arica04/19/02 at 10:31:22#1
Hi, dance, lyciss,
I dig out the Kitisargarbhva Bardo Ceremony praying procedure and translated the Names of the Seven Honoured Buddhas.
They are the row of Seven Buddhas often found right on the highest shelf on the altar of most TBS temples.
I saw them at the Seattle's Lei Zang Si.
Phew...thanks goodness i am not wrong, Shayamuni Buddha is not of the Seven but our well-known Amitabha Buddha is. :)
We often chant the names of these Seven Honoured Buddhas
during a Bardo Deliverance Ceremony for the spirits.
I translated the names of the 7 Buddhas and their Merits as below :
1) Namo Much Treasure Buddha ( dou bao ru lie )
Those who hear the name will be able to get rid of their
karma of being stingy, they will gain endless fortune and
wealth to use accordingly to their wishes.
2) Name Treasure Auspicious Buddha ( bao sheng ru lie )
Those who hear the name being chant will have
the fire of their fatigue karma extinguished, their tireness dispersed and their persistent in the bad karma of greed got rid of. They will gain fortune and merit in the perfect state.
3) Namo Special Image Form Buddha ( Miao Shi Sheng Ru lie )
Those who hear the name of this buddha will not be ugly,
they will regain their full appearance ( even if they died of
terrible deaths which results in they being torn, burnt or in horrible appearances ). Their appearance will be perfect, solemn , auspicious. They become number one among the Heavenly Beings.
4) Namo Covering wide and far Body form Buddha ( kwang bo sheng ru lie )
Those who hear this name will help the hungry ghosts
to have their needle like throat karma fire disappeared.
The throats of the hungry ghosts will be broadened , they will feel refreshed throughout and whatever they eat will
taste good like the dharma dew.
5) Namo leaving the fear Buddha ( lee bu way ru lie)
Those who hear the name of this Buddha will enable the hearers to leave their fear forever, they will be in peace
and quietness frequently and they will leave the realm of
spirits.
6) Namo Amitabha Buddha ( Amitabha ru lie )
Those who hear the name of this Buddha, will enable the hearer to reach the land of Amitabha Buddha, to be reborn
in the lotus flower and never to be reincarnated again.
7) Namo Worldly Wide Great Powerful, Free, Bright Buddha ( shi jian kwang da zhi zai kwang ming ru lie )
Those who hear His name will have 5 merits : 1) He will be number 1 in the Samsara World 2) He will achieve the auspicous and solemn appearance of a Bodhisattva 3) He will surpass all the Heaven Maras, stray cultivation, and shine like the Sun , be as great as the Sea and achieve huge merits
4) He will be free like a bird, with great freedom and can go whereever he wishes to 5) He will achieve a very solid
wisdom brightness, his body will be transparent like
a pearl.
All the Buddha's disciples, ( including spirits ), the great vows of these 7 Buddhas will help to pull the suffering
Sentient Beings from their worries forever and rescue
them from the sufferings of the three realms. They will
be forever in peace and happiness. Once a name is being
chant, thousand lives will leave sufferings and achieve
the Supreme Way.
arica04/19/02 at 10:34:08#2Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translated
Each of the Seven Buddhas has their own mudra which we formed during the Bardo Deliverance Ceremony.
Those who hear ( refer to Buddhists who chant the name and the spirits who hear them when we chant ).
Most of us will have helped our ancestors, deceased family
members and spiritual debtors to take refuge in our Root Guru and all the Buddhas....so in a way, the spirits are
also considered as Buddhists in that sense. :)
Buddhafly04/19/02 at 16:31:43#3Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translatedWow Arica.
Thank you for such wonderful information!!
lian hua dance04/19/02 at 20:12:19#4Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translatedThank you too!
Well, my idea that each line of the "li po li po di" mantra is the name of one of the seven buddhas is harder to work with now - except that the first line sort of matches with Buddha # 5 - lee bu way. I am not sure what to make of the other six! Well, now I know who I see on the top row. I will become better acquainted.
So, Chinese readers, when you read the mantra in Chinese, is it only giving you phonetic clues, or are there clues to meanings in the "kanji" (I don't know the chinese term)?
dance
Lyciss04/19/02 at 23:26:48#5Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translated at the Seattle temple, are there really seven buddhas on the top row? why do i have such a strong feeling its only five? this has been bugging me... can someone set me strait... 5 or 7 and say 100% so i dont have to think about it anymore... lol
om mani padme hum
arica04/20/02 at 00:28:36#6Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translatedLyciss.....it is so easy for you to visit Seattle Temple and count the number of Buddhas up there, i have to spend
S$1800 for the airticket alone to go....sob...sob....
Please solve the riddle for us lah.... ;D
The Five Dhyani Buddhas represents the five Buddhas from
the five Directions and each of them has a different colour
category. When you visualise the colours together, they
form the rainbow colours, isn't it ?
I always can't remember who they are but i can visualise
the colours blessing and entering me easier. ^_^
Dance, the last part of the High King Sutra is a mantra and
as usual mantra is not meant to be understood in its word
form. :))
I think so far nobody has deciphered the meanings of that
mantra yet.
Lyciss04/20/02 at 14:17:03#7Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translated Ok, ill solve the riddle... but is anyone willing to make any wagers? lol i say its five... when i was there at the seattle temple i did quite a bit of exploring, Dance even asked me how many deities i could point out, and i said most of them i knew...
the reason i think that there are only five on the top row is due to colors... over their heads are canopies and each is a different color... 5 colors and i thought to myself, "Oh look its the five colors that are mentioned in the four preliminaries." under the canopies are the root syllables for each buddha...
i tried to examine and remember each of their mudras so later i could discover who each of them were but then later in a book that i have i discovered that the these 5 buddhas each had one of the five colors... a match! not only that but it showed their mudras but i still cant compair them because i cant remember their mudras...
the names in the book also match the names of the 5 Dhyani buddhas... in the book they refer to these five as the "family holders", Vairocana belongs to the Tathagata family, Akshobhya belongs to the Vajra family, Ratnasambhava belongs to the Ratna family, Amitabha belongs to the Padma family (lol us) and Amogasiddhi belongs to the Karma family... in same order as above ach also cover a direction, center, east, south, west and north...
here are also their seed syllables, OM, HUM, TRAM, HRIH and AH, their colors are white, blue, yellow, red and green...
they can also be depicted on a Vaha or vehicle (ie. mount) which are, lion or dragon, elephant, horse or lion, peacock, and harpy (Garuda)... it also says they have spiritual sons or otherwise known as Bodhisattvas, Samanthabhadra, Vajrapani, Ratnapani, Avalokitesvara and Visvapani...
it gives the name of their mudras, dharmachakra, bhumisparsa, varada, dhyana and abhaya... it also gives the meaning of their names, Illustrious, Imperturbable, Born from a jewel, Boundless Light and infallible success...
there is a bit more information about them but i figure i wont bore you with too much info... unless you want to know more then ill post it...
om mani padme hum
arica04/21/02 at 07:48:15#8Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translatedLyciss....more please :D
It is always good to read more and know more.
Thank you.
Lyciss04/21/02 at 11:57:48#9Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translated this is a continuation of the above info... the order of the information will follow the order of the Buddha's in this order, like above...
Vairocana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha and Amogasiddhi
aspect of the personality, consciousness, form, experience, discernment and confirmation...
negative enery (what they help with), spiritual blindness, rage, arrogance, passion, and envy...
Wisdom (types of wisdoms), universal truth, neutral perception, equality, insight, and completion...
element, ether, water, earth, fire, air...
Variocana: resides over the center and is seen as the combination of all the other Jinas, the "father". Often depicted with four faces, so that he can see in every direction... He is the incarnation of universal truth Dharma and is sometimes shown holding a Dharma wheel in meditation mudra...
Akshobhya: resides over the east is eternally imperturbable and wears the five-pointed crown which is often seen on the Jinas... sometimes shown with right hand touching the earth mudra and left hand holding a virtical vajra at waist level...
Ratnasambhava: resides over the south and is the personification of generosity... in his hands he holds Cintamani the jewel which fulfills every wish... but he does not only fulfill material needs, above all he bestows love on all that is living... sometimes shown with right palm facing out over right knee and left hand holds the wish-fulfilling jewel at waist level...
Amitabha: resides over the west and is the oldest of the Jinas from a historical point of view and the one who is most venerated... He is the incarnation of intuitive consciousness... sometimes shown in the meditation posture without the monks bowl...
Amogasiddhi: resides over the north and is the incarnation of the Buddha's practical wisdom which completes all workmanship... in his left hand he sometimes holds a visvavajra or a sword... sometimes shown with right palm held at chest level facing outward and left hand held flat at waist level...
thats all for now...
om mani padme hum
lian hua dance04/26/02 at 14:40:28#10Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translated :)
OK Lyciss, I think I win the wager. There are Seven Buddhas on the top row in Redmond.
Now, to pay up, you have to do an extreme amount of cultivation, and donate all the merit to me. What! You get benefit too! What kind of system is this!
In any case, I have a reply from someone who should know (at the temple translating all the time):
[my question] "AND, in case you are in the mood to provide mere information, who are the Buddhas on the top row, and how many are they? 5 or 7? If they are 5, I think I know who they are. If they are 7, then I am not so sure."
[her answer] >>"There are 7 Buddhas on the top row. From left to right, they're the Medicine Buddha, the five Buddhas, and Buddha Shakyamuni. The best way to differentiate them is from their mudras. At the temple, they have name tags, of course ;) "
lian hua dance
Last edited 04/26/02 at 14:44:49 by lian_hua_dance
Lyciss04/26/02 at 17:16:54#11Re: Who are the Seven Honoured Buddhas (translatedThank you Dance for clearing that up!
we all can sleep better at night now... lol
om mani padme hum