In the other schools of Tibetan Buddhsim, Yamantaka seems to be mostly revered as a protector. Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school, emphasized and promoted the practice of Vajrabhairava. After having his head cut off, this guy became so angry that he took the head of the buffalo that was cut off and put it on his own head and became Yama, the Lord of Death. Right? They built the Forbidden City and the Imperial City, and all these things, and it was envisioned and laid out like a Yamantaka mandala, and the emperor was Yamantaka in the center of this. He then killed the two thieves and drank their blood from cups made from their skulls (so the skull-cup image). He got the insight that we need a Guru to cross the ocean of samsara. Whereas in other tantras its OM, whatever deity, If you memorize this verse, well give you cattle. But normally when we experience death, were totally unaware of whats going on we dont recognize the potentials and abilities of that subtlest level of mind. Its interesting. So if you have received the empowerment, its a very, very important, very helpful, and very strong practice to involve yourself with, very effective. But if its, if things change because we understand, then things would have changed because many people understand that point once they have studied Buddhism. All of that is implicit in these various rituals and things that are explained in the texts which sound as though they are horrible black magic for actually harming others, harmful beings, whereas the intention is for harming the internal enemy, our own selfishness. Already before you get the development of Yamantaka as a meditational deity that you actually visualize yourself in that form, already Yamantaka appears as a protector to chase away interference. Its an interesting one. He came from Odisha. First they beheaded the water buffalo in front of the hermit, and the hermit pleaded with them Please wait a few minutes more till I finish my fifty years of meditation but they beheaded him as well, before he could finish. His Holiness the Dalai Lama greeting a policeman providing security as he arrives at the Kalachakra Ground on the third day of his teachings in Bodhgaya, Bihar, India on December 26, 2018. So it comes from this general Indian background. So in the sensory offerings Yamantaka, the GHENDE, or the perfume is after the flower. See also: What Is Chakrasamvara Practice?]. Yamantaka is in the form of a very, very strong, forceful figure and has Manjushri in his heart (so very peaceful, calm, the complete understanding of reality ). Photo by Lobsang Tsering. The Guru said It was worthwhile to lie. And weve used great force to get down there. The Manchus were getting their power together, and eventually theyre going to conquer China and rule China as the Qing dynasty. So we have this whole development within the non-Buddhist Indian context of Yama, the Lord of Death, and even putting an end to Yama in the Shiva complex.. As I mentioned, most people will refer to it as Yamantaka. He practiced for twenty years to get a vision of Manjushri, and finally he succeeded and had a direct manifestation of Manjushri. He has three red, blood-shot eyes; his breath swirls from the anger-creased nose in black clouds, his jaw wide agape with four sharp fangs bared, the tongue flickering like lightning, and orange hair, eyebrows and moustache bristling upward like the fire. It gives it a context. He has eight heads.The principal head is that of a bull or a buffalo. The Guru said they were all successful, The vision was correct, you have had nonconceptual cognition of voidness. This is very, very dangerous, very delicate. Now, soon after that, Yama becomes incorporated into the Shiva complex of Hindu deities. This whole thing of making requests you have to really understand what that means. Advanced visualizations of Vajrasattva include his consort, representing the Wisdom of Emptiness. So therefore, Buddha gave two sets of teachings according to these four types of principals. So now we have to qualify what I just said. Hence, within this, the Sutra path is much longer. So one has to be very, very careful. (3) And then the third point is that he holds a khatvanga staff, which indicates that he incorporates the teachings of voidness and bliss from Chakrasamvara. All the various Indian deities, these various figures, are always riding on top of something. We think how awful it is that everybodys suffering, and we really want to work with an unbelievable amount of effort to actually attain the state of a Buddha so that we can be of best help to everyone. And if people try to do it and use these disturbing emotions before they are at a sufficiently highly developed level, the danger is that they really come under the influence of anger and desire, and then its a disaster. Its very, very important to read that and contemplate. Mother tantra emphasizes the practices for getting the clear-light mind (od-gsal) and understanding of voidness and the mind of a Buddha. Youre just praying Oh God, give me a clear mind, and God in the form of Manjushri gives you it Woo-ooh-ooh! and now you have a clear mind? Not like that, please. Well, heres a very good example. And underlying it is what? New rebirth samsaric rebirth with another cluster or configuration of these habits being activated and generating the next samsaric life filled with the same types of compulsive behavior and confusion. And so this (motivation) is an enormous, tremendous compassion for everybody. Hence within the tantric system, you have four sets of tantras: Charya, Yoga, Kriya and Maha Anuttara tantra. How do you envision such a person in terms of your goal, in terms of your method? Vajrabhairava is one of the principal three meditational deities of the Gelug school (Tib: gsang bde jigs gsum; the others are Chakrasamvara and Guhyasamaja). These are the five special features of Vajrabhairava or Yamantaka. Vajrasattva's mantra is a powerful purification prayer that invokes the mindstreams of all the buddhas. For those who are interested in iconography, Black Yamari is either with: Red Yamari is usually just in the one head, two arms, two-legged version. and its nothing from its own side you cant find it as anything from its own side and yet all three are valid. Thats what a Buddha does. OM YAMANTAKA ARGHAM, PADYAM, GHENDE, PUSHPE, DHUPE, ALOKE, NAIWITYE, SHABTA PRATICCHA HUNG SOHA. They passed down the line of Vikramashila masters and there were many commentaries written to them in India. The full form of Vajrabhairava has nine heads, the central one being that of a buffalo, and the top-most being that of yellow Manjushri with a slightly wrathful expression. Solitary-Hero Yamantaka. It should be the same for other mantras, but I dont want to say that, as the benefits of OM MANI PADME HUM are what is explained. Black Yamari and Red Yamari dont have a buffalo head. The teaching of Yamantaka is even more special. You can envision this person with a Mahayana sutra type of vision. Thats not the Buddha that theyre talking about. And one should also learn the Lama Chopa Tsog, one should learn the Lama Chopa Tsog, to be done to Yamantaka every two weeks. So that means that he incorporates the Guhyasamaja type of practices. So therefore, I rejoice and Im very happy for you and I feel very fortunate and do that initiation well. And so Yama rides on a male water buffalo. Thats understanding Buddha as someone who was enlightened many, many eons ago, who just manifests becoming enlightened, and who does these incredible things to teach the whole universe. Psychologically very helpful. "Like other wrathful deities, Yamantaka gives the forces of the Shadow [in the Jungian sense] a symbol that hooks their energy and provides a channel and direction for their expression and transformation" (Preece, p. 187). His hundred-syllable mantra is the quintessence of all mantras. So we have: But all of these have a buffalo head and a Manjushri head on top. Yama also appears as one of the eight directional protectors that appear, one each, in the eight charnel grounds that surround many anuttarayoga tantra mandalas, such as Yamantaka, Vajrapani Mahachakra, Chakrasamvara, Vajrayogini and Hevajra. Outer and Secret forms have buffalo heads, the Secret Yamaraja form does not. Highest Yoga Tantra Initiation from a qualified Lama. I believe the intention of the person who requested this was that, because in the Gelug tradition theres a large emphasis from Tsongkhapa on the three deities of Guhyasamaja (gSang-ba 'dus-pa), Chakrasamvara, ('Khor-lo bde-mchog), and Vajrabhairava, it would be helpful to have some general idea of these three systems. Im always curious why it has a buffalo head. All the texts explain the benefits of having OM MANI PADME HUM [in the prayer wheel]. Its done in so many of the tantra practices. Yamantaka's power and virtue are therefore equal to that of a buddha. Ive made offerings to Manjushri for you, for the success of your practice. Each face has three large round eyes, bared fangs and frightful expressions; brown hair flows upward like flames. To receive it there are many requirements: (1) very strong faith in the Guru, (2) many offerings made to please the dakas and dakinis, (3) offerings of what is most precious to you as a way to overcome your self-grasping and perfect your practice of far-reaching generosity. Theres a general pan-Indic reservoir of ideas, concepts things like karma, things like rebirth, various deities, and so on. Theres this whole thing that you get in the study of mythology to see what are the lessons behind the mythology, and is there a deeper psychological thing that is going on, and so on. Yamantaka's practice is only available for those who are initiated but those who do not have his practice can still have his image and make offerings for great protection, the blessings of a Buddha and to create a connection or cause towards receiving his practice in the future and achieving attainments through his practice. It seems that the term Yamantaka (and Yamari) is used in a more general way than Vajrabhairava which is restricted to the buffalo-headed yidam of the Gelug and Sakya schools (see Lokesh Chandra). Were talking about the early seventeenth century. He went back to Mongolia, to the very most eastern tribes of the Mongols and he was like a missionary. So, no other tantra, no other tantric system, no other sutra system, can promise us to purify, example, even if we have created the most heinous crimes. Heinous. He has thirty-four arms, right? If one form becomes too popularized so that it becomes commonplace and trivialized as in having Kalachakra T-shirts and this sort of thing then theres usually a revelation of another form because it really has to be something sacred and private, not something popular. All of that is completely clear in these texts. Otherwise, I wish you the best. It provides the most detail about the methods for generating the four levels of blissful awareness of voidness within the central energy-channel, enabling access to the subtlest level of mind, clear light. That will be more than enough for you. Now we get to Lalitavajra (Rol-pai rdo-rje) in the tenth century. We happily welcome both sponsorships and donations to make these teachings possible! So every single day, the bare minimum for the first, second and fourth mantra, is 21 times. I personally find it quite fascinating and actually quite helpful to see what actually has happened with this practice, how does it actually fit into history, the religious development, and so on. You had a mixture of Iranian culture and religions, Indian religions particularly the early Shiva worship and the Shiva tantras and you had Buddhism, so a mixture of the three. A student asked Rinpoche about putting Yamantaka mantras inside a prayer wheel. So whos Yama? But if we analyze deeply, then we see that what we need to really work with is the subtlest level of our minds and the subtlest energy of that subtlest level of our minds. Lalitavajra brought these teachings back to India from Ugyen and gave them to Lilavajra, his disciple at Vikramashila Monastery. So for this, Yamantaka is the best strong on the outside, Manjushri (wisdom, calm, clear) on the inside. So you think Well, thats what it means for it to be a hidden tantra. Its not. With all the protector practices, they are done as being Vajrabhairava yourself, and then you invite the protector into your mandala. If you work with very strong energy, the danger is that you become reckless and the energy takes over, and that quickly goes into anger, doesnt it? So to achieve emptiness, Yamantaka is the most profound and the most quickest. Okay, how do we understand that? Thats the ancient, ancient Indian text. Remember this association of Yamantaka with Manjushri? 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