The Mandala of Samantabhadra

Appendix One: The 12 Treasuries on the Clock

(copyright Dale Goodyear 2011

d_good_year@hotmail.com)

Note: This is an advanced meditation, something a few may choose to try.

After we are comfortable meditating on the 4 Treasuries on the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock lines of the
Mandala, we can further understand that each Bodhisattva rules a quadrant, or one-fourth, of the clock.

Manjushri rules 12, 1, and 2 o'clock;

Medicine King rules 3, 4, and 5 o'clock;
Samantabhadra rules 6, 7, and 8 o'clock;
Medicine Lord rules 9, 10, and 11 o'clock.

The rest of the 12 Treasuries fit on these lines.

For Manjushri:
12 - Treasury of the Buddha's Body (Fo Shen Zang)
1 - Treasury of Bright Light (Guang Ming Zang)
2 - Treasury of Merciful Compassion (Ci Bei Zang)

For Medicine King:

3 - Treasury of the Wonderful Dharma (Miao Fa Zang)
4 - Treasury of Meditative Concentration (Chan Ding Zang)
5 - Treasury of Shunyata [or Creative Emptiness, Potential Space] (Xu Kong Zang)

For Samantabhadra:
6 - Treasury of Fearlessness (Wu Wei Zang)
7 - Treasury of Wonderful Speech (Miao Yu Zang)
8 - Treasury of Eternal Abiding (Chang Zhu Zang)

For Medicine Lord:

9 - Treasury of Freedom (Jie Tuo Zang)
10 - Treasury of the King of Healing (Yao Wang Zang)
11 - Treasury of Spiritual Penetrations (Shen Tong Zang)

That completes the traditional 12 named in the Dharani Sutra. From my own meditation I have added
3 more that relate to Vairocana in the center of the Mandala.

For VAIROCANA:
Treasury of "As-You-Will" (Ru Yi Zang)
Treasury of Letting Go (Song Shou Zang)
Treasury of Letting "God" (Song Shen Zang)
Why 3 ? Because the first ("As-You-Will" or "Wish-Fulfilling") relates to the Heart chakra. Then the
second goes deeper, into the 8-petaled chakra sometimes called the "Secret Heart Chamber". The third
goes deeper still, to a chakra that specifically relates to Vairocana as the central Dhyani-buddha and
then radiates out to chakras in the two palms and two feet which are governed by the other 4 Dhyani-
buddhas, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi. [I have meditations for those
chakras using Kuan Yin's saving powers; I will eventually post them in an article.]

The Chinese word Song has several meanings that relate back to Samantabhadra. The syllable can
actually be a variation of his seed-syllable. You can read some of the meanings for Song near the end
of my booklet The Purple Tao of Kuan Yin.

The final Treasury Song Shen itself has 3 meanings, depending on the character used. The primary
meaning is "Spirit"; but Shen can also mean "Body" (of the Buddha--Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya,
Nirmanakaya--even Vajrakaya), and it can mean "Smile". These 3 hark back to the 3 Dantian or
"Elixir-fields"--upper, lower, and middle; and the Smile is what shines out from our Heart as we are set
Free through this Mandala of Samantabhadra!

The Three Treasures

Shen
(Spirit)

Shen
(Smile)

Shen
(Body)

(Even though I am publishing this as an Appendix today, there is much more to be said about the 4
Bodhisattvas and the 12 Treasuries around the clock of Samantabhadra's mandala; and I expect to add
to this and re-publish at time goes by.)