A crowd gathers for an empowerment ceremony in Khyungpo, Tibet
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Essence Mantra of the Yungdrung Bon
Stones containing mantra are often placed in stone walls around a village. This is one of the three heart mantras of the Yungdrung Bön tradition.
AH KAR A MÉ DU TRI SU NAK PO ZHI ZHI MAL MAL SOHA.
A Time for Increasing Luck
The Full Moon is a time when energies are naturally rising. This is an auspicious time to perform virtue such as spiritual practice, making sacred offerings, visiting sacred places, giving to charity, or protecting the lives of other beings. It is also an ideal time to engage in activities that will strengthen and increase one’s positive qualities and good luck such as raising prayer flags, bringing sacred or precious things into the home, or performing smoke offerings. Here, a group in Tibet uses wind-horse papers which are printed with mantra and prayers for good luck and good health. By tossing them into the sky, it is believed that the energy of the mantras and prayers are activated and will lift one’s energy of luck, vitality, personal power and prosperity.
The Five Elements: Water
The element of Water is called chu in Tibetan. It is symbolized by the shape of a circle and its color is blue. The unique vibration of this element is the sound ‘MANG’. It is associated with the direction South. In general, Water provides joy and comfort.
Environmentally, our dependence upon the element of Water is evidenced by the value placed upon its ‘ownership’ by principalities and governments. Civilizations have been founded upon the availability of water for agriculture, travel, trade and fishing. Dependent upon this resource for the health of their citizens as well as their commerce, civilizations have also fallen when access to water became restricted for various reasons. In the Yungdrung Bön tradition, it is believed that one of the spirits who live in water is called lu, also referred to as naga. These lu also live in trees and rocks, but are primarily associated with water. Frogs and many other water inhabitants are thought to be used by the lu as their domestic animals. The lu realm and the human realm are thought to be in continuous relationship with one another. In ancient times, accomplished lamas, as well as the Buddha himself, taught the sacred teachings to the lu. Therefore, among this group of beings, there are followers of the Buddha who act to protect the teachings. However, just like any group of beings, there are those among the lu who have less compassion and patience with the actions of humanity that cause damage and destruction to their environment. Because of this, there are rituals and prayers specifically for apologizing to the lu, purifying the damage that we have caused, and thereby pacifying their grievances against us.
Within our bodies, the element of Water rules our blood. More specifically, it is associated with the kidneys. When the element of Water is balanced within us, we feel comfort with ourselves, happy and contented with our life. Our emotions are balanced and there is joy in our spiritual practice rather than it being a dry, intellectual exercise. If Water is in excess, we can be lost in our comfort and lack the energy to be productive. We can become too fixated on pleasure and enjoyment. Or we can be lost in our emotions, making our decisions based solely upon the ebb and flow of our moods. To the extreme, we spend the day either weeping or laughing. If the Water element has become weakened, we are uncomfortable with ourselves and others. We do not feel content or happy with whatever is happening around us. We constantly feel unsatisfied.
In order to bring the element of Water back into balance, there are methods such as Tibetan medicine, ritual and meditation practices. There are specific yogic exercises within the Yungdrung Bön tradition which use the focus of the mind together with the breath and movement of the physical body to balance and strengthen the elements within us. To learn more about these yogic exercises see Healing with Form, Energy and Light by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Additionally, if the Water element has become weakened, we can spend time near a river, stream or ocean and focus upon experiencing the feeling of the water in the body and energy. Literally, drink more water. But do so with the awareness that this is restoring strength to your Water element. Practice being more generous with your time and with your possessions. Take advantage of opportunities in which you can offer even a little kindness to those with whom you come into contact. If the Water element is in excess, focus less on your own comfort and focus more upon improving the comfort of others who are less fortunate or who have less capacity to do this for themselves. When the element of Water is balanced within us, we can maintain joyful effort in our daily activities and feel happiness, satisfaction and gratitude in our lives.
The Second Way: Rituals of Protection and Healing
Ritual Sang, or fumigation offering. Photo by Chamma Ling Colorado
The second of the Nine Ways of Bön is called The Way of the Shen of the Phenomenal World and includes rituals for communicating with external forces such as rituals of protection, ransom of the soul and life-force, and expelling negative or harmful forces. It is called ‘Phenomenal’ because it deals with phenomena that are visible and real for us. As in all of the Nine Ways, the basis for everything is compassion.
The texts of the Yungdrung Bön tradition include many details about the categories of unseen spirits and the specific kinds of harm and illness that they can cause for humans. In order to reverse these kinds of interferences and obstacles, the corresponding ritual needs to be performed to appease or turn back the unseen, external force. In general, there are four categories of rituals in the Second Way: rituals for exorcism or turning back negativity, rituals for the spirits known as dré and si, rituals for ransoming the soul, and rituals of the masters.
Rituals of Exorcism: These rituals have the immediate effect of reversing the direction of whatever harmful energy or force that is directed towards us. In some instances, it is more accurately a cleansing rather than an exorcism because it directly involves the removal of the pollution or defilement created by negative actions or circumstances. Because humans engage in activities which are impure, they create a basis for negativity. This leads to a disturbance of both the positive external spirits as well as lower kinds of spirits who become angry and seek revenge in response to harmful, human activity. In general, there are twelve different kinds of exorcism. One of the most commonly practiced rituals within this Second Way is the Sang, also called Lha Sang. This ritual uses fumigation with smoke to cleanse the impurities caused by humanity. This ritual is commonly performed in the early morning on hilltops on auspicious days. From the Offering of Sang to Local Spirits and Guardians:
“Having satisfied you with these offerings, do not send contagious illnesses, shortages of food, fighting or arguments, frost or hail to our crops, lightning or loss of property, human illness or illness to our animals. Act as a friend and give us the strength and power of your support.”
Rituals for the Dré and Si: The dré and si are two different classes of negative spirits who delight in causing harm to others. It is said that these negative spirits came into being at the first moment of phenomenal existence and that they reside at the center of the Earth. Among other things, they have the power to cause sudden accidents, create wars between nations and spread epidemics. These rituals are primarily concerned with offering gifts of appeasement and ways of subduing them.
Rituals of Ransom: The enlightened Lord Tönpa Shenrap Miwoché defined ‘ransom’ as the exchange of two things. In these rituals, elaborate offerings are given to the offending spirits as a ransom for the soul, life-span or vital life-force of an individual. There are many kinds of ransom rituals, but in general they fall into one of three categories: 1) ransom for men, 2) ransom for women, and 3) ransom for children. The ritual preparation, offerings and performance are quite specific and elaborate and can take many days.
During the ransom ritual, the effigy of a deer holding a long-life arrow is most often used to represent the soul of the patient.
Rituals of the Masters: In general, these rituals are of four types: 1) making offerings to the powerful but worldly gods, 2) offering to the powerful spirits who live in the atmosphere, 3) offering to the guardians, and 4) pacifying the spirits of the land, trees, water and rocks. These rituals specify appropriate offerings for each type of spirit and the proper method for giving the offering. In this way, a harmonious relationship with the spirits is maintained and suffering and obstacles towards humans are averted or resolved.
Raven Cypress Wood ©2013
Nine Ways 