The Mandala Offering
Today we will continue on with the fourth step of the liturgy, which is the Mandala Offering. In Tantrayana, eight kinds of offerings are set up on the tantric shrine. Five offerings are generally used in Buddhism. Of course, there are many other kinds of offerings, such as Seven, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Seven, and Thirty-Seven Offerings, but we will concentrate here on the Five and Eight Offerings.
The Five Offerings are incense, flower, lamp, tea, and fruit, In the Eight Offerings there are, in addition to the five previously mentioned, powdered incense (which is the kind of incense that can be used for anointment), soapy water for bathing use, and a conch. These items, added to the Five Offerings, form the Eight Offerings.
Visualization
During the rite of offering, the Offering Mudra is formed [Grand Master demonstrates] and the Offering Mantra is changed to empower the offerings, "Om, sa-er-wa, da-ta-ga-da, ee-da-mook, gu-ru la-la, man-cha-la, kan, nee-lee-ye, da-ye-mee." While forming the Offering Mudra, one visualizes the offerings at the altar transforming first from one position to one whole row, then expanding to one field and, finally, filling up the whole Empty Space. This is as described in the offering verse that is often changed, "The Four Continents of Sumeru, sun, and moon, transform into precious treasures to offer to the Buddhas." After chanting the Offering Mantra, one then brings the Offering Mudra to the brow-point before releasing it.
Sometimes I am uncomfortable when people come up, in the presence of many others, to offer me the red envelopes [money offering] whether secretly or openly. Like yesterday, when I was sitting there, I waved my hands and told everyone that it was not necessary to make offerings to me. What I meant was that offerings are only required for empowerment. Since I did not give anyone an empowerment, I felt uneasy accepting offerings from everyone each time I gave a teaching. What I mean is, well, I don't really know what I mean. [audience laughter] In any case, I am embarrassed to take offerings in front of so many people without giving any empowerment. So perhaps, after today's session is over, I will see what kind of empowerment you would like to receive and we can have that done. This will be more meaningful, won't it?
The Meaning of Touching the Brow-Point
One might notice that, after I accept an offering, I bring it up to touch upon my brow-point. This resembles the motion when one brings the mudra to one's brow-point before releasing it. Does anyone know why? Some people suggest that this has to do with turning the offering over to the Buddhas, or transforming the offering through visualization into something else. In any case, some kind of turnover would be correct. [audience laughter] The monks and nuns, or masters here, have also had students make offerings to them, and they have also imitated the Grand Master in bringing the offerings to touch upon their brow-points, [audience laughter] as though checking if they have a fever or not. [audience laughter]
Actually, the real significance behind this act is: first, to honor and acknowledge the offering, since touching the brow-point signifies a kind of reverence; second, to emit from the brow-point the white, red, and blue lights to bless the person who makes the offering. This is performing purification, enhancement, magnetization, and subjugation for that person. In addition to the emitting of lights, when I lift the offering off my brow-point, I also visualize the offering or red envelope transforming into numbers of millions, to return the blessing to the person who makes the offering. Therefore one should not perform this motion arbitrarily, as all these meanings are implicit in it. [audience laughter] So, bring the offering to my brow-point is to indicate my reverence for it.
Therefore, when Kalu Rinpoche held up my photograph to touch upon his forehead, it meant: first, to show one's reverence; second, to emit lights from the brow-point onto the offering to perform purification, enhancement, magnetization, and subjugation for the donor; third, to visualize millions of red envelopes returning to the offerer. Remember this method of accepting offerings.
A Substantial Great Offering
The Great Offering we learn today consists of the empowerment of the offerings, with the Offering Mudra and Mantra, followed by the multiplication of the offerings by visualization before they are offered to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In traditional Tantra, there was a Substantial Offering which required one to go and buy many substantial articles to offer to the Buddhas. If one wants to repent, to pour out all the troubles from one's heart to beseech the Buddhas for blessings, one needs to make a substantial Great Offering in order to get results.
Because of this many students made the substantial Great Offering the first time they visited their gurus. They would bring along different fabrics which could be tailored into Dharma robes, ceremonial robes, and daily wear for the gurus; they would offer delicious foods, money, and all kind of resources as well. In Tibet, in the past, students offered yaks, sheep, and produce from the mountains to their gurus. For example, a student would bring twenty yaks for learning a major practice and two yaks for a minor practice. Such were the rules.
Here I don't have any such rules. [audience laughter] If I told you a major transmission would require twenty yaks, and, if you brought them to me, I wouldn't know where to keep them! [audience laughter]
In Tibet, yaks and sheep were the resources, whereas here at the Grand Master's, American dollars are the resources! [audience laughter]
There is, however, absolutely no rule here as to how much one should offer to the guru. This is because my guru told me, and I have passed down the rule, that students should make offerings as they please. If I fixed a set price for anything, I would be breaking the precepts given to me by my guru - the Taoist Master Ching Chen, who was also known as the Monk Liao Ming. He told me that, when the day came for me to go down the mountain and practice my skills in the world [audience laughter], I must bear in mind that I could not set a price for anything, be it a deliverance or blessing ceremony, the placing of name plaques or the lighting of lamps in the temples. It is a rule from my guru that people can pay me whatever they please for my help. I have always abided by this rule.
Therefore, I will comply with someone's wishes even though he only sends me two Malaysian dollars and requests the installment of a lamp at the lamp pagoda, a petition for guidance and protection at the shrine of the year's Planetary Ruler, a plaque for his deceased ancestors, and registration for the upcoming blessing and bardo deliverance ceremonies -- with whatever that is leftover from the two dollars to be used as an offering for the Grand Master. [audience uproar of laughter] Do you know that Master Lian Huo and Master Lian Shi who are seated here, have the plaques made in Taiwan and the cost of each plaque is twenty U.S. dollars? I know that two Malaysian dollars can be quite useful in Malaysia, as one bowl of noodles there costs only one dollar, so two dollars can purchase two meals. However, one needs to do a little computation and prevent the Lei Tsang Temple [Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple] from losing money. [audience laughter] This is extraneous talk [not really pertaining to the True Buddha Liturgy.]
The Infinite Merits of Great Offerings
Generally speaking, an offering that is made or transformed with devotion from one's heart is excellent. The idea behind a Great Offering is to set up a sumptuous feast as an offering to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that they will be moved to bestow blessings in return. For instance, in the past, when Tsongkhapa made a supplication to ask Bodhisattva Manjusri to teach him the Dharma, he had prepared a bountiful selection of the best and most expensive kinds of fabrics, flowers, and foods. In front of the image of the Bodhisattva, he set up a Great Offering to display and offer all his selections. During his Dharma practice, Bodhisattva Manjusri appeared to him at his shrine. According to Tsongkhapa's description, the kind of light emanating from Bodhisattva Manjusri resembled rainbow colored cotton fibers, which formed a huge and thickly dotted circle of light with Bodhisattva Manjusri in the middle. Tsongkhapa saw the Bodhisattva during his Dharma practice, and this is an excellent example of the phenomenon of spiritual response.
This example is an illustration of the effect of a Great Offering. Now it seems that, within our True Buddha School, one does not see too many examples of such Great Offerings; most people bring only one small item when they come to do group cultivation at 8 p.m. each Saturday. After each group cultivation at the Lei Tsang Temple, which has about the same number of participants as we have here today, I would notice people going to drink some Great Compassion Dharani Water [audience laughter] after the Master has finished energizing the water, but I usually would not see anyone make a Great Offering, or even offer a piece of cake or some cookies. The fruits on the tables had been there many days and were almost rotten. Most people brought along some fruit as offerings and, after worshiping, they would return home with most of their fruit, leaving a couple of smaller pieces behind. These, they say are for the staff at the Temple. [audience laughter] These fruits would remain for many days until almost rotten.
One must make offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas wholeheartedly. When one purchases the offerings with a devoted heart and displays all of them in front of the Buddhas, it is a Great Offering. When one generates a genuine pleasure in making the offerings, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will take a genuine pleasure in receiving them and will bestow blessings upon one. The practice of offerings is a necessary element and is found in many other religions. When one is making a special supplication for a certain wish to be granted, one must make a Great Offering. On the other hand, there is the Transformed Offering. Instead of making a Great Offering, most of the True Buddha School students today have learned to do the Transformed Offering by visualizing one small item multiplying into many. [audience laughter] Well, this is acceptable as, in our school, one must learn to perform this kind of visualization. As an example, one can transform a single apple into a row of apples, then further multiply them to form a whole field of apples, until the whole spiritual realm is filled with apples. There will be so many apples that their consumption will never be exhausted. This is a Tantric visualization. One may do this visualization and then chant the Offering Mantra to empower the offerings.
Basics [5]. More to come.....
Readers can write to asklotuschef@gmail.com for a .pdf or .doc copy of this book.
Om Guru Lian Sheng Siddhi Hom
Lama Lotuschef
Today we will continue on with the fourth step of the liturgy, which is the Mandala Offering. In Tantrayana, eight kinds of offerings are set up on the tantric shrine. Five offerings are generally used in Buddhism. Of course, there are many other kinds of offerings, such as Seven, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Seven, and Thirty-Seven Offerings, but we will concentrate here on the Five and Eight Offerings.
The Five Offerings are incense, flower, lamp, tea, and fruit, In the Eight Offerings there are, in addition to the five previously mentioned, powdered incense (which is the kind of incense that can be used for anointment), soapy water for bathing use, and a conch. These items, added to the Five Offerings, form the Eight Offerings.
Visualization
During the rite of offering, the Offering Mudra is formed [Grand Master demonstrates] and the Offering Mantra is changed to empower the offerings, "Om, sa-er-wa, da-ta-ga-da, ee-da-mook, gu-ru la-la, man-cha-la, kan, nee-lee-ye, da-ye-mee." While forming the Offering Mudra, one visualizes the offerings at the altar transforming first from one position to one whole row, then expanding to one field and, finally, filling up the whole Empty Space. This is as described in the offering verse that is often changed, "The Four Continents of Sumeru, sun, and moon, transform into precious treasures to offer to the Buddhas." After chanting the Offering Mantra, one then brings the Offering Mudra to the brow-point before releasing it.
Sometimes I am uncomfortable when people come up, in the presence of many others, to offer me the red envelopes [money offering] whether secretly or openly. Like yesterday, when I was sitting there, I waved my hands and told everyone that it was not necessary to make offerings to me. What I meant was that offerings are only required for empowerment. Since I did not give anyone an empowerment, I felt uneasy accepting offerings from everyone each time I gave a teaching. What I mean is, well, I don't really know what I mean. [audience laughter] In any case, I am embarrassed to take offerings in front of so many people without giving any empowerment. So perhaps, after today's session is over, I will see what kind of empowerment you would like to receive and we can have that done. This will be more meaningful, won't it?
The Meaning of Touching the Brow-Point
One might notice that, after I accept an offering, I bring it up to touch upon my brow-point. This resembles the motion when one brings the mudra to one's brow-point before releasing it. Does anyone know why? Some people suggest that this has to do with turning the offering over to the Buddhas, or transforming the offering through visualization into something else. In any case, some kind of turnover would be correct. [audience laughter] The monks and nuns, or masters here, have also had students make offerings to them, and they have also imitated the Grand Master in bringing the offerings to touch upon their brow-points, [audience laughter] as though checking if they have a fever or not. [audience laughter]
Actually, the real significance behind this act is: first, to honor and acknowledge the offering, since touching the brow-point signifies a kind of reverence; second, to emit from the brow-point the white, red, and blue lights to bless the person who makes the offering. This is performing purification, enhancement, magnetization, and subjugation for that person. In addition to the emitting of lights, when I lift the offering off my brow-point, I also visualize the offering or red envelope transforming into numbers of millions, to return the blessing to the person who makes the offering. Therefore one should not perform this motion arbitrarily, as all these meanings are implicit in it. [audience laughter] So, bring the offering to my brow-point is to indicate my reverence for it.
Therefore, when Kalu Rinpoche held up my photograph to touch upon his forehead, it meant: first, to show one's reverence; second, to emit lights from the brow-point onto the offering to perform purification, enhancement, magnetization, and subjugation for the donor; third, to visualize millions of red envelopes returning to the offerer. Remember this method of accepting offerings.
A Substantial Great Offering
The Great Offering we learn today consists of the empowerment of the offerings, with the Offering Mudra and Mantra, followed by the multiplication of the offerings by visualization before they are offered to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In traditional Tantra, there was a Substantial Offering which required one to go and buy many substantial articles to offer to the Buddhas. If one wants to repent, to pour out all the troubles from one's heart to beseech the Buddhas for blessings, one needs to make a substantial Great Offering in order to get results.
Because of this many students made the substantial Great Offering the first time they visited their gurus. They would bring along different fabrics which could be tailored into Dharma robes, ceremonial robes, and daily wear for the gurus; they would offer delicious foods, money, and all kind of resources as well. In Tibet, in the past, students offered yaks, sheep, and produce from the mountains to their gurus. For example, a student would bring twenty yaks for learning a major practice and two yaks for a minor practice. Such were the rules.
Here I don't have any such rules. [audience laughter] If I told you a major transmission would require twenty yaks, and, if you brought them to me, I wouldn't know where to keep them! [audience laughter]
In Tibet, yaks and sheep were the resources, whereas here at the Grand Master's, American dollars are the resources! [audience laughter]
There is, however, absolutely no rule here as to how much one should offer to the guru. This is because my guru told me, and I have passed down the rule, that students should make offerings as they please. If I fixed a set price for anything, I would be breaking the precepts given to me by my guru - the Taoist Master Ching Chen, who was also known as the Monk Liao Ming. He told me that, when the day came for me to go down the mountain and practice my skills in the world [audience laughter], I must bear in mind that I could not set a price for anything, be it a deliverance or blessing ceremony, the placing of name plaques or the lighting of lamps in the temples. It is a rule from my guru that people can pay me whatever they please for my help. I have always abided by this rule.
Therefore, I will comply with someone's wishes even though he only sends me two Malaysian dollars and requests the installment of a lamp at the lamp pagoda, a petition for guidance and protection at the shrine of the year's Planetary Ruler, a plaque for his deceased ancestors, and registration for the upcoming blessing and bardo deliverance ceremonies -- with whatever that is leftover from the two dollars to be used as an offering for the Grand Master. [audience uproar of laughter] Do you know that Master Lian Huo and Master Lian Shi who are seated here, have the plaques made in Taiwan and the cost of each plaque is twenty U.S. dollars? I know that two Malaysian dollars can be quite useful in Malaysia, as one bowl of noodles there costs only one dollar, so two dollars can purchase two meals. However, one needs to do a little computation and prevent the Lei Tsang Temple [Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple] from losing money. [audience laughter] This is extraneous talk [not really pertaining to the True Buddha Liturgy.]
The Infinite Merits of Great Offerings
Generally speaking, an offering that is made or transformed with devotion from one's heart is excellent. The idea behind a Great Offering is to set up a sumptuous feast as an offering to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that they will be moved to bestow blessings in return. For instance, in the past, when Tsongkhapa made a supplication to ask Bodhisattva Manjusri to teach him the Dharma, he had prepared a bountiful selection of the best and most expensive kinds of fabrics, flowers, and foods. In front of the image of the Bodhisattva, he set up a Great Offering to display and offer all his selections. During his Dharma practice, Bodhisattva Manjusri appeared to him at his shrine. According to Tsongkhapa's description, the kind of light emanating from Bodhisattva Manjusri resembled rainbow colored cotton fibers, which formed a huge and thickly dotted circle of light with Bodhisattva Manjusri in the middle. Tsongkhapa saw the Bodhisattva during his Dharma practice, and this is an excellent example of the phenomenon of spiritual response.
This example is an illustration of the effect of a Great Offering. Now it seems that, within our True Buddha School, one does not see too many examples of such Great Offerings; most people bring only one small item when they come to do group cultivation at 8 p.m. each Saturday. After each group cultivation at the Lei Tsang Temple, which has about the same number of participants as we have here today, I would notice people going to drink some Great Compassion Dharani Water [audience laughter] after the Master has finished energizing the water, but I usually would not see anyone make a Great Offering, or even offer a piece of cake or some cookies. The fruits on the tables had been there many days and were almost rotten. Most people brought along some fruit as offerings and, after worshiping, they would return home with most of their fruit, leaving a couple of smaller pieces behind. These, they say are for the staff at the Temple. [audience laughter] These fruits would remain for many days until almost rotten.
One must make offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas wholeheartedly. When one purchases the offerings with a devoted heart and displays all of them in front of the Buddhas, it is a Great Offering. When one generates a genuine pleasure in making the offerings, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will take a genuine pleasure in receiving them and will bestow blessings upon one. The practice of offerings is a necessary element and is found in many other religions. When one is making a special supplication for a certain wish to be granted, one must make a Great Offering. On the other hand, there is the Transformed Offering. Instead of making a Great Offering, most of the True Buddha School students today have learned to do the Transformed Offering by visualizing one small item multiplying into many. [audience laughter] Well, this is acceptable as, in our school, one must learn to perform this kind of visualization. As an example, one can transform a single apple into a row of apples, then further multiply them to form a whole field of apples, until the whole spiritual realm is filled with apples. There will be so many apples that their consumption will never be exhausted. This is a Tantric visualization. One may do this visualization and then chant the Offering Mantra to empower the offerings.
Basics [5]. More to come.....
Readers can write to asklotuschef@gmail.com for a .pdf or .doc copy of this book.
Om Guru Lian Sheng Siddhi Hom
Lama Lotuschef
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