This article was originally written for the Jamyang Buddhist Center in London
When Westerners learn of the existence of the so-called “wealth deities” in Buddhism, double confusion ensues. "Wealth? Deities? I thought that Buddhism is all about renunciation and is a non-theistic tradition!” At the same time, there are also always people who get highly excited, thinking that with a little bit of Buddhist wealth magic all of their financial problems would be dispelled, and a period of perpetual good luck will finally follow.
The Buddhist path is that of the middle way, or balance: identifying the two possible extremes and slipping carefully between them. Long before the Middle Way philosophy was fully outlined by Nāgārjuna and his followers, the principle of the middle way was already taught in the Buddha’s own life story, when, receiving rice pudding from Sujata, he realised that neither the extreme of ascetic self-mortification nor the extreme of wild self-gratification are wise. The true path of balance and prudence was right there between the two.
What, then, to make of the issues of wealth and of the deities that are supposed to assist in obtaining it? The central teaching of Buddhism is arguably that of interdependence, and a large part of interdependence is the principle of causality. Wealth, along with all the other things we tend to label as good and desirable, is therefore seen to be coming from merit, or the accumulation of positive force: essentially, our good karma that ripens as our ability to get what we desire. Equally, the absence of wealth could come from the absence of merit, or from our merit not ripening in the way that we desire. Major obstacles to having wealth, including financial mishaps of any kind, would normally come from our negative karmic imprints. It is in this complex interplay that we find ourselves trying to navigate the complex issues of survival and flourishing within saṃsāra.
At this intersection, another common Western concern arises: isn’t wealth a part of saṃsāra, by definition, and a chain that yokes us to the contaminated form of existence? Not in and by itself. A famous pith instruction, given by the great yogi Tilopa to his student Naropa, says “My child, it is not appearances that bind you, it is grasping, so cut through your attachment.” Abundance itself is merely an appearance—a potentially helpful one, for without it we’d find it hard to practice the perfection of generosity. It is grasping at this resource and exaggerating its ability to bring lasting happiness that is seen as a problem. Transforming our grasping attitude through mind training is a working strategy for building a healthy relationship with wealth (however large or humble)—which we can then start to skilfully procure, and then use in our practice of generosity.
Great examples of this attitude are abundantly present throughout Buddhist history, from the early Buddhist kings who served as the Buddha’s own benefactors, to modern-day communities throughout the Himalayan region chipping in with whatever they can to restore or erect the holy objects. Similar things happen across the globe, where, for example, efforts to create learning or medical facilities and run educational and translation programs are generously sponsored by the kindness of many. Obtaining some wealth (even if it’s just a few pounds) and then using it to multiply goodness in the world is the most intelligent way to use the material resources, once our basic needs have been fulfilled. Additionally, wealth in the Indo-Tibetan tradition is never described as merely material: there’s also the inner wealth of positive qualities and the secret wealth of enlightened wisdom. Letting all the outer, inner, and secret abundance unfold for oneself and, eventually, for all sentient beings is an aspiration that lies at the heart of many prosperity-related Buddhist practices.
What, then, of wealth deities? If outer abundance flows from merit—in this case, merit mostly created through the different types of generosity—why would one need additional figures to serve as an intermediary? Once again, the answer lies with the principle of interdependence. In the Buddhist working hypothesis, realised and non-realised beings can affect the flow of causality. Essentially, we all affect it, either directly or indirectly—yet some of us, due to having cultivated ourselves, have a greater influence on the events that ripen and occur. It is generally believed that some beings have a closer connection to the principle of abundance, being able to provide certain assistance to those who need prosperity for enacting greater good. This group of beings is collectively known as the “wealth deities”, or norlha in Tibetan.
Wealth deities are a rather diverse crowd. Some of them, like Jambhala and Vasudhara are seen as expressions of fully enlightened Buddhas. Some, like Orgyen Norlha and Kyechok Tsulzang (both forms of Guru Rinpoche), are manifestations of the greatly realised masters of the past. Others belong to the class of realised Dharma protectors, and yet others are seen as worldly beings who are somewhat aligned with the Dharma but have not yet mastered their own minds fully. Among these beings we also find such popular figures as Lakshmi (whose qualities and assistance are described in a few sutras, including the Sūtra of the Golden Light), Ganapati, White Mahakala and many others.
Would a truly qualified spiritual practitioner busy themselves with invoking the energetic influence of wealth deities? The life stories of the great masters allow us to answer in the affirmative. Even the founder of the Gelug tradition, Je Tsongkhapa himself, at one point famously turned to the assistance of Vaiśravaṇa (one of the four directional kings and a popular abundance-related protector) when working to restore an important holy object for the benefit of all sentient beings:
Tsongkhapa and his companions performed the rites of Vaiśravaṇa, an important god of wealth in the Buddhist pantheon. That very day, a young monk came to offer them a chunk of butter, which they used as part of the ritual offering. Strangely, the next day, a group of nomads came to offer the small community of meditators a multitude of wrapped bundles of butter. Then, as if floodgates had been opened, many people came to make offerings of various gifts, and within a short time they had the necessary funds to pay the artists. In fact, many artists came from the Yarlung area to volunteer their services to this restoration project.
(From Thubten Jinpa’s Tsongkhapa: A Buddha in the Land of Snows)
Of course, we can safely assume that Tsongkhapa’s practice of a wealth deity was deeply informed by his understanding of interdependence, including that of karmic causes and conditions. This means that the practice was used as a cooperative condition for activating the merit of generosity created previously, and that the overarching motivation for the act was genuinely cultivated bodhicitta. It’s within this framework of interdependence and bodhicitta that the skilful methods of Vajrayāna, including those associated with wealth deities, are usually found.
One of the wealth deities most commonly practiced in the Tibetan tradition is Jambhala (often pronounced as “Dzambhala”, following the Tibetan pronunciation of the original Sanskrit), whose additional epithets include such names as Mugdzin (which can be roughly translated as “Upholder of Fogginess”), Norgyi Wangchuk (“Lord of Wealth”) and Chugyi Thubpa (“Mighty One of Water”). Jambhala, strictly speaking, is not a single deity, but rather a class of deities or a principle (much like Mahakala, who is not a single protector but a large group of diverse beings). Different Jambhala forms are described as expressions of the one of the five buddha families, which places them fairly close to the fully-fledged meditational deities (yidams) that are used to attain enlightenment. In this regard, Jambhalas stand apart from some other wealth deities that are seen as worldly or mundane.
Much like with the fully-fledged yidams, in some practices practitioners would be invited to imagine themselves as Jambhala himself, voicing his mantra and integrating a vision of boundless abundance with the view of emptiness and luminosity. Some of the more basic Jambhala methods, however, entail a separation between the practitioner and the wealth deity. In the more advanced ones, one invites the mandala of Jambhala (which can consist of a single deitiy or of a large retinue) into the space in front and then proceeds to make prayers and offerings. Some of the more basic methods, however, include a statue of Jambhala to which water is offered: this is both an act of generosity and a sweet reference to the story about Jambhala protecting the Buddha from Devadatta’s stones and getting bruised in the process.
The different forms of Jambhala are currently often classified according to colour, although in technical terms, each one of them originates from a different tantric cycle, some belonging to action tantra and some related to such highest yoga tantra systems as Guhyasamāja, Kālacakra and Chakrasamvara. It is only later that they also start getting depicted together, either as a group of five or as a part of a larger retinue—for example, accompanying Padmasambhava in his abundance-related forms.
The five main color-reated categories of Jambhala forms in the new translation schools are as follows:
Yellow Jambhala: Seen as an emanation of Buddha Ratnasambhava, this seated form is depicted as holding a citron fruit and a mongoose. This is the most common aspect of Jambhala amongst all the traditions, with multiple practices associated with it: from water and incense offerings to elaborate tantric sadhanas.
White Jambhala: This form, depicted as riding a dragon and accompanied by four dakinis (thus also named “five-deity Jambhala”), is described as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara that manifested in response to Atisha’s passionate wish to bring abundance to all beings. As such, it is a “pure vision” teaching that presumably came into Tibet with Atīśa and eventually spread to all of the new translation traditions.
Green Jambhala: An emanation of Buddha Amoghasiddhi, this form is accompanied by goddess Vasudhara (“Stream of Wealth”) as its consort. Its practice comes from the Kālacakra cycle of teachings.
Red Jambhala: The most common Red Jambhala form, described as an emanation of Buddha Amitābha, comes from the Cakrasamvara cycle of teachings; it came to Tibet through the lineage of Mahasiddha Virupa, the great progenitor of Sakya teachings. In the Sakya tradition, this practice is transmitted as one of the Thirteen Golden Dharmas—the precious tantric methods that were transmitted together as a precious trove of powerful methods.
Black Jambhala forms are diverse, but most of them are depicted as standing and extremely wrathful. Having arrived to Tibet through the lineages of Jetari and Sakya Sri, Black Jambhala is seen as an emanation of the Buddha Akshobhya.
In addition to these forms (and each colour category can actually include many distinct methods and figures), which have become an integral part of the new translation tantric lineages, there are many Jambhala practices of Nyingma origin, most of them related to the traditions of revealed treasures (terma) and pure visions (dagnang). In some, Jambhala appears as a supportive deity; in others, he is seen as an expression of Padmasambhava’s skilful compassionate energy. Regardless of which practice we use, the important point is to combine genuine transmission (received along with instructions from a skilled lineage holder) with a genuine combination of wisdom and compassion. Seeing the union of emptiness and interdependence helps us navigate our conventional reality (where matters of poverty and wealth unfold) with grace and ease, while the aspiration of bodhicitta guides us towards the ultimate goal of true wealth–full enlightenment for all sentient beings. Until that ultimate goal has been achieved, we can continue inviting the enlightening influence of Jambhala with the words like that of the non-sectarian Tibetan master Khyentse Chokyi Lodro:
Pacify disharmony and adversity for us, teacher and disciples.
Eliminate turmoil and disease among people and livestock,
Let all countries and regions be filled with happiness and joy,
And bring the increased wealth and prosperity of a golden age.
Additional Links
Lama Zopa Rinpoche on what it takes to make Jambhala practice effective
Video: Himalayan Art Resources on the iconography of Jambhala
Image of Jambhala from Himalayan Art Resources (HAR 34960)