Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 27-minute session, Venerable Thubten Dondrub completes his teaching on the seven-limb prayer—covering the final three limbs: requesting the Buddhas and gurus to remain with us (which creates the cause to meet qualified teachers), requesting them to teach the Dharma (which purifies the karma of ignoring our teachers’ advice), and dedicating merit to enlightenment (so positive imprints ripen toward the highest goal rather than ordinary results). He then introduces the mandala offering practice, illustrating its power through a sūtra story of poor boys who offered sand visualized as jewels to the Buddha and received extraordinary karmic results. The bulk of the talk walks through the mudra—the hand gesture that symbolizes Mount Meru surrounded by four continents—with detailed, practical step-by-step instruction for practitioners without a physical mandala base. He concludes by introducing the graduated path to enlightenment prayer by Lama Tsongkhapa, recommending daily recitation and brief reflection on each verse as a foundation for ongoing Dharma study. Aimed at those beginning or establishing a daily practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2014 01 28 DB Daily Practice Week 4 280114.mp3
UUID: 4f4221fb-303a-4ba1-b094-e9de2b19f498
Teacher: Ven Thubten Dondrub
Collection: DB Daily Practice (Ven Thubten Dondrub)
Date: 2014-01-28
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 26.7 minutes
Words: ~3,012
Okay. So the next of the seven limbs is the limb of requesting the Buddhas and the Gurus to remain here with us for an incredibly long time. This is actually creating the cause to be able to meet qualified teachers in the future by by having that wish for the Buddhas and great masters to to remain with us. You know, not just saying those words, but really feeling, having that sincere wish for these great beings to remain among us is creating the cause to experience the result of meeting great teachers in in in the future. And and then the the next of the limbs is requesting them to there’s this expression turn the wheel of Dharma which is meaning to teach the Dharma.
So again this is creating the cause to be able to receive teachings in the future and it helps purify the the karma of not practicing the the advice of the Gurus in the from from past lives. And then the final limb is the limb of dedication. Dedicating the merits not only of oneself but the merits created by all sentient beings that these positive imprints become a cause to bring not just any kind of good result, but the very best result of all, which is enlightenment. Because however we dedicate that that directs that that energy to produce a specific cause. If it if we don’t direct it in that way, it can just ripen in in any way whatsoever.
It it will be a good some good result, but something just very ordinary. Whereas when we dedicate it to enlightenment, then it it it becomes part of that process of achieving enlightenment. So that’s what we really want. That’s the best thing is to achieve enlightenment. So we need to need to motivate for enlightenment but also dedicate the things we do motivated to achieve enlightenment.
We need to dedicate the the effects to bringing enlightenment. So this is the seven limb practice. Or this is the seven-limb prayer but these things can be practiced all day every day one’s whole life life after life these seven things. So that practice is very good to do. So next comes the mandala offering.
So this is a particular method of accumulating merit, practicing Chenrezig, overcoming self-cherishing, reducing oneself cherishing. So the mandala here refers to the whole universe. So what it involves, explained very simply, is that we imagine, we try to visualize or imagine that we offer the entire universe to the triple gem, to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. One does it as a way to request teachings but as a way to request the blessings and support of the Buddhas. So in the Tibetan tradition Tibetan lamas have tried to explain the authentic basis of all the practices.
So the basis of this practice of doing the mandala offering comes from a story in the sutras where by when the when the Buddha went begging and people made offerings to the Buddha, gave food to him or whatever they did to help him, the Buddha would always predict to them the karmic result of what they had just done because as an enlightened being he could see completely the karmic results of everything done. And on one occasion when the Buddha was out begging there were three, four I can’t remember. Three or four little boys who wanted to, put some offering in the Buddha’s begging bowl, but they were very poor and they didn’t have anything to give him. So what they decided to do is that they would, one of the boys picked up some sand and the idea is that they would pour the sand into the Buddha’s begging bowl. And as they did so, they would all visualize, try to imagine that they weren’t offering sand, but the sand was like gold and diamonds and all sorts of precious jewels.
And because the Buddha was very tall, these little boys stood on each other’s shoulders and the one on the very top poured the sand into the Buddha’s bowl. And then the Buddha said that this was the most wonderful offering, one of the most wonderful offerings he’d ever received and he predicted the karmic result of doing this and he said that anyway, of the karmic result for one of the boys was that he was born as king Ashoka or emperor Ashoka who unified much of of India and and was was you know, became a Buddhist and, you know, spread Buddhism throughout India and used Buddhist principles to to run the government. Anyway, the the the symbol of India, one of the symbols of India is this four you have you’ve seen it, these these four these these four lions. So these actually come from Ashoka’s throughout Ashoka’s kingdom empire he had these thousands of columns built all over the place and they had these four lions at the top or sometimes just one but in many cases four lions which symbolize the four fearlessnesses. So they are actually Buddhist.
It is a Buddhist symbol which has become the the the the national symbol of, of India at the present time. Anyway, so so the argument is if you can pour, you know, pour some sand in the Buddha’s bowl and imagine its diamonds and you get these fantastic results, then by visualizing the universe then offering that to the Buddha, then there’s incredible benefit. So this is a long established practice in the Tibetan tradition. So there is a ritual where you actually have this a mandala base and these rings and you you it’s difficult to explain but you fill it up with all sorts of substances and as you do so you imagine that the universe as it was understood in ancient times and then you offer that to the Buddhas. So I’ve taught this here, tried to teach it to a few people and few people fortunately try and practice this mandala offering.
This is something again just like there is a practice of doing a hundred thousand prostrations, a hundred thousand Vajrasattva mantras, there’s also a practice of doing a hundred thousand mandala offerings as well which also takes about three months to do but also it’s encouraged to be done every day especially during one’s meditation session during teachings the mandala offering is done so if you don’t have the base and all the substances there is a mudra one can do and it’s the mudra is this and it symbolizes the universe as it was understood in ancient times where where there was believed to be this mountain, this enormous mountain at the center of the universe called Mount Meru and there were these four continents surrounding it. You know, south, west, north, and eastern continents. And we live on the southern continent of Jambudvipa. Of course modern science doesn’t agree with that whole thing but it doesn’t really matter. The the the idea is that the Mandala practice and the Mudra symbolizes offering the whole universe, especially all the beautiful things of the universe, and especially those things that we are most attached to.
So I, it’s it’s quite tricky to try and explain this mudra. People get very complicated. So what I would like to ask people to do because it’s good to learn this mudra, you know, Cause it is, yeah, it is something very commonly done. If you’re going to be a Tibetan Buddhist, I don’t if you are going to be. I’m not sure why you’re here otherwise.
But if you’re planning to follow, this is done in all the four schools. What I’ve decided the trickiest, the easiest thing to do would be if you’ve got a pen, everyone got a biro with them? Is forget your thumb and just write one two three four on each finger. Yes. I’m serious because you you can’t believe how complicated and confusing this gets.
Oh, you have to start with the finger next to your thumb is number one. Right? Otherwise oh, no. No. No.
No. No. No, no. We’ve botched it up from the beginning. Now the little finger is number one.
Next, two, three, four. Little finger is one, two, three, four. Little finger is one and then the next one is two, three, four and then there is the thumb. Both fingers. Have to have both hands.
Oh, you know how to do it. That’s okay. That’s good. Alright. We’re ready?
Okay. So now what you do is with your right hand you put your number one finger in front of the left number one cross them over and then place your thumbs on top. Then the next fingers, both number twos, you have resting against each other. And then number three’s you cross over so that your right number three is on the top of left number three and then your left number four is under your right number three and your right number four is under your left number three. Yes?
Simple! Oh that’s the best I’ve ever done. This is a good method. You’re right? So it looks like that.
No. It doesn’t look like that. Yes. And it basically, what you do is you link your your two the two hands fingers together so that the the fingers of your right hand are in front of the corresponding finger of your left hand so that your right number one is in front of left number one. So you cross them.
Yeah. And then you put the thumbs on top. Then the next two are parallel standing up up because they symbolize Mount Meru, the next two fingers. What number are the two fingers? They are number two.
Your two twos are up then your right number three is on top of the right number of your left number three and your left number four is underneath the right number three and your right number four is under the left number three. It’s only number twos standing up. Yes. Yes. That’s because that’s Mount Meru.
And so you’ve got you’ve got Mount Meru, and you’ve got four corners. So the four corners symbolize the four continents. So that’s the whole universe. How are we going? Yes.
But just follow the numbers. Now it gets trickier. Makes it more complicated. In a generally handled offering, one shouldn’t just do it with your hands like that with nothing in them because this is considered inauspicious. Inauspicious.
So what you do is you take your mala, you wrap it around three times, and you put it over, the first three fingers, one two and three. So then you have it like that. So then you’ve got an offering. Or you can put some rice in each hand or some flowers or diamonds if you’ve got them lying around. Something.
So you have to work on that one. Which bit? The mala bit. Three times, you need about three times. And then it doesn’t have to be three times, but that’s neat.
And then you put it over hold on. What do you do? You put it over the first three fingers, not not the thumbs. The you know, one, two, and three so that your fourth fingers are yeah? So then you just link them up again like before.
So that’s the yeah. So then as you’re saying this prayer, you hold the mandala at or your hands at the level of your heart because it’s like a heartfelt wish of wanting to give the whole universe away. In other words, you want to be free we want to be free of attachment to everything in the whole universe, all ordinary stuff, to for our mind to be completely free of it all. We can enjoy it, be but be free of it, you know, this clinging grasping attachment to stuff so that our mind can be free to practice the the Dharma. Alright?
So you hold it at your heart. You chant the prayer, which concludes with, means basically please accept this this offering. And and then you sort of like turn it inwards imagine yeah. Like that. So the prayer itself goes.
There’s a very long version of this. This is just a short version of the mandala offering. So the mandala goes like this. We’re being recorded this time finally. So it goes, And then you can re re read the request for the three great purposes.
I prostrate and go for refuge to the guru triple gem. Please bless my mind. Please bless me and all sentient beings, my mothers, to stop all wrong views from disrespect to our virtuous friends up to the subtle dualistic view, and bless us to easily develop every realization from guru devotion up to the path of no more learning and to pacify all outer and inner obstacles. So says to recite that three times, but one can just do one time is okay. The mandala, you just do the one time, the special request, like, three times or one time, and then it and then you move move it out a little bit because, you’re, you know, you know, to offer to the Buddha.
So as one’s doing that, the main thing is apart from the the physical mudra and saying the prayer. The main thing is actually to try and visualize in your mind, holding your mind the the thought of the whole universe and offering it. All the universe, all the beautiful things, all the auspicious things in the universe, everything everything even all the things, you know, the horrible things and everything that you have aversion to, everything you offer to the Buddha to be free, for the mind to be free, free to practice the Dharma, free to understand it, realize it, and so on. Okay. So then we get to the it’s time to stop, but then we get to the graduated path to enlightenment.
So there is this prayer that is on page fourteen, finishes, almost at the bottom of page fifteen. So this prayer was composed by Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa tradition that we follow here, considered to be one of the truly great masters of the Tibetan tradition, believed to have achieved enlightenment in his own lifetime. So, this is just a short condensed version of the of the essential points of the whole path to enlightenment. So my teacher, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, says, if you do nothing else in the day, at least read something like this. Because it puts the imprint of the whole path to enlightenment in one’s mind every day.
And that will help develop help grow this interest in following the path. One will aspire more and more to to want to follow the path and as one aspires more and more one will develop the energy to actually engage in the practice. So the very least, at least read it, but if one’s got one more time, one can reflect a little bit on the meaning of each verse. And of course, to get the best out of this, one needs to receive teachings on on the meaning of each verse. So if there’s time, I’ll I’ll talk about this very briefly in the next few weeks, just a little bit, but to explain, you know, to to give a commentary on, these verses would take many, many, many weeks, actually.
But, you know, I can just say a few points just just to clarify the meaning of a few words and so on. Some people here have already studied the and so have some idea of the meaning of the verses. But and and one can then so the idea would be to read the verse the the this prayer and then meditate on a particular topic from the lam rim from the beginning to the end. So what you do is you start with the first topic one day and meditate on that. The second day, you meditate on the next topic of the path to enlightenment, and then the third day, the next topic, and then until you finish to until you reach the very end, and then you start all over again.
And one just can do this. So at least, especially the people who are newer here, if if in in establishing a daily practice, it would be fantastic if we one could do the essential things and read this at least read this lam rim pair. Yeah. So I’ll stop there. Next week, I’ll try and explain the the the Lam Rim prayer a little bit more and the last part of the of the practice.
I mean, you’re welcome to do it all, but do the whole thing and but at least the homework explains to to at least get up to the lam rim and read that and then go to page seventeen and dedicate the merit. But if you want to do the whole thing, even if I haven’t explained it yet, you’re most welcome to. So are there any questions? Is it a little bit clearer? I will try and get this printed out for people as well, but, unfortunately, it may take a while because my I’m I don’t have any Internet connections at at the moment, so my printer is connected by Internet, by Wi Fi.
And so and I don’t know how long it’s gonna take because I’ve moved house. So, anyway, I’ll try and get it done somehow. Hopefully by next week, if not hopefully by the next week, I’ll be able to have it printed out. Because the Wi Fi here doesn’t work. Many obstacles to practicing Dharma.
Any questions, suggestions, complaints? No. Anyway, thank you for your attention. I hope I said something intelligent, helpful, useful, thoughtful that got you thinking, and, hopefully, yeah, encouraging you to establish a daily practice.