Advanced Samantabhadra Mandala Meditation

The Mandala of SamantabhadraAppendix One: The 12 Treasuries on the Clock

(copyright Dale Goodyear 2011

d_good_year@hotmail.com)

Note: This is an advanced meditation, something a few may choose to try.

After we are comfortable meditating on the 4 Treasuries on the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock lines of the

Mandala, we can further understand that each Bodhisattva rules a quadrant, or one-fourth, of the clock.

Manjushri rules 12, 1, and 2 o'clock;

Medicine King rules 3, 4, and 5 o'clock;

Samantabhadra rules 6, 7, and 8 o'clock;

Medicine Lord rules 9, 10, and 11 o'clock.

The rest of the 12 Treasuries fit on these lines.

For Manjushri:

12 - Treasury of the Buddha's Body (Fo Shen Zang)

1 - Treasury of Bright Light (Guang Ming Zang)

2 - Treasury of Merciful Compassion (Ci Bei Zang)

For Medicine King:

3 - Treasury of the Wonderful Dharma (Miao Fa Zang)

4 - Treasury of Meditative Concentration (Chan Ding Zang)

5 - Treasury of Shunyata [or Creative Emptiness, Potential Space] (Xu Kong Zang)

For Samantabhadra:

6 - Treasury of Fearlessness (Wu Wei Zang)

7 - Treasury of Wonderful Speech (Miao Yu Zang)

8 - Treasury of Eternal Abiding (Chang Zhu Zang)

For Medicine Lord:

9 - Treasury of Freedom (Jie Tuo Zang)

10 - Treasury of the King of Healing (Yao Wang Zang)

11 - Treasury of Spiritual Penetrations (Shen Tong Zang)

That completes the traditional 12 named in the Dharani Sutra. From my own meditation I have added

3 more that relate to Vairocana in the center of the Mandala.

For VAIROCANA:

Treasury of "As-You-Will" (Ru Yi Zang)

Treasury of Letting Go (Song Shou Zang)

Treasury of Letting "God" (Song Shen Zang)

Why 3 ? Because the first ("As-You-Will" or "Wish-Fulfilling") relates to the Heart chakra. Then the

second goes deeper, into the 8-petaled chakra sometimes called the "Secret Heart Chamber". The third

goes deeper still, to a chakra that specifically relates to Vairocana as the central Dhyani-buddha and

then radiates out to chakras in the two palms and two feet which are governed by the other 4 Dhyani-

buddhas, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi. [I have meditations for those

chakras using Kuan Yin's saving powers; I will eventually post them in an article.]

The Chinese word Song has several meanings that relate back to Samantabhadra. The syllable can

actually be a variation of his seed-syllable. You can read some of the meanings for Song near the end

of my booklet The Purple Tao of Kuan Yin.

The final Treasury Song Shen itself has 3 meanings, depending on the character used. The primary

meaning is "Spirit"; but Shen can also mean "Body" (of the Buddha--Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya,

Nirmanakaya--even Vajrakaya), and it can mean "Smile". These 3 hark back to the 3 Dantian or

"Elixir-fields"--upper, lower, and middle; and the Smile is what shines out from our Heart as we are set

Free through this Mandala of Samantabhadra!

The Three Treasures

神神神神Shen(Spirit)

哂哂哂哂Shen(Smile)

身身身身Shen(Body)

(Even though I am publishing this as an Appendix today, there is much more to be said about the 4

Bodhisattvas and the 12 Treasuries around the clock of Samantabhadra's mandala; and I expect to add

to this and re-publish at time goes by.)