Wheel Blade of Mind Transformation

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Illustration of an Indian "wheel-blade" weapon, known as a chakram
A "wheel-blade" weapon from Tibet; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Wheel Blade of Mind Transformation (T. blo sbyong mtshon cha 'khor lo བློ་སྦྱོང་མཚོན་ཆ་འཁོར་ལོ་) — a lojong text attributed to Dharmarakṣita, who was one of the main teachers of the Indian master Atisha.

This is one of a number of lojong texts that are widely studied and practiced in Tibetan Buddhism.[1]

Geshe Lhundub Sopa states:

The attitude of the Mahayana is one of love and compassion for all beings, as embodied in the bodhisattva’s assumption of the responsibility to free them all from misery and suffering and lead them all to enlightenment, regardless of any hardship. But in order to pursue that aim, we have to fight against the major impediment to carrying it out, namely, the view of a real personal identity and the self-cherishing attitude, and seek instead to cherish others. The true target of Mahayana practice is the destruction of these impediments. Therefore, the title of this work is: The Wheel-Weapon That Strikes at the Enemy’s Vital Spot.
The first task of this mind training is to identify the real enemy, the demon of ego-clinging and self-cherishing. As long as this demonic attitude dominates you, you will not be a bodhisattva, and both you and others will be harmed by your egocentric behavior. The Wheel-Weapon is a weapon of mind training for the purpose of hitting the vital spot, the bull’s-eye of the target of our internal enemies. The first step is to identify the vital spot, then aim the weapon and destroy the twin enemies — the view of a real personal identity and the self-cherishing attitude.[2]

Etymology of the title

Sweet and Zwilling (2001) state:

The words in the title that are translated as “wheel-weapon” are mtshon cha, literally “weapon,” specifically one that is sharp and cutting (śastra), and ’khor lo, “wheel” (cakra). This object, a discus like missile, was an actual weapon in the Indian armory: made of iron with a hole in the center to throw it, its edge was either jagged with teeth like a saw or razor-sharp. Though the Tibetans would have been unfamiliar with the real thing, it was known to them through iconography, where it is included among the many weapons held by wrathful deities. Probably the most famous instance of the wheel-weapon in Buddhist literature is as the “razor-edged wheel-weapon” (khuradhāraṁ cakkāvudham) that Māra hurled at the Buddha, who was about to reach enlightenment, and that was transformed into a harmless flower canopy. In our work it serves as a metaphor for the teaching of the poem, which, like a wheel-weapon, cuts through to the vital point of the enemy, egotism. It also relates to a central theme of the text, that present misfortune is the result of evil deeds performed in the past, which, like a sharp-edged discus weapon, turn on oneself, boomerang fashion.[3]

Alternative translations of the title

  • Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Berzin, Jinpa, Rangjung Yeshe wiki)
  • The Wheel-Weapon Mind Training (Lhundub Sopa)
  • The Wheel Blade of Mind Transformation (Dzigar Kongtrul,[4] Rigpa wiki)

Tibetan text

The text was translated into Tibetan by Atisa and the Tibetan scholar Bu ston.[1]

See:

English translations

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. blo sbyong.
  2. ↑ Lhundub Sopa, Sweet & Zwilling 2001, Commentary on Dharmarakṣita's The Wheel-Weapon Mind Training.
  3. ↑ Lhundub Sopa, Sweet & Zwilling 2001, "Historical and Thematic Introduction" (by Sweet and Zwilling).
  4. ↑ The Wheel Blade of Mind Transformation, Mangala Shri Bhuti

Sources

External links

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