In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Marici is known as the goddess of the heavens, goddess of light, and a solar deity. Also known elsewhere as Marishi-ten (摩利支天), Marisha-Ten (another Japanese name), and Mólìzhītiān Púsà (Chinese: 摩利支天菩萨; pinyin: Mólìzhītiān Púsà). She is believed to be one of the Twenty (or Twenty Four) Heaven Celestials (二十/二十四诸天). In Taoism, Marici is known under the epithet of the Dipper Mother (traditional Chinese: 斗母元君; pinyin: Dǒumǔ Yuánjūn).
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Marici has historically taken the following depictions
She has been depicted with one, three, five or six faces and two, six, eight, ten or twelve arms; three eyes; in her many-faced manifestations one of her faces is that of a sow.
The origins of Marici are obscure, however she appears to be an amalgamation of Hindu, Iranian, and non-Aryan antecedents spanning 1500 years. She is however identified as a Buddhist "goddess" of light, Marici.
Marici in China is sometimes worshiped as both a Buddhist and Taoist deity where she is known as Dipper Mother (Chinese: 斗母元君; pinyin: Dǒumǔ Yuánjūn) or "Dou Mu", who is also called Marici Deva (Chinese: 摩利支天菩萨; pinyin: Mólìzhītiān Púsà) by some worshippers. Most often she depicted with three eyes in each of her four faces; with four arms on each side of her body. Two of her hands are held together, and the other six hold a sun, moon, bell, golden seal, bow, and halberd. She is either standing/sitting on top of a lotus or pig, or on a Lotus on top of seven pigs. She is celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month.
In Chinese Buddhism, especially in the south where Tantric Buddhism hardly penetrated, she is often confused with Cundī. Among Chinese Buddhists she is worshiped as goddess of light and as the guardian of all nations, whom she protects from the fury of war. [1]
In Taoism Dou Mu remains a popular deity and is often referred to as Queen of Heaven (Chinese: 天后; pinyin: Tiān Hòu) and is widely worshiped as the Goddess of Beidou (the Chinese equivalent of Ursa Major except that it also includes 2 "attendant" stars). She is also revered as the mother of the Nine Emperor Gods who are represented by the nine stars in the Beidou constellation.[2] Legend has it that one spring day a queen went to bath in a pond. Upon entering she suddenly felt "moved" and nine lotus buds rose from the pond. Each of these lotus buds opened to reveal a star which then became the Beidou constellation.
She is still worshiped today in Taoist temples like the White Cloud Temple and the Tou Mu Kung Temple which has both Taoist and Buddhist influences.
Marici was adopted by the Bujin or Samurai in the 8th century CE as a protector and patron.
While devotions to Marici predate Zen, they appear to be geared towards a similar meditative mode in order to enable the warrior to achieve a more heightened spiritual level. He lost interest in the issues of victory or defeat (or life and death), thus transcending to a level where he became so empowered that he was freed from his own grasp on mortality. The end result was that he became a better warrior.
The worship of Marici was to provide a way to achieve selflessness and compassion through Buddhist training by incorporating a passion for the mastery of the self.
Samurai would invoke Marici at sunrise to achieve victory. Since Marici means "light" or mirage, she was invoked to escape the notice of one's enemies.
She was also later worshipped in the Edo period as a goddess of wealth and prosperity by the merchant class, alongside Daikoku-ten (大黒天) and Benzaiten (弁財天) as part of a trio of "three deities" (santen 三天).
Marici has also sometimes included as one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals associated with Bhaiṣajyaguru, the Buddha of Medicine.
Images of her are common in India, but there are few examples in China and Japan.
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