DB Bodhicitta — 2014-04-08

DB Bodhicitta (Ven Thubten Dondrub)

DB Bodhicitta — 2014-04-08

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Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.

About this talk. In this 16-minute session, Ven Thubten Dondrub leads a guided meditation on Chenrezig, the Buddha of compassion, combining visualization instruction, mantra recitation, and group practice. After distributing a reference sheet for those unfamiliar with the deity, he walks students through a detailed visualization: imagining a mountain setting, a white lotus and moon disc, then Chenrezig’s youthful form—white, radiant, adorned with jeweled ornaments representing the six perfections. He teaches the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, stationed at Chenrezig’s heart, and guides practitioners to visualize white light and nectar flowing outward to all sentient beings—parents, friends, those who cause harm, and beings across all realms—while contemplating their suffering. The meditation concludes with Chenrezig dissolving into light and merging with the practitioner’s mind, awakening the capacity for great love and compassion. Suitable for those new to this practice or already familiar with Chenrezig.

Have a coffee. Thanks. Yes, please. With milk. Okay.

We’re all here. Maybe Kathy is missing. What’s happened? Oh, the office group is still here they come. Okay, so this may be a world record special class because I have talk, discussion group and we are going to meditate.

This is just amazing. So we will just do a little meditation on visualizing the Buddha of compassion Avalokiteśvara and reciting the mantra. So I handed out a sheet last week. So for those just if you are not familiar with the image of the Buddha of Chenrezig and or not familiar with the mantra, then you might like to have that in front of you. So we can begin by sitting comfortably in the correct posture as much as possible.

We can imagine that it is as though we were sitting on top of a mountain all around us is clear blue sky. It’s very still, very quiet, very peaceful. And then we imagine that directly in front of us there appears just an arm’s length away from us at about the height of our forehead a very beautiful white lotus of many petals of radiant transparent light, white light. We imagine floating just directly above the lotus, a little bit smaller in diameter, a white moon disc. And then seated directly above the center of the moon disc is the Buddha of compassion, Chenrezig.

So we imagine that the Buddha Chenrezig has an incredibly beautiful youthful body, a hollow body of white light, transparent radiating white light. He’s seated with his legs crossed in the vajra position. His lower body is adorned with a silk like robe of many different colors. His upper body is bare, although his body is adorned with different jeweled ornaments. So he his hair is a his face is very young and peaceful, smiling.

The lips are a deep red color. The ear lobes are very long. The eyes are also long and narrow. The iris is a deep blue color. We imagine that Buddha’s Buddha Chenrezig’s hair also has deep blue color, and some of the hair is tied in knots above the crown of his head, and some hangs loosely over his shoulders.

And he’s wearing a five pointed jeweled crown and jeweled earrings, three strands of jeweled necklaces, jeweled armlets and bracelets, a jeweled belt, and anklets. His first two hands are at his heart holding a wish fulfilling jewel. The upper right hand holds a crystal mala rosary, and the upper left hand holds a white lotus. So the jewel ornaments symbolize the six perfections: generosity, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration and wisdom, which are the perfect ornaments of the enlightened mind. So we imagine that at the Buddha’s Avalokitesh, Chenrezig’s heart is a small white moon disc and standing around the edge of that moon disc upright, white in color, the six syllables of the mantra of the Buddha of compassion, Om Mani Padme Hum.

As we recite the mantra, we imagine that the blissful white light and nectar flows from these syllables going out to touch ourselves and all sentient beings. Freeing us of all disturbing thoughts and self-cherishing, awakening all our good qualities, especially the quality of great love and great compassion. So as we visualize Avalokitesh or Chenrezig in front of us and imagine this white light and nectar pouring into us, we imagine it pours into all the beings surrounding us, so our parents on either side, family, friends, and helpers behind us, harmers in front, then all the other different beings of cyclic existence. As we recite the mantra, try and think of the different sufferings that oneself and not just other human beings, but the different beings of the different realms are subject to. Imagine that light and nectar eliminates all that suffering, all the causes of that suffering.

So now imagine that the the Buddha of compassion, Chenrezig, now approaches you coming closer and closer. And then when directly above the crown of your head, imagine that the Buddha of compassion, Chenrezig, turns around facing the same direction as yourself and then dissolves into blissful white light. And that white light then pours down into you through the crown of your head, blessing your mind, especially feel that imagine strongly as possible that that inner potential for great love, great compassion to all beings is awakened within you, that your mind becomes pervaded by that great love and great compassion for all sentient beings. So then we dedicate the merit of doing that practice, doing the whole session. So the dedication is in your student material, page eleven I think.

We can try doing it in Tibetan for a change, page eleven. May the precious bodhicitta not yet born arise and grow may that born have no decline but increase for evermore. Okay, thank you very much. Just before we finish completely, please remember every week to put your completed homework in the blue folder from next