The Light of Wisdom

The Light of Wisdom

Praise to Mañjuśrī

by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Namo mañjuśriye!

I bow to Mañjuśrī, the buddha before all buddhas,
Possessor of the single unblemished eye of wisdom,
Who penetrates to the core of the subtlest particles,
Master of the animate and inanimate, existence and peace.

I bow to the one who is a parent to all beings,
The father who begets all the noble śrāvakas,
Pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas and buddhas,
And who has a wisdom body and displays youthfulness.

I bow to the one whose single body is as vast as space,
Whose single voice reaches throughout saṃsāra and nirvāṇa,
Whose single mind is the self-arisen wisdom deity Mānjuśrī,
And who constitutes the life-force of all beings.

In nature and extent, the victorious ones and their heirs
Are none other than emanations of Mañjuśrī himself;
There is not so much as a particle that is otherwise.
I bow to your infinite three secrets, vast and profound.

Sometimes you are at the centre and sometimes in the retinue
Of the inconceivable maṇḍalas of peaceful and wrathful deities.
Yet whatever manifestations appear, be they lesser or supreme,
All are Mañjuśrī’s display—to which I bow.

As millions upon millions of light rays stream forth
From the limitless play of your form and your mantra,
They purify the ordinary world and inhabitants into suchness.
To the one who manifests as the nature of clear light, I bow.

For all those haunted by the darkness of delusion
Even a partial vision of your enlightened form
Or contact with the blessed king of vidyā mantras
Is enough to bestow supreme intelligence—to you I bow.

To you whose terrifying red and black forms as a wrathful king
Destroy the malicious and unruly arrogant spirits,
The mind’s three poisons that have evolved into rudras,
Like a blaze consuming hay and straw, I bow.

To Mañjuśrī, who is the great web of illusion;
To Mañjuśrī, who timelessly abides in the three times,
And for whom coming and remaining are mere verbal elaboration;
To Vajra Mañjuśrī, the equality of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, I bow.

Through this praise, may the sun of Mañjuśrī
Cause the lotus of our intelligence to bloom,
So we may apply correct fourfold understanding
To the teachings of the Tathāgatas in their entirety.

Throughout our lives, may we always be guided
By the Mañjughoṣa guru along the path to liberation.
May we perfect the oceanic conduct of the bodhisattvas
And awaken into the nature of Mañjuśrī’s four kāyas.

Thus, Jampal Gawé Gocha wrote this on the morning of the twenty-third day of the eleventh month in the Water Dragon year during a Drolö recitation retreat.

| Translated by by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Khyentse Foundation and Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2021.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros. "'jam dpal bstod pa ye shes snang ba/" in 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum. 12 vols. Bir: Khyentse Labrang, 2012. W1KG12986. Vol. 2: 369–370

Version: 1.0-20211217