Shenlha Ökar () or Shiwa Ökar () is the most important deity in the Yungdrung Bon tradition of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

. He is counted among the "Four Transcendent Lords" () along with Satrig Ersang (

Sherab Chamma Sherab may refer to: *Chetsun Sherab Jungnay, eleventh century Tibetan Abbot and scholar who founded the Shalu Monastery south of Shigatse, Tibet *Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361), Tibetan Buddhist master known as "The Buddha from Dolpo" *Khen ...

), Sangpo Bumtri, and

Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche Tonpa Shenrab ( "Teacher Shenrab") or Shenrab Miwo ()—also called the Buddha Shenrab, Guru Shenrab and a number of other titles—is the legendary founder of the Bon tradition of Tibet. The story of Tonpa Shenrab was revealed in a fourtee ...

Name and Biography

''Shenlha Ökar'' means "wisdom ''gshen'' of white light;" the variant ''Shiwa Okar'' means "peaceful white light." The Bon term ''gShen'' can mean "priest or shaman" or possibly in this case "deity who is a priest." In some accounts he is considered the sambhogakāya form of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, the founder of Bon (the nirmāṇakāya aspect). In other accounts, he is visited by Shenrab Miwoche when Miwoche is in a prior incarnation known as ''Salwa''. Additionally, some categorize him as "corresponding exactly to the Buddhist category of

dharmakāya The ''dharmakāya'' ( sa, धर्म काय, "truth body" or "reality body", zh, t=法身, p=fǎshēn, ) is one of the three bodies ('' trikāya'') of a buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The ''dharmakāya'' constitutes the unmanifested, "incon ...

." Shenlha Okar is said to have created the world with the help of nine brother gods or nine cosmic gods () who appear as war gods or ''drala'' (). He is also considered a god of compassion with many parallels to Chenrezig and also with Amitābha.

Depiction

Shenlha Okar is depicted with a white body "like the essence of crystal," holding a hook in his right hand (and sometimes a lasso in his left), and seated in a throne supported by elephants.

Shiwa Okar in the terma of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Shiwa Okar featured in a work composed by the influential

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

lama

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa ( Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987) was a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th of the Trungpa tülkus, a tertön, sup ...

, particularly a long verse epic composed in Tibet called ''The Golden Dot: The Epic of the Lha, the Annals of the Kingdom of Shambhala,'' and in terma he revealed beginning in 1976. The Golden Dot was lost in Trungpa Rinpoche's flight from Tibet in 1959. Kornman notes that one of the "striking things" about the text is that it refers not to Indic sources but to the "creation myths found in the royal chronicles and in the '' Epic of Gesar of Ling''" and "evoke the cosmology of native Tibetan religion, not Buddhism." His Shambhala terma feature Shiwa Okar as an iṣṭhadevatā () "meditational deity", with a tantric retinue of drala and ''werma'' () Trungpa Rinpoche's work has antecedents in the edition of the Gesar epic prepared by Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso and ritual practices he composed in conjunction with that work. Kornman notes "Mipham made his edition of the Gesar Epic a hybrid of Buddhist and local ideas. He made sure it would be read in this manner by writing a parallel set of Gesar chants that mix religions in the same way. These ritual practices may be found in the Na chapter of his collected works."The Influence of the Epic of King Gesar of Ling on Chogyam Trungpa" by Robin Kornman. in ''Recalling Chogyam Trungpa'', ed. Midal. Shambhala Publications, 2005. pg. 365 In Bon tradition, King Gesar of Ling is sent to Tibet by Shenlha Okar, and Trungpa Rinpoche's blending of native traditions and Indian Buddhism appears to echo Mipham's. In a "History of Shambhala" composed by Chogyam Trungpa, Shiwa Okar is described as follows: {{cquote, e very best lha of warriors, Peaceful White Light. ... He wore great silver armor, Shielding from a Thousand Thunderbolts, fastened together with lacing of divine white silk. On his head he wore a white helmet, Divine Fierce White Forehead, adorned with many inlaid jewels and with flourishes. On the top of that was an inconceivable white pennant with gold designs. It fluttered showing the radiance of the warrior drala and the shining light dots of the werma. It moved with the wind in the space of the sky. On his feet he wore Shangshug boots, Array of Nine Braveries, embroidered with beautiful rainbow designs, drawn designs of impressive armor, and bound by hard, solid meteoric iron nails. His face was like a full moon and his two eyes twinkled like inlaid great stars. His eyebrows were beautiful like the outstretched wings of a grey vulture. The shape of his nose was beautiful and well-defined, expressing the white lineage of the father lha. His lips were in the style of a lotus and, like the outstretched wings of a wild raven, he had a beautiful black moustache. His glorious warrior-sote was impressive like the quality of phapong longbu. His smiling face was enjoyable to see; his bright radiant face transformed one's perception. His torso had a great pose, projecting masculinity. His shoulders were great and broad. The lower part of his body was steady and agile.

Name and Biography

Depiction

Shiwa Okar in the terma of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Notes

See also