ยันต์ ... ความพันผูกทางพุทธธรรมภาษา และ ศิลปะ

Abstract

The fundamental key of Buddhism is the Buddha Preaching or Dharma. However, people can only gain full benefits from this by practicing and leading their lives according to the Dharma. There are many Buddhists who live their own lives, believing in something beyond that Buddha Preaching, i.e. something supernatural and that which is beyond the Dharma. In an ever changing world where people feel less in control of what is going on around them, it is only natural that they desire to cling onto something that makes them feel more confident, stable and secure in life. However, there is a distinction between having high fate and having high wisdom. A blind belief without being able to fully explain something has unfortunately become the core of what people understand talismans’ to be. This article will seek to address this issue and at the same time-examine talisman connection with the Buddha Dharma. Many people respect talisman, but are doing so in a way that they do not know the meaning behind and the essence of the talisman that they are showing so much reverence towards. Most people use them for protection from harm, evil, disease or general bad luck. However, there is a general lack of empirical evidence proving that talismans can do the above as stated, and what we are left with are stories passed around by word of mouth and passed down by generations. The veracity of these claims can never be proven. A talisman contains the Pali words and numbers that relate to the Buddha Canon and each talisman contains the treasure of wisdom. Talisman from its roots of language means fast, easy and quick to be recalled. In ancient times, the Dharma and other important chapters from the Buddha Canon were recorded in a shortened form using abbreviations and numbers. This allowed for the Canons to be recorded on a smaller space such as a small piece of cloth, allowing them to be carried easily. Thus, they were readily accessible. The abbreviations were such that the Canons could still be recalled and recited in full. This article aims to give people a new perspective on talisman that is related back to their original purpose and to the Buddha Dharma. I hope that readers will understand that the real benefit of a talisman can only be unlocked by those who own it, only if they can understand and decode what is written within, take the meaning seriously and finally practice it in their everyday life. I am optimistic that this article will encourage people to view talismans in a positive manner and hope that the knowledge of Buddhism contained within with lead those towards a deeper connection to Buddhism. I hope that talismans will be viewed in the right way and they will be preserved and used as originally intended that is as a short hand of the core teaching of the Buddha.