Chapter 12 The fourth section presents the mandala

In the murals or scroll paintings of Buddhist temples, there are often paintings bounded by square and circular patterns.The painting is a mandala, and this kind of painting is especially called a modern mandala. When practicing a set of "secret methods" created by themselves, Tantras in the South Asian subcontinent draw a circular or square area on the ground, and even build an earthen altar, place magic tools on it, and draw Buddha statues, Bodhisattva statues, etc.Within this area, it becomes a gathering place for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, which is called mandala, which translates "altar", "mandala", "round and full", "gathering" and so on.Generally, it is canceled after the practice is completed, and the pictures painted on the altar are destroyed.

Sinicized Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism use murals, scroll paintings, etc. to draw mandalas, keep them for a long time, and work hard on them during practice.It is also the same when it is spread to Japan and North Korea, and there is a trend of green out of blue.This is because Tantrism of Sinicized Buddhism declined after the Song Dynasty, and it was not as good as Japan, North Korea and other countries, especially Japan, which has been spreading ever since.The Chinese are now mainly studying Tibetan Tantra (the Tantra of Tibetan Buddhism) rather than Han Mi.However, mandala images can still be seen frequently in monasteries.There are more in Tibetan monasteries.This kind of mandala, which is represented by images rather than displayed on the earthen altar, is especially called the current picture mandala.

According to the connotation of the picture, the mandala can be divided into two types: one is the "Vajra Realm Mandala" and the other is the "Two Zang Realm Mandala".King Kong Realm is a free translation of Sanskrit Vajra-dhatu, transliterated as "嚩日罗拉静", abbreviated as "Golden Realm".Esoteric Buddhism believes that all things in the universe are manifested by Dainichi Tathagata.Da Ri Tathagata is the free translation of Da Vairocana Buddha, which is the manifestation of Tantrism's transformation of the reality of the universe.Esoteric Buddhism believes that he is the root Buddha, the origin and fruit of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.The one that expresses his wisdom and virtue is called Diamond Realm, which means that it is as solid as a diamond and cannot be damaged by foreign objects; the one that expresses his rationality (the eternal understanding that originally existed) is called Taizang Realm, which means the rationality of Dainichi Tathagata. It exists in all things, just like the fetus in the mother's body, and the lotus seed in the flower womb.The two worlds are collectively called the two parts of the golden tire.Also known as the Two Parts of Mantra, it is because of reciting mantras orally and making secret seals (Tantric mudra) to visualize the deities when practicing Tantric Buddhism.A few words by the way: Tantrism has tens of times more mudras than other sects.If you want to know the details, there is a book "Buddhist Statue Handprints" compiled by Li Dingxia in China, which is extremely detailed.This book was published in Beijing Yanshan Publishing House in October 1991.

The image of the Vajra Realm mandala consists of nine parts, each part is called a meeting, and together they are called "nine meetings".The five Buddhas, Dari Tathagata, Aya (chuchu) Tathagata, Baosheng Tathagata, Amitabha Tathagata, and Bukong Achievement Tathagata, are its main statues.There are 1461 "statues" in the whole picture.The mandala of Taizang Realm is divided into "thirteen courtyards".The five Buddhas, Dari Tathagata, Kaifu Huawang Buddha, Wuliangshou Buddha, Tiangu Leiyin Buddha, and Baozhu Buddha, are the main statues.There are 414 "statues" in the whole picture.These two kinds of diagrams are very complicated. Generally, those who follow the joy don’t need to delve into it, as long as they know the following points:

One point is that the west of the mandala in the Vajra Realm is up and the east is down; the Taizang world is in the east and the west is down.Be careful not to miss it. Another point is that because there are too many statues, it is difficult to draw them one by one, or in order to save money and trouble, there are three ways to draw the statues in the picture: the one that draws the appearance is called a statue mandala, which is used for the main statue.To be simpler, only draw the instruments used by the deity on the base of the portrait, such as vajra, sword, tower, wheel treasure, lotus, etc., or the handprint of the deity, which is called the Samaya mandala.Samaya is a transliteration, which has the meanings of "equality, original oath, and elimination of obstacles".To be simpler, just write the "seed" (detailed below) of the statue on the standard.

Another point is that when drawing, of course, it is best to draw the entire mandala in the Jiuhui or Thirteenth Courtyard, which is called "Metropolis (Dumen) Mandala".If it is not possible, only a part of it will be drawn, such as for a while, it will be called "Ministry Mandala".Can't do it anymore, just draw one, and add something else, called "Bie Zun Mandala".In addition to the two parts of the golden fetus, there are other Buddhas as the main statue, which are collectively called miscellaneous mandalas, also known as various mandalas.All in all, there are extremely complex and simple mandalas, which cannot be generalized.

When mandala is used as the object of worship, it is called mandala offering, or Mandala offering for short.Generally, when a hall building is completed in a general monastery, man offerings are made as part of the completion ceremony. In addition, there are statues cast from the two realms of the golden womb into small metal statues. When Tantric Buddhism erected the altar on the surface of the earth, it was listed on the altar together with various instruments, offerings, and offerings.It is used when practicing secret methods, and outsiders are strictly prohibited from visiting it, and the author has no chance to see it.However, every time I see small metal statues scattered outside, I always feel that there may be something related to this.

Seeds (seed characters) are closely related to mandalas, but not the same thing. "Seed" is originally a metaphor used in Buddhism, which means that both cause and effect have their origin.Esoteric Buddhism matches the Sanskrit letters with the deities and dharma gates respectively. This kind of characters is called "seed characters", or "kind characters" for short. Most of the Buddhist scriptures in Chinese are translated from various languages ​​in the South Asian subcontinent and Central Asia.The Sanskrit text is considered the most formal and authoritative source.Sanskrit is a phonetic script that records Sanskrit, and some different letters have been used in the historical development.From the introduction of Sanskrit into my country during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, until the Tang Dynasty, some books on Sanskrit appeared in China.They called the representative alphabet handed down at that time "Xitan", which is a transliteration of the Sanskrit antiphonic Siddham, and the free translations are "achievement", "achievement auspiciousness" and so on.According to these books (not according to modern linguistic research), in sum, "Sidtan" has 51 letters.Among them, there are 12 common vowels, 35 consonants (including two between vowels and consonants, called "jiepan"), and four rarely used (attached to the vowel system).As a pinyin letter, it is said that "Xitan" only has shape and sound, but not the meaning of the word.However, when the aborigines of the subcontinent learned letters from an early age, they often used a method of memorizing a letter and a word that contained it.For example, "A (transliteration a) is not born (transliteration of the free translation of Sanskrit anutpada)" is exactly a method for reciting letters used by Buddhists.In this way, in Buddhist Sanskrit, by extension, certain letters are often endowed with certain meanings on certain occasions.

Buddhism (especially Yogi and Faxiangzong) believes that plant seeds can produce fruits, so they are used as metaphors, which means that all material and spiritual phenomena also have their causal "seeds", which have original properties.Esoteric Buddhism also connects "seed" with Sanskrit letters, and expresses a kind of seed with one or two letters, which is called "seed character", or "kind character" for short.From the perspective of modern linguistics, it can be roughly classified into the category of "abbreviation" and "abbreviation" that use one or two letters to represent a term or a certain concept, just like the full English name of the United States in modern English. , use am to represent "morning"; and like chemical element symbols, such as using Au to represent gold and Ag to represent silver.

The practice of Esoteric Buddhism emphasizes the oral recitation of "Dharani" (transliteration, free translation as "mantra", that is, mantras), and the establishment of a "mandala" (transliteration, free translation as "mandala") with an outer square and an inner circle for support. Gods and Buddhas.Generally, the mandalas commonly seen in temples are mostly murals or paintings, on which are painted images of various "departments" of gods and Buddhas, with the main statue in the center and the servants surrounded by them.Sometimes, because the picture is too small to draw a portrait, or because the donor has little money to donate for the portrait, or because he thinks that the place where the place should be placed is not worthy of a fine work portrait, he writes a kind of word instead of the place where the gods and Buddhas should be painted.This kind of mandala, which only writes characters but not pictures, is especially called "seed mandala".This kind of mandala is often used on the ceiling of Buddhist temples "Pingzhan [Qiqi]" as a pattern-shaped painting, such as the "Vairocana Buddha Mandala" in Pingzhai, the main hall of Fahai Temple in Beijing.

Some Buddhist ideology categories (called "dharma doors") also establish species of characters.For example, the category of "the four majors are empty" includes the "five majors" in total, each with its own characters.Earth (transliteration a, transliteration Ah), water (va, 嚩), fire (ra, 啦), wind (ha, 赵), emptiness (Kha, 彉).Esoteric Buddhism regards the "heart" (actually the brain) as a round and bright "moon wheel".When practicing, we often "visualize" the things that appear in the moon wheel from our personal thoughts, that is, concentrate our minds on these things.What I often visualize are the various "character wheels" that appear on the "heart moon wheel". The "Five Great" character wheels are often visualized.Beginners often write it down and paste it on the opposite side as the object of visualization.According to the direction in which the characters are written, there are three types: the characters in the center are written vertically and do not move; the other four characters are divided into four directions, and those for "self-interest" are written inwardly, those for "altruism" are outwardly written, and those for "self-interest and other benefits" are written outwardly. Consistent vertical writing.It is the most frequently practiced in "Zilun Guan". In addition to the general kinds of characters, there are also those that write "Dharani".The most common is the six-character dharani of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.These six characters are transliterated into "Om Mani Ba (kouer) Hum" in Chinese, which means "returning to the Mani beads on the lotus flower (a kind of orb considered in Buddhism)".It was originally the words of Amitabha Buddha praising Lotus Hand Bodhisattva (passed as one of the incarnations of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva).It is said that reading and writing these six Sanskrit characters will prevent you from entering the six realms of reincarnation.These six-character mantras are also often written in the shape of a wheel in Pingchao.Those who believe in Tibetan Buddhism are mostly written on the scriptures and door flags.