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The_Diamond_Sutra

IN CHAPTERS TITLE

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

IN CHAPTERS TEXT

1.08a_-_The_Ladder

1.13_-_Gnostic_Symbols_of_the_Self

1.14_-_The_Structure_and_Dynamics_of_the_Self

1.15_-_Index

1.snk_-_In_Praise_of_the_Goddess

3.06_-_The_Formula_of_The_Neophyte

3.08_-_Of_Equilibrium

3.10_-_Of_the_Gestures

6.0_-_Conscious,_Unconscious,_and_Individuation

Diamond_Sutra_1

PRIMARY CLASS

SIMILAR TITLES

circumambulation

TERMS STARTING WITH

Circumambulation: Ceremonial walking around an object or a person. This ritual has been and is used in many religions, mystery ceremonies, etc., and occult philosophy attributes a mystic power and significance to it. It is usually done keeping one’s right side toward the object or person encircled, to show respect, to secure protection or good fortune, etc.; walking in the reverse direction shows disrespect and is held to have evil effects.


TERMS ANYWHERE

AurangAbAd. A complex of twelve rock-cut Buddhist caves located at the outskirts of the city of AurangAbAd in the modern Indian state of Maharashtra. The oldest structure at the site is the severely damaged Cave 4, which dates to the beginning of the Common Era. The complex functioned as a center of popular devotion and secular patronage in the region. This strong linkage of the site with popular religiosity is particularly evident in Cave 2, with its central sanctum and pradaksinapatha for circumambulation (PRADAKsInA) left undecorated to display a number of individually commissioned votive panels. The arrangement combines the ritual need for circumambulation with the preference for placing the main buddha against the rear wall by creating a corridor around the entire shrine. The entrance to the shrine is flanked by the BODHISATTVAs MAITREYA and AVALOKITEsVARA, both attended by serpent kings (NAGA); the shrine itself contains a seated buddha making the gesture of turning the wheel of the DHARMA (DHARMACAKRAMUDRA) flanked by two bodhisattvas. The creation of the AurangAbAd cave site appears to have been connected with the collapse of the VAkAtakas, who had patronized the cave temples at AJAntA. AurangAbAd rose in response, testimony to the triumph of the regional powers and local Buddhist forces at the end of the fifth century. The small number of cells for the SAMGHA, the presence of the life-size kneeling devotees with a portrait-like appearance and royal attire sculpted in Cave 3, and the individually commissioned votive panels in Cave 2 indicate the growing importance of the "secular" at AurangAbAd. The strong affinities in design, imagery, and sculptural detail between AurangAbAd Cave 3 and Caves 2 and 26 at AjantA indicate that the same artisans might have worked at both sites. The sculptural panels in Cave 7, which date to the mid-sixth century, may demonstrate the growing importance of tantric sects, with their use of the imagery of voluptuous females with elaborate coiffures serving as attendants to bodhisattvas or buddhas.

BhAjA. One of the earliest and best-preserved Buddhist cave temples in western India, located around 150 miles south of Mumbai (Bombay). According to the paleography of the inscriptions on site and the stylistic features of the monuments, the site seems to have been excavated around 100-70 BCE. Early Buddhist rock-cut cave temples like BhAjA, AJAntA, and KARLI were located along ancient trade routes, especially those connecting ports with inland towns. The architecture of these temples generally included one worship hall (CAITYA) containing a STuPA with an ambulatory that enabled circumambulation (PRADAKsInA), as well as numerous other cells that comprised the living quarters for the monks (VIHARA). At BhAjA, a large caitya hall dominates the site, featuring stylistic characteristics typical of this early phase of Buddhist architecture: a simple apsidal plan, divided into a nave and side aisles, crowned by a tunnel vault; the imitation of wooden prototypes in the detailing of the surface and the almost complete absence of sculptural decoration in the interior (though paintings may have once adorned the walls). The caitya hall is accompanied by seventeen further caves, which supposedly once housed a community of Buddhist nuns.

Circumambulation: Ceremonial walking around an object or a person. This ritual has been and is used in many religions, mystery ceremonies, etc., and occult philosophy attributes a mystic power and significance to it. It is usually done keeping one’s right side toward the object or person encircled, to show respect, to secure protection or good fortune, etc.; walking in the reverse direction shows disrespect and is held to have evil effects.

Fahua chanfa. (J. Hokke senbo; K. Pophwa ch'ambop 法華懺法). In Chinese, "penance ritual according to the 'Lotus Sutra.'" Despite its name, this intensive twenty-one-day ritual was based as much on the Guan Puxian pusa xingfa jing ("The Sutra on the Procedures for Visualizing the Bodhisattva SAMANTABHADRA") as it was on the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA. As explained in TIANTAI ZHIYI's Fahua sanmei chanfa ("Penance Ritual according to the Lotus Samādhi"), the goal of the ritual is to ensure visions of celestial buddhas and/or BODHISATTVAs, which were taken to be signs that the one's unwholesome actions (AKUsALA-KARMAN) had been expiated. The penitent was required to refrain from lying down for the full duration of the ritual, by constantly alternating between walking and sitting postures. Demanding intense mental and physical devotion, the ritual involves extensive contemplation of the TIANTAI teachings, making vows and supplications, uttering prescribed words of repentance, chanting the Saddharmapundarīkasutra and performing intermittent circumambulation.

Jo khang. In Tibetan, "House of the Lord"; the earliest Tibetan temple and monastery, located in the capital of LHA SA. The central image is a statue of sĀKYAMUNI Buddha as a youth, said to have been sculpted in India during the Buddha's lifetime. This statue, the most sacred in Tibet, is known simply as the JO BO ("Lord") SHĀKYAMUNI or Jo bo Rin po che ("Precious Lord"). The temple takes its name from this image housed within it. Indeed, the name Lha sa ("Place of the Gods") may have referred originally to the Jo khang, only later becoming by extension to be the name of the city that surrounds it. The Jo khang stands at the heart of the old city, and is the central point for three circumambulation routes. The most famous of these is the BAR BSKOR, or middle circuit, which passes around the outer walls and surrounding structures of the Jo khang. The Jo khang and bar bskor together have long been Lha sa's primary religious space, with pilgrims circling it in a clockwise direction each day. The central market of Lha sa is also located along the bar bskor. Despite its well-known name, Tibetans tend to refer to the Jo khang simply as the Gtsug lag khang (Tsuklakang), the Tibetan term for VIHĀRA, meaning "monastery"; the original structure was likely laid out by Newari artisans following the plan of an Indian Buddhist vihāra. Western sources have rather misleadingly dubbed the Jo khang the "Cathedral of Lhasa." According to traditional Tibetan sources (most importantly, the MAnI BKA' 'BUM) the original structure was established by the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO and his two queens (one Chinese and one Nepalese), around 640 CE. The statue of sākyamuni, said to have been crafted during the Buddha's lifetime, eventually made its way to China. It is said to have been brought to Tibet from China by the king's Chinese bride, Princess WENCHENG. The many difficulties she encountered en route from China convinced her that the landscape of Tibet was in fact a supine demoness (SRIN MO), who was inimical to the introduction of Buddhism. On her advice, the king (who had recently converted to Buddhism), the Chinese princess, and the king's other wife, the Nepalese princess BHṚKUTĪ, built the Jo khang directly over the heart of the demoness; according to Tibetan legends, the king himself built much of the first-floor structure. Other temples were subsequently built across Tibet, corresponding to other parts of the demoness's vast body, in order essentially to nail her to the earth and prevent her further obstruction of the dharma (see MTHA' 'DUL GTSUG LAG KHANG). When the Jo khang was completed, a different statue than the more famous Jo bo Shākyamuni or Jo bo rin bo che, was the central image; it was a statue of the buddha called JO BO MI BSKYOD RDO RJE brought to Tibet by Bhṛkutī. The statue brought by Wencheng (known as Jo bo rin bo che) was housed in the nearby RA MO CHE temple, founded by Wencheng. After the king's death, the two statues were switched, moving the Jo bo Shākyamuni statue to the Jo khang and the Jo bo mi bskyod rdo rje statue to Ra mo che, where they would remain over the subsequent centuries. Modern scholarship has raised questions about many details of this tale, including the degree of Srong btsan sgam po's devotion to Buddhism and the existence of his Nepalese queen. However, the story of the Jo khang's founding, depicted on murals inside the temple itself, is widely known, and the Jo khang remains central to the sacred geography of the Tibetan Buddhist world. The Jo khang has been the site of many important moments of Tibetan history, including the establishment of the SMON LAM CHEN MO festival in 1409, when TSONG KHA PA offered a crown to the Jo bo statue, giving it the aspect of a SAMBHOGAKĀYA. Over the course of its long history, the Jo khang has been enlarged and renovated many times (although elements of the original structure, such as juniper beams, are still visible) to become a complex of chapels, courtyards, residential quarters (including those for the DALAI LAMA and PAn CHEN LAMA), monastic dormitories, government offices, and storerooms. The temple suffered during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when parts of the complex and much of its original statuary and murals were damaged or destroyed, including the central image. During this period, the complex was occupied by Red Guards and People's Liberation Army troops, and the temple was used as a pigsty. The temple has since been restored, beginning in 1972 and again during the early 1990s. In 2000, it was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Kailāsa. The Sanskrit name for one of the most important sacred mountains in Asia, generally referred to in English as Kailash or Mount Kailash. It is 21,778 ft. high and is located in southwestern Tibet, not far from the current borders of India and Nepal. Lake Manasarovar is located eighteen miles to the southeast; these two sites have long been places of pilgrimage for Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and followers of Tibetan BON, some of whom have regarded the striking dome-shaped peak as Mount SUMERU. The mountain is particularly important in Tibetan Buddhism, where it is called Gangs dkar Ti se ("White Snow Mountain Ti se") or simply Gangs rin po che ("Precious Snow Mountain"). Pilgrims from across the Tibetan Buddhist world visit Mount Kailāsa, especially in the Year of the Horse, which occurs once every twelve years in the Tibetan calendrical cycle. Within that year, it is considered auspicious to visit the mountain at the time that marks the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passage into PARINIRVĀnA (generally falling in May or June, depending on the lunar calendar). The primary form of practice is the thirty-two mile clockwise circumambulation of the mountain, often completed in a single day, with specific rituals and practices performed along the route. It is said that one circumambulation purifies the negative KARMAN of one lifetime, ten circumambulations purify the negative KARMAN accumulated over the course of a KALPA, and one hundred circumambulations ensure enlightenment. The mountain came to take on numerous tantric associations beginning in the eleventh century. According to a popular story, the yogin MI LA RAS PA won control of the mountain for the Buddhists by defeating a rival Bon priest, Na ro bon chung, in a contest of miracles. The mountain later became an important meditation site for the followers of Mi la ras pa, principally members of the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD and 'BRI GUNG BKA' BRGYUD sects. Both sĀKYAMUNI Buddha and PADMASAMBHAVA are said to have visited Kailāsa. One of the most important associations of Mount Kailāsa is with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA, which names twenty-four sacred lands (PĪtHA) as potent locations for tantric practice. The CakrasaMvara literature recounts how long ago these twenty-four lands came under the control of Mahesvara (siva) in the form of Rudra Bhairava. The buddha VAJRADHARA, in the wrathful form of a HERUKA deity, subdued BHAIRAVA, transforming each of the twenty-four sites into a MAndALA of the deity CakrasaMvara and his retinue. In Tibetan literature, Mount Kailāsa came to be identified with one of the twenty-four sites, the one called Himavat or Himālaya ("The Snowy," or "The Snow Mountain"); this was one of several important transpositions of sacred locations in India onto Tibetan sites. The BKA' BRGYUD sect grouped the peak together with two other important mountain pilgrimage sites in southern Tibet, LA PHYI and TSA RI, identified respectively as CakrasaMvara's body, speech, and mind. These claims drew criticism from some Tibetan quarters, such as the renowned scholar SA SKYA PAnDITA, who argued that the sites associated with CakrasaMvara were located not in Tibet but in India. Such criticism has not prevented Mount Kailāsa from remaining one of the most important pilgrimage places in the Tibetan cultural domain.

Kārli. [alt. Kārle]. Buddhist cave temple site in western India, situated halfway between Mumbai (Bombay) and Pune in Maharashtra. Based on inscriptional evidence, the excavation of the site began around 124 CE, toward the end of the reign of Nahapāna, who ruled over much of western India during the early second century. The veranda and doorways to the site are decorated with outstanding sculptural features: flanking the doorways are carvings of couples in sexual union (MAITHUNA); these images are stylistically similar to contemporary carvings in the city of MATHURĀ. The end wall of the veranda features carvings of almost life-size elephants, which appear to support the architectural structure. The images of buddhas and BODHISATTVAs also found on the veranda were carved in the late fifth century, when the iconographic profile of the cave was modified. The interior of the cave's CAITYA hall, which is South Asia's largest, is characterized by an impressive, harmonious balance of architectural and sculptural elements. A STuPA appears at the end of the long nave, with an ambulatory that allows its circumambulation (PRADAKsInA). A row of pillars carved directly out of the rock parallels the shape of the cave itself. These pillars are adorned with capitals that depict sculpted images of figures riding animals, which are stylistically close to those of the contemporary or slightly earlier images at the great stupa at SĀNCĪ.

Lha sa. In Tibetan, "place of the gods"; capital city of Tibet and location of some of the country's most important Buddhist institutions. According to traditional histories, the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO moved his capital from the Yar klungs Valley to its current location when he founded the original edifice underlying the PO TA LA Palace in 637, a structure completed in its present form only during the seventeenth century under the direction of the fifth DALAI LAMA, NGA DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO, and his regent. At about the same time, Srong bstan sgam po began work on the central JO KHANG temple. As goats were used as work animals during the construction, the area became known as Ra sa (lit. "place of the goats"). Following the temple's consecration in 647, it is said that the city's name was then changed to Lha sa ("place of the gods"). These two structures, together with the RA MO CHE temple, form the core of Lha sa's religious and sacred architecture. Over the centuries, many other institutions were added, including the medical college of Lcags po ri (Chakpori), the Dalai Lama's summer palace at the NOR BU GLING KHA, and numerous small monasteries, temples, and shrines. Around the city's periphery, a number of important monasteries were established, including the three great DGE LUGS monasteries of DGA' LDAN, 'BRAS SPUNGS, and SE RA (known collectively as the GDAN SA GSUM, or "three seats"), as well as GNAS CHUNG monastery, the seat of Tibet's state oracle. A series of three ritual circumambulation routes around the city's sacred centers developed: (1) the nang bskor (nangkor, "inner circuit"), skirting the Jo khang temple's inner sanctum; (2) the BAR BSKOR (barkor, "middle circuit"), circling the outer walls of the Jo khang and its neighboring buildings; and (3) the gling bskor (lingkor, "sanctuary circuit") circumnavigating the entire city, including the Po ta la Palace and Lcag po ri. Lha sa has long been considered the spiritual center of Tibet, and chief pilgrimage destination. Some devotees would travel the immense distance from their homeland to Lha sa while performing full-length prostrations, literally covering the ground with their bodies the entire way. Although the far eastern and western provinces of Tibet traditionally maintained a large degree of regional independence, after the seventeenth century Tibet's central government, the DGA' LDAN PHO BRANG, operated from Lha sa in the Po ta la Palace.

Po ta la. The most famous building in Tibet and one of the great achievements of Tibetan architecture. Located in the Tibetan capital of LHA SA, it served as the winter residence of the DALAI LAMAs and seat of the Tibetan government from the seventeenth century until the fourteenth Dalai Lama's flight into exile in 1959. It takes its name from Mount POTALAKA, the abode of AVALOKITEsVARA, the bodhisattva of compassion, of whom the three Tibetan dharma kings (chos rgyal) and the Dalai Lamas are said to be human incarnations. The full name of the Potala is "Palace of Potala Peak" (Rtse po ta la'i pho brang), and it is commonly referred to by Tibetans simply as the Red Palace (Pho brang dmar po), because the edifice is located on Mar po ri (Red Hill) on the northwestern edge of Lha sa and because of the red palace at the summit of the white structure. In the early seventh century, the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO is said to have meditated in a cave located on the hill; the cave is preserved within the present structure. The earliest structure to have been constructed there was an elevenstoried palace that he had built in 637 when he moved his capital to Lha sa. In 1645, three years after his installation as temporal ruler of Tibet, the fifth Dalai Lama NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO began renovations of what remained of this original structure, with the new structure serving as his own residence, as well as the site of his government (known as the DGA' LDAN PHO BRANG), which he moved from the DGE LUGS PA monastery of 'BRAS SPUNGS, located some five miles outside the city. The exterior of the White Palace (Pho brang dkar po), which includes the apartments of the Dalai Lama, was completed in 1648 and the Dalai Lama took up residence in 1649. The portion of the Po ta la known as the Red Palace was added by the regent SANGS RGYAS RGYA MTSHO in honor of the fifth Dalai Lama after his death in 1682. Fearing that the project would cease if news of his death became known, Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho was able successfully to conceal the Dalai Lama's death for some twelve years (making use of a double who physically resembled the Dalai Lama to meet foreign dignitaries) until construction could be completed in 1694. The current structure is thirteen stories (approximately 384 feet) tall and is said to have over a thousand rooms, including the private apartments of the Dalai Lama, reception and assembly halls, temples, chapels containing the stupas of the fifth and seventh through thirteenth Dalai Lamas, the Rnam rgyal monastery that performed state rituals, and government offices. From the time of the eighth Dalai Lama, the Po ta la served as the winter residence for the Dalai Lamas, who moved each summer to the smaller NOR BU GLING KHA. The first Europeans to see the Po ta la were likely the Jesuit missionaries Albert Dorville and Johannes Grueber, who visited Lha sa in 1661 and made sketches of the palace, which was still under construction at the time. During the Tibetan uprising against the People's Liberation Army in March 1959, the Po ta la was shelled by Chinese artillery. It is said to have survived the Chinese Cultural Revolution through the intervention of the Chinese prime minister Zhou Enlai, although many of its texts and works of art were looted or destroyed. In old Lha sa, the Po ta la stood outside the central city, with the small village of Zhol located at its foot. This was the site of a prison, a printing house, and residences of some of the lovers of the sixth Dalai Lama. In modern Lha sa, the Po ta la is now encompassed by the city, and much of Zhol has been destroyed. The Po ta la still forms the northern boundary of the large circumambulation route around Lha sa, called the gling bskor (ling khor). Since the Chinese opened Tibet to foreign access in the 1980s, the Po ta la has been visited by millions of Tibetan pilgrims and foreign tourists. The stress of tourist traffic has required frequent restoration projects. In 1994, the Po ta la was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. See also PUTUOSHAN.

Pradakshina: Circumambulation; going round a holy place, temple or a holy person.

pradaksina. (P. padakkhina; T. skor ba; C. yourao; J. unyo; K. uyo 右遶). In Sanskrit, "circumambulation" (lit. "moving to the right"); a common means of demonstrating reverence to a person, place, or sacred object in the Indian tradition, since it places the object of reverence at the center of one's worship activity. Traditionally, circumambulation was performed in a clockwise direction with the worshipper's right side facing the object (the left side being considered polluted because of Indian toilet practices). In Buddhism, adherents might circumambulate a relic (sARĪRA) or reliquary (STuPA), a monastery, an image, or even an entire geographical location, such as a sacred mountain. Reliquary mounds were designed to facilitate this practice, as they are often surrounded by reliefs depicting important stereotypical episodes in the life of the Buddha (see BAXIANG), which worshippers would review and recollect as they circumambulated the stupa. The custom of making ritual circumambulations around stupas appears to have come into popularity early in the Buddhist tradition. See also GNAS SKOR BA.

shi. (J. ji; K. sa 事). In Chinese, "phenomenon," "event," "object"; the specific elements of the empirical world as they are experienced conventionally. In East Asian Buddhism, shi is typically used in distinction to "principle" (LI): li refers to the fundamental pattern or principle that underlies all phenomena, thus representing the true nature of reality; shi by contrast refers to all the particular expressions of this li in the phenomenal world. This interrelationship thus implies the inherent presence of li within shi. Teachers within the TIANTAI ZONG were among the first to employ the two terms in their systematic analysis of Buddhist thought. TIANTAI ZHIYI (538-597), the systematizer of the Tiantai zong, applied the terms to refer not only to doctrinal but also to the practical dimensions of Buddhism. In the contexts of Buddhist practice, shi refers to such specific ritual and meditative activities as repentance, circumambulation, reciting the sutras, and sitting meditation, which could lead to the realization of the principle of emptiness or the truth of the median (see SANDI). The term shi is especially crucial in HUAYAN doctrinal analysis, where it is deployed in the taxonomy of the four realms of reality (DHARMADHĀTU), four successively more profound levels of experience (see SI FAJIE). According to Huayan doctrine, because each and every individual phenomenon (shi) is pervaded by principle (li), all the various discrete phenomena pervade, and are in turn pervaded by, each and every other discrete phenomenon in the experience of what Huayan terms the "dharma-realm of the unimpeded interpenetration between phenomenon and phenomena" (SHISHI WU'AI FAJIE). As the individual products of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), shi thus represents the organic totality of reality, in which every phenomenon is in multivalent interaction with everything else in the universe, mutually creating, and being created by, all other things.

stupa. (P. thupa; T. mchod rten; C. ta; J. to; K. t'ap 塔). In Sanskrit, "reliquary"; a structure, originally in the shape of a hemispherical mound, that contains the relics (sARĪRA) or possessions of the Buddha or a saint, often contained within a reliquary container. In the MAHĀPARINIBBĀNASUTTA, the Buddha says that after he has passed away, his relics should be enshrined in a stupa erected at a crossroads, and that the stupa should be honored with garlands, incense, and sandalwood paste. Because of a dispute among his lay followers after his death, his relics were said to be divided into ten portions and distributed to ten groups or individuals, each of whom constructed a stupa to enshrine their share of the relics in their home region. Two of these sites were the Buddha's home city of KAPILAVASTU, and KUsINAGARĪ, the place of his death, as well as RĀJAGṚHA and VAIsĀLĪ. The original stupas were later said to have been opened and the relics collected by the emperor AsOKA in the third century BCE so that he could subdivide them for a larger number of stupas in order to accumulate merit and protect his realm. Asoka is said to have had eighty-four thousand stupas constructed. The stupa form eventually spread throughout the Buddhist world (and during the twentieth century into the Western hemisphere), with significant variations in architectural form. For example, the dagoba of Sri Lanka and the so-called "PAGODA" (derived from a Portuguese transcription of the Sanskrit BHAGAVAT ["blessed," "fortunate"] or the Persian but kadah ["idol house"]), which are so ubiquitous in East Asia, are styles of stupas. The classical architectural form of the stupa in India consisted of a circular platform surmounted by a hemisphere made of brick within which the relics were enshrined. At the summit of the hemisphere, one or more parasols were affixed. A walking path (see CAnKRAMA) enclosed by a railing was constructed around the stupa, to allow for clockwise circumambulation of the reliquary. Each of these architectural elements would evolve in form and eventually become imbued with rich symbolic meaning as the stupa evolved in India and across Asia. The relics enshrined in the stupa are considered by Buddhists to be living remnants of the Buddha (or the relevant saint) and pilgrimage to, and worship of, stupas has long been an important type of Buddhist practice. For all Buddhist schools, the stupa became a reference point denoting the Buddha's presence in the landscape. Although early texts and archeological records link stupa worship with the Buddha's life and especially the key sites in his career, stupas are also found at places that were sacred for other reasons, often through an association with a local deity. Stupas were constructed for past buddhas and for prominent disciples (sRĀVAKA) of the Buddha. Indeed, stupas dedicated to disciples of the Buddha may have been especially popular because the monastic rules stipulate that donations to such stupas became the property of the monastery, whereas donations to stupas of the Buddha remained the property of the Buddha, who continued to function as a legal resident of most monasteries. By the seventh century, the practice of enshrining the physical relics of the Buddha ceases to appear in the Indian archeological record. Instead, one finds stupas filled with small clay tablets that have been stamped or engraved with a four-line verse (often known by its first two words YE DHARMĀ) that was regarded as conveying the essence of the Buddha's teaching: "For those factors that are produced through causes, the TATHĀGATA has set forth their causes (HETU) and also their cessation (NIRODHA). Thus has spoken the great renunciant." For the MAHĀYĀNA, the stupa conveyed a variety of meanings, such as the Buddha's immortality and buddhahood's omnipresence, and served a variety of functions, such as a site of textual revelation and a center guaranteeing rebirth in a PURE LAND. Stupas were also pivotal in the social history of Buddhism: these monuments became magnets attracting monastery building and votive construction, as well as local ritual traditions and regional pilgrimage. The economics of Buddhist devotion at these sites generated income for local monasteries, artisans, and merchants. The great stupa complexes (which often included monasteries with endowed lands, a pilgrimage center, a market, and support from the state) were essential sites for the Buddhist polities of Asia. See CAITYA and entries for specific stupas, including FAMENSI, RATNAGIRI, SĀNCĪ, SHWEDAGON, SVAYAMBHu/SVAYAMBHuNĀTH, THIÊN MỤ TỰ, THuPĀRĀMA.

Tsa ri. Also spelled Tsā ri; an important pilgrimage region in the sacred geography of Tibet, its central feature is the Pure Crystal Mountain (Dag pa shel ri). The BKA' BRGYUD sect, in particular, considers the site to be one of three quintessential pilgrimage destinations connected with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA (together with KAILĀSA and LA PHYI). According to the CakrasaMvaratantra tradition, two of the twenty-four sacred lands (PĪtHA), viz., Cārita and Devīkota, are believed to be located in the region. Hunting and even cultivation are banned in some parts of the valley. Situated on the remote border between Tibet and Assam, Tsa ri is also one of the Himalayan region's most difficult and dangerous locations to access. The circumambulation trails skirting the mountain traverse high passes, deep ravines, and dense jungle. They also pass through territory controlled by tribal groups who are often unfriendly to outside visitors. For this reason, the state-sponsored pilgrimage season was traditionally preceded by government negotiations (and payments) in order to guarantee safe passage for pilgrims. The area is said to have been sanctified by visits from PADMASAMBHAVA and VIMALAMITRA, who are thought to have deposited there numerous treasure texts (GTER MA). Tsa ri later became primarily associated with the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD through the activity of GTSANG PA RGYA RAS YE SHES RDO RJE, who is often said to have "opened" the site as a powerful place for spiritual practice.

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1:It was a circumambulation of such precise, ritualistic grief no one interfered. ~ Sue Monk Kidd,

2:I began to understand that the goal of psychic development is the self. There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self. ~ Carl Jung,

3:Let my idle chatter be the muttering of prayer, my every manual movement the execution of ritual gesture, my walking a ceremonial circumambulation, my eating and other acts the rite of sacrifice, my lying down prostration in worship, my every pleasure enjoyed with dedication of myself, let whatever activity is mine be some form of worship of you. ~ Adi Shankaracharya,

4:English version by W. Norman Brown Slender as a streak of lightning, composed of the essence of sun, moon and fire, situated above the six lotuses, the manifestation of you in the forest of great lotuses, those with mind free of stain and illusion who view it, mighty ones, experience a flood of supreme joy. Let my idle chatter be the muttering of prayer, my every manual movement the execution of ritual gesture, my walking a ceremonial circumambulation, my eating and other acts the rite of sacrifice, my lying down prostration in worship, my every pleasure enjoyed with dedication of myself, let whatever activity is mine be some form of worship of you. Bearing a mark of vermilion so that the impenetrable darkness of your thick locks with the hosts of their beauties makes it seem like an imprisoned ray of the new-risen sun, may it bring welfare to us, as though the flood of beauty of your face had a channel to flow in, the streak of which is the part in your hair. Your right eye, because it has the sun as its essence, gives birth to the day; Your left eye, which has the moon as its substance, produces the night; Your third eye, which resembles a golden lotus slightly opened, creates the twilight intervening between day and night. [2701.jpg] -- from A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry, Edited by A. N. D. Haksar ~ Shankara, In Praise of the Goddess ,

   4 Occultism
   1 Psychology
   1 Poetry


   3 Carl Jung
   3 Aleister Crowley


   3 Liber ABA
   2 Aion

1.08a - The Ladder, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism   By each act, word, and thought, the one object of the ceremony - the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel- is being constantly indicated. Every fumigation, invocation, banishing and circumambulation is simply a reminder of the single purpose until - after symbol upon symbol, emotion after emotion having been added - the supreme moment arrives, and every nerve of the body, every force-channel of the Nephesch and Ruach is strained in one overwhelming orgasm, one ecstatic rush of the Will and Soul in the pre- determined direction.   Everything in the operation is so arranged that it will remind the Magician of his one Aim, his one True Object.

1.13 - Gnostic Symbols of the Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology   speak, by the circumambulation of the soul. But this point is the   "centre of all things," a God-image. This is an idea that still

1.14 - The Structure and Dynamics of the Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology   tion which also appears as a ritual circumambulation. Psycho-   logically, it denotes concentration on and preoccupation with

1.snk - In Praise of the Goddess, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction    English version by W. Norman Brown Slender as a streak of lightning, composed of the essence of sun, moon and fire, situated above the six lotuses, the manifestation of you in the forest of great lotuses, those with mind free of stain and illusion who view it, mighty ones, experience a flood of supreme joy. Let my idle chatter be the muttering of prayer, my every manual movement the execution of ritual gesture, my walking a ceremonial circumambulation, my eating and other acts the rite of sacrifice, my lying down prostration in worship, my every pleasure enjoyed with dedication of myself, let whatever activity is mine be some form of worship of you. Bearing a mark of vermilion so that the impenetrable darkness of your thick locks with the hosts of their beauties makes it seem like an imprisoned ray of the new-risen sun, may it bring welfare to us, as though the flood of beauty of your face had a channel to flow in, the streak of which is the part in your hair. Your right eye, because it has the sun as its essence, gives birth to the day; Your left eye, which has the moon as its substance, produces the night; Your third eye, which resembles a golden lotus slightly opened, creates the twilight intervening between day and night. [2701.jpg] -- from A Treasury of Sanskrit Poetry, Edited by A. N. D. Haksar <

3.06 - The Formula of The Neophyte, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy   the Temple, he is required to bind himself by an Oath. His aspiration is now formulated as Will. He makes the mystic circumambulation of the Temple for the reasons to be described in the Chapter   on Gesture.2 After further purification and consecration, he is

3.08 - Of Equilibrium, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy   draws. This circle may then be initiated by a circumambulation,   during which the Magician invokes the names of God that are on it.

3.10 - Of the Gestures, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy   2. circumambulations (and similar movements).   3. Changes of position (This depends on the theory of the   --   The principal movement in the circle is circumambulation.1 This   has a very definite result, but one which is very difficult to describe.   An analogy is the dynamo. circumambulation properly peformed   in combination with the Sign of Horus (or The Enterer) on   --   The number of circumambulations should of course correspond   to the nature of the ceremony.   --   in either direction; and, like the circumambulation, if performed   deosil2 they invokeif widdershins,3 they banish.4 In the spiral the   --   most formidable character may be invoked by circumambulation Widdershins   when it is executed with intent toward them, and the initiated technique. Of such

6.0 - Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology   round the square, signifies the circumambulation of, and way   to, the centre. The snake, as a chthonic and at the same time

Diamond Sutra 1, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction   It was the Indian custom to honor holy persons and sacred sites by touching the head to the feet or ground and then walking around in a clockwise direction with the right shoulder facing the object of veneration. In the case of monks, they adjusted their robes and bared their right shoulder during this ceremony. Since such circumambulation began in front of the person or site being venerated, pilgrims first faced left and then walked around to the right. Three circumambulations represent a devotees veneration of Buddhisms Three Treasures: the Teacher (the Buddha), the Teaching (the Dharma), and the Taught (the Sangha).   Again, in this first chapter, we see in outline form how the cultivation of the perfections takes place, as charity gives birth to meditation and meditation gives birth to wisdom. These three represent an earlier formulation of what later became the Six Perfections of charity, morality, forbearance, vigor, meditation, and wisdom. Thus, we not only see the essence of Buddhist practice, we also see the essence of wisdom, whereby our everyday activities become the focus of our spiritual cultivation.

Wikipedia - Circumambulation

http://fr.religion.wikia.com/wiki/Circumambulation

https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Circumambulation

https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Circumambulation

Circumambulation