Namchu Wangden: A Ten Syllable Symbol
One of the most popular calligraphic symbols in Bhutan and the Himalayas is the Namchu Wangden (རྣམ་བཅུ་དབང་ལྡན་), a stack of letters stemming from the Kālacakra cycle of Buddhist teachings. For both its efficacy as an advanced spiritual system and its cosmological and astrological content, the Kālacakra Tantra is one of the most influential tantric teachings and is followed by all the Tibetan Buddhist schools. It was the last major tantric cycle transmitted from India to Tibet. The Namchu Wangden, literally ‘one with ten powers’, is a calligraphic symbol containing the Kālacakra mantra written in the stylized Lantsa script which is a Tibetanized version of the Indian Ranjana script.
The symbol is generally made up of ten components including the seven syllables of mantra, ha kṣa, ma la va ra ya (ཧ་ཀྵ་མ་ལ་ཝ་ར་ཡ་), and three elements of a crescent indicating the visarga allophone or namched (རྣམ་བཅད་), a disk indicating anusvara/bindu allophone or jesungaro/thigle (རྗེས་སུ་ང་རོ་/ཐིག་ལེ་), and a wisp symbolizing the nāda character.
The structure and symbolism of the mantra monogram is given in the Vimalaprabhā (དྲི་མེད་འོད་), a commentary on the Kālacakra Tantra attributed to the Shambhala king Mañjuśrīyaśas (འཇམ་དཔལ་གྲགས་པ་). Based on the fifth verse of the Kālacakra Tantra, the Vimalaprabha explains the ten aspects of existence which are associated with ten sites of articulation of different sounds. They are the moon, sun, space, wind, fire, water, earth, outer inanimate world, moving animate world, and formless realm.
The ten sounds or letters are said to arise respectively from these ten aspects of existence and the letters are written one on top of the other in order to form the Kālacakra monogram. Unlike other drawings, where the crescent is portrayed in white colour as the moon and the red disk as the sun, in Namchu Wangden, the crescent is associated with the visarga and sun and thus red in colour and the disk with anusvara and moon and thus white in colour.
The symbolism of the monogram is further elaborated in some texts by explaining the three levels of the outer (ཕྱི་), inner (ནང་) and other (གཞན་) concepts of Kālacakra.
The Outer Kālacakra relates to the physical world including the planets and constellation of stars and the ten letters are associated with different aspects of the physical world:
Ya: black wind element
Va: white water element
La: yellow earth element
Ma: multicoloured Mt Meru and desire realm
Kśa: green form realm
Ha: blue formless realm
Bindu/anusvara: white moon
The Inner Kālacakra refers to the internal phenomena of sentient beings, their body parts, sacred energy channels, channel networks and the energies and fluids. On this level, the ten syllables have the following symbolism:
Ya: the soles of feet and wind
Va: the knees and water
La: the hips and earth
Ma: the spine and all five elements
Kśa: the head and awareness
Visarga: the left channel and red fluid
Bindu: the left channel and white fluid
Nāda: the central channel and vital air
The concept of Other or Alternative Kālacakra refers to the configuration of divine mansions and deities associated with the practice of Kālacakra. This is further subdivided into the configuration of palatial mansions, the figures of deities, the principles, philosophies, and enlightened energies they represent, and the various practices of tantric meditation to actualize the divine elements. The ten letters symbolize the different aspects of enlightenment.
The Namchu Wangden is drawn on eight layers representing the four natural elements and four heavenly bodies. It is often flanked by the syllables E and Vaṃ which represent the enlightenment energies of wisdom and compassion. The Namchu Wangden monogram is painted on wall hangings, religious monuments, temple walls, and houses, carved on shrines and amulets, and today also printed on shirts, caps, and other objects. It is believed to bring blessings to the object and the user and also clear away misfortunes and problems.
Karma Phuntsho is a social thinker and worker, the President of the Loden Foundation and the author of many books and articles including The History of Bhutan.
Source
Wikipedia:Namchu Wangden: A Ten Syllable Symbol
[[Category:Tibetan Buddhism]
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