CP in Mongolia

“The Seal Pressed into Mind” is another beautiful doha by Zava Damdin (b. 1976). The accompanying notes offer a non-definitive, intercultural lens, focusing on relational memory, everyday ethical presence, and “imprints” as intimate forms of knowing—reflections within a Mongolian Mahāyāna poetic modality.

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THE SEAL PRESSED INTO MIND

Your mind is no ordinary thing

Even the worn fragment of a dharma robe, recalled from long ago

You have stitched beneath your thumb as a sacred protection

It seems, then, that what we call “value” dwells in the most unassuming places.

Your gaze is no ordinary thing

Whoever meets it feels a calm,

A stillness sensed deep within the heart—

What we call “beauty” dwells beneath the skylight of the heart-mind.

Your heart is no ordinary thing

A conversation from years ago in the corner of a teahouse

Still held carefully within your thoughts to this day

So it is that memory resides in the simplest of encounters.

Your trust and devotion are no ordinary thing

Even if no one reminds you of a blessing uttered in a previous life

Still, from the farthest reaches, something stirs

A gentle smile in which that feeling resides.

And the seal pressed into your heart-mind—

Nothing can erase it.

Sung by the boy of Dragon Mountain

(Zava Damdin b.1976)

10.01.2026

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Translation is always an interpretation into another culture.

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СЭТГЭЛ ДОР ДАРСАН ТАМГА

(Original Mongolian)

Чиний сэтгэл ер бусын ажээ

Аль эрт дурсгасан номт дээлийн навтархайг

Эрхий хуруун дороо сахиус болгон зүйчүхүй

Үнэ цэнэ хэмээх инү энгийн л зүйл дор оршдог аж

Чиний харц ер бусын ажээ

Хэн бээр үзэвч тайван амгаланг

Зүрхний гүн дороо юутай ч мэдэрмүй

Гоо үзэсгэлэн хэмээх инү сэтгэлийн гэгээвч дор буй аж

Чиний зүрхэн ер бусын ажээ

Олон жилийн өмнө нэгэн цайны мухлагт ярьсныг

Оюун бодол дороо хадгалсаар өдийг хүрчүхүй

Дуртгал хэмээх инү эгэл нэгэн учрал дор оршдог аж

Чиний итгэл сүсэг ер бусын ажээ

Урьд насны тавьсан ерөөлийг хэн нэгэн сануулах үгүй ч

Чандын чандаас мэдрэхүй инү зөөлөн инээмсэглэл дор чину оршжухуй

Сэтгэл дор дарсан тамгыг юун ч арилгаж үл чадах аж

Үүнийг Луут уулын дуулалч хөвгүүн бичвэй

10.01.2026

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Notes

Epistemological Reflection

This doha is a reflection of a contemporary Mongolian Mahāyāna poetic lineage, where karmic insight, relational memory, and devotional perception function as valid epistemologies in their own right. Rather than privileging doctrinal exposition, the poem reflects a more intimate, affective, and intergenerational logic of knowing.

1. Heartmind as Epistemic Organ

“Heartmind as epistemic organ” refers to the idea that the heart and mind together are seen as a way of knowing—through felt understanding, moral sensitivity, and intuitive recognition, not just through logical thinking. In certain lineages of Mongolian Buddhism, terms such as sünes or sanaa refer not merely to “mind” in the cognitive sense, but to the subtle heartmind through which ethical resonance and karmic sensitivity are felt. Zava Rinpoche’s doha honours this human capacity, suggesting that quiet forms of attention—such as a glance, an old conversation, or an intuitive response—can act as vehicles for insight and recognition. This accords with Rebecca Empson’s (2011, 122–123) insight that kinship in Mongolia is “not just biologically determined… it is continually made and remade through relational memory and embodied acts.” In this framework, the setgel is not just an organ of feeling, but a site where ethical understanding and intuitive knowing converge.

2. Distributed Memory and Recognition

Moments such as the reference to an old robe fragment or a remembered conversation illustrate how seemingly ordinary objects and interactions become vessels of spiritual continuity. These fragments are not symbols of nostalgia, but triggers of karmic memory—reminders of deeper entanglements across lifetimes. Manduhai Buyandelger (2013, 210–212) observes that memory in Mongolian Buddhist contexts “is not recollection alone—it is ethical participation in a continuum of mindstream.” This continuum is not bound by time, but arises through felt recognition, often unspoken and non-conceptual.

3. Poetics of Relational Merit

The worldview that underlies this doha envisions buyan (merit) as something accumulated and transmitted not only through religious rites, but through recognition, care, and embodied ethical presence. The emphasis falls on relational gestures rather than institutional validation. As Alexander C. Diener and Joshua Hagen (2013, 336) note, merit in Mongolian Buddhist life “is grounded not only in doctrine but in the shared ethical grammar of everyday acts.” This suggests a model of merit as interaction, cultivated within networks of family, memory, and intention.

4. Ontology of the Seal

The final image in the doha—“the seal pressed into your mind”—offers a Mongolian expression of the Buddhist idea of karmic imprint (vāsanā). It suggests that certain encounters or intentions leave a subtle yet enduring trace—not as memories to be recalled, but as quiet forces that shape perception and conduct in the present. As Thomas Schneider (2022, 7–9) explains, these imprints “are not merely marks of the past but orient present perception.” In this way, karma appears not as a ledger of previous actions, but as a dynamic orientation—an ethical and perceptual compass.

At its heart, this softly spoken doha comes from a living Mongolian Mahāyāna tradition, where knowing is not only a matter of doctrine—though that is important—but also of what the heart and mind quietly recognize through relationships, memories, and everyday gestures. Small things—like an old cloth kept close, a calm look, or a conversation remembered for years—are treated as meaningful because they carry ethical weight and a sense of spiritual continuity. This doha also suggests that merit can be built through care and recognition, not only through formal rituals. Finally, the “seal pressed into your mind” is described as a karmic imprint: a lasting inner trace that continues to shape how a person feels and perceives, even when it cannot be fully explained in words.

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Terminology Set

(Working definitions)

Relational memory is a type of memory that involves the ability to form, store, and retrieve associations between multiple items, concepts, or events. Rather than remembering isolated facts, relational memory enables us to remember how things are related to each other—such as who was sitting next to whom at dinner, or the relationship between a word and its definition.

Devotional perception refers to a way of seeing, understanding, or experiencing reality that is deeply influenced by devotion—usually to a deity, a spiritual figure, or a higher ideal. It’s a form of experiential or affective cognition grounded in faith, reverence, and emotional intimacy, rather than detached rationality or empirical observation.

Felt recognition is the deep, emotional moment when you suddenly realise or remember something—not just in your thoughts, but as a strong feeling in your body and/or heart.

Merit as interaction refers to the idea that merit—often understood as moral or spiritual value gained through good actions—is not just an individual asset, but something that is created, shared, or activated through relationships and exchanges between people, beings, or even realms. In terms of cultural usage, it is common in Buddhist and Confucian contexts, where merit-making isn’t isolated but happens in a web of relationships.

Dynamic orientation refers to a mindset, perspective, or approach that is flexible, responsive, and focused on change or movement over time—rather than on fixed positions or static conditions.

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CP in Mongolia

Catherine Pleteshner, Independent Scholar and Musician

Mongolian Poetry 27: The Seal Pressed into Mind