THE RADIANT SUCCESSION OF SHAMBHALA: THE FIFTH DHARMA RAJAH SURESVARA

1

Now the fifth Dharma Raja of Shambhala,
The second to be named, Suresvara, Lord of Asuras,
The Destroyer of the Cities of Delusion,
Rules from the Crystal Palace of the Kalapa Court.

Dharma Raja Suresvara enters this world as an emanation
Of the self-born lord of ceaseless wrath, The Vajrakumara Vajrakilaya.

Vajrakilaya’s towering body is radiant black,
He has three heads and six arms.
In his two central hands, he rolls a kila of meteoric iron
Whose top pierces the summit of the sky
And whose point penetrates the depth of existence.
In his embrace he holds his consort, pale blue as snow in moonlight.
Together, they blaze with all consuming-bliss.
This is the utter inseparability of space and awareness,
The primordial freedom that cuts through liberation.

2

The Dharma Lord Suresvara appears in the center of a field of flowers
Where he sits on the earth amid fragrant blossoms, beside a treasure vase.
His face is pale gold and his expression is still and thoughtful
As if he is looking into the ebb and flow of time.
His hair and mustache are black and cool.
He wears the gold crown of a Dharma King
Surmounted by an emerald which radiates black light.

He wears a gold brocade robe adorned with springing tigers .
His sash is dark blue as a clear autumn sky.
He wears the gold necklaces, earrings and bracelets of an earth-protector.

In his right hand, he holds a golden arrow with red garuda feathers and an obsidian tip.
Which pierces space and opens the display of the sense fields.
In his left hand, he holds a bow made from the leg of a black antelope,
The power of yearning that projects all the realms of life and death.

Without concern, he fingers these great weapons as playthings,
And one feels paralyzed in his presence,
Full to the brim and completely empty.

3

In his unchanging secret form, the Dharma Raja Suresvara
Is glowing red like the all-consuming fire of time,
Youthful, radiant, naked to the waist.
He smiles, but his gaze is unmoving and fearless.
Because all aspects of the world are inseparable from his being,
He wears a crown of unconditioned love made from pink utpala flowers.

He wears swirling red silk pants and a skirt of blue brocade
Adorned with gold blazing clouds of flame.
His body is adorned with golden necklaces,
And his arms with gold bracelets, and a scarf the color of laurel leaves.
He sits before his fiery palace
On a burning throne surmounted by the three jewels.

With his raised right hand, he plays an ivory damaru,
From which emerge the vowels and consonants of creation and destruction
Filling the whole of space.
In his left hand he holds a lotus the color of dawn
On which stands the blue jewel of the Buddha-nature itself,
Glowing amid the gold flames of totality.

His consort, still and white a cloudless noon sky,
Sits next to him holding the sun-disc
In which all the myriad displays of mind unfold and fade.

THE RADIANT SUCCESSION OF SHAMBHALA: DHARMA RAJAH TEJIN

1
Now the third Dharma Raja of Shambhala
Takes his seat within the Crystal Palace of the Kalapa Court:
He is Tejin, Glowing with the Splendor and Dignity of Unconditional Confidence,
The bearer of the dharma wheel and auspicious conch.

The Dharma Raja Tejin enters this world as an emanation
Of the terrifying Conqueror and Lord of Death, Yamantaka.

Yamanataka is Dark blue in color with thirty-four arms, sixteen legs, and nine heads,
His principal face is that of enraged buffalo.
His three blood-shot eyes wheel madly,
And below his burning snout his pointed iron teeth gnash.
He is adorned by serpents and garlands of human heads.
Because he sees to the core of all the cycles of time,
The empty radiance of reality itself.

2

The Dharma Lord Tejin sits erect near a fresh stream in a forest glade.
His face is dark brown and stern. His gaze is uncompromising.
His hair and mustache are black and cool.
He wears the gold crown of a dharma king, surmounted by a yellow diamond
Which shines like the sun appearing through the smoke of a battle-field.

He wears a glistening white robe embroidered with golden lions.
His sash is orange like an early sun.
He wears the gold necklaces, earrings and bracelets of an earth-protector.

In his right hand, he holds a golden eight-spoked dharma-chakra,
And in his left he holds a conch shell.
Thus he proclaims the unceasing path of liberation
And the truth which is not limited by words.

To see him is to experience a terror that cuts to the marrow,
As all one's self absorption, one's schemes for self-satisfied happiness
Are revealed as cowardly vain, and finally fatal self- deceptions.

3

In his unchanging secret form, the Dharma Raja Tejin
Is the color of a lake of molten gold,
And he is youthful, naked to the waist.
His teeth are clenched,
And his three eyes stare implacably into the depths of space.
He wears the crown of the five families of Thatagathas,
And his red hair, the color of fire is bound into a top-knot.

As the lord who is unaltered by time's endless cycles
And is never confused by changing reference points,
Blue serpents twine around his neck, wrists and ankles as ornaments.
His legs are covered by a silk rainbow and he wears a tiger-skin skirt.

In his raised right hand he upholds that which never changes,
The golden eight spoked dharma cakra;
In his left hand he holds a pure white conch
Whose turnings shape the elements in ever shifting forms
And whose sound is the birth-cry of all creation.

His throne is a black and red jeweled palace
Floating amid clouds and a halo of time-ending fire,
And supported from below by three blue and two bronze water buffalo.

His consort, on his right, is the color of pure lapis,
She holds the kapala of amrita which overcomes death
By dissolving belief in the permanence of individual existence
And the hooked knife which returns all thoughts to the essence.

THE RADIANT SUCCESSION OF SHAMBHALA: DHARMA RAJAH SURESVARA

1

Now the second Dharma Rajah enters the Crystal Hall of the Kalapa Court.
He is Dharma Raja Suresvara, Lord of Asuras,
Binding All Beings by Love in Union with Pure Nowness.

The great Dharma King Suresvara enters this world
As an emanation of Bodhisattva Kshitigharbha,
Who, because he loves all living beings as if he were their mother,
Is called :The 'Womb of Earth'.

Kshitigharbha appears as a simple monk.
The mark of perfection shines on his forehead.
He holds the wish-fulfilling gem in his right hand.
Because his love supports all beings in the six realms,
He holds in his left hand, a staff with six rings.
Determined that none who are born shall linger in the bonds of suffering,
He is the protector of all children
And carries a child in the crook of his right arm.
He is the compassion of the Buddha,
Inseparable from every form of life,
The final liberator of all who suffer all the tortures of hell.

2

Ruling from within the Crystal Palace, the Dharma Lord Suresvara
Sits at ease beside the wish-fulfilling tree
In a garden filled with fragrant trees.

His face is ruddy and his expression is determined and loving.
His hair and mustache are black and oiled.
He wears the gold crown of a dharma king
Surmounted by a ruby that glows like a dawn sun.

He wears a vermilion brocade robe adorned with gold garudas.
His sash is white as winter ocean spray.
He wears the gold necklaces, earrings and bracelets of an earth-protector.

In his right hand, he holds the gold Vajra prod
Which guides the mad elephant of mind
Through the jungles of claustrophobia and aggression,
In his left hand, he holds a rope of iron
Which draws all beings out of hell
With the ring of faith and hook of longing.

The sight of him overcomes all chaos, uncertainty, and anger
And one experiences complete confidence in the power unconditional love.

4

In his unchanging secret form, the Dharma Raja Suresvara
Is dark red in color like heart's blood.
Youthful, naked to the waist,
He smiles and the sweetness of his expression pervades all space
Like the scent of honey-suckle on a summer night.

He wears a crown of pink utpala flowers
And a scarf the color of laurel leaves.
He wears red pants and a skirt of blue brocade
Adorned with golden swirling clouds.
Because all aspects of the world are dear to him,
His body is adorned with golden necklaces.
And his arms with gold bracelets.
He sits on a throne before the coral and crystal gold-roofed palace of Kalapa
On a throne surmounted by the three jewels.

With his raised right hand, he plays an ivory damaru,
From which emerge all the vowels and consonants.
Thus all the senses vibrate in pure nowness.
In his left hand he holds a lotus the color of dawn
On which stands the blue jewel of the Buddha-nature itself,
Glowing amid the gold flames of all consuming compassion.

His consort, gentle and white a noon-day cloud,
Sits next to him holding the sun-disc of the complete power of mind.