This noble quest of his took a lot of searching with some of the leading spiritual teachers of his time. But alas, he would not find the answer with them or with subsequent popular extreme ascetic practices of his day.

He eventually found it while meditating under a Bodhi tree. He thus became the Awakened One, or the Buddha.

Images of him frequently depict him sitting crossed legged in full meditation, his right hand lightly touching the ground beneath him. This is symbolic of how Buddha responded to the challenge of Mara’s claim over the ground beneath him.

Buddha invoked the earth to bear witness to the truth and virtue of his words and actions through countless aeons that earned him the right to sit and meditate there.

Buddha thus constantly reminds those who take refuge in him to cultivate virtues of the six paramitas of giving, patience, concentration, wisdom, morality and perseverance. His left hand cradles a begging bowl in a meditative pose.

For the rest of his life, the Buddha was a mendicant and lived on food offerings by various lay devotees. Buddha didn’t just teach renunciation, he actually practiced it. Spiritual practice as he taught it was not mere words but a living example to inspire his disciples then and even now.

By employing skilful means to his teaching, the Buddha taught about eighty four thousand teachings, each to benefit all possible dispositions and levels of spiritual development of his followers. That is why his teachings are likened to healing medicine for the mind.

Buddha had many disciples who took his teachings to heart and spread it worldwide into the different forms of Buddhism we know today. But all look to the historic Shakyamuni Buddha as the founder and original guru of Buddhism.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM MUNI MUNI MAHA MUNI SHAKYAMUNI YE SOHA

Adored throughout eastern Asia, devotees of Amitabha, Amitayus or Amida (as known in Japan), pray to be reborn from a Lotus in his Pure Land.

As the Buddha of Infinite Life and Infinite Light, Amitayus has special popularity amongst Buddhist practitioners due to the infinite benefits that can be received, the immediate result being the feelings of peace and joy within us.

In the sutras, Buddha Shakyamuni, at the request of Manjushri explained that before enlightenment Amitabha or Amitayus had made 12 great vows to benefit and help sentient beings. Thus Amitayus functions as the Buddha of Increase, not just for long life, but also in all things beneficial to our lives.

Outwardly, his practice grants us an abundance of necessities, good health, helpful friends, good family and good living conditions. Inwardly, we attain a greater understanding of Dharma, by practicing Morality within the Three scopes. And Secretly, we reduce the habituations of a self cherishing, grasping mind.

Thus, Amitayus helps us to dispel the darkness of Ignorance and to attain Wisdom and Compassion, which is represented in this icon by the father-mother union.

Amitayus usually holds a long-life vase filled with the nectar of immortality, the elixir of eternal life. It is a very significant and auspicious practice for Dharma students to offer Amitayus to their Lamas, as a request for the Lamas to live long and to spread the doctrine of the Buddha to the world.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM AMARANI ZEWONG DEYEE SOHA

The peaceful eleventh face of Buddha Amitabha signifies that Avalokita is a Buddha and that he represents the compassion of all the Buddhas.

The first pair of hands are held at the heart, holding a magic wish-fulfilling gem. The second right hand holds a rosary the meaning being, we must recite his holy mantra, the third eliminates the hunger and thirst of pretas, and the fourth holds the wheel of all spiritual teachings.

The second left hand holds the white lotus of compassionate action, the third a vase containing the nectar of immortality, and the fourth a bow and arrow symbolizing meditation and enlightenment.

There is a peaceful eye in the palm of each of the remaining 992 hands. His radiant body is adorned with all kinds of jeweled ornaments.

This form of Avalokita has a special fasting and purification practice associated with the eight Mahayana precepts. The precepts are upheld in order to purify our negative karma of body, speech and mind, and to pacify our strongest delusions arising from desirous attachment and hatred – two causes of our sufferings in all our lifetimes.

Another very special benefit is that this practice creates bountiful merits that lead us over time to let go of our self-cherishing tendencies thus filling us with Bodhicitta (Compassion) and bringing happiness to all sentient beings.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM MANI PADME HUNG

When the immense compassion of all Buddhas is distilled, it takes on a very special form of a Bodhisattva. This Bodhisattva has a gentle and serene disposition on his face.

He is white in colour and has four arms representing the Four Immeasurables of loving kindness, joy, equanimity and compassion. Just like limbs of the body, he has become one with the realisation of these qualities and uses them to benefit sentient beings.

He has two hands folded in prayer while holding a brilliant sky-blue wish-fulfilling jewel at his heart. In this way, he holds closest to his heart Bodhicitta or altruistic love for all sentient beings.

The other arm on his right holds aloft gently a set of crystal prayer beads and the other left hand holds a pristine lotus. This shows his promise to manifest continuously in a multitude of ways to benefit us like the steady momentum of counting prayer beads.

Despite appearing skilfully in ordinary guise in various realms of existence to benefit suffering beings, he is not just unstained but thrives in such surroundings like a pristine lotus that grows out of muddy waters.

This unstained bodhisattva is attired royally with six jeweled ornaments which consist of the crown, earrings, bracelets, necklace, bejeweled belt and anklets. Like the jeweled ornaments he wears to beautify himself outwardly, he has perfected the inner 6 perfections or paramitas, inspiring practitioners to practice generosity, morality, patience, endeavour, meditation and wisdom to become truly beautiful from the inside out.

This Bodhisattva is the 4-armed Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig in Tibetan. With prayers, offerings and meditations, one can be inspired by Avalokiteshvara to practice real inner transformation of our negative qualities into selfless motivation to serve others.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM MANI PADME HUNG

Her main face is white, with a slightly wrathful expression. She has an eye in the palm of each hand. Her main left hand holds the handle of a white parasol unfurled above.

Held in her main right hand with the arm outstretched is a Dharma Wheel. Her 1000 legs, 500 on each side stand upon a host of worldly deities, animals and our worldly troubles.

Dukkar grants powerful protection from over 60 classes of spirits if we recite her mantra. It is said that prayer to Dukkar fortifies our body so strongly that spirits literally cannot invade. She is very healing and helps to strengthen the body against physical problems.

Dukkar’s practice is very effective for purifying the karma for being wrongly accused such as in arguments or legal cases. She will be beneficial for those who travel often and who are exposed to risks and dangers daily.

Her spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM SITA TA PA TREY HUM PHET

In the short term, he can bring us material wealth and help us out of poverty but more importantly, his practice can also bring us to spiritual wealth and personal growth to become a better person.

As with all Buddhas, his practice can help us gain the ultimate attainment of Enlightenment. His form is short, fat and stout, which comes from a time when it was widely believed that obesity is synonymous with wealth and luxury.

He also carries an arrogant expression on his face and sits in royal posture: this acts as a warning to tell us if we continue to look and act in this arrogant way in our attempts to get material wealth, we actually gain poverty instead. Think! Is our greed hurting others?

The royal ease of his form indicates that Dzambala is free from samsara – through his practice and attainments, he has also acquired all the money, fame and wealth of the universe and no longer experiences suffering.

He can afford to be laid back, chilled out – he’s got everything he needs! He shows us how our practice to him can ultimately lead us to Enlightenment, where we too can literally have everything we want.

At the same time, he steps on a conch shell with his right foot to mean that though he has attained all this great wealth, he is above it all and will no longer allow the ties of samsara to subjugate him again.

Dzambala holds a fruit in his right hand to signify that if we follow his practice, we can “bear the fruits” of our efforts to gain spiritual attainments and Enlightenment.

In his left hand, he holds a mongoose, which in ancient India stood as an omen of good things to come. The mongoose spits beautiful precious wish-granting jewels, and both work to attract us to practice Dzambala with an immediate promise of wealth.

Dzambala’s blessings and the value of his practice are universal. Keeping an image or statue of him, or giving a Dzambala statue away as a gift is beneficial to anyone, anywhere.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM DZAMBALA DZALENDRAYE SOHA

Tara is immensely beautiful, youthful like a 16-year-old maiden. Her top is naked though not in a lustful way – she is bare in the way that she remains unshackled by the times of samsara, free from suffering.

At the same time, she wears the slender, bright pants traditional of Indian ladies to show us that though she is enlightened, she works through samsaric conventions to help us overcome our suffering.

Because of her strong karmic connection to all sentient beings in samsara, Buddha Tara tilts towards us in her great compassion to listen to our prayers, grant us our virtuous wishes and protect us as a mother would for her child.

She is emerald green, splendid in the swiftness that the coolness of the colour represents. Her ability to come to our assistance as we invoke her presence is instant – we need only think of her to have her compassionate heart with us.

Unusually, Green Tara does not sit in meditative pose; instead her right leg extends outwards, to show us that she is ready to step forward to help us in our time of need.

Her spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA

The Green Tara (source of the other twenty emanations):

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SOHA

The Tara who Averts Disasters:

OM BANZA TARE SARVA BIGANEN SHINDHAM KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Earth-born Calamities:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA SARVA LAM LAM BHAYA SHINDHAM KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Destruction Wrought by Water:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA SARVA BHAM BHAM DZALA BHAYA SHINDHAM KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Destruction Wrought by Fire:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA SARVA RAM RAM DZALA BHAYA SHINDHAM KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Destruction Caused by Wind:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA SARVA YAM YAM DZALA BHAYA SHINDHAM KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Increases Wisdom:

OM RATANA TARE SARVA LOKA JANA PITEYA DARA DARA DIRI DIRI SHENG SHENG DZA DZANJIA NA BU SHENG KURU UM

The Tara Who Averts Heaven-born Calamities:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA SARVA EH EH MAHA HANA BHAYA SHINDHAM KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Destruction Caused by Armies:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA SARVA DIK DIK DIKSHENA RAKSHA RAKSHA KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Hell-born Calamities:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA SARVA RANDZA DUSHEN DRODA SHINDAM KURU SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Evil Caused by Robbers:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARVA DZORA BENDA BENDA DRKTUM SOHA

The Tara Who Increases Power:

OM BEMA TARE SENDARA HRI SARVA LOKA WASHUM KURU HO

The Tara Who Averts Evil Caused by Demons:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARVA DUSHING BIKANEN BHAM PEH SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Evil Affecting Cattle:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARVA HAM HAM DUSHING HANA HANA DRASAYA PEH SOHA

The Tara Who Averts Evil Caused by Wild Beasts:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARVA HEH HEH DZALEH DZALEH BENDA PEH SOHA

The Tara Who Averts the Evil Effects of Poison:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARVA DIKSHA DZALA YAHA RAHA RA PEH SOHA

The Tara Who Subdues Demons:

OM GARMA TARE SARWA SHATDRUM BIGANEN MARA SEHNA HA HA HEH HEH HO HO HUNG HUNG BINADA BINADA PEH

The Tara Who Heals Sickness:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARVA DZARA SARVA DHUKKA BRASHA MANAYA PEH SOHA

The Tara Who Bestows Longevity:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE BRAJA AYIU SHEI SOHA

The Tara Who Bestows Prosperity:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE DZAMBEH MOHEH DANA METI SHRI SOHA

The Wish-Fulfilling Tara:

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARVA ATA SIDDHI SIDDHI KURU SOHA

It was more than a thousand years ago that Lord Padmasambhava, the lotus-born, blessed this earth with his presence. And yet, he is more alive than ever in the hearts of those with faith.

His practice and teachings are increasingly relevant for us today as our minds become more deluded and obsessed, for he is the very incarnation of transmutation, the releasing of confused energies into their original wisdom-purity.

It was Guru Rinpoche who subdued all opposing forces and established Buddhism in its supreme form in Tibet. He taught the king Trisong Detsen:

“The root of the secret mantra, the tantric swift methods, is to keep the samaya commitments. The roots of samaya, the bond to one’s spiritual teacher, are devotion and effort. And the root of these two is prayer; to pray to your spiritual Master and to your yidam deity.”

Guru Rinpoche did not write extensively but left many hidden spiritual treasures, termas, all over Tibet. Pure-minded practitioners find them to this day when the time is right for them to be revealed.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM AH HUNG BENZA GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG

Thus, Hayagriva provides a means through which a practitioner recognizes his or her own innate altruistic compassion.

Hayagriva has a bright red body and 3 faces, red, green and white. On top of his head are three green horse heads. He has 6 arms holding different implements.

In his lower right and left hands he holds sword and lasso respectively. His upper right hand hold a vajra and his upper left hand is in the threatening mudra. His central right and left hands hold a khatvanga and spear respectively.

Each of his eight legs steps on a snake, showing that his practice grants effective protection against Nagas. Hayagriva has the special ability to cure diseases in general, and skin diseases in particular, even one as serious as leprosy.

He is effective protection against Nagas (water spirits with serpent bodies) and counters the after-effects of black magic and spells. He is especially beneficial for those suffering from terminal illnesses.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

HRI PEMA DATRI HAYAGRIVA HULU HULU HUNG PHET

Buddha Maitreya will appear to us in the future (the fifth age) when all is dark and delusions have worsened incredibly to teach the Dharma again and to bring us out of suffering.

Maitreya was the heart disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha and as Shakyamuni left Tushita heaven, he passed his crown to Maitreya, inviting him to his seat as an indication that Maitreya would be the next Buddha. And so, Maitreya resides as the current monarch in Tushita Heaven, awaiting the time when he will descend to teach us in samsara.

Maitreya’s skin is golden like a thousand rays of the sun for he brings increase and great growth to our spiritual practice. His hands, held in the mudra of teaching, represent the defining act in which he will manifest – to teach and turn the wheel of Dharma.

He has promised that when he appears, his teachings shall follow a sutra path, concentrating on the practice of the six paramitas in extensive form. He sits upright, forward in full readiness to arrive and teach us, and his form resembles ours to represent that he will manifest in that way to help us out of our suffering.

We need not wait until he appears on Earth to follow his practice. Doing it now gives us the assurance that we can be one of his foremost disciples when he teaches in the future.

More importantly, practicing Maitreya now has the immediate effect of achieving the six paramitas, letting go and embracing all others. Practice to him helps us to attain pure views, the same virtuous qualities as our guru and great, immense LOVE for that is what his own name means.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM MAITREYA MAM SOHA