FROM A HANDFULL OF ASHES A story about the origin of the Five Warrior Syllables as it was told by Geshe Nyima Woser Choekhortshang during his very first teaching to Western students in Berlin, in February 2011. According to the traditional Bon account of its origins, many thousands of years before the birth of the Buddha Shakyamuni, the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche came to this world and expounded his teachings in three successive cycles. At first, he taught the ‘Nine Ways of Bon’. As it happens, this was also the topic that Ges he Ny im a Wo ser Choekhortshang chose for his very first teaching to Western students in Berlin in February 2011. It was an enriching experience for both the Berlin sangha and Geshe Nyima. One talent of Geshe Nyima became very clear to us: he is a great storyteller! Among others, he shared with us the background story on the Five Warrior Syllables. “The Five Warrior Syllables are very powerful, so powerful that they can destroy your negative emotions, attachment, anger and jealousy. No other thing can destroy those negativities like the Five Warrior Syllables. And there's a story in the Bon tradition that tells of their origin.
he found out that ‘kadrom’, the precious box, was burned, he reached inside the box to see if anything was left. He took out just a handful of ashes. But when he looked inside the ashes, what did he see? The Five Warrior Seed Syllables.” In his book Tibetan Sound Healing, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche explains: “There are Five Warrior Syllables — A, OM, HUNG, RAM, and DZA — and each syllable represents a quality of realization. They are referred to as ‘seed syllables’ because they possess the essence of enlightenment. These five syllables represent the body, speech, mind, virtuous qualities, and actions of enlightenment, respectively. Together, they represent the true and fully expressed nature of our authentic self. (...) We begin the practice of mediation more familiar with our suffering and confusion than with the purity of our being. The problems that we bring are the energy or fuel that will power our path. The clearing of our blocks through engaging the power of the Five Warrior Syllables offers us the opportunity to glimpse the open sky of our being. The dissolution of these blockages reveals wisdom and makes positive qualities available. This is the warrior's path.” Anja Benesch (text and photo)
The story says that Tonpa Shenrap's palace was attacked by demon Khyapa Lagring and his servants. They stole his horses, they kidnapped his daughter, and they burned his ‘kadrom’, the box with sacred scriptures used in ancient times. The demons wanted to destroy Tonpa Shenrap's power to attract so many followers to his teaching. Yikyi Khyeuchung, one of Tonpa Shenrap's main disciples, came in and saw all the damage. He rushed around and looked here and there. When
The teacher and the Dharma
page 39