RELATED TIBETAN SCRIPTS

Saturday 6 June 2009

The Heart Sutra.


Thus i have heard......


Click here to hear an upbeat version of the Heart Sutra in Tibetan by Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche, produced by Gary Dyson.

"Emanate from Emptiness" Tashi Mannox 2010.

The above calligraphy is in the Dru-tsa script style, the tails of the letters swirl to the center as if Emanating from Emptiness.

The mantra of The Prajnä Päramitä Sutra:

tayata om gaté gaté para gaté para sam gaté bodhi swa ha.

The below page from the Heart Sutra survives the destruction of Tsurphu monastery in 1959, the original seat of the Karmapa's in Tibet. 

An old monk friend pulled this old text page from the rubble of Tsurphu during its restoration in the 1980's.

This page is clearly from the latter part of the Heart Sutra, painted in a gold Uchen script on a black polished paper.
This is a technique used for the more important illuminated manuscripts, such as Sutras, evidently robust enough to survive the 30-40 years buried, though it did not seem to escape a splattering of Yak dung!


Front page detail.



Back page detail.






oṃ supratiṣṭha-vajraye svāhā






4 comments:

  1. hello, there. whats the meaning of Om Sutra Tikta Benza Yi Swa Ha, that you have above? it sure is pretty.thanks!

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    Replies
    1. According to Sanskrit expert Jayarava.

      The Sanskrit would most likely be:

      oṃ supratiṣṭha-vajraye svāhā

      ओं सुप्रतिष्ठवज्रये स्वाहा

      supratiṣṭha = standing firm, firmly supported, well supported (from su + pra + √sthā)
      √sthā > basic verb form tiṣṭhati „to stand, to remain‟; and tiṣṭha is then a
      verbal noun: „standing, remaining‟.
      su- = a suffix meaning „well, good, excellent, right, virtuous, very, etc‟
      pra- = an intensifying suffix: pratiṣṭha = „supported, firm, resistant‟.
      vajra = diamond/thunderbolt; Reality.
      -ye = suffix for the dative case meaning to or for

      I think the two words go together in a compound (of the bahuvrīhi kind) i.e.
      supratiṣṭhavajraye (with the stress on jra). This means something like “for the firmly
      supported diamond”.

      Sanskrit would treat ti and ṣṭha as separate syllables. To English ears supratiṣṭha would
      sound like: supra-tish-ta-ha or perhaps supra-tisht-ha

      Using this form „oṃ (word in dative case) svāhā‟ is a very old practice predating Buddhism
      by at least 500 years!

      The mantra seems to be used in the conclusion of Sadhanas.


      Jayarava
      26.8.2009

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  2. Om Sutra Tikta Benza Yi Swa Ha. HIfriend could u explain if this is a gate mantra or the mani,it also looks like the vajrapani please help im curious.



















    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Padang

      oṃ sutra tiktha badzraye svāhā is a mantra that is normally used as a conclusion to sadhanas, Buddhist practices.

      It is quite different from the gaté mantra, the Mani mantra and the Vajrapani mantra.

      Tashi

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