20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

708 Klaus Sagaster1. The “Throne” of the Book (Card no. 43).The drawing shows a throne (khri; Skr. āsana in the mantra) supportedby four lions. Naturally, only two of them are visible. The throne (khri) isthe traditional Lion Throne (seng-ge´i khri) of the Buddha.The ritual text reads as follows: 7/ rin chen du ma las grub seng ge´i khr i // yid ´phrog sna tshogs gos ky(i)s bkab pa ´di // rin chen gsung rab mchog la phul ba yis // ´gro rnams rdo rje´i gdan (text: gtan) la ´dug par shog // oṃ badzrad a sa na āḥ hūṃ svāhā // sarba siddhi hūṃ //I offer to the excellent precious sacred scripturesThe Lion Throne, consisting of many valuablesAnd covered with a very beautiful multi(coloured) garment.May the living beings sit on the Diamond Seat!oṃ vajra āsana āḥ hūṃ svāhāsarvasiddhi hūṃIt is obvious that not only the body (sku) of the Buddha can be placedon the Lion Throne, but also the book as the symbol of the Word (gsung)of the Buddha. In the texts of the cards, the term for “book“ is not one ofthe normal words for “book“ – dpe-cha, phyag-dpe, glegs-bam, but gsungrab,lit. “Good Word”, the Word of the Buddha, Sacred writing(s). – Thedrawing also shows the “garment” (gos) of the book lying on the throne.The ritual text explicitly states that the throne is a Lion Throne,consisting of many valuables. It is covered with a beautiful “multicolouredgarment” (sna-tshogs gos). The meaning of the “garment” is not explained,but there is no doubt that it is the same as the meaning of the “garment”of the book, which is shown on the following card. Then the text saysthat the throne is meant for the precious sacred scriptures (rin-chen gsungrab).In the end, the purpose of the offering of the throne is explained. Itis the wish that all living beings (´gro-rnams) may sit on the DiamondThrone (rdo-rje´i gdan; Skr. vajrāsana in the mantra), the throne as solidand indestructible as the throne on which the Buddha was sitting when heattained enlightenment.7The corrections of the Tibetan text as indicated in brackets were made accordingto the two ritual texts mentioned in note 5.