Cuenca Olmos

We have seen that Prajnaparamita appears in a number of forms, and can have various symbolic attributes. Naturally, then, there are various trad- itional ways of visualizing her. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso describes a practice in which she is visualized in connection with recitation of the Heart

Sutra. ~ This practice was used in Tibet for warding off hindrances -

especially the four Maras. These are personifications of all the negative forces - internal and external - that hinder our quest for Enlightenment. T h e Sadhanamala, a very important Indian collection of visualization practices, gives nine different sadhanas of Prajnaparamita. Rather than examining a sadhana in detail, we shall look at part of one of these visual- izations. It begins with a series of magical transformations that take place within the blue sky of Emptiness.

First, on a lotus and m o o n in front of us, appears the syllable dhih. This is the seed syllable particularly associated with transcendental wisdom. We have already met it in the mantra of Manjusri. T h e seed syllable shines in the blueness, made of golden-yellow light.

Next we see a book of the Perfection of Wisdom. It is usually visualized not as a bound volume but in the form that one finds in Tibetan monas- teries. T h e leaves of the manuscript are sandwiched loose between cov- ers - like a thick book with no spine. They are then wrapped in silk. Perhaps in the future, Western meditators will see it as an ancient, leather-bound volume.

T h e n on a full-blown lotus appears Prajnaparamita herself. So the sequence of the visualization is first the seed syllable, then the book, and

Prajnaparamita - the Book that Became a Goddess

finally the goddess. It is as though the practice recapitulates the whole development of Perfect Wisdom in human consciousness. First there is just the blue sky, the experience of Emptiness itself. T h e n the seed appears - a communication of Wisdom on the most subtle of levels. Next the teaching is put into words, into the Perfection of Wisdom literature. Finally it appears again, transfigured into a golden goddess.

This goddess is seated on a blue lotus and a white m o o n mat. She is not sixteen years old like the Bodhisattvas; she is m u c h more mature than that, though still very beautiful. Wisdom is something that takes time to ripen. Prajnaparamita is often described as 'the mother of all the Buddhas'. She is mature in having given birth to countless Buddhas. Prajnaparamita represents the realization of Sunyata, and there is no other way to gain Enlightenment. As the Heart Sutra has it,

A Bodhisattva, through having relied on the perfection of wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to nirvana.

It is Perfect Wisdom which gives birth to Buddhahood. Prajnaparamita is said to regard the Buddhas like a mother fondly watching her children at play. She wears a tiara with jewels of the five colours. These embody the wisdoms of the five Buddhas. H e r hands are placed in the mudra of teaching the Dharma. She holds the stems of two lotuses, which open out into pale-blue blossoms, one at each shoulder.'4 As always, upon

each of them is a white m o o n mat. On each m o o n mat lies a book of the Perfection of Wisdom.

There is just one more very striking feature of the goddess. We have said that she is golden yellow in colour. However, if we look closely we shall see that the golden-yellow light from her body is given off by millions of Buddhas. H e r whole body is made up of golden Buddhas. It is as though the goddess of the Perfection of Wisdom is a great galaxy. Seen from afar, the galaxy is in the most pleasing shape imaginable. C o m i n g closer, we see that it comprises endless Enlightened Beings: constellations of Buddhas, starry multitudes of Awakened Ones.

A Guide to the Deities of the Tantra

T h e n light emanates from the centre of the galaxy, from the heart of Prajnaparamita. D o w n the light ray comes the mantra of the Wisdom goddess: om ah dhih hum svaha. It enters your heart and begins to echo there, bestowing wisdom on you through another of its transformations. T h e mantra om ah dhih hum svaha which is used in this sadhana conveys the message of the Prajnaparamita literature, but through the medium of symbolic sound. It is one of three mantras commonly associated with the Perfection of Wisdom. It is not readily translatable, appealing only to a level of the psyche that does not trade in words.15 T h e other two com-

m o n mantras can be given some rational explanation.

First there is the mantra gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha." This comes at the end of the Heart Sutra, and is more generally associated with the Perfection of Wisdom literature than with the Wisdom goddess, though it does appear in some of her sadhanas. It has been translated by Edward Conze as 'Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all hail!' T h e mantra symbolizes a deepening appre- hension of Reality. According to one tradition, its first four words corres- pond to the four levels of Sunyata. T h e first gate (pronounced gutt-ay) symbolizes going beyond samsara. T h e second represents the emptiness of the concept of nirvana, especially the view of Enlightenment as some- thing distinct or separate from the phenomenal world. With paragate one realizes the emptiness of all distinctions, and in particular that between samsara and nirvana. With parasamgate one goes beyond all concepts whatsoever, even letting drop the idea of Sunyata. Gelukpa lamas relate these four words to the first four of the Mahayana paths, and bodhi or

bodhi svaha to the fifth.17

Secondly there is the homage found at the beginning of the Heart Sutra, which can be repeated as a mantra: om namo bhagavatyai aryaprajha-

paramitayai. Edward Conze translates this as 'Homage to the Perfection

of Wisdom, the Lovely, the Holy'. T h e gate gate mantra, with its associa- tion with the four levels of Sunyata, might appeal to those more intellec- tually inclined, whereas this invocation is an outpouring of faith and devotion to the goddess. It is characteristic of Buddhism that it should provide such differing paths to the goal.

Prajnaparamita - the Book that Became a Goddess

Regularly performing a sadhana of Prajnaparamita produces an ever- deepening involvement with the Wisdom goddess. To start with, the goddess becomes a focus for devotion. For men, her practice can often absorb the romantic and other feelings that might be evoked by meeting a beautiful, mature woman. For women, she is often a figure with which to identify, the most positive of all role models. T h u s for both sexes energy can easily be engaged by the meditation, and hence poured into the contemplation of Wisdom.

If this process continues, the practice enters the realm of the archetypal. In Jungian terms, a man may project the highest aspect of his anima, while a woman may encounter the Magna Mater. She becomes for the meditator the archetypal Wisdom goddess found in many traditions. For the Gnostics she was Sophia, for the Greeks Athena. She is found in the Tarot as the High Priestess, w h o holds a scroll - corresponding to the book of Prajnaparamita. She is seated between two pillars - one light, one dark. Imbibing her knowledge will enable you to pass between the pillars and transcend all dichotomies.

Prajnaparamita is the Wisdom goddess of India - once described as stag- geringly beautiful to the point of being scorching. Her meditation can become a way of experiencing the archetypal beauty of the refined levels of one's mind. Finally, with faithful practice, she can become far more than that. She can become the experience of transcendental wisdom it- self- the transcendence of the world of subject and object.

Anyone w h o reaches this level will truly begin travelling in realms of gold. They will be carried up to a fresh vantage point, a new peak of their being. From that pinnacle they will see not a n e w ocean or a new planet, but a new reality. They will be reborn out of the infinite creativity of the Wisdom goddess, and will add their brilliance to the galaxy of golden

Buddhas.

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