Manjusri (from The Aquarian, June 1999)
According to Mahayana tradition, Manjusri is the Bodhisattva of wisdom. When trying to meditate, I used to have problems with my mind drifting off onto random trains of thought. Someone suggested that whenever I became aware of this happening, I should imagine the thought suddenly being cut off by the sword of Manjusri, who was described as holding an upraised sword in his right hand and a book in his left. I thought this would be easier to imagine if I had a picture or statue of him in front of me, but I scoured all the New Age shops I could find without success. So in the end I had to draw my own.