O sun-like Prince of the Conqueror,
Whose wisdom, vast as the heavens,
Has the brilliance of knowledge
That sees what ultimately is
And what merely seems to be;
O Venerable Lord of Dharma, Most Perfect Guru,
The dust of your feet I place
On the crown of my head.

Even the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,
Who fill the ten directions,
Cannot describe the excellence
Of your body, speech and mind;
Yet out of passionate inspiration
I shall sing of them; pray,
Listen for but a few moments.

As a blossoming garland of flowers
To adorn the necks of the clear-minded,
And as a precious jewel
To enhance the force of conviction,
This song in praise of your oceans of splendour
To delight all sages, I have composed.

Like a cloud, the merit of your superb deeds
Releases a torrent of rain that swells
The virtue of those to be trained,
And proclaims with a dragon’s thundering roar
The sweetness of the vast and profound;
O glorious, powerful, billowing Lama.

Foremost of tantric adepts, the mighty yogi
Who mastered the many millions of samadhis,
Composed faultless expositions,
And made true effort in practice,
Most resplendent of Lamas,
You tower over the heads of all.

At Vajrasana in a former birth,
To the Victorious One you offered
A rosary of one hundred crystal beads.
Thus you acquired the fortune
Later to attain the perfect view;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

At the age of seven you directly perceived
Dipamkara Atisha, the great Path Clearer,
And Vajrapani, Lord of the Secret.
The exhortations of both the sutras
And tantras dawned upon you;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

O Jetsun, Lord of phenomenal existence,
You directly perceived Manjushri,
Bodhisattva of the wisdom of emptiness,
Seated in a radiant aura as blue
As the colour of a perfect sapphire;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

From this time onward, O High One,
Whenever desired, you could invoke
Manjushri, Treasure of Stainless Wisdom,
And constantly listen to the teachings
Of both Sutrayana’s Transcendent Wisdom
And Tantrayana’s Secret Assembly;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

When practising the seven-limbed ritual
Of the thirty-five Purification Buddhas,
Continually and clearly you beheld them
And all their forms, mudras and symbols;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Seated in the auspicious posture,
Hands in the Dharma-teaching mudra,
Buddha Maitreya prophesied that,
Just as the Sugatas who possess the ten powers,
You will one day perform the twelve acts
Of a supreme, universal teacher;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Victorious Master of both life and death,
Truth visions you received
Of Amitabha Buddha, the Medicine Buddhas,
And that teacher of men and gods,
Shakyamuni, Prince of the Shakya Throne,
Each with a retinue vast as the oceans;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Saintly Tara, source of all siddhis,
Ushnisha Vijaya, the one exalted and radiant,
Ushnisha Sitatapatra, dispeller of obstacles,
And other such mystic female Buddhas
Again and again you directly perceived;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Holy Buddhapalita,
Magnificent Chandrakirti and the mighty yogi Nagabodhi
Appeared, then constantly cared for you.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Exalted Asanga, who delights the three worlds,
The Brother, Vasubandhu, a Second Buddha,
And Dignaga, child of Manjushri,
Appeared, then constantly cared for you;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Dharmakirti, a moon amongst teachers,
As well as Gunaprabha, Shakyaprabha,
Shantideva and the glorious Abhaya,
Appeared, then constantly cared for you;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

All the mahasiddhas of India and Tibet,
Such as Indrabudhi, Saraha, Luipa,
Krisnacharin, Tilbupa, Tilopa and Naropa
Appeared, then constantly cared for you;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Clearly Manjushri prophesied
That, relying upon these lineages,
You would produce colossal spiritual boons
For youself and for all sentient beings.
Great Bold One who spontaneously
Fulfills the wishes of the world;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

When the samadhi of the yoga combining
Mental tranquility with cognition of emptiness
Increased like the waxing moon,
You beheld the form of the Destroyer
Yamantaka, “Opponent of the Lord of Death”,
Complete with all mudras and expressions.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Having touched your heart
To the wisdom sword of Manjushri,
A stream of undefiled ambrosia
Flowed into the depth of your being,
Spontaneously arousing the propitious
Absorption of highest joy.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Prayer for Rebirth in the Land of Bliss
And An Eulogy of the Perfect Intent
Of the Dauntless Protector Maitreya Buddha
As well as their graduated levels of meaning
Manjushri lucidly conveyed to you,
Who recorded and skillfully presented them;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Whenever you consecrated a religious image,
The Wisdom Beings actually entered
Into the Symbolic Beings.
This host of deities that you summoned
Still generates fields of merit within beings;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

One night you dreamed of Nagarjuna
And his five spiritual sons
Amongst themselves discussing
The fabric of dependent origination.
From their midst came Buddhapalita,
Who touched you with a scripture.
The very next day within you
Rose the mind of a High One;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

By focusing on the pith of the six branches
Of Kalachakra, “The Wheel of Time”,
You directly perceived his Buddha-form.
He foretold that soon you
Would equal even King Suchandra;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

When for the first time you led
The Great Prayer Festival of Lhasa,
A hundred magical omens appeared,
At your making this joyous offering,
The Buddhas and their sons in the ten directions
Were filled with supreme delight.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Generating the form of a great-bliss deity
Through the yoga of the non-duality
Of profound luminosity and illusory appearances,
You attained the vajrayoga body;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

By practicing the mantric science of inhaling
And exhaling OM AH HUM on the lotus heart,
The vital energies entered the central nadi,
Rested as breathing stopped, and then dissolved.
Thus you experienced the clear light,
Mahamudra, the great seal,
Attaining the vajrayoga speech;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Raising the navel chakra’s mystic heat
Which rests at the base of the central channel,
The letter HAM at the crown of your head
Melted and fell to your heart
As simultaneously the experience
Of the blisses dawned upon you.
Thus you attained the vajrayoga mind;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Having been invoked as witnesses
To your pure and perfect aspirations,
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas came forth.
Only when you had summoned each of them
Into his respective position
Did you honour them with offerings;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

While contemplating the principal mandala
Of Manjushrivajra, Guhyasamaja,
You dreamed that Maitreya and Manjushri,
Who were speaking of Dharma, passed down to you
A jeweled vase brimming with water,
Portending that you would master all teachings.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

On a throne adorned with precious gems
Sat the omniscient Kargyu Lama
Buton Rinchen Trub.
A text of the Guhyasamaja Root Tantra
He gave to you, exhorting
You to be its keeper;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Accepting this responsibility
With mudras and mantras thrice
You touched the text to your head.
By its blessings it became obvious
That the tantra Separating and Mixing,
Obtained by Marpa of the Southern Hills,
Is the true oral tradition of Exalted Nagarjuna;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Your mind absorbed in the mystic circle of Heruka –
Chakrasambara, the Wheel of Perfect Bliss – myriads
Of dakinis of the outer, inner and secret places
Made you offerings of vajra songs,
Transporting you in ecstasy;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

In meditation destroying the forces of darkness,
You beheld the radiant Buddha, Mighty Demon Tamer,
Having an aura as pure as burnished gold,
More brilliant than a million suns.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

Your being having become indivisible from
The body, speech and mind of all Buddhas,
The might of the power of evil was subdued.
As the Dharma protectors crushed the demon families,
Shrieks of the defeated satanic forces
Resounded across the universe.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

These multitudes of Dharma protectors,
That you brought under control,
In a previous aeon had been subjected
By Buddha Vajradhara to guard your doctrine.
With profound reverence they work this still;
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

That you would, after entering parinirvana,
Sit in the presence of Dauntless Maitreya
In Tushita, Pure Land of Joy,
And would be known as Wisdom Essence
Was, O Lord of Life, rightly prophesied
By both Manjushri and Vajrapani.
O Illustrious Lama, at your feet I pay homage.

By the strength of this eulogy
Sung from the depths of pure love,
May the afflictions of beings
Limitless as the sky be extinguished.
In this and all future lives
May all be nurtured by true teachers
And embraced by the sacred Dharma.

May the innate wisdom of great bliss
Rain throughout the world;
May the stains of erroneously grasping
Mind and its objects be uprooted;
And may all be inspired quickly to become
Like you, a Jetsun Lama.

May the wisdoms of learning, contemplation
And meditation overtake the earth;
May the arts of deliberation,
Debate and composition flourish;
May the ordinary and supreme siddhis
Come to each and every practitioner;
And may all be inspired quickly to become
Like you, a Jetsun Lama.

By the limitless oceans of merit
Of having presented, like Samantabhadra,
Clouds of offerings spanning the skies,
Of having bared every negative imprint
And downfall accumulated since infinity,
Of having rejoiced in the spirituality
Of those on the paths to enlightenment,
And of having beseeched the Lamas
To turn the Wheel of Dharma
And not to enter parinirvana.

May all beings experience peerless samadhi;
May goodness swell like the waxing moon;
And may the doctrine of Omniscient Tzong Khapa
Thrive until time’s end.

Footnote: Extracted from the Life and Teachings of Tsong Khapa (Edited by Prof. R. Thurman)

He’s a god who goes to the matchless mystery of his mind, a treasure
Resplendent with all ten forces, to speak the gold mine of the sages;
He’s Lobsang Drakpa, of shining fame, and into this world came
The jewels of the holy Dharma spewed out from his lips.

He’s the revered father of all Victors; in the form of their son, a child,
Gave a teaching that draws the essence of the nectar from the cream
Of the eighty thousand, the mystery of the Buddhas’ speech: we call it
Three Principal Paths, well-known as the sun in the sky of the immaculate Word.

His lines are none of those empty words, supposedly deep, incomplete,
But rather spout a thousand riches, advice from experience
Of each step of the meaning itself, the high paths in their entirety,
Capturing the glory of good of the world or peace, wherever.

Come great warrior, who has no fear of what will make him wise;
Take up the bow of these wonderful books, the true Word, open and secret;
Use it with the feathered shafts of reasoning, way of the wise
Throughout the world, pierce the hearts of those who would teach wrong.

When will I decide to give the rest of my life some meaning?
When will I throw away this lie of happiness in this life,
The shining embrace of grabbing after good things in this world,
My forever friend, the foe of my forever happiness.

In this and my future lives may I never fail to collect
More of the short and long-term causes which bring me both the bodies;
May I win the beauty of eyes that guide myself and others too
On the excellent paths, fixed upon the wise and adept ahead.

This is not a load that the likes of me could ever bear,
But I’ve tried my best to put his eloquence down in black and white.
I may have slipped, and lost some words or meaning, or the like;
I kneel before my Lama and freely admit any error made.

By the pure white force in deeds like this endeavour I’ve completed
May my thoughts, those of others too, all turn to the holy Dharma.
May it come to cause us all to cut what ties us to this life,
And help us take best essence from the time and chance we have.

Footnote: Extracted from Tsongkapa – the Principal Teachings of Buddhism, translated by Geshe Lobsang Tharchin with Michael Roach

SA ZHI PO KYI JUG SHING ME TOG TRAM
RI RAB LING ZHI NYI DAY GYAN PA DI
SANG GYE ZHING DU MIG TAY UL WAR GYI
DRO KUN NAM DAG ZHING LA CHO PAR SHOG

This ground, anointed with perfume, flowers strewn,
Mount Meru, four lands, sun and moon,
imagined as Buddha-land and offered to you.
May all beings enjoy this pure land.

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRAYATAYAMI

Long Mandala Offering

OM VAJRA ground AH HUM, mighty golden ground.

OM VAJRA fence AH HUM, the iron fence around the edge; in the centre is Mount Meru, the king of mountains.

In the east the continent Lupagpo; in the south, the continent Dzambuling; in the west, the continent Balangcho; in the north, the continent Draminyan.

In the east are the sub-continents Lu and Lupag; in the south Ngayab and Ngayabzhan; the west Yodan and Lamchogdro; in the north Draminyan and Draminyan Gyida.

In the east, the treasure mountain, in the south the wish-granting tree, in the west the wish-granting cow, in the north the uncultivated crops.

Here are the precious wheel, the precious jewel, the precious queen, the precious minister, the precious elephant, the precious horse, the precious general, the great treasure vase.

Here are the goddess of beauty, the goddess of garlands, the goddess of song, the goddess of dance, the goddess of flowers, the goddess of incense, the goddess of light and the goddess of perfume.

Here are the sun, the moon, the precious parasol, the banner of victory in all directions and in the center are the most perfect riches of gods and humans, with nothing missing, pure and delightful.

To my glorious, holy and most kind root Guru, the lineage Gurus, and in particular to the great Lama Tsongkhapa, Buddha who is the King of Sages, Vajradhara, and the entire assembly of deities, I offer these as a Buddha-field.

Please accept them with compassion, for the sake of migrating beings. Having accepted them, please bestow on me and on mother sentient beings abiding as far as the limits of space, your inspiration with loving compassion.

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRAYATAYAMI

LAMA TON PA CHON DEN DAY DAY SHIN SHEG PA
DRA CHOM PA YANG DAG PA DZOG PAY SANG GYE
PAL GYAL WA SHAKYA TU PA LA
CHAG TSAL CHING KYAB SU CHI WO CHO DO JIN GYI LAP TU SOL

To the Guru and founder, the endowed transcendent destroyer,
the one gone beyond, the foe destroyer, the completely perfected, fully awakened,
the glorious conqueror, the subduer for the Shakya clan,
I prostrate, go for refuge and make offerings. Please inspire me.

Mantra: TAYATHA OM MUNI MUNI MAHA MUNI SHAKYAMUNI YE SOHA(7x)

OFFERING PRAISE

TAM CHE DU NI SA ZHI DAG
SEG MA LA SOG MAY PA DANG
LAG TIL TAR NYAM BAR DU YE
RANG ZHIN JAM POR NAY GYUR CHIG

Everywhere may the ground be pure,
free of the roughness of pebbles and so forth.
May it be the nature of lapis
and as smooth as the palm of one’s hand.

OFFERING PRAYER

LHA DANG MI YI SHO PAY DZAY
NGO SU SHAM DANG YI KYI TRUL
KUN ZANG CHO DRIN LA NA MAY
NAM KAY KAM KUYN KYAB GYUR CHIG

May the offering substances both human and divine,
those actual and those which are emanated,
unsurpassed Samantabhadra clouds of offerings,
fill the entire space.

OFFERING CLOUD DHARINI

It is taught in the sutras that this brings infinite benefits such as raining a great rain of offerings in front of the conquerors and their children.

OM NAMO RATRANAYAYA NAMO BHAGAWATE BENZA SARA PRAMADINYE TATHAGATAYA ARHATE SAMYAK SAM BUDDHAYA TAYATA OM BENZE BENZE MAHA BENZE MAHA TESHA BENZE MAHA VIDDHYA BENZE MAHA BODHICHITTA BENZE MAHA BODHI MANDROPA SAM KRAMANA BENZE SARVA KARMA VARONA BHIKSHU DANA BENZE SOHA

HEART OF DEPENDENT ARISING

OM YE DHARMA HETU PRABHAVA HAYTUNTE SHAN TATAGATO HAYWADAT TESHAN TSAYO NIRODHA EWAM WADI MAHA SHRAMANAYE SOHA

CONDENSED HEART SUTRA

MASAM CHOME SHERAB PAROL CHIN
MASHE MAGA NAMKEY NGO WO NYI
SOSOR RANGRIG YESHE CHOYUL WA
DUDUN GYELWAY YUM-LA CHAG TSAL LO

Mantra: TAYATHA OM GATEY GATEY PARAGATEY PARASAMGATEY BODHI SOHA (7x)

REQUEST TO TURN THE WHEEL OF DHARMA

JE-TSUN LA-MA DAM-PA CHEY-NAM KYI
CHO-KU KA-LA CHEN-TI TIN-TIK NEY
JI-TAR TSAM-PI DUL-SHIH DZIN-MA LA
ZAB-JI CHO-KYI CHAR-PA WHAP-TU SOL

All you holy Gurus, unerring in conduct, may you precipitate a rain of realisation of Bodhicitta and Shunyata from the clouds of all-knowing compassion which fills the Dharmakaya sky, providing for the field of disciples precisely what is needed.

INVOCATION

MA LU SEM CHEN KUN GYI GON GYUR CHING
DU TE PUNG CHAY MI ZAY JOM DZAY LHA
NGO NAM MA LU YANG DA KYEN GYUR PAY
CHOM DEN KOR CHAY NAY DIR SHEG SU SOL

Protector of all beings without exception, divine subduer of innumerable negative forces, deity, perfect knower of all things, Bhagawan and attendants, please come here.

She possesses supernatural powers and wisdom and has taught great Indian and Tibetian yogis. Vajrayogini appeared again and again to the Great Mahasiddha Naropa giving teachings. Naropa, after practicing these teachings attained perfect knowledge and wisdom.

The practice of Vajrayogini is only for the very fortunate and if practiced correctly can lead to Buddhahood in this very lifetime. She is the secret practice of Manjunatha Lama Tsongkapa himself.

This Naro Dakini, holds a vajra chopper in her right hand and a skull-cup upraised in the left. Resting in the crook of her left elbow is a khatvanga staff. Naked and adorned with a tiara of five human skulls, she wears a necklace of fifty dry skulls and is standing with her two feet placed on the bodies of her own emanations – the deities Kalarati and Bhairava.

These are not actual beings but emanated from her qualities and they represent contaminated desire, hatred and ignorance. Her trampling on them symbolizes by her practice we are able to destroy those negative qualities within us and transform ourselves into qualities that benefit others.

On a outer level, her trampling them represents she is able to control and pacify outer obstacles such as accidents, sudden death, negative forces, demons/spirits, and purify the results of our negative actions of the past.

She looks up to the pure realm of Kechara and drinks from the skull-cup held aloft in her left hand. Her looking upwards represents her great capacity that in this life she is able to help us create the circumstances for us to be taken to Kechara Paradise, her divine realm, where even the word suffering does not exist.

She is supremely excellent in many facets of pacification of problems in this life. Increase of merits, wealth, attainments, and general harmony. Her glorious red body is symbolic of her ability to control our mind that creates unhappiness knowingly and unknowingly.

She in her completeness also skillfully benefits practitioners through wrath. When all else fails, she uses wrathful means to subdue inner and outer creations to facilitate all that is necessary to pacify chronic negative results of previous karmic actions.

There are many prerequisites which must be completed before anyone can enter this practice including the compulsory initiation from a qualified Vajrayana Lama. The practice starts with Refuge in the Three Jewels, Guru Devotion, and knowing all the Three Principle Aspects of the path within the three scopes.

Then the fortunate one must receive the tantric initiation of the mandala of either Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja or Vajrabhaivara. After meeting these requirements the practitioner is qualified to enter the Mandala of Vajrayogini. Buddhahood is then attainable within this very lifetime.

In Buddhism, Female energy holds a very high position and there is no greater love than that which is represented by mothers, who give swiftly and unconditionally whatever we need. Thus if we listen to our Lama (who represents our mothers), practice Vajrayogini teachings, we receive the love of mothers and supported by her ability to grant us wisdom, we are able to achieve freedom from Samsara within one lifetime.

It is highly beneficial for those initiated and not initiated to make a connection with this extremely potent Vajrayogini Buddha whose blessings become more and more powerful as times degenerate. We can have images of her in the form of statues, carvings, tsatsas, paintings, pictures, and pendants. It is helpful for us to see, think and be exposed to her. Each exposure plants seeds of enlightenment in our mindstream.

Her image pacifies our room or home, clears negative energy and protects from negative interferences. Feng shui that may not be correct in our home, can be corrected by placing a holy image of her. The larger the image, the better, as we will want to make offerings onto her holy body.

Those who have the great fortune to come upon her, be fascinated and even read about her make a connection or even reconnect with her. Her practice is highly recommended as it is efficient, condensed, ’simple’ yet complete and for easily distracted people who ‘profess’ a lack of time, she is perfect.

With perfect motivation, understanding of her profound qualities, clean samaya with our spiritual mentors, and faith in Vajrayogini we are entering into the doorsteps of a vajra palace that leaves inner, outer and secret pains behind.

Praise to Vajrayogini who leads us to Kechara Paradise.

Palden Lhamo’s form is that of a fierce female ogress, with jutting teeth and fangs. Her three eyes represent her ability to see into past, present and future realms without any type of obstruction. She is dark blue in colour representing her attainment of great bliss – the realization of emptiness.

Her right hand is in the sky holding a skull cup representing the destruction of obstacles. The skull cup is filled with blood, representing great bliss.

She carries a human-skin bag full of diseases that she collects from those who invoke her. Her legs are in a semi-relaxed posture and chains connect one ankle to the other.

Palden Lhamo is the personal protector of the Panchen Lama and of all fourteen incarnations of the Dalai Lama. She is practiced within all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and she is a fully enlightened Buddha.

Propitiating her and making offerings to her is extremely beneficial to overcome our spiritual and worldly obstacles.

Her spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

JO RAMO JO RAMO JO JO RAMO TUNJO KALA RACHENMO RAMO AJA DAJA TUNJO RULU RULU HUNG JO HUNG

With a majestic light-body of dazzling dark blue radiance, Heruka embodies the great bliss of inner transformation, the liberation from ignorance.

By him, the polluted rivers of delusion are transformed into holy waters that run to the sea of surrender. He has four faces, twelve arms, and is in union with his consort, Vajrayogini.

Attaining the state of Buddha Heruka depends upon abandoning the twelve dependent-related links of samsara by gaining the realizations of the four doors of liberation; symbolized respectively by Heruka’s twelve arms and his four faces.

Together with his consort, Vajrayogini, he ultimately represents the union of wisdom and compassion, or Emptiness and Bliss, which leads directly to the Enlightened mind. Heruka’s practice has led many women and men to full awakening within a single lifetime.

As a tantric Buddha, Heruka uses energies such as attachment, anger, desire, hatred as a means to achieving Enlightenment instead of suppressing them. He helps us to redirect our negative energies into something beneficial.

Although he is fully engaged in what appears to be negative, destructive or desirous, everything he does is entirely motivated by his unceasing compassion for sentient beings.

Heruka’s practice is one of the highest tantras in Buddhism and is unique because it is the only Tantra whose effectiveness increases as the times degenerate further. Therefore we are extremely fortunate if we can make a connection with Heruka Chakrasamvara especially in the current Kaliyuga age.

Generally, the bell with her shape and sound is a metaphor for wisdom’s clear, space-like nature with sounds (phenomena) coming from silence and returning there soon.

The vajra shows the method which is great compassion beyond personal preoccupations, which brings forth indestructible awareness-energy.

During ceremonies the vajra invokes deities and dakinis, the bell welcomes them with heavenly music. Picking up vajra and bell one thinks:

“Out of great compassion I will liberate all beings from suffering by the power of the wisdom of Emptiness.”

Dakinis are attracted to these beautiful instruments, and many people keep them in a nice place with respect as a symbol of their aspiration to deepen their practice more and more.

During tantric rituals, one offers one’s hatred and greed and transforms them by ‘cooking’ them in the skull cup which transforms them into nectar with the help of the meditational deities who add their blessings.

This nectar in turn is offered to all sentient beings as all the food, medicine and worldly and spiritual help they need.

In Buddhist practice, there are various specific methods to accumulate merits, which is the fuel for the actual inner practice of spiritual transformation.

The five great preliminary practices are well-known to do just that. They are water offerings, prostrations, Vajrasattva practice, Guru Yoga and mandala offerings.

Mandala offering is a complete meditation of visualising a universe in the form of a mandala that is purified and offered up to the Buddha or one’s lama who is inseparable from the Buddha.

The complete mandala offering requires one to have a mandala set along with precious jewels or grains of any sort to represent it. There are specific ritual verses and meditations to go along upon making the offering. When not in use, it should be covered in silk or any piece of clean cloth and stowed away respectfully.

Mandala offerings generate a lot of merit for the practitioner to gain spiritual insight and understanding into the teachings and also to gain the ability to see Buddhas directly.

Lama Tsongkhapa is renowned to have performed 1.8 million mandala offerings in a closed retreat to gain a clearer understanding of the most profound Buddhist teachings of Madhyamika and Guhyasamaja. Upon completion of his retreat, he gained the insight and a vision of Maitreya.