Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this two-hour session, Kyabje Rinpoche opens with a direct corrective: approach teachings not for novelty but to integrate study with practice. He then establishes the mental foundation for retreat—correct motivation, understanding mental suffering arising from inflated expectations rooted in misapprehending permanence, and using death and impermanence meditation to generate renunciation. The bulk of the teaching is a detailed practical instruction on mandala offering, a key preliminary practice: the materials needed, the 37-heap mandala structure (Mount Meru, four continents, eight subcontinents, seven precious substances, eight goddesses, sun and moon), the hand and forearm movements for rubbing the mandala clockwise and counterclockwise, visualization of accumulating Buddha’s blessings, and methods for dissolving the mandala. The session concludes with Q&A on technical points. For practitioners preparing for retreat.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2012-04-18 – KR.mp3
UUID: fab689a5-9d1b-4e50-800b-e69cd5fd952b
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Karma
Date: 2012-04-18
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,554
What should be the procedure or the method adopted in listening to these teachings? We should make it our policy that whatever teachings we listen to, we put into practice. In other words, whatever we hear, we actually blend with our mind. Whatever we study, we blend with our practice. It is a very grave mistake to attend teachings only when something new is taught, thinking this will be something new, exciting and interesting and come purely for intellectual satisfaction.
And then when traditional teachings, are given, think, oh my goodness, no, they are teaching again about death and impermanence, karma and causality and so forth. There is really nothing new to be taught. Therefore, it is, important when one attends to teachings instead of searching for something new and exciting all the time to take the traditional teachings and compare one’s own practice to the teachings and see in which respect one is able to supplement one’s practice by the teachings. This is the approach which Geshe-la hopes we will adopt and this is the motivation we should generate. As Je Tsongkhapa the Great said, when although being learned the key points of practice are not understood, this is a sign that the essence of Śāstras does not dawn to the mind at this point.
Take every instruction as an oral instruction. The meaning of this stanza is that when we are in the situation where even though we have heard, in other words attended to many teachings and studied greatly, we nonetheless do not understand how to put this into practice. This is a clear indication that we have not understood the essence of the teachings. And at this point, one must take, as Je Tsongkhapa says, every point of the teachings as an instruction for practice. So how should we proceed?
For instance, if we have commitments to recite, whether it be ten minutes, fifteen minutes, or for that matter, an hour of commitments or longer, Before reciting our commitments, we should generate the correct motivation. If we are ordained, it should be at least a motivation of benefiting others and not harming others. In any case, if we can, we should generate this motivation for ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour, one hour. His Holiness has said the bare minimum is five minutes. Otherwise, if we merely recite our commitments without generating this motivation, they would probably go to waste.
So the way to proceed therefore is through analysis. The Buddha’s teachings are rooted in extensive analysis. We therefore meditate analyzing the situation, trying to generate the correct motivation, and then and then alone we engage for instance in the recitation of commitments. In the same way as someone starts a business to make a profit, otherwise there’s no point to start a business. Likewise, we study and we meditate to be able to improve mentally.
Otherwise, there is no point. So from your side, you might wonder, Geshe-la says we have to elevate our mind. What exactly is he referring to in elevating our mind? What is referred to here is to broaden our scope through understanding that all sentient beings from the smallest of insects up to ourselves and beyond, wishes only for happiness and wishes only for the extinction of suffering. We are all similar in this respect.
Now regarding the suffering we wish for the extinction of, it is twofold. It is, as Geshe-la has explained, mental and physical suffering. We wish for the elimination of both. Then through analyzing, we must understand clearly the causes for the elimination of both mental and physical suffering and the causes for the acquisition of happiness. Now regarding this twofold subdivision of suffering into physical and mental sufferings, it will have become clear to you by now that Buddha Dharma has no real relationship to the elimination of physical suffering.
The sufferings of thirst, of hunger, of cold or of heat are not the scope of the Buddhist teachings. They are not germane to this. The scope of the Buddhist teachings are the elimination of mental sufferings. In other words, the sufferings which arise from inflated conceptions, expectations, and extravagant hopes. And in our cases, if we have extravagant unrealistic expectations regarding our living standard, regarding the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the praise others heap on us, the dwellings we live in.
These can be countered through meditating on death and impermanence. These clearly arise from the fancy, the conception that we will live for long. And with the idea that we will live for long, that we will have a long life, in turn, our expectations become inflated. This misapprehension that we will live for long is called the misapprehension of our permanence and it is in dependence on this that all of the fancies, all of the unrealistic expectations dawn within our mind stream. To counter this, we must counter the conception which thinks that we will live for long.
And the way to do this is through meditating on death and impermanence and understanding that, for instance, the accidents which we see surrounding us when someone dies in a car accident or a motorbike accident and which our priori seem not to concern us, concern us very intimately since we ourselves will certainly die at some point as well. Independence or meditating in this way on death and impermanence, the misapprehension of our own permanence will dwindle and with the dwindling of this misapprehension, in turn, our contentment will increase and our desires will decrease. This will counter powerfully the unrealistic expectations and fancies which trouble us. As a result of this, spontaneously the mind which strives for happiness in future lives will be strengthened. This strengthening of the mind which strives for happiness in future lives can be considered to be mere renunciation from within the twofold division of renunciation into mere renunciation and vast renunciation.
Mere renunciation is renunciation to happiness in this life. Vast renunciation is renunciation to all future lives. As said in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, through reflecting on the incontrovertibility of karma, turn your mind away from the vanities of future lives. And as Je Tsongkhapa says in these Three Principal Aspects of the Path, when day and night renunciation is generated, it has been perfected. What is referred to here is the continuous generation of the mere renunciation which is a renunciation to the happiness of this life and elaborate renunciation, renunciation to happiness in all lives by day and by night.
In other words, a renunciation to higher status and higher rebirth by day and by night. Our teacher, Khensur Rinpoche said that when renunciation dawns spontaneously in the dream state, then one can say that it has truly been generated and one can say incontrovertible renunciation has been generated. The same thing can be said for the mind which aspires for happiness in future lives, which is mere renunciation. When that arises spontaneously in the dream state, it can be said to be incontrovertibly generated. This is not our case since we can only generate it for one or two hours in the waking state.
And in turn, when the mind which is, aspiring for higher rebirths arises spontaneously by day and by night in the dream state, then in turn, the wish to generate the causes for such higher rebirth arises also spontaneously by day and by night and in the dream state as well. At this point, in keeping with the verse, which Geshe-la has quoted many times in the past, Nothing is superior to ethics for the attainment of higher rebirths. One engages in ethics as much as one can. And therefore, these various states of mind must be generated incrementally. Which are they?
The first is the mind which is striving for a higher rebirth. What is the main opponent to the mind striving for a higher rebirth? It is that misapprehension of our own permanence. This is the main opponent to generating a mind striving for a higher rebirth. However, once we have been able to generate a mind striving for a higher rebirth, the next stage upwards in our spiritual development is to generate the mind striving for liberation from cyclic existence.
Its main opponent is the apprehension of a self. In other words, ignorance from within the 12 links of dependent origination. Finally, having generated the mind which aspires for liberation, the ultimate step in our spiritual training is generating the mind wishing for complete enlightenment. The main opponent to generating such a mind is self-cherishing and the main antidote to self-cherishing is cherishing others. Then in this way, through generating incrementally the various states of mind which are required, we can attain our ultimate goal.
And in the light of the four greatnesses of the Dharma, the critical greatness for us is understanding the manner in which all of the teachings dawn as oral instructions. This is only possible once one understands the fault in the attitude of so many of the Geshes referred to in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand who studied the great scriptures for numerous years and then when the time came to practice, instead of practicing what they had studied, practiced something radically different, reciting mantras and so forth. It is to this that Je Tsongkhapa refers in the verses which Geshe-la quoted at the beginning of his teachings. Although they have studied greatly, they do not understand the key points. This is a sign of not understanding the essence of the scriptures.
So how does one proceed? One proceeds mainly through analytical meditation, taking for instance the topic of impermanence as our topic of meditation. One analyzes impermanence until its meaning becomes evident to the mind and at this point when less analysis is required, one engages in concentrative meditation and one focuses the mind on impermanence. Proceeding in this way, one is able to gain realizations. Then regarding topics which are less evident, one studies them carefully and one draws them into one’s practice in keeping with the second greatness of the Lamrim.
All of the teachings will dawn as oral instructions. And therefore from within the four greatnesses of the Lamrim, the first which was covered briefly was understanding all of the teachings as non contradictory. The second is for all of the teachings to dawn as all instructions. The third one, which we will address now, is the greatness of understanding easily the intent of the conquerors. The reason for which the Lamrim enables us to understand easily the intent of the conquerors is because the essence of the Lamrim is, on the one hand, the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, which are renunciation, bodhicitta and the correct view of emptiness, and on the other hand, the practices of the beings of the three scopes.
The totality of the Buddha’s teachings can be subsumed within these categories. And then in our case, if we are able to generate the motivation of the being of small scope and to wish for a happy rebirth in future lives, then we are able to practice powerfully and irrespective of what happens to us in this life, irrespective of the physical hardship, our minds will be at peace. And therefore, once we understand clearly that the main opponent to the generation of a mind which is striving for higher rebirth is none other than the misapprehension of our own permanence. In other words, the idea that we are here for long. We will understand that the main way to counter this is meditating on our own impermanence, on our own transience.
Geshe-la said, taking the example of his own, person, he himself is composed of five aggregates which can be subsumed into two, his body and his mind. Now, reflecting on the passage of time, it is obvious that his body will age and eventually he will grow old and cease to live. This is a clear indication of his own impermanence. Having covered these topics briefly, we now have to pass to or to return to the six preliminary, topics of, Pabongka Rinpoche’s Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand and we have reached the fifth of these, which is offering the mandala. Now regarding the practice of the purification of the obstructions and the accumulation of merit, Geshe-la would like to dispel a very major misunderstanding which is current in the centers, which is that one engages in these preliminary practices such as prostration or mandala offering to eliminate hardship and difficulties in this life.
These practices are not aimed to eliminate physical suffering in this life. They are aimed to lead to one’s own mental enhancement. So the offering of mandala is considered extremely important. Generally, there are two different traditions regarding a mandala offering. According to the Pänchen Lama’s easy path, it is offered before the limb of offering in the seven limbs of offering whereas according to the fifth Dalai Lama’s From the Mouth of Mañjuśrī, it is offered after the limb of offering within the seven limbs of offering.
This is on pages 170 and onwards of your English text of liberation in the palm of your So When we offer mandala, we have to actually reflect on the meaning of what we are offering and not merely recite the verses we all recite regarding mandala offering. And some of the students asked Geshe-la for instructions on how to offer mandala and how to make prostrations. So he will cover this at this point. So mandala is offered on a basis which can be square or round. The term mandala is a Sanskrit term.
In Tibetan, the term is which means to take the essence. There are different opinions regarding the practice of offering mandala. Some practitioners of the past felt that it was a subsidiary practice and that the main practices had to be the inner practices of meditation. This however is strongly countered by the account of the life Mahayogi Geshe Gönpawa. Geshe Gompawa was a disciple of Dromtönpa and once engaged in very intensive retreat in a cave, he forsook offering mandala for numerous days on end as he was meditating and his mandala set became covered with dust.
At this point, Dromtönpa came to visit his student and upon seeing the mandala set covered with dust said to him, why aren’t you offering mandala anymore? Geshe Gompawa said to him, I’m not offering mandala because I am meditating these days. And Dromtönpa said to him, your teacher Atisha said, the offering of mandala is central. Offer mandala therefore. Gompawa started offering mandala again and as a result of this obtained rapid realizations.
The main practice on which our teacher Je Tsongkhapa relied for the accumulation of merit and the purification of obstructions was the offering of mandala and prostrations. It’s on this basis that he gained realizations. Then the material of the mandala can be if one can afford one gold, otherwise silver, otherwise brass, wood or in the case of Je Tsongkhapa who was a true yogi, stone. Likewise, the material for the heaps, once again, it depends of one’s means. If possible, it should be gold dust.
If that is not possible, silver dust. Otherwise, pearls. It is said if one is destitute, sand is acceptable. Silver. Silver.
Gold silver. This is silver. Do you understand? This Now regarding its is size, it is silver. Said that its minimal size is the size of one’s tea bowl, the tea bowls which the monks used in Tibet.
And one should yearly at least or monthly if possible anoint the base of the mandala with water which contains the five substances of the cow as well as I believe the term is saffron in English. By dipping one’s index finger in it and placing the index finger or circling the index finger around the circumference of the mandala. Geshe-la is not sure of the full meaning of this ritual. So the reason Geshe-la will cover these topics now is because once we enter into retreat, if with the amount of time you have in retreat doubts arise regarding how to offer mandala, it can become very disturbing. So it is better to cover these topics at present.
Then holding the mandala with your right hand, you take your left hand and take some of the offering substances and then put the mandala in the hand which contains the offering substances. And then holding the mandala like this, taking some of the offering substance, for instance, in Geshe-la’s case, perhaps rice in one’s right hand, one rubs the surface of the mandala clockwise as frequently as many times as one can or thinking that one is purifying one’s minds of its obstructions. And then if you can, with your forearm, should rub it as well as many times as you can. Then taking another heap of, in this case, rice, one places it counterclockwise on the mandala while rubbing the surface of the mandala with one’s forearm and visualizing that all of the infinite qualities of the Buddha’s body, speech and mind enter within our mind stream. The reason for using this section of the arm, the edge of the arm and the forearm is that it is said there is a channel here which leads to the attainment of the clairvoyances.
So there are two types of mandalas, the offering mandala and the long life mandala. In this case, we are presenting the offering mandala which is offered to the refuge, to the field of merit visualized in front of oneself. And the east is directly in front of oneself. So there are different divisions of mandalas in function of the number of heaps the mandala contains. We have the most elaborate 37 heap mandala, the 25 heap and the 23 heap mandalas.
Himself gained realizations, it is said, on the basis of the 25 heap mandala. So the 25 heap mandala includes the four continents in the East and the associated directions, the eight subcontinents, one on each side of the major continents which makes 12. Then we have the seven precious substances which makes 19. Then we have the precious vase, which makes 20, the moon and the sun, which makes 22 and finally the fence, which makes 23. Then we get the 25 HEAPs.
If we include in addition If we include in addition Mount Meru and the fence which surrounds the continents. So we obtain the 37 heap mandala when we add to the 25 heap mandala which has just been explained. Four heaps which are placed around Mount Meru as well as eight heaps for the eight goddesses such as the goddess of flower, metok ma and so forth. So it is difficult to remember all of these at once. Geshe-la would therefore suggest that we take notes and go over them again.
However, in general, the mandala which we offer is the 37 Heap Mandala. Then 37 heap mandala is explained in your handout with the position of the various heaps starting with the first ring which is the base. So one puts the first heap in the center for Mount Meru and then moving from the east which is directly in front of one’s self clockwise, one places the four continents as Geshe-la has done. Then one places the eight subcontinents to the left and to the right of the major continents. So after having set four heaps for the four continents around Mount Meru, one then places two heaps to the left and to the right of each of the continents for the subcontinents.
At this point, one places heaps fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, which are placed once again in the East, which faces us directly and in each of the other cardinal directions. Then one sets on the mandala base the seven precious substances, which are the heaps number eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, 22, 23, and 24. And then after this one places the eight goddesses which are heaps 26 to 33 starting with the goddess of beauty. These can be visualized in space around the central mandala. And the four final heaps are the sun and the moon to the right and the left and the precious parasol in front and the banner in front of oneself.
So when one has erected the mandala in this way, one must imagine that the totality of the known universe with everything within it lies within this mandala. So we should think that the totality of the universe lies in something akin to the tip of a needle. There are two different readings of the shortened mandala offering with the verse in other words, the Buddha field can either be that which the mandala is transformed into or that for the sake of which the mandala is offered. The second reading is generally considered preferable. The most important thing with mandala offering is one’s own visualization.
It is independent on one’s own visualization that the merit is accumulated. In keeping with the account of the life of a monarch who lived in the age of Buddha Kāśyapa and who was destitute at the period, and as a young man offered to Buddha Kāśyapa a begging bowl filled with sand which he visualized as gold dust. As a result of this, he accrued the karma to be reborn as a universal monarch and was able to erect 100,000 stupas in one day. One can through this practice accumulate huge waves of merit and purify massive amounts of obstruction in a very easy fashion. Then when one dissolves the mandala, it can be dissolved in two ways, outwards or inwards.
If it’s dissolved, in other words, if the heaps are poured outwards, then one visualizes that one’s thoughts are eliminated as well as one’s obstructions. On the other hand, if it’s dissolved inwards, one visualizes is that one is accumulating the blessings of the body, speech, and mind of the Buddhas. Then how does one proceed when one is accumulating the 100,000 offerings of the mandala? One offers the first time mandala in an elaborate fashion, let’s say in 37 heaps. And then having offered it in this fashion, one then does a visualization, takes refuge and offers the other mandalas in the shortened form.
Why do we count the offerings of the mandala in this context? It is to be able to rejoice in the virtue accumulated. And therefore, when we make these mandala offerings, it is important that our visualization becomes ever more powerful. And therefore offering in this way mandala with the short four verses and so forth, which end with the Sanskrit verse, we visualize clearly the mandala as we offer it to the field of merit. So this completes the presentation of Mandala offering.
Then in the future, if anyone asks you about how to offer it, you will know how. Please use the opportunity of these teachings to write down carefully the 37, twenty five and twenty three heaps since later on if you haven’t done so and you cannot find the book you may be at a loss. Most of the Lamrims do not contain an explanation of the offering of the mandala in the context of Guru Yoga. Since in the context of Guru Yoga it is only the seven limbs which are offered. So this particular Lamrim is exceptional in this respect and we should put effort in trying to understand this offering so that we are able to offer mandala in the future on a daily basis.
So we will stop here for today and we will continue next time with the following limb, the limb of confession. And if you have questions, at present Geshe-la will take your questions. Grant, first perhaps, The 37 heap one, right? Then you offer on the base, Mount Meru and the four continents, which makes five as well as the eight subcontinents, which makes 13 and then you put the first ring and then you offer the precious substances on that basis. So the first thing is to memorize these 37 heaps so that you understand clearly what they are and then it will be possible to understand how to dispose them on the mandala base.
Judy? Who told you that? There are two traditions. There is no difference. There are two traditions in this matter.
You can either place the sun and the moon to the right and to the left Okay. So the offering goddesses actually are the goddesses which symbolize their respective offerings. And their source perhaps is to be found in the Abhidharma, in Abhidharmakośa of Vasubandhu. Question. Alright.
Second question is a nice one. So it is a data down which is covered in Buddhist text in which it is said one would have to be Brahma, in other words, the creator, to offer mandala since Brahma is the owner of creation. And the answer is we are able to offer mandala because the universe is the consequence of the maturation of our collective karma. Mainly because it is a pivot around which we articulate the other continents, etcetera. So regarding Mount Meru, to be frank with you, it is not terribly important.
However, there are two positions. His Holiness the Dalai Lama says it does not exist. Khensur Rinpoche, on the other hand, says it does exist. Rinpoche Geshe-la does not remember Rinpoche’s line of reasoning, but it hinged on something being an existent within one’s field of vision even though it could not be perceived. In the context of offering the mandala, what we are doing is offering a visualized universe.
Then the clearer our visualization, the greater the amounts of merit which we accumulate. In the context of accumulating the 100,000 or? Probably it’s okay. Probably it’s okay. It’s said in the Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand that when the mandala is dissolved outwards, then one does this to eliminate the obstructions within one’s mind stream.
Whereas when it’s dissolved inwards, one does this to accumulate merit. Normally, it’s not Then you really should offer mandala every day. As a matter of fact, at least for two times a day. The one you have on the altar. Otherwise what’s the point of having it there?
Hello? What? No. Yes Judy. No, the five substances.
No, it’s not appropriate to just use pure water. You must actually have water containing the five substances of the cow. You can get these from the monasteries. You get tablets. Alright.
So it should be offered in the context of the seven limbs And these are mainly practiced as the preliminary practices which we’ve been studying which included the first preliminary practice cleaning one’s altar room, setting up statues of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas then setting out correctly obtained offerings in front of them, seating oneself on a comfortable seat. And at this point when one engages in the practice of the seven limbs before or after the limb of offering as Geshe-la explained, one can offer mandala. Then obviously if one practices Vajrayoginī within the context of Vajrayoginī, there’s a specific moment in which one offers mandala. Yeah?
Key terms in this teaching
- four continents
- In Buddhist cosmology, the four continents around Mount Meru, one at each cardinal point; ours is the southern continent, Jambudvipa (Rose-apple Land). LYWA
- guru yoga lama nel jor (Tib)
- A practice in which one views the guru as inseparable from a deity or the Buddha, in order to amass the two collections of merit and wisdom and to purify negativities and obscurations. LYWA
- lamrim
- The graduated path. A presentation of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings in a form suitable for the step-by-step training of a disciple. LYWA
- mandala khyil khor (Tib)
- A circular diagram symbolic of the entire universe. The purified environment of a tantric deity; the diagram or painting representing this. LYWA
- mandala offering
- The symbolic offering of the entire purified universe to the spiritual teacher (guru) and the visualized merit field. LYWA
- Mount Meru
- The mythical center of the universe in Buddhist cosmology. LYWA
- preliminary practices ngondro (Tib)
- The practices that prepare the mind for successful tantric meditation by removing hindrances and accumulating merit. LYWA
- three principal aspects of the path lamtso nam sum (Tib)
- The three principal realizations of the lamrim path: renunciation, bodhicitta and the right view (of emptiness). Also the title of a short prayer composed by Lama Tsongkhapa that is commonly recited during prayer services. LYWA
Definitions adapted from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive glossary, as taught in the Gelug tradition.