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In the introduction to an English translation of selections from the Bonpo Book of the Dead, John Myrdhin Reynolds says, "The Homage, with which the Tibetan text opens, Kuntu bzang-po rang-rig gsal-bar ston la phyag 'tshal-lo, invokes the Primordial Buddha Kuntu Zangpo (...Skt. Samantabhadra) as being the Self-Awareness (rang-rig) which clearly reveals itself (gsal-ba 'iston) at the heart or core of every single individual sentient being.
"Basic goodness is fundamental to the Shambhala tradition. It was a primary focus of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s teaching..... there is one important dzokchen term that seems to be closely linked to basic goodness, a connection that the Vidyadhara pointed to during his presentations of vajrayana at the Vajradhatu Seminary: künsang, or “all good.” In its expanded form, küntu sangpo, it refers to the primordial buddha Samantabhadra; in its abbreviated form it points to the principle that Samantabhadra represents."......http://nalandatranslation.org/offerings/choosing-the-right-word/done-sangwa-basic-goodness-and-kunsang-all-good/
“In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, particularly the Nyingma school, Dharmakaya Samantabhadra (not the bodhisattva of the mahayana) is considered the most Primordial Buddha, akin in status to Vajradhara for the Sarma traditions. Samantabhadra appears in the Vajrayana tantric text the Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra, as the Primordial Buddha, the 'embodiment' (Sanskrit: kaya) or 'field' (Sanskrit: kṣetra) of 'timeless awareness, gnosis' (Sanskrit: jñāna) awakened since before the very beginning. Therefore in Tibetan Buddhism the Nyingma, or 'Old Translation' school, the Sakya and the Bön schools view Samantabhadra as the Primordial Buddha. In the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana, Samantabhadra is considered a primordial Buddha in indivisible yab-yum union with his consort Samantabhadri. However, the Kagyu and Gelug schools use Vajradhara to represent the Primordial Buddha.”
“Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche following the Nyingmapa Dzogchen tradition qualifies the nature and essence of Samantabhadra, the Primordial Buddha, as the origin-less wellspring of the timeless and unbounded Atiyoga teachings, and honours the converse view entertained by some interested parties which hold that the Dzogchen teachings originated with either the Bonpo tradition or the Chinese monk Moheyan.”
“Samantabhadra is not subject to limits of time, place, or physical conditions. Samantabhadra is not a colored being with two eyes, etc. Samantabhadra is the unity of awareness and emptiness, the unity of appearances and emptiness, the nature of mind, natural clarity with unceasing compassion - that is Samantabhadra from the very beginning.”
'The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra' (Tibetan: ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཐུགས་ཀྱི་མེ་ལོང, Wylie: kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long) is one of the Seventeen Tantras of Dzogchen Upadesha.”
“The 5th century BC ….Fire Temple @ Balkh was known as 'Sam-i-Bala’….. 'Elevated Candle’…..Elevated/raised/divine is Old Persian: Bala/Bhala …… Sham/Sam is Old Persian: candle/light/Sun God.”
“Saman…. in Sri Lanka. The name Saman means "the rising morning sun".
bhadra …. sanskrit term meaning good
Sri Lanka……..Saman (deity)……..”Sri Lankan people venerates Samantabhadra Bodhisatva as Saman (also called Sumana, Samantha, Sumana Saman, Sinhalese: සුමන සමන් දෙවි). The name Saman means "the rising morning sun". God Saman is considered one of the guardian deities of the island and Buddhism. His main shrine is located in Ratnapura, where there is an annual festival held in his honor. .”….The Gods & Deity Worship in Sri Lanka".
“According to Mahavansa, the great chronicle of Sri Lanka, Sri Pada mountain (also called Sumanakuta,Samangira,Samanthakuta and Samanalakanda) bears the impression of the Buddha's left foot, which he left on his third visit to the island (Mhv.i,77ff.). Some say that the name Samanthakuta means the "Peak of the God Saman". ……The Theravada Buddhists of Sri Lanka later made god Saman the guardian of their land and their religion. With the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, Saman was identified as Samantabhadra, one of the four principal bodhisattvas of Mahayana. Like Samantabhadra, Saman is usually depicted crowned and bejewelled, holding a lotus in his right hand and accompanied by a white elephant.”
“Kuntu Zangpo is better understood as the Primordial Buddha from which Lord Shenrab was emanated and took a human body for the benefit of all sentient beings. He is also referred to in Sanskrit by the name "Samantabhadra." The name Kuntu Zangpo means "that which is most excellent and present in all places." Thus the ancient texts refer to Kuntu Zangpo as being "Self-Awareness", "True Self" and "Source of the Self”.”
Samantabhadra’s Offering Mantra:
nama sarva tatagaté bayo bisho mukhebé sarva takham udgaté saparana imam gagana kham soda
The religion of Sham (Sam) was considered "pagan" by the early Christians and Muslims......the cult of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), the worship of the divine spirit by whom the whole universe is ruled, the spirit whose symbol is the sun.....also the Solar Cosmology of Mithra……..Assyrian sun god.....Sham -ash, Ash-Sham.......rises from the mountains with rays out of his shoulders. He enters and exits the underworld through a set of gates in Mt. Mashu guarded by scorpion-people……..Ash-Sham in Syriac means "goodness"
Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon ...By Tenzin Wangyal
Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India ...edited by John Muir
BEUTIFULL
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