The Bodhisattva Manjushri
MANJUSHRI INSTITUTE OF BUDDHIST STUDIES
The Manjushri Institute of Buddhist Studies was established to organize and host opportunities for serious study and practice of the Buddha Dharma in the Indo-Tibetan-Mongolian tradition. It provides access to teachers from the great monastic learning centers of India and Asia as well as the growing community of western Buddhist scholars and yogis, to benefit students at all levels, through short retreats and regular programs of study and practice.
Generosity is a key element of Buddhist practice and the Manjushri Institute works to support young students, monks, nuns and Buddhist institutions of learning in Asia and the U.S. The Manjushri Institute is a non-profit organization incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To join or be added to our e-mail list please contact taupier@earthlink.net or call Rick Taupier, Institute Coordinator, at 413-230-1262.
On The Mind of Enlightenment
Bodhichitta, the awakening mind, in brief is said to have two aspects: first, aspiring, bodhicitta in intention; then active bodhicitta, practical engagement.
Wishing to depart and setting out upon the road, this is how the difference is known. The wise and learned understand this difference, which is ordered and progressive.
Bodhichitta in intention bears rich fruit for those still wandering in samsara. Yet a ceaseless stream of merit does not flow from it; for this alone rises from active bodhichitta.
For when, with irreversible intent, the mind embraces bodhichitta, willing to set free the endless multitudes of beings, at that instant, from that moment on,
A great and unremitting stream, a strength of wholesome merit, even during sleep and inattention, rises equal to the vastness of the sky.
Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara, Chapter I, Verses 15 - 19
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On The Wisdom of Emptiness
Should an ordinary person hear about voidness and experience a surge of great joy such that the eyes become moist and the hairs of the body stand on end, such a person has the seed of the mind of complete enlightenment.
That person is a vessel to whom suchness, the truth perceived by the holy ones, should be revealed.
In such a person the virtues that follow upon hearing about voidness will arise: they will always adopt a perfect moral discipline and adhere to it, bestow gifts, devote themselves to compassion and cultivate patience.
In order to liberate beings they will completely dedicate all wholesome deeds to awakening and pay respect to the complete bodhisattvas.
Such as person who is skilled in the ways of the profound and the vast will progressively achieve the spiritual level of Great Joy.
From Chandrakirti's Guide to the Middle Way adapted from the translation by Stephen Batchelor.
Prayer to the Bodhisattva Manjushri
I bow down to you, my Guru and protector, venerable Manjushri, whose intellect shines brilliantly like the sun, unclouded by the two obscurations.
I bow to you who holds a text to your heart, showing that you see all objects as they appear and as they actually exist; who, like a father toward a child, teaches in 60 melodious ways all beings tormented by suffering and confused by darkness and ignorance in the prison of samsara.
I bow to you whose dragon-like proclamations awaken us from the sleep of our defilements and free us from the shackles of karma; to you who holds a sword to dispel the darkness of ignorance and cut the sprouts of suffering, wherever they are.
I bow to you who is pure from the beginning, has reached the limits of the tenth stage, whose qualities are spontaneously perfected and whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks; to you who dispels the darkness of my mind and makes all possible.
OM AH RA PA SA NA DHI DHI DHI DHI DHI DHI..........
Oh compassionate Manjushri, I ask that you dispel the darkness of my ignorant mind with the radiant light of your wisdom so that I may fully realize the meaning of all the Buddha's teachings. I ask for your courage and insight so that I too may perceive directly the nature of reality.
RECENT AND UP-COMING PROGRAMS
September through December of 2007
Tashi Lungpo Khen Rinpoche, Geshe Lobsang Tsetan, taught three session between October 9 and 27 on Refuge in the Three Jewels and the Vows of Bodhisattvas. On the 27th Rinpoche gave both Refuge and Bodhisattva vows to those who requested them.
Our bi-monthly Study Group on Tsongkhapa's Great Stages of the Path began on November 1 and will meet every other Thursday until summer of 2008. The Study Group is open to all MIBS members. Please join us if interested.
Glenn Mullin and the Mongolian Lama, Kuntu Zangpo will give two talks and an afternoon workshop November 15, 16 and 17. They are entitled:
On Pilgrimage: The Sacred Sites of Tibet and Mongolia Thursday, Nov. 15, 4 p.m.
Mongolia’s Rebirth: Religion, Culture and Politics Friday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m.
Mongolian Buddhism: An Informal Exploration
Saturday, Nov. 17, 1 p.m.
Please follow the above link to Scheduled Programs for location and other details.
Monglian Maitreya Festival
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Manjushri Institute of Buddhist Studies
25 North Main St. New Salem, MA 01355
Annual Membership Dues: Supporting Members - $75
Regular Members - $25 ** Student/Senior Members - $15
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Interested in Beautiful Thangkas?
Follow this link to the Tibet Shop. Ten percent of any purchase goes to the support of the Manjushri Institute of Buddhist Studies. Many of the thangka images on our web site have come from the Tibet Shop.
White Tara
A 8 x 10 giclee print of this White Tara thangka is available to those who make a $50 donation plus $4 for shipping on behalf of the Jamyang Foundation for Buddhist Women. The print is set in an 11" x 14" mat and ready for framing.