Solving the Problems of Visualization
Many people have said to me, "Grand Master, I have spent a long time trying to learn visualization, but I still have trouble with it." One should be able to visualize a clear, sunny, cloudless sky, shouldn't one? One can visualize an ocean, can't one? Between the ocean and sky is the moon and one should be able to visualize that. One shouldn't have too much difficulty with just the one seed syllable "hri." The emergence of Amitabha from the moon also can be very clear!
One should often look at the image of Amitabha and study his features. His ears are huge and long, the eyebrows are crescent shaped, the eyes ocean-like, the nose mountain-like, the lips are very majestic, his face full and perfect with a crown protrusion on top of his head. The facial appearance and body are very majestic and proper. He is wearing layers of celestial garments and holding a lotus in his hand. His toes and his lotus throne can also be visualized clearly and in great detail. Very majestic! I can clearly visualize his majestic image at this very moment.
A student still insisted, "I just can't do it." "What is the problem then?" I asked. He said, "Every time I visualize the blue moon disc, it becomes black. I just can't seem to visualize the color blue." "Are you color-blind?" I inquired, and he said no. I then told him, "In that case, look more often at the color blue, study it carefully and commit it to memory. There definitely will come a day when you can see it with your mind's eye."
He said, "I can't write the Sanskrit syllable either." I told him, "Books of Sanskrit syllables are available, and one can purchase a copy and study the particular syllable which one has to learn. One can trace the syllable once, twice, thrice, four times, or even thousands or tens of thousands of times. Eventually one will be able to write and visualize the syllable very well." He followed my advice and was able to visualize the syllable successfully.
"But there is another problem with the visualization of the Personal Deity!" he continued. What then, was this problem? It turned out that his Personal Deity always appeared leaning to one side. I told this student, "Focus your mind to bring the Deity back to standing upright." But he said he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, he said his Personal Deity still appeared lopsided. I wondered if this student's mind was perhaps lopsided and, as a result, all his visualizations were lopsided. But, there is even a remedy for this.
In the past when I was a land surveyor, I used a plumb line, a ball attached to the end of a piece of string, to determine if a certain pillar or bamboo pole was vertical or not. If it was not vertical, then the pillar or pole would be slowly adjusted, with the help of the plumb line, until it was truly vertical. The basketball pole we have here at the Rainbow Villa was set up by me using a piece of string attached to a piece of rock, since I did not have a professional plumb line with me. It was perfectly vertical when it was finished. Of course, since it has been very windy these last several days, the basketball pole might be lopsided now!
Another student had a different problem: each time he visualized the Amitabha, he would get a side view instead of a front view of the Buddha. It was strange; the Buddha turned to one side as soon as He appeared. Amitabha did not want to pay attention to him. Does this kind of phenomenon exist? It does. What should one do? Just use a "mental eraser" to erase it, then start a new picture.
Someone related such a problem to me, and I told him to do a new visualization to adjust the Buddha
back to the frontal view. Or one could try blowing air with one's mouth [Grand Master demonstrates to audience laughter] to move the Buddha back to the frontal view. I don't believe that He would always remain sideways.
I have given the following true example before. One student emulated the Grand Master in performing the Food Transformation Offering. He chanted the name of Garuda while visualizing the appearance of a great golden winged bird. It was an immense bird that flew out of the spiritual realm. "The Great Garuda" and "Ghosts and Spirits of the Wilderness" were the objects of his food offering. He could visualize the golden bird very well, but the trouble was he would then visualize an arrow
being shot at the bird. [audience laughter]
One has to know that this arrow of his was also huge and it would always hit the bird and thump the bird would fall. [audience laughter] Flustered and exasperated, he came to me saying, "Grand Master, I can't do this practice." I asked him for an explanation. He said, "Every time I visualize the Garuda, a wicked thought arises and a golden arrow is shot from one side and kills the bird." This was quite a problem! [audience laughter]
This particular student had a great deal of negative karmic force and in his mind were seeds of wickedness. The good karmic force (affinity with the Buddhadharma and cultivation) and the wicked karmic force were intertwined. Everytime he did the proper visualization, the improper would also appear.
This student would look at the guru's porcelain statue, whose eyes are actually very solemn and dignified, and instead find lust in the guru's eyes. [audience laughter] He then complained that he could not do the cultivation because the guru's eyes turned lustful all the time. Heavens! When have I ever acted like that? [audience laughter] But that was what he thought happened to him and what he told me. It was due to heavy karmic hindrances.
This kind of negative mental projection blocks spiritual development on the path of cultivation. The only way to destroy such an obstacle is to cultivate noble and correct thoughts. One's mind and heart have to open up. One should often visit places with mountains and water, to look at nature —mountains, oceans, sky, earth, sun, moon, and stars. When an open and infinite mind is generated and cultivated, no improper thoughts will arise during visualization. One's thoughts will automatically become very pure, and the Amitabha visualized will be very dignified and majestic. He will bless the practitioner by radiating the three lights (white, red, and blue), which will merge into one's physical and spiritual being.
In the past, I have mentioned that the ritual implements held by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas also can radiate spiritual light to shine upon and empower one. From the lotus throne of a given deity, a white light can travel in an arc to empower one. Sometimes, as in the case of the Cundi Bodhisattva, all eighteen hand-held implements can emit light to empower one. What can one do to improve the clarity of one's visualizations? One has to look often at the objects which one needs to visualize. One may even paint a mandala. One may paint a full moon, ocean, seed syllable and, in front of the syllable, Amitabha. When one takes time and mentally paints the eyes, eyebrows, nose, ears, face, crown protrusion, arms, legs,
robes, skirts, and majestic adornments, then, over time, the image will be impressed upon one's mind. One's visualization will then be very clear.
One has to know that, when the Tibetan lamas paint the mandalas, they do so with deep inner concentration, so that their minds become identified with the Buddhas. When one visualizes the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, one is doing the same task of linking and identifying one's mind with the Buddhas.
One is painting with consciousness! At such a moment, one is painting one's mind! When one's mind is pure, the visualization will be very sharp and clear. If one's mind is impure, of course the visualization will be tainted and unfocused; even unwholesome thoughts will manifest themselves in one's visualization.
Basics [16]. 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
Many people have said to me, "Grand Master, I have spent a long time trying to learn visualization, but I still have trouble with it." One should be able to visualize a clear, sunny, cloudless sky, shouldn't one? One can visualize an ocean, can't one? Between the ocean and sky is the moon and one should be able to visualize that. One shouldn't have too much difficulty with just the one seed syllable "hri." The emergence of Amitabha from the moon also can be very clear!
One should often look at the image of Amitabha and study his features. His ears are huge and long, the eyebrows are crescent shaped, the eyes ocean-like, the nose mountain-like, the lips are very majestic, his face full and perfect with a crown protrusion on top of his head. The facial appearance and body are very majestic and proper. He is wearing layers of celestial garments and holding a lotus in his hand. His toes and his lotus throne can also be visualized clearly and in great detail. Very majestic! I can clearly visualize his majestic image at this very moment.
A student still insisted, "I just can't do it." "What is the problem then?" I asked. He said, "Every time I visualize the blue moon disc, it becomes black. I just can't seem to visualize the color blue." "Are you color-blind?" I inquired, and he said no. I then told him, "In that case, look more often at the color blue, study it carefully and commit it to memory. There definitely will come a day when you can see it with your mind's eye."
He said, "I can't write the Sanskrit syllable either." I told him, "Books of Sanskrit syllables are available, and one can purchase a copy and study the particular syllable which one has to learn. One can trace the syllable once, twice, thrice, four times, or even thousands or tens of thousands of times. Eventually one will be able to write and visualize the syllable very well." He followed my advice and was able to visualize the syllable successfully.
"But there is another problem with the visualization of the Personal Deity!" he continued. What then, was this problem? It turned out that his Personal Deity always appeared leaning to one side. I told this student, "Focus your mind to bring the Deity back to standing upright." But he said he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, he said his Personal Deity still appeared lopsided. I wondered if this student's mind was perhaps lopsided and, as a result, all his visualizations were lopsided. But, there is even a remedy for this.
In the past when I was a land surveyor, I used a plumb line, a ball attached to the end of a piece of string, to determine if a certain pillar or bamboo pole was vertical or not. If it was not vertical, then the pillar or pole would be slowly adjusted, with the help of the plumb line, until it was truly vertical. The basketball pole we have here at the Rainbow Villa was set up by me using a piece of string attached to a piece of rock, since I did not have a professional plumb line with me. It was perfectly vertical when it was finished. Of course, since it has been very windy these last several days, the basketball pole might be lopsided now!
Another student had a different problem: each time he visualized the Amitabha, he would get a side view instead of a front view of the Buddha. It was strange; the Buddha turned to one side as soon as He appeared. Amitabha did not want to pay attention to him. Does this kind of phenomenon exist? It does. What should one do? Just use a "mental eraser" to erase it, then start a new picture.
Someone related such a problem to me, and I told him to do a new visualization to adjust the Buddha
back to the frontal view. Or one could try blowing air with one's mouth [Grand Master demonstrates to audience laughter] to move the Buddha back to the frontal view. I don't believe that He would always remain sideways.
I have given the following true example before. One student emulated the Grand Master in performing the Food Transformation Offering. He chanted the name of Garuda while visualizing the appearance of a great golden winged bird. It was an immense bird that flew out of the spiritual realm. "The Great Garuda" and "Ghosts and Spirits of the Wilderness" were the objects of his food offering. He could visualize the golden bird very well, but the trouble was he would then visualize an arrow
being shot at the bird. [audience laughter]
One has to know that this arrow of his was also huge and it would always hit the bird and thump the bird would fall. [audience laughter] Flustered and exasperated, he came to me saying, "Grand Master, I can't do this practice." I asked him for an explanation. He said, "Every time I visualize the Garuda, a wicked thought arises and a golden arrow is shot from one side and kills the bird." This was quite a problem! [audience laughter]
This particular student had a great deal of negative karmic force and in his mind were seeds of wickedness. The good karmic force (affinity with the Buddhadharma and cultivation) and the wicked karmic force were intertwined. Everytime he did the proper visualization, the improper would also appear.
This student would look at the guru's porcelain statue, whose eyes are actually very solemn and dignified, and instead find lust in the guru's eyes. [audience laughter] He then complained that he could not do the cultivation because the guru's eyes turned lustful all the time. Heavens! When have I ever acted like that? [audience laughter] But that was what he thought happened to him and what he told me. It was due to heavy karmic hindrances.
This kind of negative mental projection blocks spiritual development on the path of cultivation. The only way to destroy such an obstacle is to cultivate noble and correct thoughts. One's mind and heart have to open up. One should often visit places with mountains and water, to look at nature —mountains, oceans, sky, earth, sun, moon, and stars. When an open and infinite mind is generated and cultivated, no improper thoughts will arise during visualization. One's thoughts will automatically become very pure, and the Amitabha visualized will be very dignified and majestic. He will bless the practitioner by radiating the three lights (white, red, and blue), which will merge into one's physical and spiritual being.
In the past, I have mentioned that the ritual implements held by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas also can radiate spiritual light to shine upon and empower one. From the lotus throne of a given deity, a white light can travel in an arc to empower one. Sometimes, as in the case of the Cundi Bodhisattva, all eighteen hand-held implements can emit light to empower one. What can one do to improve the clarity of one's visualizations? One has to look often at the objects which one needs to visualize. One may even paint a mandala. One may paint a full moon, ocean, seed syllable and, in front of the syllable, Amitabha. When one takes time and mentally paints the eyes, eyebrows, nose, ears, face, crown protrusion, arms, legs,
robes, skirts, and majestic adornments, then, over time, the image will be impressed upon one's mind. One's visualization will then be very clear.
One has to know that, when the Tibetan lamas paint the mandalas, they do so with deep inner concentration, so that their minds become identified with the Buddhas. When one visualizes the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, one is doing the same task of linking and identifying one's mind with the Buddhas.
One is painting with consciousness! At such a moment, one is painting one's mind! When one's mind is pure, the visualization will be very sharp and clear. If one's mind is impure, of course the visualization will be tainted and unfocused; even unwholesome thoughts will manifest themselves in one's visualization.
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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