In Bhutan many people are
seen wearing colorful Srungkue around their necks. And so am I. Of course there
are reasons to be worn.
Bhutan and Tibetan has an
old culture of wearing Srungkue or protection cords.
The moment one get
Srungkue immediately it is worn around their neck, saying "Tshey Ring,
Tsho Sa, Ney Nung" (Prolong life, accumulate merits, Reduce illness).
They are also known as
Srungdue (སྲུང་མདུད་) or protection knots.
The blessed protection
cords are believed to have been invested with spiritual power and said to help
protect the person who wears it from problems and misfortunes.
String slightly longer
than a foot of different color is chosen to make Srungkue. The five key colors,
which represent the elements - blue, symbolize the sky and space, white the air
and wind, red for fire, green for water, and yellow for the earth.
In the middle of string a knot
is tied which resembles a Vajra or thunderbolt. This knot symbolizes the
indestructible and adamantine nature of the ultimate reality. It also
represents the innate power and essence of the enlightenment of the Buddha.
When knot is tied on the
cord a Mantra (ཨོཾ་ཨ་མ་ར་ཎི་ཛཱི་ཝནྟི་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།) is recited and blown on the knot. Many religious
traditions have this kind of process, where a Rinpoche/Lama imbues an object
with spiritual energy and blessings.
Some cords are known as
Tshedue or (ཚེ་མདུད་) life cords and are produced to help elongate people’s
life and come with particular kind of knot relevant to long life.
Lamas generally give these
blessed cords on important occasions. Subsequently the blessed string is placed
around the neck of the receiver.
The cord then becomes
symbolic of the protection of the Lama's compassionate embrace and allows you
to take your teacher with you, even after they are long gone.
Legend has it that these
cords can bring good luck or offer some kind of protection to you.
Srungkue also reminds the
wearer:
- That one took Refuge
Vows and lives mindfully.
- That one took
Bodhisattva Vows that one's purpose is to spread compassion and wisdom, to save
as many beings and bring as many to Enlightenment as one can.
- That one received
additional teachings and reminds that there is always more to learn and there
are always more right steps to take.
However, whenever there is
religious discourse, devotees are seen preparing Srungkue by themselves. They
think making knots is enough to get blessing. They then get that blessed by the
lama. That is not the way.
It is very important that
Srungkue should be given to a monk or lama to tie the knots. They will recite
suitable mantra and blows the energy to each and every knot. After that the
Srungkue is shown to the main lama and get it blessed.
The lama commands the
harmful spirits against harming the people wearing blessed cords who are under
his or her protection.
At the moment I have the
following Srungkue:
1. His Holiness Dordup
Rinpoche ‘s Srungkue
2. His Holiness 17th
Karmapa, Oregon Trinley Dorje’s Srungkue
3. His Holiness the 70th
Je Khenpo’s Srungkue
The purpose of the blessed
protection cords is to protect the body and the life of the person who is
wearing it from external mishaps, human and non-human harm-doers, and internal
problems such as illnesses and misfortunes.
Since threads are invested
with spiritual power one has to have faith in the efficacy of the cords and
respect them in order to gain optimal benefit from them.
The used Srungkue should
be burnt.
