GOLDEN MANJUSHRI

GOLDEN MANJUSHRI-

WISDOM-“TO ENHANCE & TO INCREASE INTELLIGENCE AND WISDOM”

MANTRA: OM A RA PA CA NA DHIH 

Manjushri is viewed both as a historical Bodhisattva, and as an emanation of Vairochana, ("Berotsana," Tibetan: nangpar nangdze, Jap.: Dainichi Nyorai) the primordial white Buddha that is compared to the sun -- his nature is "everywhere-pervading."  He manifests as a Bodhisattva to provoke investigation into such topics as Emptiness (or, void-ness,) free will, and the nature of the self.

Manjushri the supreme deity, a fully enlightened being, has made the commitment for the benefit of sentient beings, to manifest as a Buddha activity, in the form of a Bodhisattva, until samsara is empty. He chooses to appear as a Bodhisattva even though he has fully attained enlightenment, because only someone who has already attained the stages of the realization can expound the profound meaning of the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Ordinary people do not understand the profound meaning of the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni unless a realized being explains them. Manjushri is one of eight Bodhisattvas who have taken on the responsibility to explain the limitless teachings of the Buddha, both sutras and tantric, and to demonstrate their complete and accurate meaning. Manjushri, the wisdom aspect, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, makes the teachings clear and increases our own understanding of him, so increasing our own wisdom. [...] excerpt from page 1 of Teaching on Manjushri, Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche.