True Buddha Dharma-character Treasury – Yellow Jambhala
Guru Performs Yellow Jambhala Mudra
【Yellow Jambhala Mudra:】
Vajra Mudra: Hold the mudra at chest level.
【Yellow Jambhala Seed Syllable:】
Jum (yellow in color)
【Yellow Jambhala Mantra:】
「Om。jum-bah-lah。chan-lan-chah-nah-yeh。so-ha」
【Yellow Jambhala Dharmalakṣaṇa Brief Introduction】
In Tibetan Buddhism, Yellow Jambhala (Duo Wen Tian Wang) is yellow and sits in a half-lotus posture. He wears a gold crown adorned with precious gemstones. His round face appears prosperous and slightly fierce with gemstone chains on his body. His right hand holds a pomelo -shaped treasure object and his left hand holds a treasure-spouting mongoose, which can spout unlimited treasure.
【Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu Dharma Talk – Yellow Jambhala Background and Key Cultivation Formula】
”Yellow Jambhala” is an emanation of Duo Wen Tian Wang, and is also called Vaisravana. In Buddhism, Vaisravana is one of the Four Heavenly Kings protecting worlds. He is a celestial deity who protects dharma and has the divine nature of bestowing wealth and fortune.
Yellow Jambhala is one of the Eight Personal Deities of the ”True Buddha School” and the only fortune deity. He is the Vaisravana in the northern direction and the elder brother of Palden Lhamo.
Yellow Jambhala is one of the Five Jambhalas of Vajrayana (Yellow Jambhala, Red Jambhala, White Jambhala, Green Jambhala, and Black Jambhala).
Homage to Yellow Jambhala
The northern Vaisravana (Yellow Jambhala) lives north of the Four Heavens and protects the continent of Uttarakuru. He resides in the northern crystal palace located at the fourth level of Mt. Sumeru. Most of his retinue are Yakshas and Rakshasas. Therefore, how does one go about increasing one’s accumulation and wealth? The first thing to remember is to make offerings to Rakshasas.
For example: When making the offering of ambrosia, we recite the following verse ”da-peng-jin-chi-niao (Golden-Winged Garudas), luo-cha-gui-zi-mu (Rakshasas, child ghosts and mother ghosts), kuang-ye-gui-shen-zhong (And all spirits in the wild field), gan-lu-xi-chong-man (Are brimming with ambrosia.)”
We offer to Rakshasas because they constitute most of the retinue around the Four Heavenly Kings. Offering to Rakshasas is equivalent to offering to Jambhala, a wealth deity. As long as you understand to make offerings to Rakshasas, Jambhala will receive the good deed directly. He will begin to like you and you will accumulate good fortune, for example: increase in overtime pay, professional promotion, salary increase, more prosperous business, constantly receiving new purchase orders, etc… .
In the realms of heaven, it is the Four Heavenly Kings who are the richest. The Four Heavenly Kings are ”Northern Duo Wen Tian Wang (Vaisravana), Chi Guo Tian Wang (Dhrtarastra), Zeng Zhang Tian Wang (Virudhaka) and Guang Mu Tian Wang (Virupaksa).”
In the human realm it is ”Prthivi, mountain gods, and earth gods who are the richest.
In oceans, lakes, wells, rivers, and streams the Dragon King is the richest.
In the heaven realm the richest deity is the Vaisravana Yellow Fortune Deity (Jambhala) who is also the greatest of the wealth deities.
Vaisravana (Yellow Jambhala) has the essential nature of protecting dharma. He is a Vidyaraja who protects and supports buddhadharma and possesses the greatest wealth and fortunate rewards.
In Eastern Vajrayana, Yellow Jambhala (Vaisravana) holds a pagoda which can spout unlimited treasure. He bestows the treasure on sentient beings and blesses them with great luck and merit. Prthivi supports Vaisravana’s feet and two Yakshas, Lamband Vilamba, are at his left and right sides respectively. He is a great, wealthy, heavenly king guarding the north.
When we were on a pilgrimage visiting the island of Shikoku in Japan we circumambulated 88 temples. Finally we got to a palace called ”Kotohira-gu (located in Nakatado District of Kagawa Prefecture, the northern part of Shikoku).” To get to the palace we had to climb a lengthy flight of stairs. The meaning of ”Kotohira” is the ”Northern Vaisravana Yellow Fortune Deity Jambhala of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
Kotohira Vaisravana was originally from the depths of the ocean. He was a type of dragon called a ”horned dragon.” As the result of his cultivation he transformed into the ”Kotohira Vaisravana.”
In cultivating ”Yellow Jambhala Personal Deity Practice,” Living Buddha Lian-sheng Dharma King Sheng-yen Lu considers the key practice instruction to be ”Giving is the cause of fortune.” One must first understand the principle of ”giving.” ”Giving” means that one gives everything one has to sentient beings. The three types of giving are:
Wealth giving,
Dharma giving, and
Fearless giving.
One should first learn from Yellow Jambhala to have a wide and generously giving heart and to actually practice giving. For people without any money to give, there are three extraordinarily important offerings for them to practice:
First, learn to transform food and offer it to Hungry Ghosts and Rakshasas.
Second, make food offerings to Sangha.
Third, thoroughly master the ritual of offering to Yellow Jambhala.
When practicing, one must invoke the Five Buddhas by reciting the invocation mantra. The Five Buddhas emit five colors of lights which empower Yellow Jambhala. Recite the Empowerment Mantra, and visualize that the swelling of the right big toe of Yellow Jambhala disappears. There is a secret: when the empowerment of Yellow Jambhala is completed, one continues on to visualize oneself also being empowered by the five beams of lights. One’s karmic obstacles are thereby eliminated, painful illnesses are diminished, and one is able to obtain great good fortune. This is one of the ”secrets of secrets.” One then continues on with the recitation of the mantra of Yellow Jambhala: ”Om, jum-bah-lah, chan-lan-chan-nah-yeh, so-ha.”
Everytime Yellow Jambhala appears the Five Buddhas together will also appear and empower him. Therefore, we should recite the Empowerment Mantra: ‘‘om, hum, jum-seh-ah.” To be in accordance with the dharma one should recite the Empowerment Mantra of the Five Buddhas. Every time you cultivate the Yellow Jambhala practice you must visualize the Five Buddhas appearing out of empty space. The Five Buddhas empower Yellow Jambhala and he is glorified by the empowerment. Yellow Jambhala then bestows his treasure on sentient beings.
Why did I choose Yellow Jambhala to be one of the Eight Personal Deities of the True Buddha School? Because Jambhala is the Yellow Fortune Deity, a fortune god yellow in color, and he is known everywhere. Also, because there are five buddhas atop his crown his roots are very deep and in the future he will attain a level of buddhahood equal to that of the Five
Buddhas. Therefore I chose Yellow Jambhala to be one of the eight personal deities of the True Buddha School.
All sentient beings are themselves a ”great merit field” as long as they have faith in the karmic cause and effect of Vaisravana and cultivate the ”Yellow Jambhala Practice” of the ”True Buddha School,” uphold the five precepts and ten virtues, cut off all evil affinities, always pursue the True Buddha’s discipline and precepts, make offerings to the Root Guru and the Three Jewels, print and distribute virtuous books and buddhist sutras, and perform all of the above persistently and unflaggingly. These type people will most certainly ascend to a heaven realm upon their death. They will be reborn in any of the thirty-three heavens just as they desire. They may also go to the abode of Vaisravana and enjoy the abundant and exquisite heavenly pleasures, the five types of supernatural powers and the blissful freedom of liberation.
Those who practice this dharma will extinguish all the suffering of poverty in the six realms, eradicate all disasters and calamities, subjugate evil spirits and enemies, increase their store of good fortune and virtue, extend their lifespan, grow in wisdom, receive total love and respect, protect their motherland from disasters, cause the place where they live to be peaceful, always enjoy a good climate, attract wealth and treasure to themselves, have infinite virtues, and command magnificent dharma power.
Yellow Jambhala Personal Deity Practice