Atisha’s Lamp

Two novice monks in Khotan meditated on Venerable Manjushri for twelve years but failed to receive a vision of him. They lamented, ‘Arya Manjushri’s compassion is too feeble,’ whereupon Venerable Manjushri appeared in space and informed them that they had no karmic connection with him. He told them that Avalokiteshvara was residing in the Land of Snows where he had taken birth as Songtsen Gampo and advised them to go there.

When they arrived in Tibet, they saw heads, arms and legs that had been chopped off lying in the lower valley of Tolung as a result of punishments dealt out by the king and also walls of heads, heaps of eyeballs and torture chambers of arms and legs within the tents in Denbak. They thought, ‘That Manjushri must be a mara. What is he an emanation of? This king is a murderer.’

Thinking that, they prepared to leave. The king summoned them before him, removed his headdress to reveal Amitabha and spoke, ‘I am the Avalokiteshvara of Tibet. You do not have to be afraid.’

They asked, ‘Well, is the killer of all of these living beings Avalokiteshvara, the Great Compassionate One?’

He replied, ‘Since coming to power, I have not caused even the slightest harm to living beings. Since these trainees of mine cannot be guided by peaceful means, I display emanated instruments that punish emanated victims. What do the two of you want?’

They replied, ‘We just want to go home.’

He said, ‘Well then, fill your bags with sand and lie on them.’ They did as they were told and found themselves at the opening of a rock cave in Khotan. At sunrise, the sand turned into gold.

If the two novice monks had not developed misconceptions toward the king in the beginning, they would have attained the supreme attainment of mahamudra, yet they achieved nothing in their lifetime apart from that attainment. However, it is said that they attained the state of unadorned arhats in the next birth.

—Second Panchen Lama

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288 viewsJul 28, 2024 at 11:01

Two novice monks in Khotan meditated on Venerable Manjushri for twelve years but failed to receive a vision of him. They lamented, ‘Arya Manjushri’s compassion is too feeble,’ whereupon Venerable Manjushri appeared in space and informed them that they had no karmic connection with him. He told them that Avalokiteshvara was residing in the Land of Snows where he had taken birth as Songtsen Gampo and advised them to go there.

When they arrived in Tibet, they saw heads, arms and legs that had been chopped off lying in the lower valley of Tolung as a result of punishments dealt out by the king and also walls of heads, heaps of eyeballs and torture chambers of arms and legs within the tents in Denbak. They thought, ‘That Manjushri must be a mara. What is he an emanation of? This king is a murderer.’

Thinking that, they prepared to leave. The king summoned them before him, removed his headdress to reveal Amitabha and spoke, ‘I am the Avalokiteshvara of Tibet. You do not have to be afraid.’

They asked, ‘Well, is the killer of all of these living beings Avalokiteshvara, the Great Compassionate One?’

He replied, ‘Since coming to power, I have not caused even the slightest harm to living beings. Since these trainees of mine cannot be guided by peaceful means, I display emanated instruments that punish emanated victims. What do the two of you want?’

They replied, ‘We just want to go home.’

He said, ‘Well then, fill your bags with sand and lie on them.’ They did as they were told and found themselves at the opening of a rock cave in Khotan. At sunrise, the sand turned into gold.

If the two novice monks had not developed misconceptions toward the king in the beginning, they would have attained the supreme attainment of mahamudra, yet they achieved nothing in their lifetime apart from that attainment. However, it is said that they attained the state of unadorned arhats in the next birth.

—Second Panchen Lama

BY Atisha’s Lamp