The Wish Fulfilling Jewel

Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on Inner Radiance. Thank you to all of the masters and teachers that have passed on this wisdom and made it available.

The other day, I stumbled once more on a beautiful teaching from Tibetan Buddhism: the Cintamani, the Wish Fulfilling Jewel. In Sanskrit, Cintamani means "thought gem" … the jewel that grants wishes and manifests what is most deeply desired in our heart of hearts. In Tibetan it is called yid bzhin nor bu, which translates as "jewel that fullfills all wishes as one desires."

In Buddhist cosmology, the Cintamani is one of the most sacred objects in existence. Ancient texts describe it as a relic of the Buddha himself! A jewel of such luminous power that it has the power to remove suffering, purify water, manifest treasures, and fullfil the deepest aspirations of those in its presence. It is held by two of the most beloved bodhisattvas in the Tibetan tradition: Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion and Ksitigarbha, the bodhisattva of the earth and the guardian of all beings.

In Tibetan history, the jewel is said to have fallen from the sky in a chest during the reign of a great Tibetan king, arriving alongside other sacred treasures that brought the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha) to Tibet for the first time. You can find the Cintamani in thangka paintings, on prayer flags carried by the Wind Horse (Lungta) at the centre of the four cardinal directions and in the hands of deities throughout Tibetan beautiful, sacred art.

The inner jewel.

The Cintamani is a symbol and a living metaphor for the most profound aspirations of the human carnation. In this particular tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, this aspiration is called bodhicitta: the awakened mind. Here, we contemplate the fact that the mind need not seek enlightenment for oneself alone, but for the liberation and peace of all beings, everywhere. And so, this wish-fulfilling jewel can be seen as a symbol for the bodhicitta: the genuine, deepest desire of the human being to alleviate suffering and help others do the same.

As the great Tibetan teacher Langri Thangpa wrote in his Eight Verses on Mind Training, other beings are to be held as "more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel" because it is through our relationship with them, through the practice of love and compassion, that our own awakening becomes possible.

It is through our own practice of love and compassion for all beings that our own awakening becomes possible.

For me, reading, meditating upon and contemplating the teachings from this lineage is extremely powerful. I want to be super clear, once more, in my reverence, appreciation and humbleness in receiving and sharing these teachings. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

In this tradition, the nature of the mind is described as inherently luminous. Rigpa … pure awareness … is the ground of being that exists beneath all the noise and confusion of ordinary life. Our yogic and spiritual practices are simply the work of clearing these obscurations, layer by layer, through meditation, contemplation and the cultivation of compassion, until the jewel that was always there begins to shine. The Cintamani in Tibetan art teaches us that while life may come with its shadows, there is always a jewel within waiting to be discovered. And, one of the most practical expressions of this teaching is the practice of aspiration … of setting a deep, clear intention not just for what you want, but for who you are becoming and what we are here to contribute in this incarnation.

In Tibetan practice, aspiration prayers (monlam) are tremendously powerful, in the essence that the mind becomes clear about what we value most and how to orient itself in the direction of this reality. May we contemplate, again and again, our deepest wish: realizing more fully ourselves.

To Practice:

If you would like to sit with this teaching as a practice, here is a simple reflection you can do at any time.

Find a comfortable seat and allow yourself to relax into a meditative state. Once you have settled into your practice, place one hand on your heart.

You can now contemplate: What do I most deeply wish for, not just for myself, but for the world? Let it be simple. Let it be true.

Then ask: What would it feel like if that wish were already alive within my body?

This is the jewel

On June 27th, 2026 my dear sister, Day Gomez and I are offering an in-person class in Mallorca exploring these teachings from Tibetan Buddhism in meditation and a life sound healing journey. We will be sitting with the wisdom of the Cintamani, the practice of aspiration, and the cultivation of bodhicitta through meditation and reflection.