Virtual Talk on Apsaras in China (Dunhuang) and Nepal

Rabin Man Shakya

Apsara is a Sanskrit word which means beautiful celestial nymph.  Although the concept of Apsara is found both in Hinduism and Buddhism, there is fundamental difference between Apsaras in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, there are numerous legends where Apsaras were used to seduce Gods, Sadhus, Asuras and men, whereas Apsaras usually play a supporting and helping role in Buddhism.

A virtual talk on Apsaras in China (Dunhuang) and Nepal was organized on Saturday, April 24, 2021 by Dance Mandal Hong Kong Sangha. The talk on Apsaras in China (Dunhuang) was presented by Dr Tina Ho of Hong Kong Sangha while the presentation on Apsaras in Nepal was made by Prajwal Vajracharya of Portland's Nritya Mandala Mahavihara. The talk program in the zoom was participated by 25 people from the USA, Canada and Hong Kong.

Dr Tina Ho's presentation on Apsaras dealt with Apsaras in Chinese Buddhism and murals in ancient Chinese caves.

Dr Tina Ho said:"Apsaras - most of them - are female. They are called Gandharva in male form. Apsaras are goddesses of music in Buddhism, also known as goddesses of incense and goddesses of fragrance."

Mythological angels and nymphs dancing and playing celestial music is a common tableau from the Dunhuang fresco. "The Apsara in the murals (early third century) was also called flying fairy", Dr Ho added.

In Chinese Buddhism, according to Dr Ho, three duties of Apsaras are: (1) worship service (2) to disperse flower and incense and (3) dancing and playing music. Dr Ho's presentation also included  pictures of flying goddesses of Dunhuang using pipe music and showing 'Silk road flower rain.' She also demonstrated paintings of Apsaras by different Chinese artists including by herself.

The second part of the talk was delivered by Prajwal Vajracharya, a noted Charya nritya guru. Prajwal's talk presented a detailed and comprehensive description of Apsaras in the Newah Buddhism. He said that Apsaras are mentioned in Lalitvistar, Avadanas and Mahavadanas.

Prajwal also added that the types of Apsaras are not just the flying celestial nymphs in the sky, some are manifested in animals as well as in other sentient beings.

Prajwal's presentation also included Nepalese goddess offerings and dance as well as the portrayal of goddesses right over the crocodiles' mouth in the sculptures and Toranas of the temples in the Kathmandu valley.

Prajwal also told the zoom audience a folklore of Bhasmasura and apsara named Mohini.  He said:"Bhasmasura was an Asura who performed great Tapasya for getting a blessing from Shiva. Lord Shiva was pleased with his Tapasya and asked him what he wanted. The Asura requested that he be granted the power to burn up and immediately turn into ashes anyone whose head he touched  with his hand. He started to become a big menace for the people. He even wanted to kill Lord Shiva by touching his head. Shiva had to hide himself underneath the ground. That is  why people still worship him as a Lukma Dyo (Hiding God) in Nepal. As a result, Lord Vishnu had to become an Apsara named Mohini to eliminate the Asura. Mohini was so beautiful that Bhasmasura instantly fell in love with her. But the Apsara told him to dance with her. During the dance, when Mohini placed her hand on her head, Bhasmasura did the same. He immediately burnt up and turned into ashes." 

Second and Advanced Teaching on Padmasambhava Charya Nritya

Rabin Man Shakya

Portland, (Nepal Oregon News) : An impromptu second and advanced Charya Nritya teaching on Padmasambhava was organized in the zoom on Saturday, April 17, 2021 by the Dance Mandal Hong Kong.

Om ah hum vajra guru padma siddhi hum is the Vajra Guru Mantra related to Padmasambhava, guru Prajwal Vajracharya who is also co-founder of Nritya Mandala Mahavihara, said at the virtual gathering participated by 15 people from Hong Kong and other countries.

Vajracharya said that Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) is a totally enlightened being, a fully awakened one, a Buddha.

Complete transformation from darkness into the light, purifying your mind, body and spirit is very important, said Prajwal.

Prajwal went on saying:"Guru Rinpoche who created the early constitution of Tibet also gave necessary advice to the King of Tibet at that time."

The second teaching on Padmasambhava Charya Nritya was an advanced one that dealt with subtle and intricate aspects of the Charya dance and its steps. 

The teaching also manifested different hand and finger mudras and artistic movement of legs.

Charya dance is a meditational dance that tells stories of the inner qualities and awakening of Buddhist deities, said Guru Prajwal.

The dance teaching not only demonstrated enlightened qualities through gestures but it also manifested the facial and eye expressions and physical movements.

The advanced Charya Nritya teaching zeroed in on the dance movements and, according to Guru Prajwal, the participants have to go into a meditative state and let their body flow in movements.   

World Newah Organization, USA Chapter Organizes Virtual Talk on Nepalese Vamsavali

Rabin Man Shakya

Portland, (Nepal Oregon News):  World Newah Organization (WNO) USA chapter organized a virtual talk program on "On a nineteenth century chronicle of Nepal" on Saturday, April 3, 2021. The scholarly presentation was made by Dr Manik Bajracharya who is currently living and working in Germany.

During the presentation, Dr Bajracharya analyzed the corpus of Vamsavalis in Nepal and said:"Of all the countries in South Asia, Nepal probably has one of the biggest corpus of traditional historical writings or chronicles preserved. These writings are generally known as Vamsavalis."

The talk presented a detailed description about traditional historical writings in Nepal, characteristics, typology and about some published and unpublished Vamsavalis.

The presentation also threw light on Nepalika-Bhupa-Vamsavali.

Laying emphasis on the role played by Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP), Dr Bajracharya said that it was a joint project between the governments of Nepal and Germany in 1970s for 30 years for the preservation of manuscripts and  epigraphic documents. 

The project did lots of microfilming, about 200,000 manuscripts were microfilmed including at least 110 Vamsavalis, he said.

Dr Bajracharya further said:"The traditional historical texts in Nepal should be treated as the distinct form of historiography, not just as sources of history and their scientific value must be recognized."

Dr Bajracharya informed the zoom participants:"At the Hodgson collection in the British Library, which is  also called India Office Library, the section where the Hodgson collection is housed, it has 65 titles on the Vamsavalis.."

Vamsavali is a Sanskrit word - consisting of Vamsa and Avali - which means the line of a family, pedigree, genealogy.

According to Dr Bajracharya, Vamsavali means genealogy of the kings or clans; narration of historical and legendary events; story of origins or places or monuments; report of the deeds of kings, deities, Bodhisattvas, sages, monks, heroes and sadhus.

Characteristics of Nepalese Vamsavali writings, according to Dr Bajracharya, are (1) Retelling of the past (Itihasa, "so indeed it was") (2) Generally compiled from various sources (3) Scribes unknown (4) Scribes are Buddhist and Hindu priests, merchants, vaidyas or possibly of any other class (5) Narrators are omnipresent (6) Cyclical concept of time (7) Emphasis on soteriological goal.

The first Vamsavali so far in Nepal was Gopal Raj Vamsavali, a 14th century handwritten manuscript during the rule of Jayasthiti Malla, Dr Bajracharya said.

At the end of the virtual program, Dr Bajracharya answered to a number of questions asked by the distinguished zoom participants.

The zoom talk on Vamsavali was conducted by Pramesh Shrestha of the WNO-USA chapter while it was moderated by co-founder of Portland's Nritya Mandala Mahavihara Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya who is also the Director of Heritage Division of the WNO-USA chapter.

Dr Manik Bajracharya who was born in Lalitpur, Nepal is now based in Germany. A visiting professor since 2011 at Heidelberg University, Dr Bajracharya is also a Research Fellow of the German Research Foundation Project "Wright Chronicle". He did his Ph D in 2008 from Department of Letters, Aichi Gakuin University in Japan. 

(Rabin Man Shakya is a Newah journalist in USA)

Newah Cultural Anthropologist Shrestha Stresses Need for Preserving Heritage like Sako Gumbaha Vajrayogini

Rabin Man Shakya

Portland, (Nepal Oregon News): Dr Bal Gopal Shrestha, a noted Newah cultural anthropologist living in the Netherlands, stressed the need for preserving ancient heritages like Sako Gumbaha Vajrayogini.

"The ancient monastery Gum Vihara may date back to the pre-Lichhavi time, but we are short of evidence in this regard. Sako's Gum Vihara is mentioned in King Manadeva's inscription of 464 AD."

Dr Shrestha said this during a presentation "Sako Gumbaha Vajrayogini" at an e-heritage virtual conversation organized in the zoom on Saturday, March 6, 2021 by World Newah Organization (WNO), USA chapter.

A sixth century inscription of Vamanadeva of AD 538 (Samvat 460) is the oldest evidence relating to the founding of the small city of Sako, he said.

Gumbaha is the place of nine rock-cut cave monasteries. Some believe these to be from around third century BC, Dr Shrestha said adding:"Besides being a divinity of national importance, with a long-attested history, Vajrayogini is also the protective goddess of Sankhu town. In that regard, the Goddess has many features in common with the protective deities of other Newar towns."

Several Guthis from outside especially Kathmandu still have Vajrayogini as their Istadevata, but their number did not increase any more after Sankhu lost its prominence as a trading town, he also added.

Sako (Sankhu) is believed to be the creation of Goddess Vajrayogini, he said and threw light on a book - 'Manishail Mahavadana' written by Barnavajra Vajracharya - which elaborately dealt with the creation of Kingdom of Sankhu.

Dr Shrestha during the zoom presentation also replied to various questions of the participants.

The program was conducted by WNO USA chapter's Pramesh Shrestha while it was moderated by co-founder of Nritya Mandala Mahavihara Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya who is also director of heritage division of the WNO USA chapter.

Dr Shrestha is a cultural anthropologist based in the Netherlands. He was born in Sankhu, a small town near Kathmandu and finished his MA in political science from Tribhuvan University. Later, Shrestha completed a Ph D in cultural anthropology at Leiden University in 2002.

(Rabin Man Shakya is a Newah journalist in America)

 

'Guru Rinpoche is like second Buddha'

Rabin Man Shakya

Portland, April 4 (Nepal Oregon News): "Guru Rinpoche is regarded as 'Second Buddha'. Guru Rinpoche possesses miraculous powers including the ability to subdue Rakshasas (demons) and evil spirits. Guru Rinpoche's birth was foretold by Tathagata Buddha and he is also known as Padmasambhava."

Co-founder of the Nritya Mandala Mahavihara in Portland Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya said this during a zoom teaching on Guru Rinpoche organized by Hong Kong Sangha on Saturday, April 3, 2021.

Prajwal's talk presented a detailed and comprehensive portrayal of Guru Rinpoche's role and contributions in Buddhism. "Guru Rinpoche was more than Bodhisattva, he is like a Buddha," said Prajwal.

A number of Thangkas and  religious paintings portray Guru Rinpoche with Apsaras at each side, Prajwal said at the zoom program.

Guru Rinpoche had several Apsaras as consorts. One of them is from Nepal - Shakyadevi - whom Guru Rinpoche met at Swayambhunath and together they deeply and profoundly practiced secret mantras, Prajwal added.

Precious teachings of Guru Rinpoche came from Oddiyana, the land of Dakinis, Prajwal went on saying.

The talk by Prajwal Vajracharya dealt with subtle details about Guru Rinpoche. Laying emphasis on the importance of Tantric Buddhism, Vajracharya also added:"Guru Rinpoche is wrathful and smiling. Wrathful like Vajrapani." 

Speaking about Guru Rinpoche's travels to Nepal, Prajwal said:"Guru Rinpoche visited several places in Nepal. He had meditated in the caves of Pharping, Nepal and was empowered by Vajrayogini."

During his travels to Nepal Mandala, Guru Rinpoche was in Patan and the place where he stayed was Yempi Mahavihara in Lalitpur.  84 Mahasiddhas from India had come to meet him at that place, Prajwal told the zoom participants.

A huge 64 feet tall golden statue of Guru Rinpoche was erected just to the right of Lord Buddha's statue in the Amidev Buddha Park in Kathmandu in 2003, Prajwal informed the zoom participants.

Pundit Prajwal Vajracharya's teaching on Guru Rinpoche also zeroed in on  Padmasambhava charya dance.

Prajwal danced the Padmasambhava nritya while Joshua Proto, a Sangha member sang the Charya giti in the zoom.

Prajwal demonstrated the movements of legs, gestures of hands and fingers and expressions of face and eyes during the Padmasambhava nritya. "His two eyes are always wide open straight forward - always awakening the people," Prajwal said.

At the end of the zoom teaching, Pundit Vajracharya replied to several questions of the participants. The zoom talk on Guru Rinpoche was participated by 35 people from various states of the USA, Hong Kong, Germany and Canada.