to performing the SADHANAS, DHARANIS and PUJAS that call on different categories of the mighty PROTECTORS.
Air, the Waters, the Skies, the Goddesses of Long Life and of the Earth, and
pantheon of the Merit Fields. Tese protectors include the Lords of the
are usually part of the entourage of different Cosmic Buddhas that make up the vast
Tese Protectors are powerful beings and
the Lords of Horses. Each protector has different powers or is head of a
different group of spirits.
To understand the power of amulets, it is important to appreciate that around every pocket of space, there are varying groups of local deities. Tese deities each have distinct demonic powers, which bring damage of different kinds. Tey trigger epidemics such as dengue or SARS, and can cause a whole range of illnesses. Tey can instigate barbaric acts to take place, and can cause burglaries, violence and even death to occur. The Tibetans have classified a
vast variety of local deities, demons and personified forces of nature that bring negativities into one’s life. It is these wandering spirits that must be subdued, or at least appeased, to prevent them from harming the human residents who reside alongside them in their space. A nd
it is usua lly the
PROTECTORS who are the ones needed to appease these spirits. These Protectors help those of us who invoke them, either through reciting their mantras or wearing their amulets. Note that there are different names for the different types of spirits, and these spirits have a hierarchy of importance and rank. Many bring illnesses, some bring accidents, and
24 FENGSHUIWORLD | JUNE 2014
many more simply bring aggravations that include natural disasters such as floods, fires and earthquakes. Tey also cause major reversals of fortunes within families, creating hostilities to burst forth among family members and friends.
SPOOKY SPIRIT PETS In many of the countries of Asia - including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand - lower level spirits are actually reared by humans, who make their living as sorcerers. And these latter often use their adopted spirits to carry out their nefarious activities. When you wear amulets that include incantations to some powerful Protector, you can easily overcome the naughty tricks of these reared spirits, who often cause misfortune that is more aggravating than harmful. But when you are NOT protected, it is easy for you to fall prey to these naughty spirits! Tere are also harmful spirits that
live within us, that can cause our minds to get disturbed. These are usually seen as the origins to mental disturbances, and supposedly spirit possessions. In any year, when your Spirit Essence is low, you can succumb to the negativities caused by your own “inner demons”.
Te challenge in preparing some of these amulets has been trying to find modern equivalents of various plants, animal parts and herbs, often referred to as special substances, which need to be incorporated into the preparation rituals. Many of the amulet manuals
that have re-emerged out of Tibet are based on texts discovered by great Nyingmapa Treasure Finders (Tibetans call them Tertons). The Bon and Nyingma monasteries especially continue to use them to make woodblock-printed amulets that are consecrated and folded to be worn next to the body as protection, or pasted onto the walls of homes to protect its residents.
The texts advise that making
amulets from precious metals are superior. If written on paper, amulets should be carried inside leather or snake-skin pouches; but golden, silver
or copper comprise the best material for making or keeping amulets. Amulets are usually drawn onto
circular pieces of metal. Te circular shape distracts all spirits, as this is the shape of the moon in all its full moon glory. Te circular shape also reflects the brilliant power of the Sun, and indeed any symbol that shows this brilliance is said to contain incredible power to attract all good! Around the amulet, there will always be some powerful mantra, usually written in old Tibetan script or in Sanskrit. Tese special mantras are believed
to have been given to mankind via treasure texts that emerged when the time was right, by the great Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava, who is generally credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet from India. He is also said to have had extraordinary magical powers which he used to subdue countless worldly Gods and Demons, converting them into Oath- bound Protectors! Already powerful as demons, they have become even more so as Protectors, held under oath to Guru Rinpoche. Many amulets contain potent magic wheels with supernatural symbols, syllables and line drawings of anti-demonic tools, which subdue evil forces. It is not possible to offer a detailed explanation of all demons that can be overcome by amulets. But in terms of their impact on human life and the bad experiences that result, they can usually be well-defined. Tus amulets are often categorized according to what kind of misfortune they protect against. It is important for me to point out that the amulets I have learnt to make comprise only a very small part of the whole spectrum of Tibetan amulets, which is quite vast indeed, considering there are so many classes of spirits that have to be addressed and appeased. Indeed, there is so much in the cosmic world that has not yet been fully revealed to mankind. Tere is still an enormous body of knowledge in the magical traditions of Tibet. Even amongst the Buddhists,
there are four main traditions; and one can break these down into even more traditions when one takes note
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