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Showing posts from December, 2022

The Ritual of Mandala Offering

    The Ritual of Mandala Offering       Mandala offering symbolizes an offering of the entire universe  and other priceless objects   present within it  to the Buddhas in order to accrue merit.  Manda  means the essence or midpoint and circumference and  la  means “taking hold of”. Thus,  mandala  refers to grasping the basis or essence for achieving all the magnificent qualities of the higher realms and the kingdom of Dharma, the sacred truths of cessation and the path.         As per the Buddhist cosmology, the earth is considered flat with a giant mountain, Mount Meru in the middle, bordered by four major continents, each with two main and several minor sub-continents. There are incalculable of similar realms and we visualize offering all these worlds considering them as unpolluted lands and offered to the Buddhas and great enlightened beings.      I would briefly explain the Thirty-Seven Point Mandala Offering as  per Chögyal Pakpa Lodrö Gyaltsen.  The simple copper plated mandal