Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching, Venerable Jampa Ignyen provides detailed practical instruction for performing mandala offerings, the most effective method for accumulating merit. He begins with bodhicitta—the mind dedicated to others’ enlightenment—as the foundation, then explains three scales for visualizing the refuge field: simple (one’s guru as Śākyamūni), medium (Śākyamūni plus lineage holders), or extensive (the full Guru Puja field). He covers the seven-limb practice (prostration, offerings, confession, rejoicing, requests, dedication) and the six supreme aspects: bodhicitta motivation, offering the best, acting for others, understanding emptiness, Mahāyāna dedication for all beings’ liberation, and purification of obscurations. He grounds mandala offerings in sūtra, tantra, and treatise. For practitioners with Mahāyāna background ready to engage formal merit accumulation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 MO 1996 05 09.mp3
UUID: 1682c2a7-de87-45be-9c00-40191a688ecc
Teacher: Ven Jampa Ignyen
Collection: y Mandala Offerings (Ven Jampa Ignyen)
Date: 1996-05-09
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.8 minutes
Words: ~2,049
Quoting a line from the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, In that text, there’s a line which says that those past holy beings like Buddha Śākyamūni and so on have seen the bodhicitta being the most beneficial practice for the sake of other sentient beings. So that like, those holy beings like Buddha Śākyamūni and so on have analyzed and examined this practice on bodhicitta for three great aeons and found that it being the most beneficial practice for So this bodhicitta or this practice of bodhicitta is what makes one achieve the full state of enlightenment, the full enlightenment, which is which is the unimaginable happiness. So those are all the bodhisattvas. Those who are those bodhisattvas of different and like similar Buddha Śākyamūni have trained on this practice, that is bodhicitta. And through their training or practice on bodhicitta that they have achieved those higher states.
So, that is what is done by those past masters or that is the biography or history of those past masters. And as what we should do is we should follow that or practice the bodhicitta which is according to one’s own understanding, should practice the bodhicitta. So, we should practice bodhicitta according to one’s understanding or according to one’s ability. Shouldn’t these practices like renunciation, bodhicitta are something that we need to practice, need to be something practical. Those of high practices like Mahāmudrā and so on.
These are something very important that we need. But leaving these simple practices like bodhicitta behind and trying to practice Dzogchen or Mahāmudrā. Mahāmudrā if that happens that one won’t achieve those result. So so if so one should one should, like, put these of meditation and bodhicitta make it more practical? So in order to gain these different state of realisations, one needs to accumulate merit and the best way of accumulating merit is by doing practice of mandala offering.
So generating the bodhicitta, this mind of enlightenment We do short meditation here. So the subject that Geshe-la will be explaining today here is mandala, and that is a plan for two two nights. So Geshe-la is saying that if we finish the the explanations of Mandala within these two nights, then then it’s okay. If not, then we’ll have to do the third night. But then we’ll see.
So so to to make mandala offering, first, what what you need, the most important thing is very good or a prosper motivation intention which is motivated by taking refuge and generating the mind. So a perfect perfect motivation, which is first visualizing the refuge field, and then secondly, generating the bodhicitta. That is motivation. And then the next step is meditating on the four immeasurables. So, the purpose of visualizing the refuge is that we visualize the refuge field, which is the inseparable from one’s own guru.
And by visual I’m visualizing the refugee merit field that you make mandala offering where you make a where you make different requests. So visualizing izing the rough object first in each the place where you will be going to where you will do this practice. The place should be clean and beautiful. And and also you’re having you should have all the all the things for Mandala offerings. And and then and then setting of the Buddhist motivation.
So so the visualization is of sorry. Refuge merit field. If you can then or the the most extensive one is to do the Guru Puja merit field, visualizing the Guru Puja merit field. And if you can’t, then the medium is to visualize the Śākyamūni and those two other lineage holders that have the lineage holder of extensive and profound lineage holders. And then the third or the least or the simple one is that visualizing, I wanna say, one’s guru inseparable from Buddha Śākyamūni.
Like, it’s a like, that is at least one should have that visualizations. In this space before one, you visualize a a jeweled throne, a jewel tone, which is supported by its great line. And on the tone, So the throne, which is supported by eight lion thrones, and this is saying that he won’t be explaining all the meanings of those eight lines and so on. And the jeweled throne, which is high, and on top of that, the lotus and moon lotus and sun cushion. So so on that cushion, visualizing visualizing the aspect of Buddha Śākyamūni, one’s own one’s own guru.
So, like, visualizing one’s own guru in one nature in the aspect of Buddha Śākyamūni, which is like whether one have two gurus or one hundred gurus, visualizing all of them having the same nature or being them one nature and in the aspect of Buddha Śākyamūni. So even if one guru is not an ordained person visualizing being the same nature as Buddha Śākyamūni who is in the ordained aspect, it’s okay. So it’s okay to visualize in the aspect of Buddha Śākyamūni because whoever wants a guru maybe, whether it might be fully ordained or or novice or lay male or lay female. Anyone, they are all emanation or manifestation of Buddha Śākyamūni. Visualizing them being one nature or same nature as Buddha is okay to do.
So then if one can do the extensive visualizations or if one is capable of doing that, then visualizing the the lineage masters of the the extensive lineage masters, the profound lineage masters, and the blessed lineage masters, like visualizing clearly the space before one. So so in this merit field that you have meditational deities, Buddhist, Bodhisattvas, Pratyekabuddhas, hearers and so on. All these these that you will be visualizing in your merit field. But you are visualizing in your merit field and they all are in one essence or one nature with Buddha Śākyamūni. So so then in front of those refuge object, visualizing the Dharma refuge in aspect of text.
So and then visualizing in the aspect that the refuge objects are pleased towards one. And oneself too should have faith in those refuge object by reminding the qualities of their body, speech, mind. And and around one, one visualize one’s parent, mother and father, and and all all other sentient beings, even the beings of the hell in the aspect of human. So so then visualizing all those sentient beings are one and thinking taking example of oneself, how one is suffering and and using that as example towards others, how each individual sentient beings are suffering and and they’re generating the great compassion. And one should have this inner trust or conviction that the refuge object, the guru, and the guru is the one, let’s say, the guru is the protector of one’s, guru is the only protector of this life and the future life or of temporal and ultimate ultimate sense.
So in the in in this way, one, like, one visualized first the refuge and then continue with the practice four immeasurables. So then imagining that in front of each refuge object that one had visualized like one one like imagining having a multi many bodies or multi body where making physically making prostration to each object and and verbally making praise to all those objects and mentally generating faith after them. And then then continue the practice with the seven prayers. So so then when during the practice, the seven limb practice, prostration and offerings. And then confession or purification.
Yes, sir. And then rejoicing. And then requesting to turn Dharma and the supplication, not the supplication, and then the dedication. So so making request that part of where the mandala offering picks in. So so the first part, like, at the very beginning to make a mandala offering, you need a perfect motivation which is visualizing the refuge object and generating the bodhicitta.
So so then next is perfect what is it? Preparation, which is need the six supreme. So, the first of the six supreme, the first is the supreme reliance, which is relying upon bodhicitta. And then second second supreme second is the second what is it? Supreme object.
Supreme object which is when you make offering whatever substance, whatever things that you offer should should be the best one. And then, the third one is So, then the third one is supreme work, Supreme purpose, which is the purpose or the work which is done for the other sentient beings. Oh, yeah. So, then the next one is the supreme view or or with understanding that all the seven branch practice is non inherently existing. So, for example, when you make prostrations, the object that you are prostrating to, understand not inherently existing and the person who is doing the prostration himself or herself is also not truly existing.
The prostration itself, also it’s knowing that it’s not truly existing with this understanding making prostrations. And this is known as the supreme means. And then next is supreme dedication. So So, these seven branch practice or the seven limb practice is done both in, this practice is also done by the hearers and Pratyekabuddhas and so on. And it’s also done by the bodhisattvas.
So, the mind is the practice of seven branch practice. Is regarded as supreme and that falls like the Mahāyāna dedication practice. That is known as the supreme dedication. So that in the hearers and Pratyekabuddha when they dedicate when they do the dedication, they do the dedication dedicate the merit to achieve their own liberation. For that purpose, they dedicate.
And in Mahāyāna dedication, whatever merit they accumulate, they they accumulate dedicate. They they dedicate the merit for for others enlightenment. Oh, yeah. That’s easy. So so of that, it is regarded as supreme dedication.
So then the sixth one or the last one is the supreme purification. So, the Mahāyāna practice, that’s the seven branch practice, which purifies both obscurations and of those of the hearers and Pratyekabuddhas practice of seven branch practice purifies only the afflictive obstructions which is known as the So So, with this, on the basis of this that we make the Mandal offerings and So mandala offering means as it is explained in Guru Puja that you visualize all the billion world system and imagine that, imagining them being, visualizing them as a mandala and making offering. So the practice of mandala offering is not which is invented or newly practiced in Tibet, but it’s not like that. It’s it has its origin from sūtra. So the mandala offering is originated from the sūtra.
And in the sūtra, it explains like making mandala offering, which is paste made out of cow dung. You apply on the let’s say you apply on the surface of the object that you the mandala, the base, and then you offer. So, anyway, this this line, Geshe-la will explain in next teaching. So, and then according to Tantra, again, the Mandal offering is explained in So so in Guhyasamāja Root Tantra where you offer the mandala offering which you fill the infinite world with seven precious objects and offer to Guru Vajradhāra. So so then in the sūtra, like and then next in the in in what and there are different treatise which also have been in in different treatise where where the mental offering is explained.
And one of them that is the Sixty Verses of Reasoning. Indeed, that text also explains the offering of mandala. So in the in the in the text Sixty Verses of Reasoning, they had explained that one should make mandala offerings, which is piling flowers, making on the mandala and making offering three times in the day and three times in the night. So these three are the source or sources where Mandala offering came about, like in sūtra, in tantra, and in different treatises. So that in the Guru Puja, the way you make the mandala offering, visualizing the hundred billion world system or mentally visualizing those and make it offering to the guru.
And Geshe la will explain this part. So visualizing this whole system which first how the the evolution of wind mandala, the earth mandala, and then the water, and then and then, like, the mountain and then this