and other beings. With the fourth line we promise to accomplish the actual quick path to enlightenment, ultimate bodhichitta, the spontaneous great bliss that realizes emptiness directly, which is the very essence of Highest Yoga Tantra.
To engage successfully in the advanced practices for generating ultimate bodhichitta, meaning clear light, we first need to establish the firm foundation of the common paths. These are taught in the next two verses. The first two lines of the second verse, ‘I go for refuge until I am enlightened to Buddha, Dharma and the Supreme Assembly’, reveal Mahayana refuge. The next two lines, ‘And to accomplish the aims of myself and others I will generate the mind of enlightenment’, reveal aspiring bodhichitta. The third verse reveals engaging bodhichitta. To accomplish ultimate bodhichitta and great enlightenment we then need to engage in the meditations on generation stage and completion stage.
With the third verse we promise that, having generated and maintained bodhichitta, we will engage in the pleasing, supreme practices of enlightenment – the practices of the six perfections; and that having completed this training we will invite all living beings to our Buddha Land to enjoy the happiness of liberation. When we make this promise, we are generating engaging bodhichitta and we are taking the Bodhisattva vows. From this moment on, we should practise the six perfections sincerely and dedicate all our daily activities towards the happiness of others. The practice of dedication is revealed by the last line of the prayer. We then constantly pray every day with the following words from the sadhana:
May everyone be happy,
May everyone be free from misery,
May no one ever be separated from their happiness,
May everyone have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment.
A detailed explanation of the remaining limbs of the seven-limbed prayer – confession, rejoicing, beseeching the Spiritual Guide not to pass away, requesting the turning of the Wheel of Dharma and dedication – can be found in other books such as Joyful Path of Good Fortune and Heart Jewel.
OFFERING THE MANDALA
The practice of mandala offerings is very popular amongst practitioners of Mahayana Buddhism and is regarded as a very important practice. It is said that those who sincerely make mandala offerings will never experience poverty in this or future lives. Through her practice of making mandala offerings to Avalokiteshvara, the fully ordained nun Bhikshuni Palmo received a direct vision of the Buddha of Compassion. Through the practice of mandala offerings, Atisha received the blessings and a direct vision of Arya Tara, and Je Tsongkhapa received direct visions of all the enlightened beings in the Lamrim Field of Merit. After Je Tsongkhapa had passed away, Khedrubje, through his practice of making mandala offerings to Je Tsongkhapa, received a direct vision of him five times. These events demonstrate that the practice of mandala offerings is a powerful method for purifying our mind.
In Guhyasamaja Tantra Vajradhara says:
Those who wish for attainments
Should mentally and skilfully fill this universe
With the seven precious objects.
By offering them every day,
Their wishes will be fulfilled.
This verse teaches the mandala offering. Although it explicitly mentions only seven points, implicitly it refers to the full thirty-seven-point mandala.
It is important for practitioners to obtain a traditional mandala set, which consists of a base, three rings and a top jewel. The base and rings are used to support heaps of rice, or some other grain, which represent the various features of the mandala. Such simple things may seem useless to those who do not know their significance, but they can be very valuable in the hands of a practitioner who knows how to use them to accumulate a vast collection of merit.
To construct the thirty-seven-point mandala, we first take a little rice in our left hand and hold the mandala base with that hand. With our right hand we scoop up more rice and sprinkle a little onto the base. With the inside of our right wrist we rub the base three times clockwise, which symbolizes purification of the universal ground. As a result all rocky and uneven ground becomes smooth and level, and all our delusions are purified. We then rub the base three times counter-clockwise and imagine that all the blessings of the body, speech and mind of all the Buddhas gather into us. We think that the whole ground has been blessed and we recite the mantra for blessing the ground: OM VAJRA BHUMI AH HUM. We then sprinkle the rice that remains in our right hand onto the base and visualize the ground throughout the entire universe transforms into a pure golden ground.
While reciting OM VAJRA REKHE AH HUM we now put the largest ring on the base and, in a clockwise direction, pour a ring of rice inside it to symbolize the precious iron fence. We then place a heap of rice in the centre of the ring to symbolize Mount Meru, visualizing it as a huge mountain made of precious jewels. We then place another heap of rice in the east, the part of the mandala base nearest to us, to symbolize the eastern continent. Proceeding clockwise around the ring, we place heaps of rice in the three remaining cardinal directions to symbolize the southern, western and northern continents.
We then place eight small heaps of rice to symbolize the eight sub-continents. Beginning with the eastern continent and proceeding in a clockwise direction, we place one heap a little to the left and one a little to the right of each continent.
We then place four small heaps of rice inside the eastern, southern, western and northern continents to symbolize respectively the mountain of jewels, the wish-granting tree, the wish-granting cow and the unsown harvest. We imagine that there are countless continents and sub-continents, each possessing their own special wealth of resources and riches.
We now put the second ring on top of the rice and place a heap of rice clockwise in each of the cardinal directions – east, south, west and north – to symbolize respectively the precious wheel, the precious jewel, the precious queen and the precious minister. We then place a heap of rice clockwise in each of the intermediate directions – south-east, south-west, north-west and north-east – to symbolize respectively the precious elephant, the precious supreme horse, the precious general and the great treasure vase. We imagine countless numbers of each of these filling all of space. Again we place heaps of rice clockwise in each of the four cardinal directions – east, south, west and north – to symbolize the goddess of beauty, the goddess of garlands, the goddess of song and the goddess of dance; and then clockwise in each of the four intermediate directions – south-east, south-west, north-west and north-east – to symbolize the goddess of flowers, the goddess of incense, the goddess of light and the goddess of scent. We imagine that there are countless offering gods and goddesses filling space.
We now put the third ring on top of the rice and place a heap of rice in the east for the sun, one in the west for the moon, one in the south for the precious umbrella, and one in the north for the banner of victory. We imagine that all of space is filled with innumerable precious objects.
As we place the top jewel, which is the last thing we place on the mandala, we imagine an abundance of other precious jewels and resources enjoyed by both humans and gods. In the space above Mount Meru are the environments of the desire realm gods and above these are the form realms. These god realms transform into Pure Lands and the enjoyments of the gods become pure enjoyments.
Having constructed the mandala, we take a little rice in our right hand and hold the base with both hands. We imagine that all the innumerable world systems and everything contained within them have completely transformed into Pure Lands and pure enjoyments. We imagine that all these are present on the base in our hands, and yet the base does not increase in size and the universe does not become smaller. Just as a mirror can reflect huge
