...White-robed Guanyin came to be seen as a child-granting deity. The power to grant children is attributed to the Baiyi Dashi Wu Yinxin Tuoluoni Jing白衣大士五印心陀罗尼經 [The Dhāraṇī Sūtra of White-Robed Guanyin's Heart of Five Seals]. The chanting of the dhāraṇī of the White-robed Guanyin was believed to lead to the miraculous arrival of a baby doubly wrapped in white placenta (baiyi zhongbao白衣重包), which indicated the gift from White-robed Guanyin. Miraculous powers of this scripture were reported between the twelfth and the seventeenth centuries. Literati living in the late Ming gave the cult of the White-robed Guanyin a new boost. Literatus 袁黃Yuan Huang (1533–1606) still had no heir by the age of forty. He started to chant the White-robed Guanyin’s scripture and soon became a father. He compiled a collection of texts to help people in obtaining...
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...Phạm Công Thiện June 1st 1941, Mytho, Vietnam March 8th 2011, Spring, Texas, USA "All conditioned Dharmas Are like Dreams, Illusions, Bubbles, Shadows, Like Dew Drops and a Lightning Flash: Contemplate them thus." Prajna Paramita Vajracchedika Sutra (Vajra or Diamond Sutra) Phạm Công Thiện left his body peacefully on March 8th 2011 in his home of Spring, Texas (USA). The famous Vietnamese mystic, poet, philosopher, novelist, translator, professor, scholar, mentor was 71 years old. Up to the end he kept his razor sharp mind and lifelong devotion to the teaching of the Buddha. His last words were to ask: « If you have any question on Dharma, I will answer now! Do you? » As his relatives could not find any question, he repeated once again: « If you have any question on Dharma, I will answer now! Do you? » No question was asked, and three minutes later his breath stopped. He had spent the previous hours in meditation, at times making mudras with his hands. Many auspicious signs suggestive of mastery over the dying process showed up later. For instance, immediately after his cremation, his children saw in the sky a cloud in the shape of a meditating Buddha or yogi. A multidimensional genius, he was both an artist well-known for his unique and flamboyant style, a polymath and versatile scholar, with encyclopaedic knowledge in wide ranging subjects (Buddhism, Western and Oriental philosophy, litterature and poetry of all countries, art, science, philology, linguistics...
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...Chapter 1. This is what I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the Jeta Grove, near the city of Sravasti. With him there was a community of 1,250 venerable monks and devoted disciples. One day before dawn, the Buddha clothed himself, and along with his disciples took up his alms bowl and entered the city to beg for food door to door, as was his custom. After he had returned and eaten, he put away his bowl and cloak, bathed his feet, and then sat with his legs crossed and body upright upon the seat arranged for him. He began mindfully fixing his attention in front of himself, while many monks approached the Buddha, and showing great reverence, seated themselves around him. Chapter 2. After a time a most venerable monk named Subhuti, who was sitting in the congregation, rose from his seat. He uncovered his right shoulder, placed his right knee on the ground, and as he joined his palms together he respectfully bowed and then addressed the Buddha: "Most Honored One, It is truly majestic how much knowledge and wisdom your monks and disciples have been given through your most inspired teachings! It is remarkable that you look after our welfare so selflessly and so completely." "Most Honored One, I have a question to ask you. If sons and daughters of good families want to develop the highest, most fulfilled and awakened mind, if they wish to attain the Highest Perfect Wisdom, what should they do to help quiet their drifting minds and help subdue...
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...The most widely known English translation of the Kama Sutra was privately printed in 1883. It is usually attributed to renowned orientalist and author Sir Richard Francis Burton, but the chief work was done by the pioneering Indian archaeologist, Bhagwanlal Indraji, under the guidance of Burton's friend, the Indian civil servant Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, and with the assistance of a student, Shivaram Parshuram Bhide.[16] Burton acted as publisher, while also furnishing the edition with footnotes whose tone ranges from the jocular to the scholarly. Burton says the following in its introduction: It may be interesting to some persons to learn how it came about that Vatsyayana was first brought to light and translated into the English language. It happened thus. While translating with the pundits the 'Anunga Runga, or the stage of love', reference was frequently found to be made to one Vatsya. The sage Vatsya was of this opinion, or of that opinion. The sage Vatsya said this, and so on. Naturally questions were asked who the sage was, and the pundits replied that Vatsya was the author of the standard work on love in Sanscrit[sic] literature, that no Sanscrit library was complete without his work, and that it was most difficult now to obtain in its entire state. The copy of the manuscript obtained in Bombay was defective, and so the pundits wrote to Benares, Calcutta and Jaipur for copies of the manuscript from Sanscrit libraries in those places. Copies having been obtained...
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...suffering: ignorance, egoism, attachment, hatred, and fear of death (1:3-9). He explains that these obstacles are caused by the ego. Although I understand and even find this to be true to some degree, I believe the ego is not all bad because it allows us to make choices and freedom of expression. In 2:29, Patanjali outlines the eight limb path which is made up of yama (the don’ts), niyamas (the do’s), asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (contemplation). Reading The Sutras for the first time, I really enjoy the yama’s (non-violence, truthfulness, non stealing, creative use of sexual energy, and non selfishness) and the niyamas (cleanliness, contentment, spiritual discipline, self study, and surrender to grace). I can easily identify where I try to follow and align these ethical rules in my life. One of my favorite sutras is when Patanjali describes the third limb (asana) of the eight fold path, sthira sukham asanam (2:46), “asana is a steady, comfortable posture” (Sri Swami Satchidananda). Asanam means posture or seat. It is the seat or position you take on or off your yoga mat. This position requires two aspects sthira and sukham. Sthira means strength, stability, and effort, and sukham meaning a sense of...
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...Meditation Meditation is the state achieved from intense concentration on a single object until all other thoughts vanish and all that is left is an intense awareness of the object and nothing else is there in mind for some time. Meditation is one of the Eight branches of yoga classified in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Called dhyana, meditation is considered the highest practice and is the final step before ultimate hapiness. Meditation definition: "meditation means sense withdrawl (pratyahara) and concentration (dharana), sustained into contemplation (dhyana), with the aim of triggering a super-conscious state (samadhi), which is one of intuitive realization of the identity of the individual soul or spirit and the cosmic soul or spirit." Benefits of meditation: Meditation helps reduce stress and anxiety, maintains blood pressure at normal levels, and improves concentrating abilities, clarity and improves creativity. - meditation calms the fluctuations of the mind. A simple way to do meditation: First, sit in a comfortable position, either on a chair or on the floor, with your back and head in a staright position parallel to each other in a straight line. Take a couple of deep breaths, which are called ujjayi pranayama or nadi shodhana. Close your eyes. Breathe easy through your nose. Focus on your breath - cool air in, warm air out. If the mind wanders about and it feels difficult to concentrate, gently bring it back to the breath. That's it. Start with...
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...The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Introduction, Commentaries, and Translation What are the Yoga Sutras and who is Patanjali? Over fifty different English translations of the Yoga Sutras are extant, standing as a human testament to how Universal Truth is celebrated in terms of a rich diversity. Rather than the common and external type of knowledge (emanating from book knowledge), the following translation and commentary are a result of an intimate familiarity and direct experience both with an authentic yogic tradition and with western culture, psychology, and language that has been refined, tested in fire, and integrated for over thirty five years of intense practice (sadhana). This work is dedicated toward revealing the universal message of authentic yoga that the sage, Patanjali, first wrote down approximately 2000 years ago. Patanjali is not the inventor of yoga, but rather yoga's most popularly known scribe. What has become known simply as the "Yoga Sutras" (sutra means thread) or almost equally as common, as the "Yoga Darshana" (the vision of Yoga), is actually a compendium of an ancient pre-existing oral yoga tradition consisting of both practical advice and theoretical context. The most accepted format of the Yoga Sutras consists of four chapters (called padas) written in the Sanskrit language approximately 2000 years ago in Northern India while utilizing the terminology of the time, i.e., Samkhya philosophical trappings. The dates ascribed to the Yoga Sutras...
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...Yamas, Niyamas, and Kleshas The yamas and niyamas were originally part of the “Yoga Sutras”. The “Yoga Sutras” are a series of short sentences through with the guru Sage Patanjali portrays his teachings. These short sentences are known to contain a great amount of wisdom. Sage Pantanjali conveys the steps through which even an ordinary person, like myself, can realize God. According to the Yoga Sutras, the yamas and niyamas are the first two steps in the eight - fold path of yoga. They are both eternal. The yamas and niyamas can always be applied to people’s lives. The eight steps or branches of Patanjali’s path are: yama and niyama (self-restraints and fixed rules to observe as the first steps to yoga), asana (postures/practices), pranayama (breathing practices), pratyahara (disconnection of the mind from the indriyas, or ten sensory organs), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (a state of superconsciousness). The five yamas are ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (abstinence from theft, honesty), brahmacharya (being established in divine consciousness), and, last but not least, aparigraha (non-possessiveness). The yamas are mainly qualities that the spiritual individual should have in order to communicate and interact with the outside world and the people in it, They are also self-restraints from performing actions of the weaker lower mind. The niyamas are the self-disciplinary qualities which are entirely devoted to helping...
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