The Four Exalted Brothers

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The Four Exalted Brothers
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• According to The Clear Mirror of the Royal
  Genealogies (Gyalrab Salwai Melong) attributed to
  Sakyapa Sonam Gyaltsen (1312-1375 CE), the great
  Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo (617-47 CE)
  decided that he had to make various statues of
  his yidam (tutelary deity) to be of benefit to
  sentient beings within his realm.

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• While he was in meditation, the Buddhas and
  Bodhisattvas revealed a pure vision to him. In
  the vision he was shown a self-arising
  Avalokiteshvara statue made of sandalwood,
  located in Southern India. This was significant
  to the emperor as Avalokiteshvara was his yidam
  or personal meditational Buddha.

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• At this point, it is said that a monk crowned
  with Buddha Amitabha on top of his head, emanated
  from the hair between the emperors eyebrows and
  was given the name Akaramatishila. This monk was
  dispatched to retrieve this statue, which he
  found in the form of an eleven-faced
  Avalokiteshvara.

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• He brought the statue back to Tibet and presented
  it up to the emperor who was very pleased.
  Immediately, a thought came to the emperor that
  there was yet another hidden emanated statue
  that would be of tremendous benefit to
  generations of sentient beings.

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• The emperor prayed to his yidam and a spectacle
  unfolded before his very eyes. From the chest of
  the self-arisen statue, a ray of light emerged
  and the emperor followed it with his eyes. The
  light pointed in the direction of the border
  between Nepal and India and he saw a white
  sandalwood tree within a dense forest.

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• The tree was shining brightly and from it, the
  four self-arising brothers appeared. Hence,
  Akaramatishila was dispatched once more, this
  time to find the sandalwood tree. After several
  attempts, the monk finally found the sandalwood
  tree.

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• After combing through the dense forest of
  Southern Nepal for a long, the monk came across a
  herdsman who was tending many cows in a forest.
  That evening, the cows owner said to the
  herdsman, You have been milking my cow! The
  herdsman denied it and said that he had not done
  so.

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• He explained that the cows were left to wander in
  the forest by themselves. The next day, the
  herdsman, accompanied by the owner, followed the
  cows to investigate the matter. They beheld the
  cows circumambulating the sandalwood tree that
  radiated light. The milk flowed from the owners
  cow, from her udders, and nourished the tree. The
  spectacle amazed the two of them. They told the
  monk and he realised that this was the tree that
  he had been searching for.

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• As he was about to cut the tree down, the tree
  spoke. The upper part of the trunk said to cut
  slowly as he would go to the settlement of
  Mangyul (near Kyirong). This self-arisen statue
  would later be known as the Noble Wati. Then a
  sound emerged from a portion under Noble Wati and
  said that he would go to the city of Yam-bu (or
  Yam-bha) Ya-gal. This self-arisen statue would
  be known as Noble U-Gang.

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• Then another voice emerged from under him. The
  voice said that he would go to the border of
  India and Nepal. This self-arisen statue would be
  known as Noble Jamali. Finally, the fourth voice
  said that he would go to the snowy peaks of Tibet
  in order to be Emperor Songtsen Gampos yidam.
  This self-arisen statue would become be known as
  Noble Lokeshvara of Potala. Collectively, these
  four statues are known as The Four Exalted
  Brothers.

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• The Four Exalted Brothers are in the form of the
  standing Kharsapani Avalokiteshvara, which is
  identified by having one face and two arms. The
  left hand is in the mudra of teaching the Dharma
  while holding a lotus blooming at his side, and
  the right hand is in the mudra of transcendent
  giving or generosity. Thus, the emanated monk
  returned to Tibet with the statue of the Noble
  Lokeshvara and Noble Wati. It is for this reason
  that the Emperor Songtsen Gampo is credited with
  bringing the worship of Avalokiteshvara or
  Chenrezig to Tibet.

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