Manjushri Namasanghiti Sanskrit Chanting Ceremony

International Manjushri Namasanghiti Sanskrit Chanting Ceremony

Bodh Gaya, India

The International Manjushri Namasanghiti Chanting Ceremony was established in 2015 by Tarthang Tulku in order to support the revitalization of the recitation of this most sacred Sanskrit Buddhist text. Recited faithfully by a relatively small number of Buddhists in India and Nepal, Rinpoche’s vision is to help restore this sacred text and spread its sublime blessings throughout India and the world. This special program coincides with the Nyingma Monlam World Peace Ceremony and is hosted by SINI in Bodh Gaya. The ceremony has been attended by approximately 60 pandits from Varanasi and Gaya, as well as Tibetan Practitioners. Our international Four Noble Truths program participants also partake in the prayers of Manjushri. In the first year, the late Professor Tripathi helped to lead this ceremony, along with his son Dipankara. Since then, Dr. Rajesh Kumar Pandey has been the principal chanting lead.

“The Manjushri Namasangiti is a profoundly important and sacred text for both Sutrayana and Mantrayana studies. The entire ground, path, and fruition of the Kalacakra Tantra can be found in the contents of the Manjushri Namasangiti. Spoken by the Buddha, these teachings originally were preserved in 100,000 chapters, though all that remains today are the sections collected by Manjushrimitra. For centuries, this text was revered and studied in India by the Six Charioteers, the Mahapanditas at Nalanda and Vikramashila, and by great enlightened ones such as Guru Padmasambhava, whose Devanagari copy was found in the twelfth century at Samye. Many of Tibet’s greatest masters and lineage holders have found inspiration and awakening through study and recitation of the Manjushri Namasangiti.

To offer these prayers at Bodh Gaya seemed to be an unsurpassed antidote to all the darkness, confusion, and suffering enveloping our world. Manjushri represents the Enlightenment of the Tathagata and symbolizes the embodiment of Prajnaparamita, the Perfection of Wisdom.

The chapters of the Namasangiti are only a symbolic gesture, but they offer the finest exaltation of Manjushri’s sublime qualities that language can possibly convey.

I am delighted to see these teachings being made available, renewing the ancient transmission and bringing the practices alive.  In this dark time of the Kaliyuga, chanting the Manjushri Namasangiti will evoke the most precious wisdom and help restore the light of the Dharma for the benefit of future generations.”

–Tarthang Tulku Kunga Gellek Yeshe Dorje first offered this brief introduction on the Full Moon, June 18, 2008, in conjunction with the 15th renovation of the Swayambhu Stupa, Nepal.