Introduction to Manjushri:
The Creative Expression of Wisdom
by
Rob Preece
In 1976 a small group of around eight of us bought a large building in the Lake District of the UK. That summer, once we had made the building safe enough to inhabit by supporting large rotting joists so that the roof would not collapse, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived to spend two weeks with us, teaching. Lama Yeshe brought with him a woman called Dora Kalff, a Jungian analyst from Switzerland, who specialised in what is called “sand play therapy”. During his stay Lama Yeshe gave an initiation into the deity Manjushri and then spent about two weeks teaching a commentary to the practice. When he was not teaching, Dora Kalff would teach on aspects of Jungian psychology and Lama would attend. When he subsequently returned to teach the Manjushri tantra, his talks were augmented by all kinds of references to Jung’s views. He was gradually bringing together two ways of seeing the practice of tantra that became the root of what was, for me, to be the journey of the next 50 years.
As Lama was teaching the Manjushri tantra it became increasingly apparent to me that there were many nuances to this practice that are not always explicit until we are guided into them. There are subtle elements coming together that aren’t always obvious until one begins to understand the nature of Manjushri in more depth. I have often felt there is a rather narrow view of Manjushri as the deity primarily associated with wisdom and the intellect, one that does not recognise a much richer and broader relationship to his nature. Manjushri is conventionally seen as one of three deities that embody primary aspects or qualities of a bodhisattva, namely compassion, wisdom and power. Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) is considered to be the deity associated with compassion, Manjushri with wisdom and Vajrapani with power.
While Manjushri is generally associated with wisdom, this is something of an anomaly. If we take the two primary aspects of wisdom and skilful means, or of wisdom and compassion, that are present within the Buddha’s teachings, in the tantric tradition wisdom is usually associated with the feminine principle. The deities that embody wisdom are consistently female, such as Prajñāpāramitā and in the higher tantras the dakinis like Vajrayogini. So why do we have Manjushri, a male deity, associated with wisdom? There is a reason, which is not, however, immediately obvious. We could say that what Manjushri embodies is the expression of wisdom, not wisdom itself. Manjushri, particularly at the time of the Buddha, also seems to be a figure that communicates wisdom.
In the West in particular, we have a huge amount of knowledge. We have accumulated vast amounts of information and expertise in areas such as science, psychology, politics and economics, but it is sometimes difficult to see whether that knowledge is based in wisdom. Knowledge may give us great insights into the material world, technology, medicine and so on, but not always the wisdom to know how to apply this in a skilful and beneficial way. We could say that the basis of this knowledge is our intellectual and conceptual mind, and there would seem to be no end to its extraordinary diversity and complexity. It has enabled remarkable technological advances as well as progress in the development of physics and the natural sciences. Something this intellectual and conceptual mind can miss, however, is the underlying depth of wisdom that comes from a relationship to a deeper nature of mind. In the West, even in the world of psychology, we are still relatively limited in our actual understanding of the nature of mind or consciousness. As a result, our capacity for intellectual knowledge is vast, but we are not very good at experiencing deeper wisdom. We tend not to root that knowledge in the deeper understanding of the nature of reality and the innate nature of our mind. That’s not to say it isn't possible for knowledge to be rooted in deeper wisdom. But when there is a disjuncture, our knowledge remains a relative truth, not one rooted in a deeper insight into the ultimate or true nature of reality, into the realisation of emptiness. Even within Buddhism some schools emphasise the intellectual understanding of wisdom that does not easily translate into direct experience.
What Manjushri embodies is the capacity to abide deeply in our wisdom nature and to then translate that into some form of manifest expression. He represents on one level that creative process that lies particularly within the world of writing and communication. The metaphor I sometimes think of is that he has his feet in the deep water of wisdom but he is manifesting in the world. Manjushri is a kind of bridge of wisdom, a way of expressing a deeper experience in some form of communication.
Manjushri has been particularly connected to certain very evolved Tibetan lamas whose primary task was communication. Often the leading lamas of the different traditions were said to be either in direct communication with Manjushri as their guru or considered to be an embodiment of him. Their role required deep insight into the experience of Buddhist teachings, translating that into language through teaching and the composition of texts and commentaries. Within the Nyingma tradition, for example, one of the most significant figures is Longchenpa who was said to be associated with Manjushri. The head of the Sakya tradition, Sakya Trizin, is considered to be the embodiment of Manjushri. The founder of the Gelug tradition, Lama Tsongkhapa, is said to have had direct guidance from Manjushri.
There are therefore within the Tibetan tradition examples of significant lamas that have held a particular role as communicators. They were teachers and composers of written texts and sadhanas, often in beautifully poetic form. They were often considered to be great intellects who expressed their knowledge through writing, seeing Manjushri as their muse, guide and inspiration. They were great visionaries, poets and composers who were dedicated to being a vehicle for that creative process to take place. They exemplified how we can touch the depth of our wisdom nature and begin to bring that into expression through various creative processes as a means of communication. That is where Manjushri particularly stands out as an archetypal manifestation of the bodhisattva of wisdom transformed into creative expression and communication.
When I first began to discover Manjushri, these historical connections biased my understanding. I saw him primarily as a deity that refined and clarified the intellect, and the understanding of Madhyamaka philosophy revered particularly within the Gelug tradition. We see him seated holding in his left hand the “perfection of wisdom sutra”, the Prajñāpāramitā. But something in me wondered whether there were other aspects of Manjushri that were not so obvious. I felt very drawn to Manjushri but not as someone who was particularly intellectual or who was so inclined. When Lama Yeshe taught this practice he would emphasise how we could clarify and sharpen our mind to overcome confusion and mental dullness or fogginess. But he also emphasised how this applied to every aspect of our life where we needed a quick mind capable of imaginative and innovative ways of expression.
I found it interesting that Manjushri is sometimes seen as a deity associated with the arts and as an inspiration for artists and poets. His consort is considered to be the female deity Saraswati, depicted in paintings playing a vina, who is also seen as the patron of the arts and music. She is sometimes called Vak Devi, the goddess of voice, who is endowed with a beautiful singing voice. Manjushri is also connected to the voice; his name Manjugosha means gentle voice, endowed with the power of communication.
For me Manjushri or Manjugosha has become the embodiment of the power of communication not just through speech and not just in the classical sense of one who teaches the Dharma – rather the power of communication that comes from the depth of our being to communicate our knowledge wisdom in whatever way benefits others. Manjushri is not just the buddha of wisdom but is actually the bodhisattva of communication.
In what I write here I have drawn on key attributes that Manjushri embodies. One is the link to a depth of wisdom and insight into our true nature and the nature of reality. A second is the capacity to then express this in the form of refined and subtle communication. A third is that he has been seen as the patron of the arts and, as such, has sometimes played a role as a kind of muse for the creative process.
In my own relationship to Manjushri over many years I have felt the significance of his presence as an inspiration for the creative process in my role as a thangka painter but also as a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. In my own spiritual and psychological journey Manjushri has always been there in the background, and as this has unfolded I feel aspects of his nature have emerged that were never apparent in the teachings I had originally received. It has felt like a journey of discovery and the gradual revelation of something that has always been both mysterious and inspirational. Because, from the early days, my path has combined my Jungian psychology background with my practice of the tantric tradition, I feel this has contributed to a gradual awareness of the qualities of Manjushri as an aspect of our deeper archetypal nature. As my relationship to this archetypal source has evolved, it spoke to me of the meaning of his manifestation and what this can bring into our lives. This took me into territory that maintained the essence of wisdom coming into communication in the relative world, but not as I would have originally conceived it to be. In my exploration I began to see that Manjushri embodies a creative dynamic that is present in so much of what we do in our life wherever wisdom comes into expression. I began to understand what it meant for him to be an inspiration of the arts and muse to many eminent poets and composers. As I began to look more deeply into the dynamic of my own psychological struggle, particularly in relation to creativity and communication, I also saw in Manjushri an extraordinary resolution to the contradictory aspects of my own creative nature. This was a conflict I especially experienced between the side of my nature that was often full of dreams and visions and the need to bring this into a more embodied material expression. Although I hesitate to use this language as a Buddhist, I could say it was about how we bring spirit into matter.
What I am writing here is a reflection of my journey of discovery and of the love and devotion I have felt towards Manjushri in that process. I have sometimes wondered why it has taken me so long to publish this particular book even though it was complete several years ago. On reflection I can see now that my relationship to Manjushri has been a deeply personal one. I feel I have experienced some of the deepest transformations through this practice in ways that were a complete revelation. I think this has led me to be somewhat hesitant to make what can feel like radical discoveries public. This is not a definitive explanation of the practice of Manjushri as laid down in texts and commentaries from the past. Instead I am attempting to reflect something of what has felt like an extraordinary discovery of the psychological nature of working with a practice of this kind. The practice of Manjushri addresses many of our psychological difficulties and wounds associated with communication and the expression of who we are in our life. Many of us struggle to be free of the fears and limitations we experience in our creative expression. Here is an exploration of what I have learned from working with a deity practice that has inspired me for many years and helped me in my own struggles and discoveries. If this is of value to others who may also feel inspired by a relationship to Manjushri, then I feel that is worthwhile.
Articles
