Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 92-minute instruction, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches mudras—ritual hand gestures—used in highest yoga tantra practice, moving from symbolic meaning to physical execution. He begins with prostration and prayer mudras, covers the nine-round breathing practice that visualizes the subtle channels and transforms delusions into white light, then focuses on the vajra (method) and bell (wisdom), their symbolic union through the mudra, and how these anchor spiritual understanding. He systematically walks through the hand gestures for offering water, flowers, incense, light, perfume, food, and music—the core of formal puja—with practical guidance on holding implements cleanly. Throughout, Rinpoche emphasizes that understanding the meaning matters far more than technical perfection; genuine practice arises from mind, not mechanics. The session includes live demonstration and extensive Q&A, aimed at practitioners with highest yoga tantra initiation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 34 2004 04 18 MR.mp3
UUID: ee22e861-1e7b-4ce2-98af-7670569f1b9a
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Mahāmudrā International Retreat (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2004-04-18
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 91.9 minutes
Words: ~8,547
Anyway, just thinking about generating an altruistic motivation. So thinking of the purpose of this session is not for my own benefit but aiming for the highest state full enlightenment, specifically to bring about the welfare of all living beings, all sentient beings. Therefore relying on the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Okay. My name is Saple.
I’m from Chenrezig nuns community. My name is not Saple. I’m not talking. Okay. So I’ve just been asked to go a few through a few things with you. And so first of all, just the Mudra for prostration.
Just to be clear that normally when we do prostration when we do the prostration Mudra or the prayer Mudra in Buddhism, the thumbs are tucked inside the hands and that represents holding the Dharma or Chenrezig actually holds a jewel which represents the Dharma. So we do prayer, the prayer mudra like that and that is doing prostration. It’s not a that is a type of it is prostration, no? Anyway. So when we’re prostrating, don’t always have to do a standing up one. Also, prostration can just be the words I prostrate.
So there are different ways to do prostration, but mainly it depends on the mind or attitude. So when also when you don’t want to prostrate, sometimes you can have just a greeting that is like the prayer mudra, but your thumbs are not inside. So when you’re really prostrating to somebody higher, then you do the thumbs inside. If you might be like the Dalai Lama all the time does greetings to people like this — he’s not prostrating to them, he’s greeting them. So just understand the difference.
Then the Mudra for the short mandala for the long mandala, the mandala offering is representing the whole universe or the whole world system. And so what we’re doing is imagining all the enjoyments, our own enjoyments in the world system, everything pure and perfect we’re offering to the merit field. So when we do that, there’s a mudra to go with it and it’s more beneficial because we when we do non virtue, do three types, you know, physical, verbal, and mental non virtue. So when we’re creating virtue, we’re also trying to do the three types of virtue. So we can imagine a world system and offer that, and we can verbally say I offer the world system, but when we do a mudra as well, then we’re also collecting some physical merit as well so it’s beneficial to do that.
So the Mudra for the short mandala is if you just, I’m sure most of you know this anyway but just some of you who don’t, Just putting the two little fingers interlaced and then the two ring fingers stand up and form a central mountain and then the other two fingers crossover so you have the index finger and the middle finger of both hands touching each other and then the two thumbs grab the little fingers. So in the center you’ve got a mountain and then around that you have four continents. Okay? Alright so the little fingers crossover, the two ring fingers stand up and form a mountain, the middle and the index finger of both hands join with each other and then the two thumbs grab the tops of the little fingers. So if you manipulate it a bit you get the mountain in the middle surrounded by the four continents.
Okay. Anyway, most people are familiar with the Mudra so you can have a practice if you’re not familiar with it. So we can also when you you have your Mala that’s also representing the ocean going around the, you know, the mountains and the central mountain. Okay. So you can also offer with that.
Also, if you don’t have your Mala with you or something rather than have an empty hand, you can also offer your bell or your vajra. You you can do that. Okay. So that’s a short mandala. Now the just the nine-round breathing, again I think most of you would know it but just for those of you who don’t, normally with a nine round breathing we’re visualizing the three channels within our body, the central channel and the two side channels.
So the two side channels are visualizing going from the openings in the nose up around and down in front of the spine right down to below our navel and then curling round at the bottom up into the central channel and the central channel is visualized going from just below the navel right up the center and coming out at our crown chakra. So they are visualized as very straight and the three of them run together and you can visualize them like a straw or reed something like that. Okay? So what we’re doing is imagining the air that we breathe in traveling in these channels. So first of all, with the nine round breathing that’s actually three breaths three times, and there’s a sequence which we follow.
So first of all, breathe out. Imagine breathing out through the right nostril all your delusion of anger, aversion, and that disappears into space. Right? It doesn’t pollute the environment around you. It just disappears into emptiness.
And then once you’ve breathed out all the anger energy then you imagine breathing in all the blissful white light from the merit field filling your left channel and then again you breathe out all the anger energy from your right channel. Again you breathe in all the blissful white energy. Again you breathe out all the anger energy. Okay, so that’s three times. Then you’re breathing in, three times as you have to finish with breathing in the white light.
Right? Then you move over to breathe out through the left channel, all the attachment delusion energy. So you breathe out the attachment and breathe in the white light now through your right channel. Then breathe out all the attachment energy and breathe in the white light. Again, breathe out your attachment energy and breathe in the white light.
Okay, so then you’ve the last thing you’ve done is breathe in the white light, and then you imagine that the wind then goes into the central channel and you breathe out through the upper opening, all your ignorance. Okay? So the last negative emotion you breathe out is ignorance. So then you breathe in through both channels, both side channels, and breathe out the central channel, the ignorance. Breathe in both channels and then out the central.
And again in both channels, and this time, you then swap over to breathing out the the anger energy again. Okay, so there’s three different cycles of three. First, you breathe out the right side, the anger energy, and in the left. Then you breathe out the left side, all the attachment energy, and in the right. And then you breathe out through the central channel, all the ignorance.
And then you breathe in through both channels. So that’s the nine-round breathing. It can be quite good to breathe in and then allow a little pause — sorry, you breathe out, You breathe out and then you breathe in, and it’s good to just hold it there for a little while before you breathe out again. Because later on with the vase breathing it’ll be helpful to just learn to pause there for a moment before you breathe out. Okay.
So then that just allows the mind to settle by doing that meditation. Okay. So yep. Oh, you can. Yeah, you can if you like.
So what you would do first then, you’re breathing out all the anger energy so you can block the left nostril as you breathe out all the anger energy. And then you swap it over and you breathe in the white light. Swap it over out the anger in the white light. Okay. So you can just do like that.
So you do that three times and then you breathe out the attachment energy and in the white light, out the attachment in the white light, out the attachment in the white light, and then just out the ignorance and in the white light. Okay? So the first six you can swap over. But I think I think after a while it’s easier to meditate without swapping over. When you get used to it I think then it becomes easier.
You’re just imagining and you find that the air seems to go where you’re imagining it to go. So or it feels like it does. Okay. So it’s a bit easier to concentrate. Alright.
Anyway, think is that okay for the nine-round breathing? Sorry? The central channel. So the left and right channel, they go from the nose, they curve around and down beside the central channel, and then they curve up into the central channel. And the central channel comes up and out the up opening.
Yes, but you’re actually using the first time you’re breathing out the right nostril and breathing out your energy and you’re breathing in the left nostril, so using right and left. Okay. And then you swap around and you breathe out the right out the left attachment energy and in the right. And then finally, you are breathing out the ignorance energy and in through both. Okay.
So they’re both being used in each case. Yep. I could at the end, but it’s bit difficult because the newer people if I stick on that, we’re gonna have all the time on that, and I think that was sort of added on Sara added on that, and I think people really wanted to know about the Mudras, so we could maybe do that another day. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. We we’ll try and do that. Anyway I think now I’d like to really go on to the mudras so those who yeah you just imagine it. And always remember that the delusions disappear into emptiness.
They don’t pollute the place around you because that leaves an awful idea. So it is just visualized, don’t and and it’s good to really think that then that you’ve actually got a stable mind that’s very settled and free of those delusions so that you’re actually able then to concentrate on your meditation very well because that’s the whole point of doing it. Okay? So it’s important to think that at the end. Alright?
Okay, so unfortunately those without highest yoga tantra, I’m going to have to ask you to leave because we are discussing symbology within highest yoga tantra, if that’s okay. So normally with the initiation then you’re given the vajra master presents you with a vajra and a bell. So these are actually for us to use. So we don’t actually get physically given one although we should imagine it like the vajra master is actually giving us these implements to use. So what we do out of respect for the holy objects then normally we when we have a table we have a cloth on it and then also we have an extra cloth under the implements.
So even the table has a cloth on it you normally have an extra cloth under the implements as well. Then the order is normally you have the if you have a damaru then that would be on the extreme right hand side. Then you have the bell, then you have the vajra, and then you have your inner offering. The inner offering is something you can learn about in Highest Yoga Tantra. There’s a special way that we generate it, but I’m not going go into that here, but that goes last.
So, Damaru, Bel, vajra, and then the inner offering. And when we pick them up, we normally there are different ways to pick them up, So but normally what we try and do at Chenrezig, what Geshe la has taught us to do, you you can pick pick up the vajra first and then the bell, and that represents having a bodhicitta mind with the wisdom. Right? So you pick up the vajra first, but normally, what they do at CERA is they pick up both at once. So you cross your hands and pick up the vajra and bell together.
Okay? Whenever you need to. Okay? So so that’s quite good to do. And that represents, you know, never being without the two together, that you’ve always got the two together.
Okay? So the vajra always goes in the right hand and the bell in the left hand. So the vajra really represents the method and the bell represents the wisdom. So in the teachings in each of the vehicles that Buddha taught, there is method and wisdom. So here the vajra is representing method and the bell represents wisdom.
So the method in Tantra is the unification of transcendental wisdom and great bliss. So the transcendental wisdom of non duality and great bliss. Okay, so really this represents the mind which is the antidote to delusions. Like in the lesser vehicle, in each of the vehicles, you have an antidote to delusions. And we know that the antidote to the delusions from the Prāsaṇgika school, the highest, almost profound school, the Consequentialist school, then each of the vehicles has its emptiness in each case that is what destroys the delusions.
So this is unique view of the consequent school that is is actually the same subtle realization of, the lack of inherent existence that each of the practitioners of each of the vehicles realize. But there is is a there’s not a difference in terms of the actual wisdom, but there’s, a difference in the mind that realizes it. So in the lesser vehicle, they have, they combine that with ethics and, renunciation. In the Mahāyāna vehicle, that realization is combined with bodhicitta. So it becomes it’s really in the Mahāyāna vehicle, it’s ultimate bodhicitta.
Ultimate bodhicitta is the realization of emptiness within the mind of a Bodhisattva. Okay, so that’s different from the lesser vehicle, the Hearer and solitary realizer. And in Tantra, you have the transcendental wisdom of non dual bliss and void. Okay? So it’s the aspect of great bliss that is unique to tantra.
Okay? So the wisdom is wisdom realizing emptiness, that lack realizing the lack of inherent existence, but the mind that is realizing it is a blissful mind. It is using attachment and realizing that emptiness with bliss. Okay, so transcendental wisdom, that’s really a translation of a term that means path or ground or pristine awareness or primordial awareness. The grounds or paths that we follow, the five paths, path awareness or paths or grounds or pristine awareness or transcendental wisdom, these words have the same meaning and they’re any sort of positive or neutral mind of somebody on any of the five paths.
So we’re talking about a virtuous or neutral mind of somebody on the path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation, or Buddhahood. However, when you get to the path of seeing, that pristine awareness or that transcendental wisdom is actually realizing emptiness. Okay? So it’s an ārya’s primordial awareness. Okay?
Become an ārya being when you realize emptiness directly. So the transcendental, although all the positive and neutral minds of a bodhisattva are paths, are pristine awareness or transcendental wisdom, only some of them are the transcendental wisdom of non duality. It’s only the ārya’s primordial awareness, the ārya’s meditative equipoise that is the transcendental wisdom of non duality. So here in the the tantra vehicle, we’re joining that wisdom with the great bliss. Okay?
So it’s a unification of that wisdom with the experience of great bliss. That’s what the vajra represents. Okay. So it’s a wisdom. It’s not emptiness.
Right? Emptiness is not a wisdom. Emptiness is the object of that the wisdom meditates on. Right? So the method is is that union or simultaneously born transcendental wisdom of non duality with great bliss.
Okay? So that’s what it represents. Very that’s what we need. Right? The whole lot or?
We’re meditating on emptiness, on the lack of inherent existence, and this transcendental wisdom of nondual bliss and voidness is not emptiness. It’s actually the mind that realizes emptiness. Wisdom can’t be emptiness because emptiness has to be a non affirming negation, and awareness is never a non affirming negation. Okay? Awareness is a you’re positing something.
It’s a mind. Emptiness is not a mind. It’s a lack of inherent existence. The mind is empty, but emptiness is a non affirming negation, so it can’t be a mind. So we’re talking about the wisdom.
We’re talking about the a particular type of wisdom that is only found in tantra, the transcendental wisdom of non dual bliss and void. Right? Or, you know, the unification of transcendental wisdom of non duality with great bliss. Okay. That’s what that represents, and that’s what we need.
That’s what is going to destroy the delusions by using the tantric method. Okay? What destroys delusions is wisdom realizing emptiness. But here, we’ve got this particular mind that is realizing it. We’re using the method of deity yoga generating great bliss and using that to realize emptiness.
So the realization of emptiness is really very profound. All the we’re actually taking that over into all our experiences which we’re trying to make very positive and very blissful. And therefore that enjoyment is reminding us all the time of emptiness, so it’s becoming very profound. So that’s what the vajra represents. So it’s, you you can see also when you bring to mind the meaning of the vajra, then also you automatically begin to really respect, you know, respect what it symbolizes.
Okay? So, really the most important thing is whether you have a vajra or not, to bring that to mind. Because then that’s really when we’re practicing Tantra. And when we hold the implements, then also we’re meant to remember that we’re the deity and we’re in this pure environment, and the words we’re speaking are mantra. So we have these purities that we’re meant to keep.
So in the vows that we keep, one of them is keeping the vajra, the bell, and the mudra. So really it’s the meaning of those. So whereas the vajra is this transcendental wisdom of nondual, bliss, and void, the bell is emptiness. That’s the object that the wisdom realizes. Okay?
So you’ve got the you’ve got the the wisdom mind realizing emptiness. So whenever you hear the bell, you’re meant to remember emptiness. The sound of the bell is meant to remind you of emptiness. Okay? So in an aryas meditative equipoise, the subject, the wisdom, and the object appear non dual.
They have this merging. And also, all of the experiences of a Buddha have that experience of non duality. A Buddha is never separated from non duality, but an ārya being who’s not a Buddha will only have that experience in meditative equipoise. Okay? So ultimate truth for the actually, middle way schools is ultimate truth really involves this idea of, you know, the object found through the subsidence of duality.
Right? So so there is that aspect to ultimate truth that there needs to be this subsidence. So it’s talking about this meditative equipoise for a non Buddha. Okay. Well even a Buddha it’s meditative equipoise because the Buddha never rises from meditative equipoise.
Okay. So, you know, we’ve got the two aspects of that experience represented by the vajra and Bell. Okay? So vajra, Bell, and Mudra, they’re three of our Samayas or things to remember. Okay.
So the Mudra then is also representing the deity in embracing the consort. So again that symbolic of the method and wisdom coming together. Okay, and also utilizing what we normally think of as the most pleasurable or blissful experience that bliss even of sexual union that’s used in highest yoga tantra. Okay? So the Mudra is representing that.
Okay? The Damaru, normally the the Dhamma Roo is normally something that represents the rising of great bliss. So in the tantric path, the winds are channeled, drawn into the side channels and then through meditation again and again then the meditator or the yogi will be able to draw them into the central channel and there will be a rising or a rising of great bliss and a melting of the drops that actually bring very very blissful experience. So the Damaru is representing that. So the normally when you the bell is normally rung at the heart, and the Damaru is rung at the navel.
So the Damaru being rung at the navel represents the great bliss being normally we with the tummo meditative equipoise, then there’s association with meditation at the navel on the little syllable being generated is extremely, or being visualized is extremely hot and then the rising, the melting of the bodhicitta and the filling up of the central channel with all the blissful drops. Okay? So everything is sort of reminding you of the tantric path. That’s the point of it. Okay.
So okay. That’s the vajra Bell and the Mudra. So now I’ll go into the just the how we do the mudras for the offerings. First of all, that’s the main ones anyway. Are there any questions with that?
Is that alright? Just, you know, some yep. The question is, what is it again that the mudra symbolizes? So that symbolizes the embracing the consort. In all the levels of tantra, you’re utilizing bliss.
In highest yoga tantra, you’re using the bliss of union. Okay? Well, when you pick them up for instance, but also when you’re doing the offerings you end with the embracing mudra as well. So there are a number of times when you do that. But we’re meant to we’re really meant to hold on to the idea of ourselves being the deity.
In any sadhana, a sadhana is a self generation of the deity. In any sadhana, there will be a generation of the deity at the beginning and then, you know, when we’re using the Vajra and bell then quite often there’s a mudra that symbolizes the embracing of the consort. Yep. I’m not really gonna go into two moment meditation. Was really just well, apart from not being qualified and that sort of instruction needs to come from a lama but it’s really just filling the channel with bliss.
It’s not necessarily cooling. The heat is sort of it’s not like burning, it’s sort of like very pleasant sort of heat. So it’s just really manipulating the drops within the channel, which is what highest yoga tantra is all about. That’s why it’s quick because you’re actually physically manipulating the constituents that we have to bring about very profound deep realization. Okay?
At death time, the winds naturally go into the central channel and we have certain visions, but we don’t necessarily have great realizations. But if we become familiar in our life with this process, how to meditate, then even if we don’t get really high profound meditative realizations during our life, at the death time we can certainly utilize that natural experience to have very high realizations. So it’s very useful. Pardon? Absolutely.
Yep. Yes. Yes. Okay. So normally the bell the bell has a face on it, a face of the deity, so you don’t put your thumb right over the face.
Right? You put your thumb above. Put your thumb above and then you rest, the bell is really resting on the middle finger. Then the the little finger can control it very easily. The other fingers are just resting on it, but the little finger okay, so the bell’s resting on the thumb and the middle finger, not on the face, and the little it’s then very easy to control.
The index finger is on the top. So that’s rung at your heart. And then the vajra is normally you you just hold it around the middle somewhere. Okay? Doesn’t have a face.
Okay? So, yeah, normally, you know, just sort of hold it around the middle. Okay? Also, you can what’s good also what they tend to do is tie a little bit of red cotton around the top of the vajra so that you know which is the top. I think they’re symmetrical, you tie it is sort of good to have a top.
You can tie a little bit of red cotton around so that you know which is the top. I don’t think so. Somebody said one time that one end is slightly longer, and then that’s the top, but I haven’t heard that. I don’t know the source of that. I think think it might have come from Lama Thubten’s Centre, but I’m not sure exactly where it came before that.
Oh, okay. Then maybe maybe maybe this. Yeah. That’s normally, you know yeah. Just above the bell.
And normally when you wave the vajra normally, the vajra is sort of used for invoking, you know, when there’s invoking. So normally, it’s sort of around the heart to invoke. Okay. Why it is used to invoke? Well, remembering what it I guess really in Tantra, we’re wanting to be blessed by the Buddhas and the Dakas and Dakinis and things like that.
There’s a lot of blessing going on. Right? We’re trying to from the Buddha’s side, everything that they can do, they’ve already done. So really it’s from our side. So as much as remember the meaning of the vajra and bell and then we ask them to be here like they’re here anyway, right?
So they’re asking them to be here and and really, you know, invoking them is from our side. So when, you know, maybe, you know, when we remember the bodhicitta, they’re so pleased with us remembering the bodhicitta and the transcendental wisdom of we’re remembering emptiness as well so that is attracting them naturally. What? Oh, very different when you remember the meaning or when you just sort of like, oh, yeah, I gotta do my practice. Know, you forget.
You know, you so there’s very different I mean, you feel. Well, yeah, when you put your mind on your practice to when you don’t. Yeah. Yeah. I haven’t heard that, but I imagine it’s vajradhara.
That would be the most well, I haven’t really heard what it is, but I imagine that would seem reasonable, wouldn’t it? Because vajradhara represents all the tantric deities, just like Śākyamūni Buddha represents all the Buddhas, then vajradhara represents all the deities. So that’s what I’d imagine. But I haven’t heard that. Okay.
So let’s just do the mudras, go through the mudras of the when we offer all the different offerings. So they actually start on page thirty in the Lama Chöpa Puja. So this is quite a complicated thing, but it’s nice thing to learn, and there’s no fault if you don’t do Mudras when you’re doing the Guru Puja, but again, you are collecting physical merit when you do do them. If you don’t have a Dorje and bell, normally in Sarah, they don’t do Mudras without the Dorje and bell. But it’s not a fault if you do do them.
It’s just if you don’t have your vajra and bell, you know, lot of Westerners like to do the Mudras, but actually and it can be quite good to learn the Mudras without the Dorje and Bell because it’s very clunky when you first try and do the Mudras with the Dorje and bell. So there’s no fault to do them, but normally it’s Sara. If you don’t have your Dodian Bell, they don’t do them. Okay? So I’m gonna show you without the Dorje and bell.
But when you do try and do them with your Dorjean bell, just try and hold your bell flat. Right? You know, it it sort of you can hold it. You know, you can actually move it around a lot and it won’t ring on you. Okay?
Because otherwise, you just sort of like this and you sound sounds terrible. Know? So, oh, there’s a new tantric practice. You know? It’s a bit embarrassing.
Okay? If you’re doing the Mudras and you remember to keep it flat, then it sort of makes it easier. Then you don’t have to go through that embarrassment. Now with the offerings, each offering has a different mudra in the middle, but there’s a lot of the offering mudra that is the same. So I’m gonna show you that first, the bit that’s the same.
Okay. So normally, what we’re doing initially is generating deities from our heart. They’re going out. Right? So we we but you don’t when you click and they go out, but you don’t it doesn’t have to be a loud noisy click.
It’s just it’s a click but it’s really like, you you can hear it. And and with them going out, your palms are facing outwards. Okay? And and that indicates all the deities are going out. So you should visualize, hundreds of offering goddesses going out and making the particular offering that you’re up to.
So the deities go out, and then you do what’s called the Lotus Mudra. Right? Now you can watch Rinpoche doing this or one of the ceremon that was here was also did it. It’s sort of something you have to pick up. I haven’t been taught exactly.
If you you know, I’ve just really been watching, you know, lamas over the years. You know, they they teach you the going out bit. Then the Lotus Mudra, what’s basically it’s symbolizing is emptiness of the three circles or the three spheres. So it’s like you’re making a sphere. So you click and then you you sort of turn the hands around like you had a ball, like you were juggling a ball three times.
Okay? So the emptiness of the three spheres is really remembering the emptiness of the subject oneself, the action offering, and the offering object are all empty. So again, it’s reminding you the emptiness of what you’re doing. So you click When you click, the right hand is closest to you. We’re going to end up at the end where it’s swapped over and the palms are facing in, and the left hand is closest to you.
But in the beginning, the right hand is closest you, and the palms are facing out, and you click, and the deities are going out. Okay? So the right hand is closest to you, and you click, and the deities are going out. And then you do the Lotus Mudra. Okay?
So, you know, just turning your hands around, right, three times, and then you go into the Mudra of the specific offering. Okay? So is it easier when I turn like this? Okay. Okay.
So you click click and the deities go out and then you do the Lotus Mudra. Normally Lama Zopa was actually saying that there’s a different way for the Lotus Mudra to go in mother tantra and father tantra. So normally in Guru Puja we’re actually generating as Yamāntaka normally if you’ve had Yamāntaka. If you haven’t had Yamāntaka then you should be as the Guhyasamāja, so whatever you’ve had. Okay.
So normally with father tantra it goes right. So I think what he was meaning is this first one, this hand is already on the top. So he’s sort of starting off there and going around. Right? That’s the first one.
And then the second one. And then the sort of third one. But but have a look at Lama Zopa because, you know, I haven’t really learned properly the Lotus Mudra. You You just sort of pick it up, but always it’s back to front and you’re trying to do it and then it’s going on quickly so you didn’t get a chance. So anyway, so you do the three however you do it, main thing is your mind to think.
That’s the main Mudra is what you’re thinking. Well, think so. I think it’d be the same hand, but I think you’d sort of, I think you’d go out and I think you’d sort of come around this way, right, anticlockwise. You’re coming around going to the left means anticlockwise. Right?
Whereas when you start off with father tantra, think you go right. Right? Right? And I think in in in in mother tantra, Rinpoche must have been meaning you go left first or anti clockwise first. Okay?
So so that’s right. Okay? That’s going right, and that’s going left. Okay? Right is clockwise.
We don’t use the term right and left, do we? But the way it’s explained is right means clockwise and left means anticlockwise. Alright. Okay. So you have the deities going out.
You do the Lotus Mudra, and then you come into the Mudra, whatever it is for that offering. And then when the offering’s finished, you finish the offering and then click with your palms towards you, and the opposite, the left hand is now closest to you. And that again is the embracing Mudra and and you’re visualizing the offering goddesses are coming back into your heart. Okay? They’ve made their offering.
Okay? Alright. Is that okay? So you click, the deities are going out. You the deities are going out.
You do the Lotus Mudra, so the three times, and then you bring up the offering. So the first one is the four waters. Okay. So now we’ll just go into the different offerings. Okay.
So the first one is the four waters. Normally, you start this the four waters in the Guru Puja, it’s indicated by verse twenty three and twenty four. There’s two there’s four lines for it rather than just the two lines. So you start on the second line of the verse twenty three. Okay?
So the deities go out, and then, you you do the Lotus Mudra, and then with the four waters, the first one is water for drinking, so you make a bowl. And then you have water for washing, so it’s like you’re washing feet. So it’s like this hand is the foot and the water is pouring over the foot. Okay? And then you have I’m not exactly sure what this water is.
It could be water for the face. I can’t remember. And I can’t remember what the means, but it’s like, you know, pair of spectacles or something. Right? Doesn’t mean a pair of spectacles.
I just can’t remember. Okay. And then does anyone remember what the other pardon? No. That comes later.
I think it might be for the face, but I’m not sure, and I’m not sure what that represents. And then you have you have water for sprinkling. So it’s like you have a bit of kusha grass and you’re sprinkling the water. Okay? I think to keep the dust down, they used to do that.
Okay. So so this is the this is the longest one. Right? You have these four you know, you you do the beginning bit, then you have water, water for drinking in a bowl, water for washing the feet, then you have the other water, I think, the face, and then sprinkling. Pardon?
I can’t remember the name. Yeah. I can’t remember what the translation is. I’m sorry about that. But anyway, the four waters.
And then when you do the four waters, then you dissolve it all, and all the deities come back into your heart. So then you’re up to the next one. The next one is flowers. Normally you get up to flowers when you’re at the second line. So you go through the first line, you do all that first bit, and then when you offer flowers or actually, meto is actually flowers.
That’s the the third and fourth syllables in that second line. So when you actually say, then you can do like throwing lots of little petals up into the air. This is highest yoga tantra. With Norma, they actually use the lower tantra mudras. They’re slightly different.
Some of them are slightly different. Okay? But here, this is according to Geshe la, what they do at sera, that’s meto. Geshe Tashi Tsering, that is. Okay?
Then the next one is incense, and that goes like, it’s like dropping little grains of the resin that they burn for incense into a little hot coals. So they’re sort of like dropping it into your little fire. It’s like you’re just dropping little bits of resin into your little coal burner, and that’s giving off very nice incense. Okay, then the next one is Aloke. So that’s like a little butter lamp with the your fingers are making the wax and you’ve got the little wick sticking up.
And then the next one is Gandi. So this is really like the deities have four hands. The offering goddesses are the offering goddesses that are giving out the offerings to the merit field have four arms. So two arms are holding a, you know, a container, a vessel with the massage oil, the perfumed massage oil, and the two hands are ready to put it on the back. In the lower tantric, you use two armed deities, and so you hold the plate with the vessel and you have one hand and put it on with one hand.
So in highest yoga tantra they’ve got more capability. They can put it on with two hands. So you just do the putting on of the perfume with the two hands. So that’s the mudra for that. But still, you can imagine that the vessel is there.
So then food, this is the same in highest and lower tantra, just the food, just like a plate of food. And then the music, the music is you just play your music. Right? Yeah. You just play the bell, the damaru, whatever.
Now, the westerners have picked up a little bit that music is like this. It’s not. Geshe la says that’s wrong. Actually, the mudra for the music is you play your music. But you you can go like this, but you don’t go like this.
Right? I know it’s it’s hard to give up. I don’t understand that. But Geshe la says it’s wrong. It looks funny.
You’ll yeah. Right. People think it indicates drumming something. Yeah. But it does but it doesn’t.
No. No. You don’t. That that’s not no. You just play.
You just play. Yeah. I don’t know where that came from. If you don’t have the implements, then you can just do like this. Yeah.
Yeah. You can just do like this, but don’t Geshe la was quite clear on that one. Yeah. He he first saw it when he came to Chenrezig, and so he straightened us out after a while. Not straight away.
Yeah. You don’t have to do it. You don’t do it at all. You just you just play them. Right?
You just play them. Okay. Okay. Do you wanna do them without the implements first all the way through? Yeah.
Let’s do them without the implements, and then we’ll do them with, and then we better finish so you can have a break. Okay? So okay. So the goddesses go out, then you do the lotus mudra, and then water, water for washing, the face, sprinkling, and then deities go back. The offering goddesses go back.
Offering goddesses go out. You do the lotus mudra, and then you do flowers. Okay. Then the deities come back. Then the deities go out.
You do the lotus mudra, then incense. Then the deities come back. Then the deities go out, do the Lotus Mudra, and then light, and then the deities come back. And the offering goddesses I’m saying deities. I mean offering goddesses go out.
You do the lotus mudra and then perfume. Then the day the offering goddesses come back. And the offering goddesses go out again. You do the lotus mudra, and then food, and back, and then offering goddesses will go out, Lotus Mudra, and then the music. Okay?
Okay. Now I’ll just do once with the with the implements. Okay? Yep. The damaru.
Well, that’s just in the crook between your thumb and your, first finger, and then you just, hold the damaru with the thumb and the index finger. Right? So that’s just squashed up. That doesn’t you know, the other fingers are sort of holding it where it needs to go. With the damaru, it’s important you shouldn’t ring it as fast as you can.
Rinpoche scolded me one time. He it’s you can for wrathful actions, can do like that. But normally, the rising of the bliss is not a wrathful action. It’s only occasionally with wrathful pujas you do that. Normally, ring it fast enough so that the little knockers keep twisting around, but, you know, sort of slower.
You know, it doesn’t have to be It shouldn’t be sort of you know, that’s sort of like it’s not really much of an offering. Okay? So, anyway Yeah. Please. At the end, sometimes a little faster.
Okay. So, anyway, just normally anyway, you can watch Rinpoche on that, but, I got scolded once, so now I just do it as slow as I can. Yeah. The Chöd damaru, the Chöd damaru, which is a bigger one, is normally rung up here. That’s quite different.
You you can Well, have to untangle the thing. I I don’t I don’t think that there’s any significance to that. I think sometimes it’s just a it could be just untangling, but I don’t know. I I haven’t heard there’s any reason to sort of yeah. Yeah.
I think some people ring it here because on the front of some books, this, you know, shows it up here, but actually the the Chöd Damaru is normally rung there. And and often, you have to be careful too to sit far enough back so it doesn’t get your books or it all goes messy. You can’t ring it properly. Right? So you need to have enough room to ring it.
But anyway, see how you go. Actually yeah, you are, you’re pulling the string in to hold it close in, right? So you’ve actually got it quite securely. So the fingers are sort of holding the the string to pull it in towards you. Anyway, that’s the that’s the damaru.
We’ll just do the offerings with the with the bell. So remember trying to hold it horizontal. Right? Okay. So the first offering is for water.
So the offering goddesses go out. Okay. Now Pupe. K. Now Dupe.
Now Aloke. And now Gandi, perfume. And now Neivedia, food. And then music. Okay?
So I have a practice. That that was fairly nice and quiet. That was good. Yep. Yep.
Then you can have the bell resting in your palm actually. Yeah. Okay. So so actually, you you can hold it like that while you click. Yep.
That’s true. Okay. Okay. So have a have a practice yourself, and then you can also come and practice with everyone and then keep looking at how Rinpoche is doing it. Normally the bell is rung when initiation is happening, like with the bath, there’s water offering, or in initiation when there’s water offering, then you do that.
Normally when music is offered, the bell is rung. The bell is rung at the end, normally the last Vajrasattva mantra, the bell is rung to remember emptiness. All your purification, you’re meant to remember emptiness, so the bell is rung. Mean, Sarah’s doing at the beginning as well, so I think I presume she seems to be following pretty much what Rinpoche’s doing, so it must be at the beginning to remember emptiness, but also definitely at the end, the last one you meant to do to remember emptiness as well. You don’t have to ring the bell all the way through Vajrasattva.
Normally you wouldn’t do that but normally the last one and I think obviously Rinpoche must have been doing it for the first three and then the last one as well. Okay. Also, it’s a way for the whole if you’re leading a pooja, then, you do twenty-one Vajrasattva mantras. It’s a way for everyone also to know that this is the last one. Okay?
Okay. So the bell is rung. When you’re invoking, you will ring the bell. When you’re invoking and then when you’re giving bath offering with the mantra for offering or receiving an initiation, it will be rung and also for invoking. Invoking, offering, and music, those three.
And then also with when the offering is being taken outside for the local the leftover offerings are taken out for the local deities, it’s normally rung as well. And also during the protector puja, it’s rung in a different way. It’s just rung as a beat that goes with the drum. It needs practice. You need to feel the weight of the ringer.
Okay? You need to feel the weight of the ringer. Again, remember the bell is resting on these two fingers, and this finger is guiding it. Okay? You should be able to completely direct.
Just get it ringing once on the side of the thing. Okay? You have to feel it. Okay? If it bounces, you’ve gotta slow it down a bit.
Just have a practice. That’s more than protector pujas. We do that continual ringing. For musical purposes, you ring on both sides. You know, when you’re offering music, you ring on both sides.
It’s only when you do protect the pooja, you ring on one side. Well, you’re just trying to keep the beat with the drum. It’s just a different type of music. You’re trying to keep beat with the drum, so you do you don’t do oh, always with the bell, think about emptiness. There’s never you could never overdo thinking about emptiness.
You can never overdo thinking about emptiness. That’s alright. We’ll get the bell going first and then the damaru can ring in. It’s okay. It’s not it’s not difficult.
It’s just it’s just familiarity, really, as with anything. It’s just getting used to it. So you can get used to it in your rooms, and, I don’t think there’s restriction on bell ringing during silence. I think that’s okay. Okay.
We we better finish soon, though. What’s the Having the deities go up and come back in. Yep. What’s the Sorry. The offering goddesses.
I did say deities many times, but I mean offering goddesses. Yeah. When do you get to At each merger, at the beginning, they go out. When you click, they go out. And at the end, they come back in to your heart.
Yeah. You’re emanating them. You’re a deity. You’re a deity, and these are your emanations doing offerings to the merit field and coming back. Okay?
Alright. Last question. Sorry? No. We can do them in the Guru Puja, but just the explanation of them can’t happen.
Right? If we give explanation about highest yoga tantra to people who aren’t initiated or who have initiated but let their things lapse, then we ourselves lose Vajrasattva leaves our heart, so, we just can’t explain the meaning and the symbology. That’s only for people who have it. But when do it in Puja, and there are other people there, we don’t have to worry about that. Right?
And if they’re asking you, oh, why do you do that? Then you can just say, in the most simple way that you know, because you don’t want to say, Sorry. It’s secret. You don’t want to say that because then that’s going to really annoy them. But you can say, oh, just represents method and wisdom, and then you can talk about method and wisdom in the non tantric vehicle.
Okay? Alright. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah.
Yeah. I think we don’t have time. I’m really a number of the students know it, and I’m happy to talk to you separately. But, maybe some of you are also really quite familiar from before, so it’s just really a brush up. So a lot of number of the people could help you.
The four waters, and you’re on yeah, with the four waters you do the four altogether, right? So have to do a little bit quicker and then the day it is come back. Okay? So let’s just dedicate thinking whatever effort has gone into trying to learn these things and remind ourselves of the meaning, then may go towards our quickly attaining the state of the Buddha to lead all beings to that state. Okay.
Thank you. Anyway, if you’re confused, I’m here. So I don’t mind telling you. And I’m talking. I haven’t seen that before, but he is from Sarah, so I think that’s probably you know, I wouldn’t question what he does because he’s from Sarah, so he’s learned probably Yeah.
Haven’t seen it before. But, you know, you don’t know whether somebody is just sort of thinking something or whether they’re really Yeah, then possibly possibly possibly it’s okay. I’m gonna gonna get you to focus first. Take me half an ear. I’m gonna auto focus.
You’re just looking. That’s right. Almost every action I do twenty four hours a day is motivated by worldly concern, attachment to the comfort of this life. It has been like this from birth, and it has been like this from beginning as rebirth. Nearly every action I’ve ever created has been non virtuous, the cause of suffering.
Not only that, but continuously, I’ve also been breaking my Prātimokṣa vows, Bodhisattva vows, and Tantric vows. Worst of all, I’ve created the heaviest of negative karmas in relationship to my holy virtuous friends, getting angry at them, not believing what they say, having non devotional thoughts towards them, harming the holy bodies, and disobeying their advice. Having all these negative imprints on my mental continuum is unbearable. It’s as if I’ve swallowed a lethal poison. I must practice the antidote right away and purify all this negative karma immediately without a second’s delay.
If I were now in a hell realm, how would it be? I would be totally overwhelmed by suffering, by the heaviest suffering of saṃsāra, and I would have no freedom to practice Dharma. Even though I’m not dead yet, my death could happen any moment. At any moment, I could be there in the most terrifying hell realm, the unbearable suffering state. Therefore, without even a second’s delay, I must purify all my downfalls, all my negative karmas, all my downfalls.
In order to do this, I’m going to do prostrations with a meditation recitation of the thirty five Buddhas. And I would do this in order to cause all sentient beings to receive every happiness up to enlightenment.