Offering the Mandala

Offering the mandala based on pure perception.

For the quality of the mandala plate, there are three qualities. The best quality mandala is made of gold and silver. The middling quality mandala is made of copper or bronze. The lowest quality mandala is made of wood or earth. These are the three qualities of the mandala base plate.

The shape of the mandala base and rings should be the proper shape. 

The mandala represents the universe. The mandala has a base, and then four rings of shrinking sizes and levels which represent the shape of the universe. The shape and size of these are important to represent the universe. 

It should have decorations.

The mandala rings often have the eight precious symbols and seven jewels on them. 

The first step is to clean the mandala base. When you clean the mandala imagine that yours and all sentient beings' habitual tendencies and obscurations are purified. 

How to clean the mandala:

Hold the base in your left hand and using your right wrist/forearm to clean the mandala in a counterclockwise circle three times, then in a clockwise direction three times, and then finally rubbing outward three times.

While doing so recite the mantra: OM! NA MA, A KAR, SHAK, SA LÉ, SANG NGÉ, SO HA.

The first three cleanings, feel that the your own and all sentient beings’ habitual tendencies and obscurations of the past are purified. When you do the second three cleanings in the opposite direction, feel that your own and all sentient beings’ habitual tendencies and obscurations of the future are purified. When you do the third three cleanings in the outward direction, feel that your own and all sentient beings’ habitual tendencies and obscurations of the present are purified.

Keep the mandala in your hand and place the first level ring on the base plate. Then recite the mantra: DRUM, RI TI, GAR MA. LA HO. At that time, take some rice or grain and put it in the center of the mandala.

After that recite the mantra: A, YAM, RAM, MAM, KHAM, BRAM, SHAK, SA LÉ, SANG NGÉ, SO HA as you place offerings around the mandala starting at the front towards you in a counterclockwise circle in the four cardinal directions – East, North, West, and South. Then again in the diagonal directions between them in a counterclockwise direction four times – Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast.

After that recite the mantra: CHӦ PHUR, SA LÉ, HA LO SENG as you make seventeen piles in a clockwise circle around the mandala. 

Then place the second ring on top, and continue the same way. Then place the third ring on top, and continue the same way. Then place the ornate top on the top of the mandala.

When putting the offering on the mandala, take care to make them beautiful and proper. If you do not, you can get negative effects. If you make beautiful offerings, you will gain positive effects.

Don’t make a sloppy offering, but through respect and mindfulness, offer it evenly and beautifully.

The Visualization:

Visualize in the sky in front of you an eight lion throne. On the throne is a sun cushion. On the sun cushion is a moon cushion. On this moon cushion is a lotus flower. On this, visualize your root lama in the form of Shenla Okar. In front of your root lama, visualize the inner and outer yidam deities, the Buddhas of the ten directions, Rigdzin awareness holders, and Yungdrung Senpas (Bodhisattvas), and the lineage lamas of the sutra, tantra, and dzogchen. Around them are the khandromas, and protectors – both wisdom protectors and worldly protectors. All are gathered like clouds in the sky in front and around your root lama. 

Behind your root lama is the representation of the Enlightened body, speech, and mind. The representation of the Enlightened body is the statue of the Buddha. The representation of the Enlightened speech is the scriptures of the Buddha’s teachings. The representation of the Enlightened mind is the stupa. You can visualize many of these statues, scriptures and stupas vividly existing in the 10 directions.

Generating the Mandala

Visualizing your mandala:

The best way to visualize the mandala is as big as space/sky. The middling way to visualize the mandala is the size of the 3,000 fold universe. For the lowest way, visualize one world system with Mount Meru, seven golden mountains, seven oceans, and four continents, etc.

Normally, we count the world with Mount Meru, the seven golden mountains, seven oceans, and four continents, eight sub-continents, and iron mountain boundary as one single world. The 3,000 fold universe is each of these world systems three thousand times. Just imagine it as big as you can.

When you visualize your mandala what is it made of? The ground is pure immaculate golden ground. On that, Mount Meru, seven golden mountains, four continents, and eight subcontinents, and an iron mountain surrounding it all. 

One Universe with Mount Meru in the Center

Mount Meru:  Sits in the center of the universe, surrounded by seven golden mountains, and seven lakes. Four continents rest in each of the four directions. Besides each continent are two subcontinents of the same shape. All of these together make up a single universe.

Four Continents:

1. East Continent of Superior Body, white, half moon shaped, and vase full of treasure is the precious symbol.

2. Northern Continent of Unpleasant Sound, green, square shaped, and tree giving fruit that provides all with perfect nourishment is the precious symbol.

3. Western Continent of Utilizing Cattle, red, circle shape, the cow that provides endless milk that fulfills endless wishes is the precious symbol.

4. Southern Continent of Rose Apple (where we are living now), blue, human shoulder blade shaped, a jewel is the precious symbol.

Each of these continents have two small sub-continents to the left and right.

Eight sub-continents:

1. Right and left of the East Continent: “long body” and “short body” in Zhang Zhung language

2. Right and left of the North Continent: Jockte and Jopte

3. Right and left of the West Continent: Marshi and Tingshi 

4. Right and left of the South Continent: Carlo and Tenjo

Seven Golden Mountains: 

The mountains are in a square pattern. Mountain, and lake, mountain, and lake extending outward seven times in a square pattern around mount Meru.

Surrounding Iron Mountain:

The last mountain that forms the perimeter of the universe. 

The Gods live above, the nagas below, the humans in between.

When you visualize your mandala with Mount Meru, within Mount Meru visualize eight offerings: beautiful forms, melodic sounds, fragrant smells, delicious taste, soft touch, supreme teachings, elegant dance, and precious mineral water. As well as the seven precious jewels: precious wheel, precious jewel, precious queen, precious minister, precious horse, precious elephant, and precious general. As well the pleasure of the five senses: butter lamp, flower, incense, pure food grain, and clean water.

Visualize your mandala as the perfect enjoyment and wealth of gods and humans. Imagine your mandala is filled with inconceivable clouds of offerings.

Then imagine that you manifest into hundreds of millions versions of you as gods and goddesses each leading countless sentient beings. Each presents offerings to individuals according to their wishes. Unique offerings are made for each individual’s needs.

This offering is made without desire or attachment. Pray that through this offering extraordinary experiences and the realization of the great vehicle arise in my mind stream.

Then you can recite the Mandala Offering prayer. 

མཎྜལ་མཆོད་པ།

The Mandala Offering Prayer

ཨཱོྃ་ན་མ་ཨ་དཀར་གཤའ་ཡ་ནི་ཤག་སལེ་སང་ངེ་སྭཱཧཱ།

OM! NA MA, A KAR, SHAK, SA LÉ, SANG NGÉ, SO HA.

བྲུཾ་རི་ཏི་གར་མ་ལ་ཧོ།

DRUM, RI TI, GAR MA. LA HO,

ཨ་ཡཾ་རཾ་མཾ་ཁཾ་བྲུཾ་ཤག་སལེ་སང་ངེ་སྭཱཧཱ།

A, YAM, RAM, MAM, KHAM, BRAM,

SHAK, SA LÉ, SANG NGÉ, SO HA.

ཕྱོད་ཕུར་སལེ་ཧ་ལོ་སེང་།

CHӦ PHUR, SA LÉ, HA LO SENG

Amazing! In the wondrous, marvelous infinite pure realms,

Beautiful, radiant jewels perfectly piled,

Mount Meru, seven mountains, the surrounding oceans, continents and so on,

The wish-fulfilling tree, sun, moon, wish-fulfilling jewel,

The eight auspicious symbols, seven precious jewels,

Butter lamps, flowers, water, incense, divine food,

Gold, turquoise, copper, iron, crystal, pearls,

Three whites and three sweets, pleasing food, crops, grain essence,

Clothes offerings, silk banners, and delightful offering objects,

Beautiful forms, melodious sounds, subtle fragrances,

The most delicious tastes, soft and comfortable materials,

All my wealth and that which is seen and heard, all arranged,

Mentally emanated and imagined,

Life-force, body, ornaments, enjoyments, power, and so on,

All these offerings of the world fill the sky,

Are offered to the Lama, Buddhas, Sempas, and the teachings,

Please accept them for the benefit of myself and all beings,

May you always consider us and look upon us with compassion.

May experience, realization, faith, the ultimate accomplishment,

And self-knowing Rigpa Primordial Wisdom arise.

I pray that the Buddhas and followers, the roots and branches of the teachings,

May they endure and abide continuously,

May I accumulate, accomplish, encourage, and generate virtue.

I rejoice in all accumulations of merit.

The Buddha’s teachings which are magical jewels of instruction,

May they flourish and spread in all ten directions.

In all future lifetimes, may I possess the conduct of the Sempas.

May I become a great guide of virtue.

Ultimately, may I quickly become a protector, refuge, hope,

And great savior of all.

With the skillful means and compassion of wisdom and love,

May I work tirelessly for the benefit of beings.

Whatever virtue arises from this,

I dedicate it to attaining the Bönku Body of Reality,

May we swiftly attain the true, supreme result!

ཨཱོྃ་ཨ་ད་ད་དེ་དེ་ཕྱོད་ཕྱོད་ས་ལེ་ཧ་ལོ་སེང་། །

OM A DA DA DE DÉ CHÖ CHÖ SA LÉ HA LO SENG

When taking down the mandala, do so slowly, one level at a time, removing the rice in a clockwise circle. As you do recite the mantra: OM A DA DA DE DÉ CHÖ CHÖ SA LÉ HA LO SENG. Then recite a dedication prayer to end.

Daily Practice

In the morning and evening, visualize your body as the pure realm of the mandala. When your body transforms into the mandala, the eight consciousnesses are transformed into uncountable gods and goddesses whose actions are an offering to all beings. Using the same visualization as previously described.

You can do this daily practice throughout the day when you may not have the time, or have the materials to do a full mandala with offering plates. Then you can just recite the mandala prayer above. 

This completes the teachings of the virtue of mandala offering.