Sixty aspects of the melodious speech of a buddha
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The meaning of manifesting as the sounds of the dharma endowed with the sixty aspects of melodious speech (Tib. གསུང་དབྱངས་ཡན་ལག་དྲུག་ཅུ་ ) is described in both Sutra and Tantra.
First, according to the ‘Sutra on the Inconceivable Secret’:
- Gentle, soft, appealing, and attractive,
- Pure, flawless, distinct, and captivating,
- Worthy, indomitable, pleasant, melodious, and clear,
- Not rough, not coarse, and extremely pleasing to hear,
- Satisfying for body, for mind, and delightful,
- Creating happiness, without sorrow, and instigating insight,
- Comprehensible, elucidating, and generating joy,
- Utterly enjoyable, bringing comprehension and full understanding,
- Reasonable, relevant, free from the fault of repetition,
- Melodious like the sound of the lion, the elephant, and the dragon,
- Like the naga king, the gandharvas, and the kalapinga bird,
- Like the melodious voice of Brahma and the shangshang bird,
- Majestic like the voice and the drum of Indra,
- Not boastful and pervading all sounds without utterance,
- Without corruption of words, without incompleteness,
- Not feeble, not weak, extremely magnificent,
- Pervasive, free from rigidity,
- Connecting interruption and perfecting all sounds,
- Satisfying the senses, not inferior, and unchanging,
- Not blurting and fully resounding to the assembly,
- Endowed with the supreme of all aspects,
- He teaches in the manner of the profound and vast teachings.
Second, according to Tantra, there are six categories: like the voice of Brahma, cymbals, singing, the kalapinga bird, thunder, and the sitar. There are sixty aspects when each of them is multiplied by these ten: generating understanding, comprehensible, respectable, without discord, extremely profound, acceptable, indomitable, pleasing to hear, unconfused, and extremely distinct.
Moreover, there are sixty aspects when these ten natures each have six occasions: being most resonant, all-pervading, immediately comprehensible, clearing doubts, commanding presence, showing immediacy, completely engaging, interesting, distinctive, and taming everyone. [1]
Footnotes
- ↑ *Appendix 10 in The Light of Wisdom Volume 1. Root text by Padmasambhava and commentary by Jamgön Kongtrül the Great. Published by Shambhala Publications ISBN 0-87773-566-2
See Also
- Thirty-two major marks of a buddha
- Eighty minor marks of a buddha
- Enlightened qualities
- Thirty-nine qualities exclusive to a buddha
- Eighteen unshared qualities of a buddha
- Four perfect knowledges
- Four fearlessnesses
- Ten powers
- Khenjuk