to set up a shrine with representations of Buddha’s body, speech and mind. A shrine provides a focus for our faith, serving as a continual reminder of the Buddhas, through whose kindness living beings have the opportunity to attain permanent inner peace and the supreme happiness of enlightenment.
In the center of our shrine, to represent Buddha’s body, we place a picture or statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, and of any other holy beings who have a special connection with our daily practice. On the left side of the shrine, to represent Buddha’s speech, we can place a Dharma book; and on the right side of the shrine, to represent Buddha’s mind, we can place a stupa.
When we go for refuge to the Three Jewels, we make commitments to regard all images of Buddha as actual Buddhas and all Dharma books as actual Dharma Jewels. It is therefore very important to treat Buddha images and Dharma books with respect. We should arrange them beautifully in a place that is clean and elevated, and not put them down casually like a cup of tea. Dharma books are a principal means for dispelling our ignorance, the source of all our problems, but if we treat such books with disrespect it only causes our ignorance to increase. We should therefore not leave Dharma books on the floor, step over them or mix them with ordinary books or magazines.
One of the best methods to increase our faith in the Buddhas and to receive their blessings is to gaze at an image of a Buddha again and again, regarding it as an actual Buddha who is supremely kind to all living beings. When we see a Buddha statue, for example, instead of thinking of it as an object made of metal or stone, or focusing on its artistic faults or merits, we should feel that we are in the presence of a real living Buddha and develop deep faith. By viewing images of Buddhas in this way, it is as if we are opening a window in our mind through which the blessings of the holy beings can enter. This special way of viewing Buddha images is based on wisdom, not ignorance, and serves to increase our faith and receive blessings.
The representations of Buddha’s body, speech and mind are so blessed that, even if we have no faith, just seeing them blesses our mind. There was once a man called Shri Datta, who had committed many extremely negative actions such as trying to poison Buddha. Many years later, when he was an old man, Shri Datta became interested in Dharma and requested Buddha to grant him ordination. It is said that to receive ordination we need at least some small virtuous potentiality that is a cause of liberation; but when clairvoyant disciples of Buddha examined Shri Datta they were unable to find a single such potentiality, and so they declared him unfit for ordination. However, these disciples could not see the subtle karmic potentialities that are seen only by enlightened beings. When Buddha looked into Shri Datta’s dark mind he saw a tiny potentiality for virtue, and he told his disciples, “Many eons ago Shri Datta was a fly who landed on some horse dung near the stupa of a Buddha. It was raining heavily and the water carried the dung, together with the fly, around the stupa. Although the fly had no intention of circumambulating the stupa, it nevertheless received Buddha’s blessings just by seeing the stupa, and this left on its mind a virtuous potentiality to attain liberation.” Buddha then granted the ordination. As a result, Shri Datta’s positive potentiality increased and he attained liberation in that lifetime.
In the Lamrim teachings it says that just seeing an image of a Buddha places a potentiality on the mind that is a definite cause of enlightenment, and which nothing can destroy. This potentiality is likened to a tiny wisdom nectar pill that is swallowed and passes through our body intact, uncorrupted by all bodily impurities. Because Buddha is a completely pure object wholly beyond samsara, the imprint of seeing a Buddha image has a special quality that does not belong to samsara, and even if it is placed in a mind filled with delusions it can never be corrupted or destroyed. This imprint or potentiality is also compared to a spark with the power to ignite a fire that in time consumes a haystack the size of the world. We have seen how, due to the imprint of seeing a stupa, Shri Datta was able to generate the wish to enter the path to liberation, and by practicing Dharma, burn away all the delusions in his mind.
From these examples we can understand how seeing images of Buddha has the same function as seeing actual living Buddhas. In a similar way, making offerings and prostrations in front of Buddha images has the same function as making offerings and prostrations in front of living Buddhas, and accumulates the same amount of merit. This is why it is considered so important to have a large and beautiful statue of Buddha in Buddhist temples, because then anyone who visits the temple and sees the statue is creating the cause to attain liberation and enlightenment.
ARRANGING BEAUTIFUL OFFERINGS
In front of the images of Buddha on the shrine we can arrange beautiful offerings such as flowers, incense, light and food, as well as bowls of water, regarding the water as pure nectar. We can also imagine that all the objects of enjoyment of humans and gods, such as gardens, palaces, mountains and lakes, are transformed into pure and precious offerings to the Buddhas.
The purpose of making offerings is not because the Buddhas need anything from us, but for the effect it has on our own mind. There are many people who place beautiful flowers on the graves of their loved ones, and even though the dead person is not there and cannot benefit from their offerings we cannot say that these actions are meaningless. How much more meaningful it is then, to arrange beautiful offerings with a mind of faith in front of Buddha images, because the Buddhas are actually present and can take delight in our offerings.
Having attained omniscient wisdom, a Buddha knows when we are making offerings to him or her. Moreover, a Buddha’s body and mind are the same nature, and wherever his mind exists so does his body. Our mind and body are different natures, and while our mind is not obstructed by physical obstacles, our body is. Our mind can easily roam the universe, but our body has to remain on the ground. A Buddha’s body, on the other hand, is no more obstructed by matter than his or her mind, and can travel just as freely. Because a Buddha’s mind is mixed with the ultimate nature of all phenomena and is free from the obstructions to omniscience, it pervades all phenomena; and because his body and mind are the same nature, his body is also all-pervasive. From this we can understand that Buddhas are present everywhere and that there is no place where Buddha does not exist. Buddhas are like the sun and our ignorance is like the clouds that obscure the sun. When clouds disperse we see that in reality the sun has been shining all along, and in a similar way, when we remove the clouds of ignorance from our mind we will see that the Buddhas have always been present all around us.
SITTING IN THE CORRECT MEDITATION POSTURE, GOING FOR REFUGE AND GENERATING BODHICHITTA
Sitting in the correct meditation posture
Although meditation is an action of mind, rather than of body or speech, as our mind and body are closely related it is important to sit in a correct posture when we engage in meditation because this will help us to maintain a clear and concentrated mind. If we are sitting on a cushion we should try to sit cross-legged, ideally in the vajra posture with each foot resting on the opposite thigh, but if this is too difficult we should sit in a posture as close to this as possible while remaining comfortable. If we are sitting on a chair we should have our feet resting on the floor. Our back should be straight, and the right hand should be placed on the left hand with the palms facing upward and the tips of the thumbs slightly raised and just touching at the level of the navel. The mouth should be gently closed, with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth. The head should be inclined slightly forward, the eyes slightly open and the shoulders level. We should try to adopt this posture during formal meditation sessions, but in general we can meditate in any position and at any time—while we are resting, eating, cleaning and so forth.
Once we are in the correct meditation posture we should try to calm our mind, because with a busy and distracted mind neither our preparatory practices nor our actual meditations on training the mind will be successful. To dispel our distractions we can engage in the following simple breathing meditation. As we exhale we imagine that we are breathing out all our distracting thoughts in the form of dark smoke, which disappears into space; and as we inhale we imagine that we are breathing in the blessings of all the Buddhas in the aspect of
