Peacock King Bodhisattva - Mahamayuri (Part 1)

Quote from a discussion forum:

"Mahamayuri has three heads. Mahamayuri is green in colour and her three faces are green, white and blue in colour. Mahamayuri is eight armed. One of her four right hands displays varadamudra while the other three hands hold a sword, vajra and jewel. In her four left hands she holds pindapatra, a jar showering jewels, a bell and a flower. She is seated on a lotus throne. She wears all the ornaments and celestial garments peculiar to a Bodhisattva. According to the Mahamayuri sutra of Pancaraksha, there was a bhiksu called venerable Svati. He was newly ordained in the Buddhist community of monks. He was unfortunately bitten by a poisonous snake and fainted. On seeing his condition venerable Ananda reported this incident to Buddha Shakyamuni. Lord Buddha, out of compassion for the newly ordained monk and the future ones, disclosed a dharani which was capable of eliminating poisonous harm and malignant diseases. This was the dharani of Arya Mahamayuri.

There is another story about this deity. There was a golden King peacock in the Himalayan mountain who used to recite Mahamayuri dharani with great devotion. It so happened one day that this king went along with his family to travel in the mountain forgetting to recite the dharani that day. He was caught by hunters. Thinking of his forgetfulness of the dharani he immediately began to recite and was able to free himself. The Buddha told Ananda that the peacock king called Suvarnavabhasa (i.e. golden coloured one) was none other than Buddha Shakyamuni himself. Thus this dharani is believed to be efficacious in all cases of dangers as well as for relieving poisonous harms. "

More pictures of the Great Peacock King can be found here in this link.

http://www.fodian.net/world/peacock/peacocka.html

The heart mantra goes like this: Om Mayura Krante Svaha.

There is a longer version. But I need to check and confirm it first. I just came from the temple. They arranged 20 over Sanghans to come over to do a 3-day Peacock King puja. It was broken up into 3 sessions for each day. So, for each day, one whole book was completed. The delegation was led by an elderly 80+ monk who was said to have been practising the Mahamayuri for decades. So, to be blessed by him is considered super good because we know that his recitation is definitely effective. After all, he was said to be the specialist in this Peacock King practice. The puja was led by another younger monk but when it came to the last part, it was the elderly monk who blessed each and every one with two bunches of peacock feathers on the head. Packets of food were distributed just like tibetan pujas. We can see prayer flags and victory banners and parasols hanging around the altars. It appeared that the monk even taught the hand mudra of Mahamayuri on the 1st day. Many people went and from what I gather, it was really beneficial. It was the first of such event held in Penang. I have never seen anything like it before. The crowd was the largest on the last day. But of course, there was no need for any initiation or stuffs like that as found in Vajrayana. As long as the monk thinks it will benefit the people, he teaches the mantra and mudra to them. I really like the happiness I saw written all over the face of those who went. Sometimes when we see these non-Tibetan Buddhists benefiting so many people, and we compare that with the reluctance of Tibetan Buddhists to teach people on a wider scale, we can't help but think wther the Tibetan Buddhists are paranoid about their "secrecy". For example, one Tibetan Buddhists cannot even tell this practice is practiced in which lineage of the Tibetan tradition. Neither is he sure whether he can share a picture of the tibetan version of the Mahamayuri image. Hence, you can understand what I mean by Tibetan Buddhists being paranoid about the secrecy. It's ridiculous if it is done to this extent.

On the last day, after the blessing by the elderly monk, everyone was given a stalk of peacock feather to take back and a Mahamayuri photo. Typical of Tibetan empowerments, the lama would bless everyone and give them photos, and other things to take back. It was a special experience I'll never forget.

My experience with the Peacock King mantra
What was extraordinary about the Peacock King Sutra and mantra was that I had the fortune to feel its effect almost immediately. Everytime the elderly monk touches my head with the bunch of peacock feathers, I felt as if a burden had lifted off my shoulders. It was a magical uplifting energy. I can sense from those people there, that they felt the happy energy too. At the end of the puja and chanting, the presiding monk spoke a little about the benefits of the mantra/Sutra. It not only help in easing and eliminating diseases, but also natural disasters, robberies, snatch thieves, and even sleep better. He also said that anger can be appeased immediately if you recite silently the mantra three times in front of the angry person. I have not tried this, but on the part of being able to sleep better, I had the most amazing soundest sleep that night. When I woke up the next morning, I did not have that “hang-over” or “I want to roll-back to sleep” feeling. My mind was so fresh and ready to jump out of bed. That morning, I reached my work place earlier than usual. Amazing? Not only that, I had dreamt of listening to the teachings of some Tibetan lamas. I have forgotten what it was, but I am sure it is somewhere in my mental continuum. However, it depends on yourself too. Another person who went there, did not have as peaceful sleep as I did. So, for me, I have only good things to say about the Peacock King Maha Mayuri.

I'll tell more about this great Mahamayuri and who she is in the next few days.