Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. From intact grain and cow-derived purification pills to two competing visualization systems, Geshe Pema Tsering covers the full practical range of mandala offerings in this 43-minute session. He briefly grounds the practice in the Lamrim sequence — precious human rebirth, renunciation, and bodhicitta — then explains the term kyilkhor (distilling the essence) and the different purposes of mandala offering in Sūtrayāna and tantra. Physical preparation is covered in detail: base size, choice of grain, and purifying the surface with cow-derived pills. He contrasts the Bodhisattva’s Way system, which visualizes music-playing Dakinis in a celestial mansion, with the Kadampa syllable method — PAM, AH, HUM transforming into lotus, moon disc, and mansion. The session closes by distinguishing Dromtönpa’s 37-heap system from Tsongkhapa’s 23-heap system, setting up the full explanation to follow.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 HM 2002 07 09.mp3
UUID: 932078fe-7899-4b85-8d5f-09beffe4ea01
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: How to offer a mandala (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-07-09
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 43.7 minutes
Words: ~2,915
Yeah. The great master Tsongkhapa in his text called the Foundation of All Good Qualities said that that we have found this precious human rebirth once. And and it is so this precious human rebirth, which is with along along with the eighteen qualities, eight leisures, and ten endowments, and that we have found it once. The purpose of saying one is that that it it is not it cannot it it is very rare to obtain such precious human rebirth, and and and we haven’t found it very often. So after having found it once, so one should know that should so should should try one should acknowledge or should know that this precious human rebirth is very hard to find, but it has a great meaning, great use of it.
Therefore, by seeing so by so one should understand how difficult it is to find this precious human rebirth, and that having found such rebirth, it has a great use. Therefore, so by knowing this, should, all the time,, days and night, should practice and should and and do not let this precious human rebirth go to waste. And and asking the great master and the the gurus and Buddhas to bless you, to generate the generate generate the mind in all days and night in order to distill the essence. So here, the essence with reference to because this precious human rebirth is very hard to find and it has a great use of yeah. And and it has a great use.
So therefore, by having attained such precious human rebirth, now seeking blessings from the from the buddhists and the gurus to to generate a mind to the mind, which is yeah. Mind to to cultivate the to distill the essence in all the in days and nights. So here, the essence refers to is our purpose of having precious human having attended this precious human rebirth. The purpose of purpose of the precious human rebirth is that one should make use of this rebirth to to to attain to yeah. Use it to attain the the the liberation or arhathood and the enlightenment.
So great master has re seek the great master Tsongkhapa has seek blessings from his from Buddhas and his gurus in order to develop a mind which is wishing to attain mind yeah. Wishing to attain arhathood and the Buddhahood. And so therefore so like likewise. So when we say the mind wishing for liberation or enlightenment, briefly speaking, then that is the renunciation or wish to a wish to free from cyclic existence. So therefore, so like great master, we should also try seek blessings from gurus and the Buddhas in order to develop a renunciation.
So therefore, the saying that in all the time, all days and nights, may I develop a mind wishing yeah, to distill the essence which is arhathood and the buddhahood. The purpose of saying the days and night or in all the time is because we those renunciation is not the easy thing to be obtained. So it one, it it needs a great deal of work, practices, meditations and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings, and so forth in order to attain that. And the purpose of saying days and nights is because we develop a renunciation, so called hair-like renunciation, not really stable. Every now and then renunciation comes with we develop.
But that is not the the that is a renunciation, but not the the very stable renunciation. What we need to do renunciation is we need to develop a renunciation that is within us in all the time, like without putting any effort on it like attachment and hatred. We are so expert in those that they come. We don’t need any practice. They naturally come.
So if renunciation comes us like those attachment and so forth, then we have developed a renunciation, and and and we become a a a we have become or we be yeah. We are in the path. The practitioner who has entered the path which we call entered the path. And having developed a renunciation which wishes to free oneself from the cyclic existence or from the suffering, then we enlarge or extend such thought instead of freeing just oneself from the from the sufferings. And and, yeah, should should should should wish or work to free all these entire sentient beings from the suffering and bring them to the state of ultimate happiness or let them have entire happiness.
And having developed by doing so, then we develop we develop so called the the great compassion and and love, which is the compassion which we wish to free them from the suffering is called compassion. And letting and and have and and wishing them to have all the happiness is called the love. And then so having developed that great compassion and the love, then then then one should come into the point that without freeing oneself from the suffering first, one will not one can’t bring sentient beings sentient beings out of this out of the sufferings and lead them to the entire happiness. So therefore so by knowing this, then wishing to attain enlightenment in order to help those sentient beings. And in sentient beings, it’s called the altruistic intention.
And that is the mind which we need to cultivate or develop. So therefore so we should Mhmm. So Right. So yeah. So we should so the practices or or or in all the meditation we do should do it for that purpose, which is to attain enlightenment for the for the sake of entire sentient beings.
So we shall So we shall do a short meditation here that that that that, you know, the the virtues are are which are well cultivated which which I will cultivate through listening to the teaching of mandala today and the merit which I’ve cultivated in the past and which I and will be will be cultivated in the future. So all these virtues I will cultivate and will cultivate. May all this become a source or cause for the for the attainment of enlightenment which is for the sacred entire sentient beings. So on such thought, we shall do a short meditation. So today And just Got it.
Subject subject is on mandala. And the mandala, which is in Sanskrit, in in Tibetan called kyilkhor. And the the meaning of that mandala or kyilkhor is yeah. Taking essence or extracting yeah. Distilling the essence.
Distilling essence, the essence is so called the accomplishments. So according to the Sūtrayāna, then the mandala offerings — the purpose of offering mandala is to attain enlightenment and liberation, whereas in terms of tantra, it is to attain the state of union, or Vajradhāra., the state of union is we call it the union of body and the body and the mind. So which is the body is so called pure body, is illusory body, and for the mind that is called the meaning of clear light. Meaning of clear light. So those are the ultimate essence, the enlightenment, liberation, or state of union, so forth.
But and and it can also be offered mandala offerings in order to have so called, like, higher rebirths like humans and the yeah. And human and the gods born in the human gods’ realms or or or to be offered in order to cure one’s disease or illness? And so the the yep. Mandala offerings. So to offer the mandala offering, one should first know the the advantages of offering mandala of offering mandala and disadvantage of not offering mandala.
So in terms of the benefits of offering mandala is that that one one cultivates numbers of numbers of virtues and great deal of virtues or merit one one receives by offering mandala. Because when we offer mandala, we offer things through mentally that visualizing all these for the great four four continents, Mount Meru, and the goddesses and so forth. So by mentally offering those, one receives the receives the benefit or or or the virtuous equivalent of offering a real yeah. Four continents and so excuse me. Yeah.
Four continents and all yep. Entire Mandala set. And and in term and for the disadvantage of not offering mandala is, for example, if the person is a tantric practitioner, one should at least offer mandala three times a day. If one does not, then one receives the so called downfalls or non virtuous. And now making when we offer offer the mandala, the first, the basis or the the the all the substance substances one used for the mandala offering should be very clean and, yep, pure and clean substances.
And then for the the measurement of the mandala that their numbers, it the bigger, the better, but at least one it should have the size of two cubits, one fifth. And then so as we said that the substances, the grains, for example, the use for the mandala should be very clean and pure. And after having cleaned that, those substances should be mixed or with the the the pills like one Dutsi Rilbu is one of the pills as well as also or either mix it with by the called the nectar pill and and and beautiful fragrance like the sandalwoods. Talking about the grains yet. We’re just talking about the mandala base first.
And so on the base, it should be very clean based and that should be painted or with a nice, like a sandalwood fragrance or covered with the nectar pills. The nectar pills is like the, it’s a type of pill which made out of numbers of medicinal herbs or called the cow pill. This was actually the Dutsi Rilbu, which is cow pill. So it’s a type of a pill made out of numbers of cow substance, like the yogurt, milk. I’m starting from the good ones.
Yogurt and then the cow dung and then the cow urine and so forth. And there is a pill which is made out of all these substances come from the cow. So and it should be painted on the mandala base, for example. For example, it’s like we’re making the mandala out of one field or the ground. So when you put it, the thickness of the precious pills is that if for the betterment you can just at least paint it like a very tiny layer or less as thick as a very thin layer like a leather, you know.
Or if not, then at least it should be, you know, mix it with the water and that can be that can spread entire space. Okay? The purpose of doing such thing is is that is to clean the surface of where one is going to build or make the mandala. And the cow cow the cow peel, the purpose the reason why doing this, cow is set forth to be a very clean animal. And even these days, you go down in India, like a remote area like where our Monastery is, there are lots of Indian natives.
You can see a lot that that they mix the cow urine and cow dung, everything, and mix it up all together, and then they put it on the, like, a front front yard. It’s completely cow dung smashed. And then they when it’s dry, they put beautiful drawings, which is the unique art of the Indian. Yeah. So this still these days, they do that.
Well, you should come down to Sarah. Show you. So we’re speaking all this in the cow pills and so forth, that is not talking about the mandala offering, we normally offer, like the gold mandala or silver or copper or any kind of mandala which we’re making. We’re talking about when we speak of offering mandala, it doesn’t necessarily be that type of mandala which we always use. It can be made on on the ground.
We clean the surface, make a little bit of mud up, and then pile it up, and then you can make it, or you can offer it on the stone and so forth. That’s what we’re talking about. And then now towards the the grain part and offer the substance for the mandala on the top of the bases. For the betterment, for the best, we can one should have all these precious stones, like pearls or jade or all these kind of precious stones. If not, then one can if possible, it is also very good to offer a use this medicinal seeds.
The seeds come from the medicinal trees can be used. If not, then at least put a grain. That grain should be very clean and not a broken grain, like little pieces or so forth. The grain should be fully grain, like well sized grain. So in the system or in the Bodhisattva way of life, It’s therefore that and it is not necessary or compulsory that one should have all the when we do the mandala offering should have this, you know, the four continents and so forth we offer, that it is not compulsory to do so, that even, as we said, on the basis of that surface which we have visualized before, like the clean one square foot, that was the minimum, and painted with those cowpills and so forth, it’s been purified.
And on top of that foundation, one can visualize all the offerings. And imagining that that particular basis is covered with the beautiful flowers, And the center of that basis visualize the celestial mansion. So the celestial mansion is is is yes, celestial mansion that of the Buddhist. And in in fact, the celestial mansions, you can one can visualize numbers of the goddesses, the Dakinis, and who are playing beautiful musics, playing different types of musics, and and reciting and singing the songs of the praise to the Buddhist Buddhas. Got So, yeah, so the Dakini is playing music and so forth inside the yeah.
With with a beautiful voice reciting the the praise of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. And so inside that, so that once and yeah. That in the mandala that there is the once whoever you’re offering the mandala is one’s guru or the merit field so forth, and you’re offering it. And in in other hands, there’s other way of doing this also. First, what one do?
That on that surface, which is visualized and covered with these beautiful flowers, and within the flowers, there is a visualized syllable PAM. And that that syllable PAM transform into the white lotus, very white, yep, beak or a white, white lotus. And on the and on the top of the white lotus, visualize the syllable ah. And that ah ah transform into the moon disc or moon cushion. And on the top of that moon cushion, then visualize the letter, syllable HUM.
And that HUM transform into a gigantic celestial mansion. And inside the mansion, then one can visualize that the merit field or one’s one’s gurus, if one’s offering for one’s guru, so forth, it’s inside that and visualizing that one is in offering all this. Yep. And and one is in front of one’s guru reciting this heavenly praise and offering mandala. So there are many systems.
And one system on the base on that such basis, you can be as we can visualize as spacious as one can. And then on that basis, visualize the merit field or one’s guru, if one’s offering, on the top of that basis foundation. And after having visualized that, then make the seven limb praise imagining that one is in front of that merit field or one’s guru on the mandala basis and offering mandala reciting seven yeah. Offering seven-limb prayers with the mandala offering. And then when we offer the mandala, which we normally offer, and during that time, then once it visualized all this entire, like, continents and so forth, and and with with the grain, and and visualizing that one is offering those entire so called the thirty-seven heaps of mandala.
So the very early, the first one which we set forth of offering mandala that visualizing the Dakinis in that celestial mansion singing the songs of praise to the Bodhisattvas and so forth is the so called the system of the Bodhisattva’s way or Bodhisattva’s deeds. And the next one which we talked about visualizing all these different syllables that transform into flower, white lotus, moon disc, and so forth, is the system of the Kadampa masters that actually comes this sort of mandala is through comes in the practice of tantra. So so that, yeah, that one is it comes from the tantric in the written tantric practice and the system of old Kadampa tradition, or Kadampa. And we are set forth to be the neo Kadampa. And and in system of new Kadampa, the Dromtön Gyalwai Jungne, is the Tibetan one master, has the way of offering thirty-seven heaps of mandala.
And according to Tsongkhapa yep, Tsongkhapa system is the twenty-three heaps. Yeah, twenty three. So the the thirty-seven heaps is the Dromtönpa system, and the twenty twenty-three heaps is the Tsongkhapa system. So if we explain the thirty-seven heaps, then the twenty three is already included.
Therefore, we go through the thirty-seven heaps.