The dharmapala bowl of Tibetan Buddhism.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.

A puzzling thing about Buddhism is the appearance of wrathful, horrible forms of formations ... It can be said that these forms are ugly, scary to hair, and these wrathful appearances seem to be contrary to the Buddhist spirit.

These appearances are not symbols of evil or represent some kind of magic ... Instead, they represent the courage of the basic reality of the universe in general, and represent human consciousness in particular.

In addition, it is also the annihilation of the despair of the human consciousness, and the purpose of them is the protection of faith and faith. Wrathful spirits are those that symbolize the domination of desire, defeating evil.

The gods often have strong, short but thick bodies ... many have many heads. The color of their faces is often compared to the color of the cloud, the color of the gemstone ... That's why in the sadhanas or there are passages comparing a black goddess like a cloud that appears at the end of the sky, or is green like emerald, or white like a crystal mountain, yellow like pure gold, or red as sunbeams in the red coral mountains ... In the sadhanas also say that they are full of people a layer of ash of ceremonies mixed with sesame oil or covered with fat stains, blood spots and fat.

Their faces often exhibit the following expressions: the mouth opens with an angry laugh, from which the fangs appear - people say that these fangs are made of copper or iron. Bloodshot eyes filled with blood showed anger. Usually they have 3 eyes.

The most important of these groups of gods is the group of eight people, known as the main protectors of Tibetan Buddhism, who are considered as bodhisattvas, and they have a duty to fight mercilessly with any evil force as well as enemies of Buddhism.

They include: 
* Yama (Da Ma) 
* Mahakala (Dai Hac) 
* Yamantaka (Renaissance goods) 
* Kubera (Tai Bao Thien Vuong) 
* Hayagriva (First King Minh Ma) 
* Palden Lhamo 
* Tshangs pa (Pham Thien White) 
* Begtse

1. Yama: (Da Ma) Death

Based on the legends of Yama's origin, a man who was told by a saint that if he had entered the 50 years in a cave, he could attain enlightenment.

Time went by, right on the night of the 29th day of the 11th month of the 49th year. The two thieves fled into his cave. In their hands is the head of the buffalo that they killed. Only then did they find out that the man had known their shady work, they decided to kill him to silence the clue.

He begged them to spare his life, because there was only a few minutes before he could reach enlightenment. If he was killed before the 50-year term, all his efforts would be dumped. The bandits ignored his plea, and cut off his head.

At that moment, he immediately turned into a yama and put a buffalo head on his corpse. Yama killed two bandits and drank their blood by the cup made of their skulls. In vengeance madness, Yama threatened to destroy all Tibetans.

Tibetan people prayed to the Manjushri, asking him to protect the people from Yama's vengeance. Manjushri instant psychic manipulate himself into Yamantaka (  Item evening dress ma  ), he defeated Yama, to help people, and he makes Yama became one of the guardian of Buddhism.

Manjushri Master

We often see Yama often appearing in thangka with one of his spouses, Chamundi, who gives Yama a cup of demon-blooded elves (blood oranges). And dead bodies are like Yama's jewelry. Yama has a dark green color of the buffalo head.

Yama's crown

2. Mahakala: Great Black God

The legend of Mahakala's history was written by Khedrup Khyungpopa, the founder of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage, in the 11th century. He taught that the special power and miraculous power of Mahakala was due to virtue of virtue. Avalokiteshvara (Quan The Am). He vowed to live and die and decided not to become a Buddha if he was not enlightened. After helping hundreds of thousands of people, in countless lives reached enlightenment. He sees that suffering does not diminish but more than that pollution in sentient consciousness grows. He felt disappointed. At that moment his head broke into a hundred thousand pieces.

Amitabha Buddha (Amitabha), one of the 5 Buddhas  (Bhikkhu, Buddha, Amitabha, Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Buddha Amitabha - nd) reconnects  fragments, and turns into 11 heads. Then he told Avalokiteshvara to repeat the prayer again, but to keep it better and more solid. Avalokiteshvara therefore has eleven heads, and of which ten are gentle and one is angry. That indignant head is the representative of Mahakala

Mr. Avalokiteshvara

Mr. Avalokiteshvara was sad, for a period of 7 days. He thought that in the world full of suffering beings needed a quick result without too much effort. He then wanted to turn himself into a wrathful deity to defeat faster and more effectively the obstacles to the happiness of others. With this thought, the dark blue HUM appears from his heart. That Hum has become Mahakala. That means that in the mantra of 'Om Mani Padme Hum', the syllable Hum stands for power and power.

Humans of Tibet

Om Mani Padme Hum mantra

The appearance of Mahakala entails the vibration of the ground, while the voice of the Buddhas echoes in the air to prove that Mahakala  
has enough power to grant what the beings want if the wishes are honest and good

Mahakala was a guardian guardian for the ruler of Mongolia - Genghis Khan - at that time. Mahakala's indignation is seen as the wrathful incarnation of Siva. In Tibet, the image of Mahakala usually has one head and three eyes, eyebrows like small flames and a beard shaped like a hook. Mahakala has 2 to 6 hands.

The basic natural thing that Tibetans often worship Mahakala is probably because he is the god of the camp. Because Tibetans live nomadic, so long time is dependent on nature and the surrounding environment, so they use tents, temporary relocation and settlement is an important part of the their life.

In addition, he was a very important dharmapala, so there was a place of worship for Mahakala in every monastery.

 3. Yamantaka (Easter Food Ma)

Yamantaka, as an indignant incarnation of Manjushri (the Bodhisattva of wisdom), Yamantaka is the most complex and wrathful incarnation of all the wrathful incarnations of Buddhism. In this incarnation, Manjushri was able to subdue the death god Yama, when Yama was in a bloodthirsty revenge on killing Tibetans.

According to legend, in samadhi, Manjushri Master goes all over the place to find Yama. Eventually he found the shelter of Yama and his subordinates that was an iron city in hell. (Yama now has the body shape of a water buffalo head).

In order to subdue Yama, Manjushri uses such a form, but in addition to eight heads and multiplies many hands, each arm holds scary weapons. And moreover, from his body he grew a number of corresponding legs, around him a large number of terrifying beings. To confront death, he embodied himself as the god of death multiplied many times. The god of death Yama sees himself but the horrors are many times more numerous. At this time, the god of death Yama encountered the right situation meaning "afraid to die".

That is why yogis when they practice yamantaka, through the yamantaka image, they will develop a force that is strong enough to face death, as well as fears of death. Every head, every arm, every foot until every attitude, every piece of jewelry, all of Yamantaka's symbols are the essential enlightened areas for facing death.

Both Yama and Yamantaka are shaped like buffalo heads, but Yama always has a wheel-shaped jewelry on his chest, which is a characteristic sign to distinguish these two protectors.

4. Kubera (Vaisravana, Jambhala, Tai Bao Thien Vuong)

According to Hindu mythology, Kubera was the son of a sage called "Visravas", so he was named after his father "Vairavana". Legend says that because of the strict practice, the rustic, true of you for thousands of years. Brahma, the laureate created in Hindu mythology, gave him immortality and turned him into the god of the treasure. He is the protector of all the treasures of the earth. He will give this treasure to those who deserve it.

Kubera's residence is the Kailash mountain  (a sacred mountain, which Tibetans often go to pilgrimage, whoever seems to have reached this sacred mountain seems to have purified a lot of karma, as well as has taken a very long step in the path of practice - translator).  But when Brahma was appointed as the God of Wealth by Brahma, Brahma gave him the region of Lanka (Ceylon) as his capital.

According to the legend, he was also given a pushpaka by Brahma, a giant car that moved with his master's mind at a tremendous speed.

Kubera was also worshiped by the Buddhists, who were seen as a protector of the North  (in some documents also said Kubera was the Heavenly Monk, King of the North, the master of finances. -nd).  His signature symbol is a weasel. This special weasel always releases jewels.

According to Buddhism, he is also called Jambhala. He always appears under the form of a big fat figure and is covered by jewels. His right leg always trampled on a snail shell lying on a lotus flower (this shell represents his tremendous speed).

5. Hayagriva: Ma Ying Ming Wang

The first code of the Great King resented

Hayagriva is primarily worshiped in Tibet by horse dealers because it is believed that Hayagriva threatened and chased the devil away by the sound of the horse's horse. When people ask, he will signal his fall with a hiss, which is why there is a horse head on his head, a characteristic sign of Hayagriva.

The sound came from the horse's head, according to the legend of being able to penetrate ignorance, bringing true light of freedom. His mantra contains the following verses.

"May you protect the horses? 
Add more mares. 
From these horses will give birth to more superhuman ponies. 
Please clear all the obstacles on the way 
and direct us in the right direction"

(due to the nomadic lifestyle of Tibetans, horses are an important part of their daily routine.)
Hayagriva is an indignant reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara (Guan Yin), according to the surveys. If you save, there will be 108 Hayagriva forms. His special ability is healing, especially skin diseases, even serious skin diseases such as leprosy. This disease is believed to be caused by Naga  (Naga is a dragon species but has a snake-like appearance, loves to live in water areas, lakes, seas ... nd)

His simplest form has one face, two hands and two legs. Everything about him was a scary face with three eyes, a mouth roaring with fangs, a warrior's standing posture, a big belly that contained an unspeakable internal force in it. His right hand swung the sword to threaten the opponent, his left hand held up in an intimidating posture, his jewelry was snakes.

Hayagriva with a simple form

His beauty is the scary things mentioned above, because that frightening aspect is the manifestation of compassion, the very scary that helps us to let go of the ego, and penetrate the screen. Stupid….

6. Palden Lhamo: The goddess

Palden Lhamo is the only female guardian in the group of eight major Buddhist protectors. He is a dharmapala protecting the dharma everywhere, including the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan state, the capital of Lhasa. At the same time he was also a female protector for the Chinese nation from the Yuan Dynasty (Yuan - 13th century) until the last days of the Qing Dynasty (Qing) in the early 20th century.

In India, Palden Lhamo is also called Shri Devi. He is also the goddess Okkin Tungri in Northern Mongolia. He is also seen as an indignant reincarnation of Saraswati  ( the Arbitration ) of the goddess of learning, of arrogance (speaking), and of music. Another incarnation of him is Chamudi, Yama's consort. There is also a theory that he is the cobbler of Mahakala.

As the only female protectors in protecting the dharma, it is said that his weapons are inherited by other gods. Hevajra gave him two dice to determine the life of the human being, Brahma gave him a peacock fan, from Vishnu he was given two bright lamps  (like two corona-nd jewels) . One was installed on the top of his head, the other was worn by his waist. Kubera, Shen Tai Bao, gave him a lion  (lion-nd jewelry)  and was wearing it on his right ear. Nanda, the snake god, gave him a snake  (snake-nd jewelry) and worn on his left ear. From Vajrapani (Kim Cang Thu) he received a thunder hammer. Other gods gave him a mule, surrounded by the skin of the Devil's Devil, and there were venomous snakes wrapped around his belly. People often see him riding this mule to travel all over the world.

The statue of Palden Lhamo

There is also a more clear legend about his compassion. Legend has it that he was engaged to a king named Shenji, who was both a bloodthirsty king and a violent warrior, who refused all Palden Lhamo's requests to stop him from killing the people. innocent. Finally he gave an ultimatum:  If he did not stop killing, she would kill her children with the king, so that he could experience the pain of the murdered loved ones he had caused. for others.

Shenji did not stop, so he made his threat. Before the death of his son, he was forced to stop.

He was often seen carrying the body of his son on his back and shouting everywhere. This is a symbol of determination not to stop before anything to bring peace to all.

7. Tshangs Pa or 'White Brahma'  (Pham Thien Trang)

Brahma, the most important deity to Hinduism, however, for Buddhism, Pham Thien only occupies a secondary position. Brahma's Tibetan name is Tshangs Pa, we often know Brahma with the 4-headed 2-handed image. But in Tibetan Buddhism he is always expressed with white, a 2-handed head and is called "Tshangs pa dkar po". Meaning White Tshangs Pa.

Image of Brahma in Hinduism

Also according to the sadhana, this is also the image of Brahma. People often see him sitting on the back of a white horse, raising his sword, sometimes wearing a flag behind him. He was a warrior god, but not too horrible and barbaric. Behind the crown he was a thin towel containing a snail shell  (one of the common sandstone symbols of Tibet-nd) . He wears long-sleeved clothes and "floats like clouds".

Although the legends behind his origins, nothing doesn't match Brahma, but we have an interesting legend:

Once upon his birth, he was named Tshangpa karpo. He grew up full of mighty power, often wandering around in the universe on the back of a golden horse. In the daytime, he was walking in the sky, and at night he would land. One day, he went to the heavens. Then he deceived a goddess  (probably a goddess)  named Dhersang, and stole the jewel of the god. Unfortunately, he could not escape because he was caught by the tongue of this heavenly guardian with his tongue and threw him back to the earth, taking the pearl as it was from his hand, also At the same time, he also took his heart. Moreover, he was forced to betray Dhersang.

Tsangpa Pa

Frustrated by his defeat, he continued his journey in the universe. He began to kill all the young people where he went, and forced the girls he met. One day he met the goddess Ekajati. With the intention of harassing the goddess, he began to give up the words of the butterfly. The goddess Ekajati got angry and used his silk scarf that was wrapped around him to beat him.

Ekajati - Terrible mother

Beaten on the thigh, his legs immediately broke. The strike of the goddess immediately made him enlightened and became one of the dharma protectors of Buddhism. This attack is not meant to assault on a material aspect. It is the attack on the negative parts, the dark aspects of the mind and its transformation. Because of his strength, his boundless power was diverted to protection and offering to the truth, making him one of the great protectors of Buddhism. Historically, this is also the image that represents the integration of the ancient religion of Tibet (the Bon religion) into Buddhism by the great master Padmasambhava (Lien Hoa Sanh).

8. Begtse: God of War

This savage warrior, who was a Yaksa, was the god of war in Central Asia, dressed in armor and costumes of the Mongols, appearing in Tibetan Buddhism in the second half of the 16th century, as The last protectors joined the group of 8 dharmapalas.

Yaksha - Yes

According to legend, Begtse, the leader of an animal army, appeared when the Dalai Lama, invited from Tibet to Mongolia by the king of Mongolia at that time Atlan Khan  (descendants of Genghis Khan- nd)  to convert Buddhism into the state religion of Mongolia.

Knowing this, the Dalai Lama immediately turned into Guan Yin, the Fourth Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, his hands clasped in front of his chest to form the prayer. The footsteps of the horse he rode on, printed on the sand were not the footprints but rather the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum. Eye witnessing this miracle, Begtse immediately believed in superiority, overcoming dominant of Buddhism and automatic submission, and switched to Buddhism. It is said that Begtse's submission is a symbol of the transformation of the Mongolian religion to Buddhism.

Portrait of Begtse

He appeared with all the costumes as other protectors, raised a sword (the sword with a scorpion shaped figure) in his right hand. The left hand was holding an orange enemy's head, we could see him holding a bow and arrow at the same time. He stepped on the corpse of the man with his left leg, the other leg he stepped on the corpse of the horse. His three eyes were full of indignation, glaring enough to threaten those who sabotaged the Dharma. END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH, GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.9/7/2019.