Buddhism

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03fa11c3.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="08490e80.jpg" border=0 width="144" height="232" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> White Tara<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > is associated with the use of the clairvoyant third eye which is shown on her forehead.  She offers protection to beings who are crossing the ocean of existence.  She is said to be white and radiant as a thousand full moons. She is often depicted as the consort of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of compassion.</FONT></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CC00" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Online Journal of the I Ching, Yi Jing</B></FONT>     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CCCC66" FACE="Arial" >|   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Online Journal of the I Ching, Yi Ji"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> <IMG SRC="03ef4010.gif" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Buddhism</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="2548caa0.gif" border=0 width="140" height="170" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#33FFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Princess Wen Cheng Brings Buddhism to Tibet</B></FONT><B>  </B> </div> <bR> <bR> <div>        The picture (below) shows <B>Lao Erh</B> or <B>Lao Tze</B> after he has taken the family name of Li and taking life from the fruit of the Li tree.  The fruit represents immortality. <B>The eye of the deer shows that the eye is sacred to Li (hexagram 30) and is the path to higher attainments. </B> In earlier times the fruit was the plum because "Erh" means "plum," in later times the immortal fruit became an apricot or a peach. </div> <div>       The mountain the stream are a pictorial representation of the <B>Pao P'u Tzu</B>, a sacred text dealing with the attainment of immortality.  This picture from the 14th Century probably came to Tibet when princess Wen Cheng, also known as Hun-shin Kun-ju,  of the Tang Dynasty (left)  married the Tibetan King Songsten Gambo in the 635 A. D. </div> <div>    <IMG SRC="24c638d0.jpg" border=0 width="99" height="141" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   She, along with Atisha (10th Century) is credited with bringing Buddhism and Taoism to Tibet.   Princess Wen Cheng, a devout Buddhist, is deified as White Tara but not much is known about her contributions to Tibetan Buddhism .  However, she  brought Buddhism to Tibet about 500 years before Atisha, if records are accurate.   (Tibetan lineages trace the beginning of Buddhism in Tibet to the Princess and Atisha .)   It is likely that her retinue had highly realized Buddhist and Taoist teachers. Another great Buddhist adept, Nagarjuna is said to have visited China about 100 years before the Princess' birth.  His teachings on the quick path to enlightenment by the practice of compassion for living things electrified the ancient world.  Nagarjuna's teachings created the Mayahana or Greater Vehicle school of Buddhism. Buddhism flourished in China during those times. Although uses of the Book of Changes had declined with the flourishing of Buddhism, the I Ching became an underground part of Taoist thought.  Talismans of the I Ching symbol were popular among the common folk and a secret brotherhood existed to keep the I Ching alive.   Her retinue must have included llamas,  diviners, astrologers, and healers.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="183e1390.gif" border=0 width="225" height="313" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> This picture  represents immortality and longevity and is used in sacred Tibetan rituals "O<I>fferings to the Spiritual Guide</I>."  The picture  does not do justice to the original in which the eyes of both deer as especially prominent . The <B>eye</B> is a symbol of the clairvoyant or third eye and represents high spiritual attainment and the method for achieving it.  The deer is the foremost Taoist emblem of beauty and longevity. The deer is said to be the only animal that can find the holy linghzi funguses of immortality. The deer is also the secret symbol of Li, Hexagram 30.  Many woman adepts will first "travel" via dreams into the body of a deer and will then accept the deer as a totem.   The crane is not only a symbol of longevity but is the preferred vehicle of travel for Immortals using the clairvoyant techniques suggested by the Eye.  See <A HREF="the_page_of_li__the_middle_daughter.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hexagram 30"><U><I>P'ao Pu T'zu.</I></U></A></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Lao Erh or Lao Tze sitting under the tree of his clan</div> <div> (ancient Tibetan picture)</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="midaughter_s_i_ching.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Online Journal of the I Ching"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>