Rinpoche’s
message on the website of Khyentse Foundation reads, “From the first day of the new Tibetan year, the year of the
horse – 2 March 2014 – whenever you have a spare moment, day or night, please
chant the mantra of interdependent origination:
om ye dharma hetu prabhawa
hetun teshan tathagato
hyavadat
teshan tsa yo nirodha
ewam vade mahashramanah soha.
Then dedicate the merit, primarily towards the
flourishing of the Buddhadharma throughout the world, but also whatever you
wish for personally…. The aim is that together we accomplish one hundred
million recitations”.
Rinpoche told those of us in Bhutan that this
mantra is recognized by all Buddhists in the world whether they are from
Thailand, Burma, China, Sri Lanka, Tibet or Bhutan unlike some mantra that is
chanted only by Tibetan Buddhists.
I felt profoundly blessed to chant and
contribute my counts towards reaching the collective 100 million recitations in
one year. As far as I remember from the final message we received, the final
total count went far beyond the target figure.
Later,
my belief and faith in the mantra grew even greater after reading the following
story of its origin.
The
story goes that when Shariputra (sha
ri'i bu in Tibetan), one of the chief disciples of the Buddha often
seen standing on Buddha’s side in the frescoes and Thangkas, was wandering as a
seeker of truth before meeting the Buddha, he came across Assaji (one of the
first five disciples of the Buddha to whom Buddha gave his First Sermon on the
Four Noble Truths in Sarnath after his enlightenment) who was on alms round. Shariputra
was very impressed by Assaji’s calm demeanour and radiance and followed him.
After Assaji
sat down, Shariputra
asked him, “Serene are your features, friend. Pure and bright is your
complexion. Under whom have you gone forth as an ascetic? Who is your teacher
and whose doctrine do you profess?” [2]
Assaji replied, “There
is, O friend, the Great Recluse, the scion of the Sakyas, who has gone forth
from the Sakya clan. Under that Blessed One I have gone forth. That Blessed One
is my teacher and it is his Dhamma that I profess.” [2]
Shariputra asked Assaji to share some
teachings with him. Assajit
told him that he was still newly ordained and did not know much. The stanza that Assaji then, reluctantly,
spoke moved Shariputta deeply. The words that Assaji spoke are as follows and
they are today what we call the mantra of dependent origination.
Assaji
said:
“(om) ye
dharma hetu prabhawa | hetun teshan tathagato hyavadat | teshan tsa yo
nirodha | ewam vade mahashramanah (soha)”
Which can be
translated as:
All things arise from causes;
Those causes are taught by the
Tathagata.
And the cessation of those causes
Is also taught by the Great Virtuos
One.
This famous
mantra is actually a summary of the teachings of the Buddha. For many centuries
now, “this mantra has been used to stabilize the power of blessings in one’s
mantra recitation, as well as to purify dharma practice, especially any misunderstandings
of the view” [3].
Upon hearing
these words, Shariputra immediately understood the meaning of the teaching and attained
the first stage of the path, entering the stream.
Shariputra then told this to his childhood
friend Maudgalyayana (Mongyelputra; or Mongyel gi bu in Tibetan) who also immediately understood the teaching and attained
the first stage. The two later went
to ordain as monks under the Buddha in Veṇuvana [4] and both became two of Buddha's chief disciples.
Fig. 2. Buddha Shakyamuni with his two disciples, Shariputra and
Mongyelputra.
In
his message dated 28 February, 2014 published on the website of Khyentse
Foundation, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche explains the significance of this mantra
as follows [5]:
Buddha’s teaching on dependent
arising distinguishes him from all others as the supreme expounder of the
truth. Once dependent arising has been pointed out to us, it’s a truth so
blatantly obvious that we wonder how we missed it. Yet in our daily lives, our
craving for independence is so strong that we forget how entirely dependent we
really are. We may notice that we depend on food, for example, on shelter and
even friendship, but we forget, or perhaps fail to notice, the fine and
intricate web of subtle phenomena upon which we are equally reliant. And
because we ignore this reality, we find ourselves falling over and over again
into a realm of disappointment, where we become numb because we are too hopeful
and then sink into the agony of hopelessness.
But the truth is that our
conditioning rules us. We both create conditions and depend on conditions, some
of which are good, and others we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemies. Those of
us alive today are extremely fortunate because the name of Shakyamuni Buddha
still exists and still has meaning. Shakyamuni Buddha is therefore an important
condition, a “dependent arising,” that can help us shape our lives.
It is said that Shariputra continued
holding Assaji in highest esteem throughout his life. From the day of their
first meeting, Shariputra would extend his clasped hands in reverence and turn
his head to the direction where Assaji was staying, when he lay down to sleep
[2].
-----------------------------------------------------
A link to an audio explanation of the mantra given by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJE_lnSRmjM&t=175s
A link to an audio explanation of the mantra given by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJE_lnSRmjM&t=175s
By Tshering Cigay
Dorji (tcdinjapan@gmail.com)
Written on 4th August 2019, coinciding with the anniversary of the First Sermon of Lord
Buddha. May it benefit all who come across this article.
Zilukha, Thimphu,
Bhutan.
References
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