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"WERMA is a Tibetan term for a kind of spirit and spirit principle. A werma is an enlightened form of drala. This term is used mostly in the context of the Shambhala terma teachings and practices that relate to those such as the Werma Sadhana....The Werma Sadhana is a sadhana meditation practice unique to the Shambhala lineage. It is based upon a Shambhala terma received by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche at Casa Werma in Mexico in 1980......Prior to 2005, students in Shambhala received this sadhana practice at a Kalapa Assembly retreat. Beginning in 2005, students receive this practice by attending a Rigden abhisheka after attending Vajrayana Seminary or the equivalent and then by completing an amount of Primordial Rigden ngöndro."...http://labelingthoughts.org/wiki/Werma_Sadhana
WERMA THANGKA.....Tthe Warrior God Werma Nyi-nya in the Musec Guimet in Paris.....however this depiction does not have the elephant trunk.......horns of a garuda, lion's head, lynx ears, fearful face, crocodile mouth, tiger's teeth, feet and wings in the form of swords.....
"Carolyn Gimian writes: I attended many meetings, both formal and informal, with him [CTR] concerning Shambhala Training, Kalapa Assembly and the transmission of these teachings. In my memory, he made it quite clear that he hoped that the full transmission of the Shambhala teachings would be made to many people and that their religious persuasion was not an issue. Whenever those of us meeting with him tried to put limitations on who should be included in the advanced levels of Shambhala Training, and whenever we tried to add requirements as hoops for newer people to jump through, Rinpoche would resist our desire to limit things. I remember once, in Mill Village I believe, that he said that we needed to have more faith in the magic of the teachings.".....http://radiofreeshambhala.org/faq/faq-shambhala/
"The Druk Sakyong had to say in Comments on the Werma Sadhana:From one way of thinking, the sadhana has been influenced by the traditional buddhist style, but on the other hand it is quite different. It is a self-contained practice. It is not particularly borrowed from buddhism, but it is simply self-existent in the Shambhala style.".. .http://radiofreeshambhala.org/faq/faq-shambhala/
(Jamgon Mipham Namgyal Gyatso).(1846-1912)..The Tibetan text: "The Lamp that Illuminates the Practice of the Miraculous Juthig of Existence" : interesting and clear descriptions of the DRALA and WERMA can be found in two passages from the monumental work on the Juthig divination. The first passage describes the 'Unicorn' Drala Seu Ruchig, one of the most important manifestations among Drala and Werma.Also information on Lha, Nyen, and Lu."
WERMA......."From the inner essence of the egg a miraculous man was born with a lion's head and lynx's ears, a fierce face with an elephant's trunk, the mouth of a chusin, and tiger's fangs. His feet were swords and his wings sabres, and between the flaming horns (rwa dbal) on the great Khyung's head he had the diadem of the wish-fulfilling jewell as an ornament. He was called 'heroic' WERMA NYINYA and was the fount of four distince ritual traditions.
In fact from the union of the Werma with the Lha were born the 'Werma of the Lha that Subjugate the Dud'.......from the union with the Nyen, the 'Werma of the Nyen that Subjugate Enemies'......from the union with the Khyung, the 'Werma of the Khyung that Subjugate the Lu'....from the unioon with the divine Lions (seng) the 'Three Werma Brothers that Subjugate Heroes'.....From these four divine manifestations, which in turn emanated armed hordes of nine hundred and ninety thousand various Werma, originated the four systems of ritual practice devoted to the class of the Werma that, as is written in the Zijid, "all arose from the Lha, descended from the Se and are similar to the Wal.....and appeared in order to subjugate all hostile entities causing obstacles and disturbances."(Drung, Deu and Bon, 1995)
WERMA THANGKA Musec Guimet in Paris.....Bon Deity: Werma Nyinya .....http://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1193
Worldly Protector (Bon) - Werma Nyenya (Chang Sen)....(item no. 200001).....Naxi.....1800 - 1899....Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton......Himalayan Art Resources...Rubin Museum of Art, New York
"The Naxi (Nakhi) are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. They are followers of either the Buddhist or Dongba (Bon) religions and have art forms that closely follow the style of Himalayan art."
"Werma Nyinya: a worldly deity arising from the Bon 'Treasure Tradition' and specifically the Chang Sen Tagdu text unearthed by Terton Ponse Khyung Gotsal (12th century).
"Dynamic in appearance with one face and two hands, white in colour, he has the head of a lion - snarling and gaping. The right hand holds aloft a sword ready to strike and the left stretched to the side a trident on a long shaft. Wearing a flower and jewel crown the head is topped with a green bird. Adorned with a necklace, bracelets and anklets, a pink and green scarf is worn around the shoulders and the lower body is draped in a tiger skin skirt. Sharp blue wings extend from the back as he stands in a wrathful posture atop a raging tiger above two red figures, a sun disc and multi-coloured lotus seat. Six attendants in similar appearance stand at the right and left. (Textually there are 13 retinue figures).
At the top center is a garuda bird along with the four animals of the directions at the four corners; snow lion, dragon, tiger and white yak. At the top right and left are two seated figures, peaceful in appearance, each with one face and two hands, white in colour. At the lower left a standing man holds an arrow and on the right a blacksmith hammers over an anvil. A solitary bird clutches a bat with the beak and a monkey wields an axe.
http://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1193....
(Also...The Arrow and the Spindle, Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet by Samten G Karmay. Manadala Book Point: 1998. Pages 256 & 257, The Ye and the Ngam).
The 360 Werma Deities dwell in Mt Kailas along with Shiva.
According to Hinduism, Lord Shiva, the destroyer of ignorance and illusion, resides at the summit of a legendary mountain named Kailāsa, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Maa Parvati, .....
"Drung Deu and Bon: Narrations, Symbolic Languages and The Bon Tradition In Ancient Tibet...
Chapter IV-The Bon of the Deities: The Protection Rites
i. The importance of the deities of protection...Page 51
ii. The powerful Thugkar deities...Page 51
iii. The heroic Drala and Werma hordes...Page 54
iv. The Changseng and the Shungon...Page 56
v. The Drala Seu Ruchig and the manifestations of the Werma...Page 56
vi. The meaning of drala"
"The werma deities are extremely important because they are the special protectors who always accompany and protect the masters and practitioners. From an ancient ritual text called...The General Do of Existence....
To the masters the Werma are important.
The Werma whirl like snow-storms,
those they escort are the practitioners,
those they assist are the practitioners,
those they protect are the practitioners.
We proffer the well-prepared offerings
and confess errors if we have mingled with evil!"
(Drung, Deu and Bon....1995..... page 55)
"The Tibetans have very complicated linkages and overlappings among the protector gods of the person, the protectors gods of lineages (male, female, maternal uncle) and the different masters of the place or territory." (Blondeau: 1996..pg ix)...
"It is difficult to relate to enlightened energies if they have no form or ground for personal communications. One should remember that the mind that perceives the deity and the deity itself are not separate."....(Sogyal: 1992...pg 285)...
WERMA...Published references to the Tibetan term Werma....."Werma: martial spirits...infuse the warrior with dignity and confidence." (Nalanda:Lopez:1997) "the 360 Werma, a Zhang-zhung term" (Hoffman:1975). "There are four different classes of divine manifestations: Drala, Werma, Changseng, and Shungon." (Norbu:1995) "Werma defined as 'furious ones'. (Ekvall:pg 78) "The 360 Werma deities who dwell on Mt Kailash in western Tibet." (Powers:1995) "The origin of the powerful Werma. A clear description of drala and werma." (Norbu 1995: pps 54-56)...."God Werma...Fury Werma...Khyung Werma...Werma Hero Subduers"...(Snellgrove:1967...pg 63)...."the werma is an important class of Bon deities. The werma are the angry, ferocious and fearless ones, the dgra lha of the arrows and lances. Two main groups of werma, one of 180 and the other of 360 members." (Nebesky:1956..pg 334)...."Nyi Nya is the lord of the Werma" (Norbu: 1995..pg 245)....the Shang Shung term for king is WER RO (Tibetan: rgyal po) (Kvaerne: 1996)....senkhar (gsas mkhar): a small temple to attract the werma deities..."the Werma, almighty and fearless, are the 'road gods' (lam lha) of many warriors." (Nebesky: 1956..pg 334)...
ZHIDAG....."Tibetan Buddhists believe that there are countless types of beings other than humans and animals. Some are more powerful, happier, and more intelligent than humans, and others less so. Usually if there is no common karma or karmic connection, beings of different types will not encounter each other. Spirits are not necessarily births of the ancestors from a particular locality, but may have come from any kind of birth or realm." (Hidden Teachings of Tibet)
FRAVASHIS......"A class of higher intelligence that are ancient Persian guardian warrior spirits. The 19th day of every month is consecrated to them. King Phraortes' (647 BC) Persian name is derived from the term."(Dhalla:1963..pg 235)..... "Hence Finite Time and Finite Space control man's destiny from the cradle to the grave. Yet the whole of the macrocosm is kept in being by the Fravashis (Dralas ??), the spiritual powers that are indissolubly linked with each human being and with humanity as a whole. Finite time-space, then, is not a kenoma, an empty nothingness, but a pleroma, a 'full' and vital organism...."...(Zaehner..1961..pg 150)...
"We are working with iconography as a journey, rather than as entertainment or excitement or cultural fascination. We are talking about personal experience, how we actually see this world. There is a basic iconographic pattern in the universe, like the existence of the seasons and the elements, but how we react to that is individual.""....(Trungpa: Dharma Art.:1996...pg 94)
"Mount Kailash is referred to as the "center of the universe" and is considered to be the resting place of Gods. Tibet's Mount Kailash is a sacred place to four religions: Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Bon Po (a native Tibetan religion prior to Buddhism), and Ayyavazhi religions. According to Hindu tradition, Kailash is the home of the deity Shiva. Some sects hold that Kailash is paradise and the final destination of all souls in the world.In Hindu religion, Mount Kailash also plays an important role in Rama's journey in the ancient Sanskrit epic, Ramayana. Buddhists hold that Kailash is the home of Samvara, a guardian deity, and a representation of Buddha. Buddhists believe that Mount Kailash has supernatural powers that are able to clean the sins of a lifetime of any person. Followers of Jainism believe that Kailash is the site where the founder of Jainism reached enlightenment. Bon Po teaches that Kailash is the home of a wind goddess....(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_mountains)
"Kalapa Valley THE SACRED CENTRE OF SHAMBHALA Scorpion Seal Retreat Building In 2004, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche requested that a structure be built for the lineage of Sakyongs in Kalapa Valley to be used for the retreat described by his father the Druk Sakyong, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in the Scorpion Seal of the Golden Sun root text. The text is considered one of the most profound of the Druk Sakyong’s Shambhala teachings, and is the basis for the Werma Sadhana, a central practice for advanced students within the Shambhala community."....http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=The_Scorpion_Seal
"In Bon, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet, Kailash is a giant protector deity that holds the soul of the nation, ensuring its continuance. As the place where Shanrab, the mythical founder of Bon descended from heaven, it was the centre of the ancient Bon empire, Zhang Zhung.Buddhist cosmology views Kailash as the manifestation of Mount Meru, ‘navel of the world’, the exact centre of the universe. A powerful image is that of Kailash as ‘world pillar’ around which the entire created world revolves. ..Mount Of Myths by Swati Chopra
"That the Rinchen Terdzö empowerments in Orissa, India and at Yak Gompa in Tibet were bestowed by living tertöns is remarkable. It is not always the case that the recipients of the empowerments have had such good fortune. These circumstances added to the profundity of the ceremonies in India, and pointed toward other important connections between the Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Namkha Drimed Rinpoche. For example, the Vidyadhara and His Eminence shared visions of Akar Werma, the deity whom the Vidyadhara called Shiwa Ökar. Shiwa Ökar is an important figure in Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Shambhala termas and in the New Treasures termas discovered by His Eminence."...(http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Great-River-Of-Blessings.pdf)
“In July and August of 1958, I attended the Rinchen Terdzö empowerments that Trungpa Rinpoche was giving at Yak monastery in Tsawa Gang. That was the first time I met Trungpa Rinpoche. I already had a very personal connection with Gesar. I had received some Gesar terma teachings, but they were not complete. Realizing that Trungpa Rinpoche was a great master and also had a very special connection to Gesar, I asked him to write something for me. He immediately wrote down the Gesar supplication, The Ocean of the Play of Buddha Activity. After the text was copied, he sealed the original and presented it to me. ......During the empowerments, we were occasionally able to talk about our Drala, Werma, and Gesar visions. Since I was young, I have been guided by visions of Gesar in various forms. Whenever I received prophecies, Gesar was in the form of a young boy dressed in white. I knew that this boy was an aspect of Gesar, but did not know his name. As soon as I mentioned this to Trungpa Rinpoche, he identified the boy as Akar Werma. Today, whenever I perform a Gesar arrow divination, I base it on the Akar Werma sadhana. "...(https://www.ripaladrang.org/index.php/teachings/written-teachings)
"The Shambhala Seminary is a two-part seminary designed to deepen students' practice and understanding of the Buddhist and Shambhala teachings and to enter them into the vajrayana practices of the Shambhala Buddhist mandala. The seminary lasts two months. Part 1, Sutrayana Seminary, is led by a Shambhala acharya and provides in-depth training and study of the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Shambhala teachings. Part 2, Vajrayana Seminary, is led by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and authorizes students to begin their Shambhala ngöndro—the preliminary practices for receiving the Rigden Abhisheka.....The Rigden Abhisheka enters the student into the practice of the Werma Sadhana. It is open to graduates of Shambhala Vajrayana Seminary who have completed their Shambhala ngöndro and to students who have already received the Werma Sadhana and completed their Kagyü Ngöndro."...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambhala_Buddhism
"After the 2003 Kalapa Assembly program, it was announced that the study and practice of the Werma Sadhana was to be moved from the Shambhala Training to the Buddhist curriculum."......en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambhala_Buddhism
"Certain Shambhala practices derive from specific terma texts of Trungpa Rinpoche's such as Letter of the Black Ashe, Letter of the Golden Key that Fulfills Desire, Golden Sun of the Great East, and the Scorpion Seal of the Golden Sun, in long and short versions. Trungpa Rinpoche is believed by his students to have received these teachings directly from Gesar of Ling, an emanation of Padmasambhava, and the Rigden kings. Their terma status was confirmed by the Nyingma master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche....The Shambhala dharma practices derived entirely or in part from these texts include those of werma, drala, Wind Horse (Tib. lungta), and meditations on four "dignities of Shambhala": tiger (tib. tak), lion (Tib. seng), garuda (Tib. kyung) and dragon (Tib. druk). Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso, a great 19th century Nyingma lama and the predecessor of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, wrote about many of these practices and concepts as well. Some, such as the "stroke of Ashé", have no known precedents"....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambhala_Buddhism
"There are three requirements before a student may begin a practice:
1. the empowerment (Tibetan: wang)
2. a reading of the text by an authorized holder of the practice (Tibetan: lung)
3. instruction on how to perform the practice or rituals (Tibetan: tri).
An individual is not allowed to engage in a deity practice without the empowerment for that practice. The details of an empowerment ritual are often kept secret as are the specific rituals involved in the deity practice."
"The general depiction of Gesar is of a Tibetan warrior, atop a horse, clad in armor and a helmet with elaborate flag pennants and streamers, accompanied by eight horseman upto thirty horsemen. Gesar is also commonly depicted with thirteen animals surrounding him. These are the 'Werma Chu Sum' - thirteen special attendant figures - animals.
The Thirteen Werma (werma chusum):
1. White Lion. seng ge dkar po (sengge karpo)
2. Light Blue Jackal. spyang ki sngo skya (chang ki ngo kya)
3. White Rabbit. ri bong dkar po (ri bong karpo)
4. Yellow Tea-[coloured] Deer. gla ba ja ser (la wa ja ser)
5. Tea-coloured Poisonous Snake. dug sbrul bya mdog (dug drul ja dog)
6. Black Eagle. glag ja nag (lag ja nag)
7. Multi-[coloured] Sparrow. khra skya bo (tra kya bo)
8. Naturally White Vulture. bya rgod ngang dkar (ja god ngang kar)
9. Smoke-coloured Owl. 'ug pa du mdog (wuk pa du dog)
10. Striped Tiger. stag 'dzum drug (tag 'dzum drug)
11. Black Wild Bear. dred mong nag po (dre mong nag po)
12. White Mouth Wild Donkey. rkyang kha dkar (kyang kha kar)
13. Golden Fish. gser nya gser po (ser nya ser po)"
http://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=327
Email....okarresearch@gmail.com
John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….December 2012
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