How to do Mandala Practice

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. mandala plate (polish as needed)

2. 3 cups white rice, with optional jewels & tiny shells added placed inside:

3. Square yard of cloth, yellow if possible or a long and large apron.

4. small container of saffron water 5. reserve jar of rice

6. small plate or container for old rice

THE PROCEDURE:

1. Wash hands before you begin your session.

2. If you are doing only one session per day, chant from your Ngondro text pages 6 through the end of page 21, pausing briefly to contemplate the Four Thoughts, reciting the refuge prayer 3 or 7 times, and reciting the Dorje Sempa long and short mantras 3 or 7 times each.

(If you are doing a second session in the same day, please see note A at the end of this section.)

3. Begin chanting on page 22 of your Ngondro text dün ji nam/In the sky… to page 23 end of the first line … zhuk pay drung/I make this offering.

4. Pick up the mandala in the left hand. Scoop up a handful of rice in the right hand and make a fist. Using the pulse point of the right wrist, clean the mandala plate as you recite Dorje Sempa’s 100-syllable mantra om bedzra sato… going clockwise.

At sarwa siddhi change direction and wipe counterclockwise. At the end of the mantra, put the rice down on the cloth.

5. Dip the ring finger of the right hand in saffron water. As you recite om benza bhumi ah hung [page 24] sprinkle a little water onto the mandala plate and then press the fingertip in a wide circle clockwise. This represents the moisture of bodhicitta. As soon as it touches the plate, the mandala becomes a wide and spacious golden ground with plains and ocean.

6. At om benza reke ah hung drop rice along the mandala rim going counterclockwise to represent the ring of iron mountains.

7. At ü su ri yi/in the center… place a pile of rice in the center of the mandala plate for Mount Meru (Pile #1).

8. At each successive phrase, place a pile of rice, as per the diagram.

9. At the end of the 37-point mandala [page 26, middle of 1st line] hold up mandala as you chant Lama yidam sang jay/Having arranged these… to … du zhay su sol/grant your blessing on 3rd line.

Then recite the 7-point mandala sa zhi pö/the ground is sprinkled… 4 phrases to middle of the first line on page 27 …chö par shok/the Pure Realms, as you place rice as per the diagram for the 7-point mandala directly on top the rice from the 37-point mandala.

10. Next, again elevate the mandala plate with both hands as you chant through the rest of page 27 to the mantra on the first line of page 28, om mandala pundza megha samudra saparana samaye ah hung. As you say this mantra, slightly rotate the mandala clockwise once or twice horizontally as an offering mudra. (Alternatively, you can toss a few grains of rice on top.) Then place the mandala plate down on the cloth, letting the rice spill off.

11. Place the palms together in prayer mudra and chant up to the center of the 3rd line on page 28, ending with … drol war shok/limitless as space.

12. You are now ready to accumulate as many repetitions of the 7-point mandala as you would like. To count repetitions, hold your mala in your left hand. Repeat the four line prayer: a. Sa zhi pö chü juk shing may tok tram The ground is sprinkled with perfume & strewn with flowers Begin to place 7 piles of rice as per diagram

b. rirap ling zhi dyi day jen pa di adorned with Sumeru, the four continents, the sun and moon. Finish placing 7 piles of rice

c. sangjay shing du mik tay pul wa yi Imagining this as a Buddha realm, I offer it. Elevate the mandala in both hands

d. dro kun nam dak shing la chö par shok May all beings come to live in the Pure Realms. Hold the mandala in the left hand while the right makes the halfprayer mudra, and count one bead on your mala with the left hand. Then tilt the plate so the rice slides off as you wipe the plate with the right wrist once or twice clockwise. Pick up a new handful of rice for the next repetition.

13. To close the session, return to Dorje Sempa’s 100-syllable mantra on page 23 and repeat steps 6 through 9. Then skip to page 29 kusum yong… and continue chanting through the rest of page 29 and 30, pausing at the end to visualize the dissolution of the field of accumulation and rest the mind. 14. Skip to the dedication on page 51 to 52. 15. For the next day, please refer to note B below.

Notes:

1. Only 100 mandala offerings count for one mala (108) repetitions.

2. Use a mala without counters to avoid getting tangled.

3. Pick up any rice spilled beyond your cloth and offer outside.

A. If you are doing a second mandala session in the same day, there is a way to shorten the amount of chanting. You may begin the second session by reciting refuge from the Ngondro text at page 11 towards the end of the first line dak dang nam kay/I and all sentient beings… to …par chay pay/Lamas of the lineage at the beginning of the first line on page

12. Then recite three times the 6-line refuge prayer palden lama/We take refuge … to …chap su chio/eye of wisdom at the end of page 12.

Then chant the concise refuge/bodhicitta prayer sangye chö dang/In the Buddha, Dharma… (can be found in the Chenrezig sadhana, or ask your mentor). Next skip over Dorje Sempa completely and go to mandala practice at page 22.

B. After you have begun your mandala practice, you will need to replenish or freshen the rice each day. Spread the cloth with the rice on your lap. Remove a handful of rice, pick out any jewels or shells (add these back), and place this old rice in the small plate or container for disposal outside in a clean place (a river is ideal).

Add in a handful of fresh, new rice from the reserve jar to “replenish” the mandala rice.