Information on Sarasvati

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
User avatar
Redfaery
Posts: 569
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:14 pm
Location: Smalltown USA

Information on Sarasvati

Post by Redfaery »

Please? *peeks out from behind large stack of books* :reading:

I did a search for her here and came up with very little. I found that she is considered an enlightened being in Tibetan Buddhism (which makes me sooooo happy. Like this guy. > :woohoo: ) I've read her chapter in the Golden Light Sutra, and am reading a scholarly monograph dedicated to her worship in India.

So....how do the Buddhists who worship her do so? Is there any other lore I should be aware of? In other words, she's here. What do I do now?
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
User avatar
kirtu
Former staff member
Posts: 6965
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:29 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by kirtu »

In Tibetan Buddhism Saraswati sometimes appears in the retinue of other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, ordinarily in sadhanas with lots of deities.

However there is an empowerment and practice of the single White Saraswati. There is also a Nyingma practice with Manjushri and several Saraswati's but I do not have the details on this specifically.

Kirt
Kirt's Tibetan Translation Notes

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche

"Most all-knowing Mañjuśrī, ...
Please illuminate the radiant wisdom spirit
Of my precious Buddha nature."
HH Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
M.G.
Posts: 443
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:56 am

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by M.G. »

Speaking of Sarasvati, does her sister Lakshmi appear in Tibetan Buddhism at all?
User avatar
dzogchungpa
Posts: 6333
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 10:50 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by dzogchungpa »

Sarasvati is one of my favorite deities. Have a look here:
http://www.himalayanart.org/pages/sarasvati/index.html
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
supermaxv
Posts: 80
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 7:46 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by supermaxv »

One of the lamas at Sakya Monastery in Seattle is offering a Saraswati Initiation in a few weeks. There's some information from the description:
Saraswati (Yangchenma) is a goddess of both Buddhism and Hinduism. She is the goddess of poetry, the arts, music, and of learning. Many Tibetan Buddhist scholars attained mastery and enlightenment by her blessing and accomplishment. She has a variety of emanations, both peaceful and wrathful. By her blessing we can more easily grasp the essence of Dharma and have clearer realization. Tulku Yeshi has done the Saraswati practice for the past 30 years. Bring any kind of musical instrument you play for consecration and for making music together after the initiation. You can bring your friend’s instrument for blessing as well (even if they are not attending). If you are a singer, you can sing a song afterwards.
User avatar
Karma Dorje
Posts: 1410
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:35 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Karma Dorje »

M.G. wrote:Speaking of Sarasvati, does her sister Lakshmi appear in Tibetan Buddhism at all?
Yes, in Taranatha's Rinjung Gyatsa among other places.
"Although my view is higher than the sky, My respect for the cause and effect of actions is as fine as grains of flour."
-Padmasambhava
User avatar
Konchog1
Posts: 1673
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:30 am

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Konchog1 »

Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

-Paraphrase of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsephel citing the Guhyasamaja Tantra

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.
Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.
Through the qualities of meditating in that way,
Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

-Ra Lotsawa, All-pervading Melodious Drumbeats
User avatar
Redfaery
Posts: 569
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:14 pm
Location: Smalltown USA

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Redfaery »

Thank you everyone! I normally write poems to her, and after I wrote the last one, I had....an experience. Not sure how to describe it. I just..."got it." Like, I understood EVERYTHING that I'd been trying to figure out from my readings. Then of course, it went away, and I was back to square one...
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
Anders
Posts: 1440
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:39 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Anders »

Someone else wrote a poem of praise for Saraswati here:
http://www.crystalrivers.com/poetry/saraswati.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Even if my body should be burnt to death in the fires of hell
I would endure it for myriad lifetimes
As your companion in practice"

--- Gandavyuha Sutra
pemachophel
Posts: 2226
Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2010 9:19 pm
Location: Lafayette, CO

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by pemachophel »

The Terton Cho-kyi Gocha revealed a Red Saraswati terma which includes the 21 Taras, Kurukulle, and Red Manjusri. It is a very special sadhana. Lama Dawa Choddak bestows the wang (empowerment), lung (reading transmission), and tri (oral commentary) for this sadhana. The entire cycle also contains White Saraswati, Manjusri Guru yoga, and Vajrakilaya Yidam sadhanas as well as several Protectors. This sadhana is so important to Lama Dawa that the name of His organization is Saraswati Bhawan. You can find out more about Lama Dawa at http://www.saraswatibhawan.org. I'm told that the late Lama Tharchin also transmitted this cycle in the U.S. In any case, I highly recommend it if you feel you have a special connection to Saraswati.

:namaste:
Pema Chophel པདྨ་ཆོས་འཕེལ
User avatar
dzogchungpa
Posts: 6333
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 10:50 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by dzogchungpa »

There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
User avatar
Redfaery
Posts: 569
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:14 pm
Location: Smalltown USA

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Redfaery »

pemachophel wrote:The Terton Cho-kyi Gocha revealed a Red Saraswati terma which includes the 21 Taras, Kurukulle, and Red Manjusri. It is a very special sadhana. Lama Dawa Choddak bestows the wang (empowerment), lung (reading transmission), and tri (oral commentary) for this sadhana. The entire cycle also contains White Saraswati, Manjusri Guru yoga, and Vajrakilaya Yidam sadhanas as well as several Protectors. This sadhana is so important to Lama Dawa that the name of His organization is Saraswati Bhawan. You can find out more about Lama Dawa at http://www.saraswatibhawan.org. I'm told that the late Lama Tharchin also transmitted this cycle in the U.S. In any case, I highly recommend it if you feel you have a special connection to Saraswati.

:namaste:
I don't just feel. I know. :emb: I am a mystic. In pagan parlance, I am "godbothered." I'm not just aware of the realms beyond the material, I can interact with them. It's not a woo-woo psychic kind of thing. It's just....something that is. I sense things. I feel things. Things that are not physical, but are not in my head. It's hard to describe without sounding either grandiose or psychotic. And trust me, I'm not psychotic! I've been to enough psychiatrists for other mental health issues (Aspergers syndrome, ADHD, chronic anxiety, panic attacks, OCD) to know that my psyche has been fully mapped and charted according to the DSMV. Psychosis ain't on the list. I'm not crazy. My mother had me tested. ;)

It's just that Sarasvati communicates with me. She guides me. She teaches me. She shows a depth of compassion and love towards me that surpasses my own mother's. (and my mother? She loves me A LOT. More, I am willing to wager, than even most mothers love their children.) Yet as much as I love her and feel I can connect to her, I know that she's truly beyond my comprehension. She always seems to be playing a "long game." Like, in Japan, she was constantly communicating with me. She kept a running commentary on the decor of the shrines and temples I visited. It got to the point where I had a hard time knowing if the feelings and impressions I was filtering were mine or hers. Some of my pagan friends marveled at this, saying they would've found this intrusive. But...I just figured she had a reason. And you know what? She did.

Part of the Aspergers syndrome is a tendency to fixate and obsess, and I would especially obsess and fixate on the intrusive thoughts that are also characteristic of Aspergers syndrome. Not quite "monkey mind" - I'd pick up something bad for me and not be able to put it down. Yet after about a month of having to inspect my thoughts rationally and in a detached manner...the negative self talk just died. She taught me how to evaluate my own thought processes in a rational way, and let go of patterns that weren't helpful.

So....sorry. Just a ramble.
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
User avatar
dzogchungpa
Posts: 6333
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 10:50 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by dzogchungpa »

Redfaery wrote:It's just that Sarasvati communicates with me.
I'm curious about this. When she communicates with you, are you able to see her?

Here's a picture of a nice statue for your delectation:

Image
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
User avatar
Redfaery
Posts: 569
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:14 pm
Location: Smalltown USA

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Redfaery »

Thank you for the picture. What a fabulous garland she has!

I'm afraid I don't see her. I feel her, often. Usually just a sense of "presence." The communication itself is kind of hard to describe. It's not "voices in my head" - let me get that right out of the way. It's like she uses my own wiring to communicate with me. I'll get a sort of nudge feeling in my solar plexus, and then just kind of an impression that my brain automatically translates into words. Like it's any other form of raw sensory data.
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
User avatar
dzogchungpa
Posts: 6333
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 10:50 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by dzogchungpa »

OK, so how did you identify her as Saraswati?
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
User avatar
Redfaery
Posts: 569
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:14 pm
Location: Smalltown USA

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Redfaery »

dzogchungpa wrote:OK, so how did you identify her as Saraswati?
LOL....it took a long time before I was able to pin it down.

When I decided to figure out what I was spiritually, I prayed to anyone who I thought might listen, including Benzaiten, who is the Japanese version of Sarasvati. So it's not like she just showed up out of the blue, uninvited. I reached out for help in a time of spiritual crisis, and she was the one who answered. It's like I went into a party and yelled "FRED!!!" and someone answers, "yeah?" I assume that guy answers to Fred, even though his real name might be Frederick, or Fred might not be his first name at all.
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
M.G.
Posts: 443
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:56 am

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by M.G. »

Redfaery wrote:
pemachophel wrote:The Terton Cho-kyi Gocha revealed a Red Saraswati terma which includes the 21 Taras, Kurukulle, and Red Manjusri. It is a very special sadhana. Lama Dawa Choddak bestows the wang (empowerment), lung (reading transmission), and tri (oral commentary) for this sadhana. The entire cycle also contains White Saraswati, Manjusri Guru yoga, and Vajrakilaya Yidam sadhanas as well as several Protectors. This sadhana is so important to Lama Dawa that the name of His organization is Saraswati Bhawan. You can find out more about Lama Dawa at http://www.saraswatibhawan.org. I'm told that the late Lama Tharchin also transmitted this cycle in the U.S. In any case, I highly recommend it if you feel you have a special connection to Saraswati.

:namaste:
I don't just feel. I know. :emb: I am a mystic. In pagan parlance, I am "godbothered." I'm not just aware of the realms beyond the material, I can interact with them. It's not a woo-woo psychic kind of thing. It's just....something that is. I sense things. I feel things. Things that are not physical, but are not in my head. It's hard to describe without sounding either grandiose or psychotic. And trust me, I'm not psychotic! I've been to enough psychiatrists for other mental health issues (Aspergers syndrome, ADHD, chronic anxiety, panic attacks, OCD) to know that my psyche has been fully mapped and charted according to the DSMV. Psychosis ain't on the list. I'm not crazy. My mother had me tested. ;)

It's just that Sarasvati communicates with me. She guides me. She teaches me. She shows a depth of compassion and love towards me that surpasses my own mother's. (and my mother? She loves me A LOT. More, I am willing to wager, than even most mothers love their children.) Yet as much as I love her and feel I can connect to her, I know that she's truly beyond my comprehension. She always seems to be playing a "long game." Like, in Japan, she was constantly communicating with me. She kept a running commentary on the decor of the shrines and temples I visited. It got to the point where I had a hard time knowing if the feelings and impressions I was filtering were mine or hers. Some of my pagan friends marveled at this, saying they would've found this intrusive. But...I just figured she had a reason. And you know what? She did.

Part of the Aspergers syndrome is a tendency to fixate and obsess, and I would especially obsess and fixate on the intrusive thoughts that are also characteristic of Aspergers syndrome. Not quite "monkey mind" - I'd pick up something bad for me and not be able to put it down. Yet after about a month of having to inspect my thoughts rationally and in a detached manner...the negative self talk just died. She taught me how to evaluate my own thought processes in a rational way, and let go of patterns that weren't helpful.

So....sorry. Just a ramble.
You're not rambling or crazy. I've had Ganapati communicate with me once or twice. Some people are just naturally attuned to other realms.

I vaguely recall hearing somewhere from someone who seemed to know what they were talking about that if one honored Saraswati, one should also honor Lakshmi too so as to keep one's finances stable.

That may have been more a folk-Hindu than a Buddhist perspective, though.
User avatar
dzogchungpa
Posts: 6333
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 10:50 pm

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by dzogchungpa »

M.G. wrote:I've had Ganapati communicate with me once or twice.
You might enjoy this:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... or-pretend

(sorry about using the cached version, the full article is no longer freely available on the tricycle website)

Edit: Actually, here's a pdf of the article:
http://www.odec.umd.edu/CD/RELIGION/ANDERSON.PDF
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
M.G.
Posts: 443
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:56 am

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by M.G. »

dzogchungpa wrote:
M.G. wrote:I've had Ganapati communicate with me once or twice.
You might enjoy this:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... or-pretend

(sorry about using the cached version, the full article is no longer freely available on the tricycle website)

Edit: Actually, here's a pdf of the article:
http://www.odec.umd.edu/CD/RELIGION/ANDERSON.PDF

:twothumbsup: Great piece. Thank you.

"Becoming affiliated with a Tibetan lineage can feel like entering a Byzantine hierarchy on psychedelics...."

LOL
User avatar
Redfaery
Posts: 569
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:14 pm
Location: Smalltown USA

Re: Information on Sarasvati

Post by Redfaery »

M.G. wrote: You're not rambling or crazy. I've had Ganapati communicate with me once or twice. Some people are just naturally attuned to other realms.

I vaguely recall hearing somewhere from someone who seemed to know what they were talking about that if one honored Saraswati, one should also honor Lakshmi too so as to keep one's finances stable.

That may have been more a folk-Hindu than a Buddhist perspective, though.
I do believe it's Buddhist as well, but I haven't found it to be the case for me. When I first connected with her, I kept getting random windfalls. I attribute it to the fact that for me, she is also the Japanese Benzaiten, a goddess of good fortune and prosperity.

Actually, money is a bit tight for me right now, though. But I think it'd be better for me to learn fiscal discipline first before approaching a wealth deity. Mundane solutions first. :)
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
Locked

Return to “Dharma in Everyday Life”