but I don't want to get caught up in it. [...] So, you have to know how to do it. So, you have to know how to do it. When I was a child, I used to go to school with my father.

[05:26]

I used to go to school with my father. I used to go to school with my father. I used to go to school with my father. I went to school with my father. I went to school with my father. When I was a child, my father was a commander. He [...] was a commander. That's why we have to do this. We [...] have to do this. Thank you.

[07:59]

To summarize what we are about in our study program this weekend, it's helpful, first of all, to remind ourselves that what we are doing is not only worthwhile but a very good indication of our own karmic, of our own individual karmic destinies, which has made it possible that under such circumstances we could gather in the presence of His Holiness Sakyatris and receive all the all the guidance necessary for our own spiritual well-being.

[09:33]

To repeat, it is humanity or human existence itself is extremely hard to obtain. It is only rarely encountered by by sentient beings. And once having been, even having been obtained, it is rare still that a human being encounters those philosophical and practical teachings which enable him to find his way out of the sufferings of worldly existence and to experience the unhindered happiness of perfect liberation.

[10:41]

Even among those beings who have encountered, humans who have encountered teachings of enlightenment, it is only seldom that one finds a qualified teacher who is willing and able to explain them to one and to help one integrate those practices rightly into one's own consciousness so that one's efforts might be fruitful. Even still, rarer is the opportunity gained among those who have found teachings and teachers. It is even rarer for one to find an opportunity to put those very teachings into effective practice and to achieve the results that they that they yield.

[11:49]

So all of this is to say that among among fortunate beings, you people are still even more fortunate that having all these requisite conditions met within your own circumstances, within your own individual karmic circumstances, that all of these conditions should somehow be met and that here you would have the opportunity, unhindered, to receive these teachings of the Lam Jai system of meditation, which has always been the prized treasure of the enlightened masters of the Sakyas tradition for centuries.

[13:01]

And further, to receive these instructions in the presence of His Holiness Sakyas Chisholm, who embodies all that tradition, is... unequaled good fortune. So the point is that you should always keep sight of the context in which you encounter teachings and make the most of them. It would be a pity to waste to waste such good fortune through carelessness or neglect. So that said, we can return to our study of the foundation exercises or foundation practices. Now, in the lamdre system, system of meditation upon which we are all embarked,

[14:06]

It was said yesterday that there are two types of nando exercises. Nando, of course, is the Tibetan word for preliminary or foundation practices. There are the common or ordinary nando exercises or practices and the uncommon nando. The common set of exercises are those reflections upon death and impermanence, upon the sufferings of worldly existence, upon the operation of the law of karma, Thank you. Difficulty of obtaining human birth. I've got a block about this reflection taking over quickly.

[15:19]

Yes. The difficulty pertaining to human existence. Yes. Or opportunity to practice Dhamma. Yes, that is that one. All right. And these reflections are called the four mind-turning reflections, meaning that reflection upon them enables one to disengage to some degree or another, or to the requisite degree, one's mind from overweening involvement in worldly, daily activities through repeated reflection upon them, one's mind becomes reoriented, so to speak, towards things of more lasting value, in other words, dharmic values. Now, the uncommon or extraordinary practices, nanda practices, are the ones in which we are presently studying.

[16:21]

That is the four or five exercises, foundation exercises, collectively known as the nundro practices. They are the the refuge, the practice of taking refuge, which is designed to, the practice of which is designed to tune one's mind towards the, how can I say it, to attune one's mind towards a spiritual goal, towards a spiritual practice, towards a spiritual goal and the path that leads towards that spiritual goal.

[17:34]

And so it's an exercise in attuning oneself to one's spiritual ideal. Secondly, there is the practice of purification, through the meditation of the Vajrasattva meditation, which includes the recitation of the 100-syllable mantra. This exercise of purification is intended to remove the obstacles and obscurations which normally hinder hinder the average mind in entering upon a spiritual discipline, which may hinder a mind. Thirdly, there is the fundamental practice of the mandala offering.

[18:48]

through the practice of which one accumulates the required merit needed to sustain the advanced practices, advanced mahyāna, paramitāyāna, vāsāyāna practices and the experiences and profound insights that are incurred during that practice. In order to support oneself in only fasts, to support religions or bodhisattvic efforts in a vast scale effectively, and profound deep insights, one needs a considerable store or accumulation of spiritual merit

[19:53]

And this is derived through the practice of the mandala offering. Fourthly, there is the practice of the guru yoga. in which one develops, through the practice of which one develops that required rapport, trust, and confidence with one's own spiritual guide, so that by participating or sharing in his previously acquired experience and realizations, that one also can proceed proceed on the spiritual path in an effective, unhindered way. The fifth practice of the nando exercises is that of prostrations, which, according to this system, may optionally be combined with the taking of refuge.

[21:08]

it may also be practiced as a category in its own right. Let us. . If you don't want to do it, you can do it.

[22:17]

If you don't want to do it, you can't do it. If you don't want to do it, you can't do it. shepa jachinbu yun mada pa sun jinnan dini si nor yun shi la sopa yun ba jachinbu shu jinnan dini tsuk jachinbu satan naf jani telakun jodin jiri yun nasonka dhibe sejid ni pa tenjid ni ni parin shepa tan yun rurin zan bil niman zan li ti savar sejid Real. Say to you, let me. So, now, get your muscle up now.

[23:18]

Say me, let me, let me. Tsemi, the leader of the Chambosan, is the one who is the most powerful. Tsemi is the leader of the Chambosan. The leader of the Chambosan is the leader of the Chambosan. That's right. [...] When I was a child, my father was a monk.

[24:21]

He was a monk. [...] In our first session today, we will discuss the offering of the mandala.

[25:22]

We said that the accumulation of a considerable store of spiritual merit is essential if one hopes to progress on the Mahayanist path. This has been the message of any number of sutras and other Buddhist literature that which state that a person who is endowed with spiritual merit will easily succeed in his efforts at

[26:30]

in his efforts to master meditation and achieve the realizations. Whereas a person who is lacking in sufficient merit will find himself hampered by obstacles or or sparse results from his efforts, no matter how diligently they might be performed. Therefore, it is It is significant that the accumulation of merit be assigned almost top priority among the six spiritual perfections.

[27:59]

required at the bodhisattva, that he must accumulate merit first of all through the practice of generosity, charity, giving, and so forth, and the performance of beneficial, helpful deeds that benefit other beings. Merit is also acquired through the through service rendered to the enlightened one and his religion. And since the The three holy jewels, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, are pure objects, pure objects of worship, of contemplation, that since their nature is pure,

[29:12]

meritorious or virtuous acts that are somehow directed towards or oriented towards these pure objects becomes intensified in its effectiveness and in the scale of good results. Therefore, these three are called the pure field of merit. One can accumulate merit through the impure field by serving and helping beings, and it can also be accumulated by offering, making offerings to and worshipping and serving the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. So, for this reason alone, it is prescribed that one should accumulate merit by making offerings of incense, flowers, lights, and the like to representations of the three jewels.

[30:18]

It is encouraged because it is a way of helping the person who makes the offering to accumulate the merit which he will need in his practice. Now, among the various ways of accumulating merit, we have said that making offerings to the pure fields, or the three jewels, is especially effective. Now, of the various ways in which one may make offerings to the three jewels, perhaps the most stylized, the most formalized manner, at least as of the system of Mahayana Buddhism with which we are concerned, is the offering of the mandala.

[31:43]

Now, the mandala, a mandala means literally a circle. But here, it gives the sense of the external universe or the entirety of the universe or the cosmos. When one offers the mandala to the Buddha, one is symbolically offering the whole of one's universe without any reservation, and offering it with the intent to generate, to increase the well-being and store of merit of all living beings. So this system, this method of offering, the mandala, is said to be, in a sense, the epitome of all offering, of all methods of offering, because it is really an offering of everything to the purest of recipients, that is, the Buddha.

[32:55]

No, listen. . When I was young, I used to go to school with my parents. [...] Then he said, I want to go to the temple, I want to go to the temple, I want to go [...] to the temple,

[34:25]

The mind is not the mind itself, it is the mind itself. The mind is not the mind itself, it is the mind itself. Yes. Yes. Yes. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. Right.

[35:40]

Maar dhaa ni, indwaa teetani, tsaiya na, tshin dhiya ka nunga tu. [...] Maar dhaa ni, and the mouth was a margin to send to the brahmana didn't you do you remember the the trophy the king or the dealer wanted to tell you so you get and then la malinda do you know the song gene that on between the pop again the gong Yes, that's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Yoche chikpare, Rinpoche, di yoche, di raj, inkala jogirepe.

[37:20]

Yoche chikpare, Rinpoche, di yoche, di raj, inkala jogirepe. Ndi, ndi, [...] ndi. All right, this is This is ... If you don't have me there, you can't see them. All right, this is a ... Shama, would you like us to hold it here so people can see?

[38:21]

Would you do it? Be very careful, the rice is going to fall off. All right, but anyhow, just hold it. All right, now this is a bandala. It is a... It is a mandala. There are two kinds of mandalas. There is one called an offering mandala and the other is the... How did you stick the light? I'll tell you all about this later. Okay.

[39:47]

Oh, yes. That's right. Thank you. Chidamayi ji chepa caja nyesha dain ki, chen cha sa netu, dupin ma me tencha, cha zin se, dain tina runga tina dunga [...]

[41:20]

That's right. That's right. Now, what we have here is a model for an ordinary mandala offering.

[42:33]

I'm sure you'll all have a chance to study it in detail, and I'll try to work out with you the various details as they are described here to me. You need a table larger than this one, I'm told. and in the center you place your mandala disc. The disc should be very, very carefully cleaned. It should be absolutely spotlessly clean when you use it. Then Rinpoche poured No, no. When I was a child, I used to go to school with my father.

[43:58]

I used to go to school with my father. [...] And then he said to his father, he said to his father, When I was a child, I used to go to the temple to pray. [...] The mandala table, the offering table which you have, should first of all be very clean, and in the centre you place the mandala disc, which should also have been very carefully cleaned.

[45:41]

Atop that, you bathe the top of the mandala disk with some scented water or herbal water, and then place five heaps of rice, these five small mounds of rice. They should consist of a mound of rice in the center, and at each of the four cardinal directions should be a mound of rice. It's very good. It's thought very good if you mix the rice with butter or something like that, some sort of butter. holds the rice together. The mounds should be formed very distinctly.

[46:44]

It's not symbolically not a good thing if the mounds sort of slop over into one another, I'm told. They should be very distinct mounds, very carefully arranged. So one in the center and one mound at each of the four cardinal directions. Surrounding this mandala, the central mandala, you should place offerings, the seven kinds of offerings. These are starting directly in front of you, you should place. a bowl of water. I think this is... As to the visualization of Vajrasattva, you should first think of yourself in your ordinary form and visualize on the crown of your head an eight-petal lotus.

[48:05]

Technically speaking, this lotus emerges from or is to be visualized directly atop the aperture of Brahma, the Brahma Randall. That is to be about eight fingers back from the level of your eyebrows. Four fingers to the brow and another four fingers back should be the Brahma Ranta, somewhere in there. Visualize the eight-footed lotus, whose stem emerges from the aperture of Brahma. This aperture of Brahma is the upper opening of the central psychic plane, the avatuki.

[49:18]

Alright, so this lotus emerges from the Hala Duti, and the topic is the Disc of the Moon, upon which is seated the Bodhisattva Vajrasattva. His white color has a single face, two hands. His right hand holds a Vajrasattva's heart. His left hand holds a bell at his side. seated in a cross-legged posture of meditation. And although he is often depicted in this form without a consort, in the Sacrification it is thought perfectly to meditate both as in union with his consort. His consort is the Bodhisattva Basra Gautami.

[50:25]

Basra Gautami. She was seated in yogic union with her father. Her arms were clasped behind her neck. Look. Yes, she is holding a third life in her outstretched right hand. And in her left hand, she holds a skull-cut good-looking one. And it's curved like a pocket stone. All right. And we go. Yes, and look. Look. but He's all over.

[51:31]

That's good, He's all over. What is it? What is it? Yes. How do you like it? How is it? Right? That means God. Though the crowns of both deities was recycled, I fear the... I fear the... Another tiny form of was recycled. Exactly as it was revealed. Just as it was revealed. Just as it was revealed. Yes. Both deities. Now, that's what it is. It's a fish. [...]

[52:32]

It's a fish. [...] Visualize that this is very clear. The transcripts are not forms. See? Yeah. That's all right. Thank you. Thank you.

[53:45]

Really? This class, we take the part of the magic circle. One with this circle, one with this circle, one with this circle, and [...] one with this circle, Hey, what? [...] That's it, I think that's about it.

[55:00]

We did a good job. I hope you have a good night. Good night. Good night. Good night. Now this guy is a great guy, childhood friend of mine. He told me about the title of my book, Artifacts of the World, and explained to us how faith actually is going to work, and how you can put it in words like this, [...] One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

[56:01]

What? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. So, I didn't know that.

[58:01]

It's okay. Better.

[63:15]

Thank you. Thank you.

[66:11]

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