditation on a dead body and meditation on the six elements: earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness. This could be seen also as reflection and meditation on the changing nature of all things including ourselves. The antidote to envy is to perform skilful actions so that we have something to commend ourselves for. The antidote to doubt is wisdom, in the sense of studying and assimilating the Dharma. Also we can combat doubt by looking at the spiritual progress already made by ourselves and others. The antidote to hatred is Metta Bhavana, rejoicing in merits and the Sevenfold Puja. Also the practice of Kshanti which is patience and tolerance. The antidote to pride is generosity. Pride is an over-focussing on self and generosity implies awareness of others. By applying these antidotes we can gradually purify ourselves of the poison of negativity until our minds are bright with the light of Wisdom.

These are a few ways to talk about ignorance and Wisdom; hindrances and expansiveness, duality and non-duality, defilement and purity. Whichever way we talk about Wisdom, Wisdom itself is something different. Wisdom is essentially a complete and radical transformation of consciousness that cannot be fully grasped in concepts and can be hinted at and pointed to by metaphors, images, and symbols. Manjughosa is a symbol of Wisdom. If we can fully engage with Manjughosa to the point where we become Manjughosa then we will have become Wisdom too. And the task of the spiritual aspirant is to become Wisdom rather than know Wisdom.

I'm not going to say very much about Manjughosa because really symbols are not to be explained. You need to engage and relate to a symbol, not with a picture or statue but with the archetype. Manjughosa is in the form of a young man, sixteen years old. His body is a golden amber colour. He is seated in the full lotus posture. His right hand is raised aloft and he is very gently holding a sword, with flames dancing round the end of the sword. His left hand holds a book to his heart. He has long black hair and wears a crown of jewels. He is seated on a white moon mat which rests on on a light blue lotus. The name Manjughosa means “gentle-voiced one”. I'm going to look at just two elements in this symbolism, the sword and the book.

The sword held by Manjughosa is the word of Wisdom; it cuts through all ignorance. It is not a blunt instrument. It is a very sharp sword, held very gently and gracefully. The sword of wisdom requires very little exertion to cut off ignorance. It is a subtle and refined instrument and the flames that dance on its end symbolise the transformation that happens when the sword of Wisdom comes into play.

In practice what this means is that we need to refine and subtilise our minds through meditation and puja so that wisdom can come into play. Wisdom is a very very subtle awareness. Wisdom can manifest as a very fleeting intuition which reaches deep into the roots of our psyche and turns us upside down. The effects can be enormous, but the experience may be like a tiny half-thought, almost imperceptible. The name Manjughosa, “gentle-voiced” one, points to this subtlety too, as does the pale blue of the lotus. Egotism is subtle, always rationalising and we need to find an even greater subtlety to catch egotism at work and undermine it. We have to constantly ask ourselves where the egotism is in our thoughts and in our responses to the world and to other people.

The sword of Manjughosa is the sword of our awareness. When our awareness becomes so subtle and refined that egotism cannot escape it, it becomes sword-like. Our minds run on in the channels cut by habits of thought. We are made up of assumptions and ideas and beliefs which we defend and protect. When we meditate and when we come into contact with the ideas and concepts of Buddhism, our minds may feel threatened and rationalisations start to multiply as our defences get to work. But as we grow in awareness another aspect of our minds strengthens and we begin to see through the assumptions and beliefs and habits that we have identified with. This seeing through is like the sword of Manjughosa transforming us. The more we resist it, the more painful it feels. Growing awareness is often experienced as making us unhappy, as our mind tries desperately to push away the sword of our own awareness. If we continue to grow in awareness eventually we will experience the sword as gently and sweetly cutting through the fetters of our fears and hopes and liberating us into the vastness of unlimited consciousness. However the first step in the road to freedom is to become aware of all the views, beliefs, assumptions, ideas and so on, that have been part of our lives since birth and which have formed and conditioned us. As we start to become familiar with these we can start to let go of those that are unhelpful and allow ourselves to be more receptive to spiritual ideals, more receptive to Manjughosa perhaps.

The book which Manjughosa holds to his heart is the Perfection of Wisdom. The Perfection of Wisdom texts consist largely of paradox which deliberately thwarts the rational mind again and again. Inevitably we try to make rational sense of the text but continually we find that what was said in one line is contradicted in the next. Here is a bit from the Diamond Sutra: “Subhuti asked: How, O Lord, should one set out in the Bodhisattva-vehicle stand, how progress, how control his thoughts? - The Lord replied: Here, Subhuti, someone who has set out in the Bodhisattva-vehicle should produce a thought in this manner: “all beings I must lead to Nirvana, into that realm of Nirvana which leaves nothing behind; and yet, after beings have thus been led to Nirvana, no being at all has been led to Nirvana”. And why? If in a Bodhisattva the notion of a “being” should take place, he could not be called a “Bodhi-being”. And likewise if the notion of a soul, or a person should take place in him. And why? He who has set out in the Bodhisattva-vehicle – he is not one of the dharmas.

What do you think Subhuti, is there any dharma by which the Tathagata, when he was with Dipankara the Tathagata, has fully known the utmost, right and perfect enlightenment? - Subhuti replied: There is not any dharma by which the Tathagata, when he was with the Tathagata Dipankara, has fully known the utmost, right and and perfect enlightenment. - The Lord said: It is for this reason that the Tathagata Dipankara then predicted of me: “You, young Brahmin, will be in a future period a Tathagata, Arhat, fully Enlightened, by the name of Shakyamuni!”

And why? “Tathagata”, Subhuti, is synonymous with true Suchness (tathata). And whosoever, Subhuti, were to say, “The Tathagata has fully known the utmost, right and perfect enlightenment”, he would speak falsely. And why? (There is not any dharma by which the Tathagata has fully known the utmost, right and perfect enlightenment. And that dharma which the Tathagata has fully known and demonstrated, on account of that there is neither truth nor fraud.) Therefore the Tathagata teaches, “all dharmas are the Buddha's own and special dharmas”. And why? “All dharmas”, Subhuti, have as no-dharmas been taught by the Tathagata. Therefore all dharmas are called the Buddha's own and special dharmas. (Just as a man, Subhuti, might be endowed with a body, a huge body.) - Subhuti said: That man of whom the Tathagata spoke as “endowed with a body, a huge body”, as a no-body he has been taught by the Tathagata. Therefore is he called, “endowed with a body, a huge body” (quoted in Complete Works, Vol14, p.387)

The rational mind is confounded. This is not to say that the rational mind is useless. Far from it. What we need to do is think as clearly as we can and as far as we can. We need to exhaust the possibilities of the rational mind as we transcend it. This is not to say that we all have to become great scholars or philosophers. It is our own mind that we have to transcend, not somebody else's mind. The book at Manjughosa's heart represents the furthest that language and thought can take us. Then the sword of wisdom cuts through all concepts and we are left speechless. In that speechless silence, that thunderous silence, we hear the sound of Wisdom, the mantra Om ah ra pah cha na dhih, and we encounter the archetypal bodhisattva of Wisdom, Manjughosa, in the midst of a vast blue sky, shimmering with a golden amber light and radiating the perfect peace of freedom from all limitations, freedom from all views; the perfect peace of the perfection of Wisdom.