Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

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Akir
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Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by Akir »

I sometimes hear these words from Buddhists as a greeting or words of gratitude. But I couldn't find anywhere that it had anything to do with Buddhism. All that is about "Sarva Mangalam" is an epithet of the Hindu god Shiva. As well as other meanings from Hinduism and a bit of Jainism. How is Sarva Mangalam related to Buddhism? Or is it something like "Namaste", just part of secular etiquette and culture?
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by Kim O'Hara »

I have never heard it from Buddhists myself but -
(1) http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/ ... A_MANGALAM

(2) https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.p ... 83#p209483
Adamantine wrote:Sarva Mangalam is used in Buddhism too... I think it is a general auspicious pronouncement: "May all beings be happy"

So it is similar to the first of the "four immeasurables" prayer common in Tibetan tradition:

May all beings have happiness and the cause of happiness.

May they be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.

May they never be separated from the supreme happiness which is without suffering.

May they remain in the boundless equanimity, free from both attachment to some and rejection of others.

I remember that at teachings with Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche he used to pronounce "Sarva Mangalam!" out loud, coming or going. So it is not unusual for a Tibetan teacher to pronounce it also.
:namaste:
Kim
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Akir
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Re: Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by Akir »

Kim O'Hara wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:19 am I have never heard it from Buddhists myself but -
(1) http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/ ... A_MANGALAM

(2) https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.p ... 83#p209483
Adamantine wrote:Sarva Mangalam is used in Buddhism too... I think it is a general auspicious pronouncement: "May all beings be happy"

So it is similar to the first of the "four immeasurables" prayer common in Tibetan tradition:

May all beings have happiness and the cause of happiness.

May they be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.

May they never be separated from the supreme happiness which is without suffering.

May they remain in the boundless equanimity, free from both attachment to some and rejection of others.

I remember that at teachings with Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche he used to pronounce "Sarva Mangalam!" out loud, coming or going. So it is not unusual for a Tibetan teacher to pronounce it also.
:namaste:
Kim
:namaste:
Very satisfied with your answer! Thanks for the links! Sarva Mangalam!
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conebeckham
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Re: Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by conebeckham »

It's somewhat like the Tibetan phrase "Tashi Delek."

It expresses a wish for auspicious circumstances and environment, etc.

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche used it as a general greeting or introduction when teaching.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།


"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
nyamlae
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Re: Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by nyamlae »

Akir wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:54 am I sometimes hear these words from Buddhists as a greeting or words of gratitude. But I couldn't find anywhere that it had anything to do with Buddhism. All that is about "Sarva Mangalam" is an epithet of the Hindu god Shiva. As well as other meanings from Hinduism and a bit of Jainism. How is Sarva Mangalam related to Buddhism? Or is it something like "Namaste", just part of secular etiquette and culture?
It's often written at the end of Tibetan texts. That or དགེའོ། ("virtue").

For example, see this or this.
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Akir
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Re: Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by Akir »

conebeckham wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:22 pm It's somewhat like the Tibetan phrase "Tashi Delek."

It expresses a wish for auspicious circumstances and environment, etc.

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche used it as a general greeting or introduction when teaching.
Thanks for the useful information :thumbsup:
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Akir
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Re: Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by Akir »

nyamlae wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 9:08 pm
Akir wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 4:54 am I sometimes hear these words from Buddhists as a greeting or words of gratitude. But I couldn't find anywhere that it had anything to do with Buddhism. All that is about "Sarva Mangalam" is an epithet of the Hindu god Shiva. As well as other meanings from Hinduism and a bit of Jainism. How is Sarva Mangalam related to Buddhism? Or is it something like "Namaste", just part of secular etiquette and culture?
It's often written at the end of Tibetan texts. That or དགེའོ། ("virtue").

For example, see this or this.
Thank you for your reply, especially for the links. :thanks:
Miorita
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Re: Why do Buddhists use the phrase "Sarva Mangalam"?

Post by Miorita »

Sarva Mangalam!

It feels good to be with the sangha.
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