{{ variable.name }}
Wearing taboos
1. Do not wear it when bathing: avoid thangka contact with water or bathing products.
2. Avoid placing it in the toilet: the toilet is humid and unclean, which may damage the thangka.
3. Maintain piety and awe: thangka has religious significance and needs to be respected.
Daily care
1. Avoid exposure to the sun: place it in a constant temperature place to prevent the pigment from fading or the material from cracking.
2. Reduce smoke: long-term smoke will cause the surface of the thangka to turn yellow.
3. Moisture-proof area: keep it dry, and dry it in non-direct sunlight for 1-2 minutes in autumn to dehumidify, and avoid strong light.
**1. Manjusri Bodhisattva (Manjusri)**
1. **Symbolic meaning**
Manjusri represents "Prajna wisdom" and is regarded as the embodiment of the wisdom of all Buddhas. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is often called "Wisdom Buddha" (ཡེ་ཤེས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་). Its wisdom can cut off ignorance and stupidity and point directly to emptiness.
2. **Image characteristics**
- **Common body colors**: orange (representing burning wisdom), white (such as the five-character Manjusri represents purity).
- **Handheld instruments**: The right hand holds the sword of wisdom (cutting off troubles), and the left hand holds the blue lotus to support the Prajna Sutra (representing the origin of wisdom).
- **Special image**:
- **Five-character Manjusri** (wearing a five-Buddha crown, symbolizing the five wisdoms).
- **Black Manjusri** (wrathful form, removes obstacles and subdues demons).
- **Red and yellow Manjusri** (double-bodied image, represents the unity of wisdom and convenience).
3. **Vajrayana practice**
- **Mantra**: The six-syllable mantra "Om A La Ba Za Na Di" (ཨོཾ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷིཿ) is a common mantra.
- **Mahayana practice**: Practicing the Manjusri practice can quickly develop awareness, such as the "Manjusri's True Name Sutra" is regarded as the core classic of the Vajrayana.
4. **Relationship with sects**
- The Gelugpa school regards Manjusri as the incarnation of Master Tsongkhapa, and his work "The Lamrim of the Path to Enlightenment" is regarded as the direct inheritance of Manjusri's wisdom.
- The Sakya school takes "Manjusri's Speech Lion" as an important deity, combined with the teaching of the path and fruit.
**Second, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་)**
1. **Symbolic meaning**
Samantabhadra represents "ultimate vows", that is, the practical power of bodhicitta. In esoteric Buddhism, Samantabhadra is united with "Dharmakaya Samantabhadra" (ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཆོས་སྐུ་), symbolizing the original consciousness.
2. **Image characteristics**
- **Peaceful phase**: white body, hands in the mudra of concentration or holding a wish-fulfilling jewel (representing perfect benefit to others).
- **Wrathful phase**: such as "Samantabhadra Tathagata" (the fundamental Buddha of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism), blue double body, representing the non-duality of emptiness and bliss.
- **Special status of Tantric Buddhism**:
- Nyingma school regards Samantabhadra Tathagata as the Dharmakaya Buddha, the source of all teachings.
- Samantabhadra is also regarded as the "eldest son of all Buddhas", who summarizes the Bodhisattva's vows.
3. **Tantric practice**
- **Mantra**: Samantabhadra Tathagata's mantra "Om Ah Hum Benza Guru Padma Siddhi Hum" (ཨོཾ་ཨ་ཧཱུྃ་བཛྲ་གུ་རུ་པདྨ་སིདྡྷི་ཧཱུྃ).
- **Great Perfection**: Samantabhadra is the fundamental inheritor of Great Perfection, pointing directly to the original enlightenment of the mind.
4. **Integration with exoteric and esoteric Buddhism**
- The Samantabhadra Practices and Vows is the core classic of the Huayan School, and Tibetan Buddhism also attaches importance to the practice of its ten great vows.
- In the Kalachakra system, Samantabhadra and Vajrasattva jointly demonstrate the merit of purifying karma.
**III. The relationship between Manjushri and Samantabhadra in esoteric Buddhism**
1. **Wisdom and convenience**
Manjushri (wisdom) and Samantabhadra (practice) often appear in pairs in esoteric Buddhism, such as in the Manjushri Real Name Sutra, where they jointly demonstrate the perfect state of "compassion and wisdom".
2. **Madhyama Mandala**
In the rituals of the highest yoga tantra, Manjushri may be the main deity and Samantabhadra as a retinue; or vice versa, such as in the Samantabhadra Mandala, Manjushri incarnates as a guardian.
3. **Sequence of Practice**
- First, cultivate the wisdom of Manjusri to understand emptiness, and then cultivate Samantabhadra's vows to benefit sentient beings. This is a common path in Tibetan Buddhism.
- The Nyingma school's "Chekcho" (instantaneous cessation) and "Toga" (instantaneous transcendence) practices are derived from the fusion of Samantabhadra Tathagata and Manjusri's wisdom.
**Fourth, Cultural Influence**
- **Artistic Expression**: In Tibetan thangkas, Manjusri often forms the "Three Protectors" with Vajrapani and Avalokitesvara; Samantabhadra often appears in the form of a reward body, or is combined with the time and space mandala.
- **Festival Dharma Assembly**: During the Saga Dawa Festival in April of the Tibetan calendar, the "Samantabhadra's Vows" is often recited; Manjusri's birthday (October 25th of the Tibetan calendar) is an important period of the Gelug school's Lantern Festival.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the two are not only the objects of practice, but also represent the ultimate dimension of enlightenment - Manjusri is "seeing" and Samantabhadra is "doing", which together constitute a complete system of the path to liberation.
