Tsen- Tibetan SpiritSpirit"Red Warrior Spirits"

The Red Riders

A monk breaks his vows and dies in violence. Instead of passing through the bardo to rebirth, his consciousness hardens into something furious and martial. He becomes a tsen.

Everything about a tsen is red. Red body in red armor on a red horse, riding through the sky or across cliff faces. They dwell in red rocks and red soil, in outcroppings and mountain slopes. They may appear as balls of fire or red lights moving across the peaks at night. Travelers who enter tsen territory without protection risk sudden attack: fevers and blood diseases that arrive without explanation, their heat and redness mirroring the spirit that caused them.

Monasteries that sit near tsen-haunted rocks make regular offerings to keep the peace. Red torma and blood-colored drinks set out beside weapons and armor for warrior spirits. The offerings do not express devotion. They buy restraint.

Tsiu Marpo

The king of all tsen is Tsiu Marpo, the Red Wild One. He was a pre-Buddhist deity, fierce and ungovernable, until Padmasambhava subdued him and bound him by oath to serve as a dharma protector. In this role, Tsiu Marpo commands the tsen armies on behalf of Buddhism, directing their aggression against enemies of the teachings rather than against practitioners.

When tsen disturbance grows severe, lamas perform binding rituals that invoke Tsiu Marpo's authority over his kind. Ransom effigies substitute for the afflicted person. The mantras assert power over the spirits through the chain of command that Padmasambhava established: the great master bound the king, and the king holds the rest.