Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa (Tibetan : ཕ་སྤྲེལ་རྒན་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་པ།, Wylie : pha sprel rgan byang chub sems pa) is a mythical monkey-ancestor of the Tibetan people. With King Gesar and Avalokiteśvara, of whom he is an incarnation, he is one of the most important figures in Tibetan culture. [1] Pha means "father", Trelgen "old monkey" and Changchup Sempa refers to the bodhisattva (Changchub meaning "enlightenment" and Sempa meaning "intention").
A very popular Tibetan creation myth holds that in the beginning the world was covered by water, which evaporated little by little, leaving room for animal life. To the flooded land of Tibet came a monkey that had withdrawn there to immerse himself in meditation and to follow a life of asceticism and chastity. He settled on Mount Gongori. One day, while he sat in meditation, a female demon named Ma Drag Sinmo came to seduce him. Tradition has it that she was the manifestation of the bodhisattva Tara (Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan), a symbol of compassion and protector of merchants and travelers. She threatened that if he refused to sleep with her she would visit a demon and conceive a multitude of small monsters that would destroy all living creatures. The wise monkey yielded and requested Avalokiteśvara's authorization to marry her. Avalokiteśvara blessed the monkey and the female demon, and a few months later six small monkeys were born of their union. The monkey let his six children grow up in the forest, but three years later he discovered that they had become five hundred. The fruits of the forest were no longer sufficient to feed them, and the five hundred monkeys beseeched their father to help them find food. Not knowing what to do, he went again to ask help from the god of compassion. Then Avalokiteśvara went on the mount Meru, or Sumeru (believed to correspond to today's Mount Kailash), a sacred place for Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Bönpo. Some say that at the top of the mountain he gathered a handful of barley, others that he extracted five cereals from his own body to offer to the monkey father. Then the monkey father learned agriculture and, after a good harvest, could finally feed all his children. As they fed on the cereals, the monkeys gradually lost their hair and their tails. They also started to use bone and stone implements, then made clothes and built houses, forming a civilization from which the Tibetan people descended.
Another account says that, seeing the world peopled by demons, Avalokiteśvara the bodhisattva of compassion took pity on the Earth, incarnated himself as a monkey and mated with an ogress of the rock. From this union were born six monkeys, which represent the six principal clans of the Tibetan people. [2]
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
Guanyin is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. Guanyin is a common Chinese name for Avalokiteśvara in Chinese Buddhism and has been appropriated by other Eastern religions, including Taoism and Chinese folk religion. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World". Due to sociogeographical factors, Guanyin can be historically depicted as genderless or adorning a androgynous apprentice. On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin's attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated.
The Monkey King or Sun Wukong is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main players in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. In the novel, Sun Wukong is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven, he is imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha. Five hundred years later, he accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang (唐三藏) riding on the White Dragon Horse and two other disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, on a journey to obtain Buddhist sutras from the West, where Buddha and his followers dwell.
Journey to the West is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popular literary work in East Asia. Arthur Waley's 1942 abridged translation, Monkey, is known in English-speaking countries.
In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara, also known as Lokeśvara and Chenrezig, is a tenth-level bodhisattva associated with great compassion (mahakaruṇā). He is often associated with Amitabha Buddha. Avalokiteśvara has numerous manifestations and is depicted in various forms and styles. In some texts, he is even considered to be the source of all Hindu deities.
The Tibetan people are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, as well as in India, Nepal, and Bhutan.
A Wisdom King is a type of wrathful deity in East Asian Buddhism.
Oṃ maṇi padme hūm̐ is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It first appeared in the Mahayana Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra, where it is also referred to as the sadaksara and the paramahrdaya, or "innermost heart" of Avalokiteshvara. In this text, the mantra is seen as the condensed form of all Buddhist teachings.
Tara, Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsün Dölma, is an important female Buddha in Buddhism, especially revered in Vajrayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. She may appear as a female bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, Green Tara is a female Buddha who is a consort of Amoghasiddhi Buddha. Tārā is also known as a saviouress who hears the cries of beings in saṃsāra and saves them from worldly and spiritual danger.
A Tibetan prayer flag is a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes.
Tonpa Shenrab, also known as Shenrab Miwo, Buddha Shenrab, Guru Shenrab and a number of other titles, is the legendary founder of the Bon religious tradition of Tibet. The story of Tonpa Shenrab was revealed in a fourteenth century terma of Loden Nyingpo.
Red Boy was a character featured in the 16th century novel Journey to the West. Red Boy was also known as the Boy Sage Great King and "Bull Boy Sage". Through this, Red Boy had developed True Samādhi Fire, which enables him to shoot fire inextinguishable by water and smoke from his eyes, nostrils and mouth. Samādhi is the Sanskrit word for concentration.
Tibetan mythology refers to the traditional as well as the religious stories that have been passed down by the Tibetan people. Tibetan mythology consists mainly of national mythology stemming from the Tibetan culture as well as religious mythology from both Tibetan Buddhism and Bön Religion. These myths are often passed down orally, through rituals or through traditional art like sculptures or cave paintings. They also feature a variety of different creatures ranging from gods to spirits to monsters play a significant role in Tibetan mythology with some of these myths have broken into mainstream Western media, with the most notable one being the Abominable Snowman – the Yeti.
Sitātapatrā is a protector against supernatural danger in Buddhism. She is venerated in both the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. She is also known as Usnisasitatapatra or Uṣṇīṣa Sitātapatrā. It is believed that Sitātapatrā is a powerful independent deity emanated by Gautama Buddha from his Uṣṇīṣa. Whoever practices her mantra will be reborn in Amitābha's pure land of Sukhāvatī as well as gaining protection against supernatural danger and witchcraft.
Buddhaguhya was a Vajrayana Buddhist scholar-monk. He taught at Nālandā and Vārāṇasī, and spent time in meditation near Mount Kailash. Vimalamitra was one of his students.
Thangtong Gyalpo, also known as Chakzampa, the "Iron Bridge Maker", Tsöndrü Zangpo "Excellent Persistence", and the King of the Empty Plain. He was also known by a variation of this name, Madman of the Empty Valley. He was a great Buddhist adept, a Chöd master, yogi, physician, blacksmith, architect, and a pioneering civil engineer. He is considered a mind emanation of Padmasambhava and a reincarnation of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. He founded the Iron Chain lineage of the Shangpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, and he recognized the first Samding Dorje Phagmo, Chökyi Drönma (1422–1455), the female incarnation lineage of Vajravārāhī.
The Yarlung Valley is formed by Yarlung Chu, a tributary of the Tsangpo River in the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet region of China. It refers especially to the district where Yarlung Chu joins with the Chongye River, and broadens out into a large plain about 2 km wide, before it flows into the Tsangpo River. It is situated in Nedong District of the Shannan Prefecture and includes the capital of the prefecture, Tsetang, one of Tibet's largest cities, 183 km southeast of Lhasa.
The Maṇi Kambum is a Tibetan Buddhist terma text which contains teachings connected with the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The Maṇi Kambum was composed over time by different hands. It was likely composed from the 12th century to the 13th century.
SEGARRA André, Du Singe au Signe ou la figure du Trickster à travers les deux principaux personages du Rāmāyaṇa et du Xīyóu jì : Hanuman et Sun Wukong, mémoire de littérature sous la direction de Valérie Deshoulières, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, 2007.
