7. THE THREE ASPIRATIONS

HAVING ENGAGED IN the preliminary practices of purifying negativities and accumulating merits within the framework of the seven limbs, at this point make a fervent prayer to the members of the merit field for the fulfillment of the three aspirations which encompass the essence of that which a practitioner seeks. The prayer is preceded by the offering of the mandala, signifying the offering of the entire universe to the objects of refuge.

MANDALA OFFERING

[Then perform either the long or short versions of the mandala offering:]

OM VAJRA BHUMI AH HUM, I lay the powerful golden base; OM VAJRA REKHE AH HUM, circling outside, the iron fence; in the center, the King of Mountains; in the east, the continent Lu-pak-po; in the south, Jam-bu-ling; in the west, Ba-lang-jo; in the north, Dra-min-yan; off the east continent are the islands Lu and Lu-pak; off the south are Nga-yab and Nga-yab-zhan; off the west are Yon-dan and Lam-chogdro; off the north are Dra-min-yan and Dra-minyan-kyi-da.

(Above this I place) the jewel mountain, the wish-yielding tree, the magical cow, the untouched harvest, the precious wheel, the precious jewel, the precious queen, the precious minister, the precious elephant, the precious horse, the precious general, the vase filled with a great treasure, and the goddesses of beauty, garlands, song, dance, flowers, incense, light, and perfume. And I place the sun, the moon, a jeweled umbrella, the banner symbolizing total victory, and at the center the best things of men and gods.

All this I hold up and offer to all the holy teachers—my kind root guru and all the gurus of the lineage—and also to Lama Tsongkhapa, who is both Buddha Shakyamuni and Buddha Vajradhara, as well as to the myriads of deities and retinues. For the sake of living beings accept it with compassion and, having enjoyed it, bestow your transforming powers.

Earth blessed with flowers, incense, and scented water

And adorned with the King of Mountains, the four continents, and the sun and moon,

I offer to this field of Awakened Beings.

May all beings enjoy this pure sphere.

The body, speech, and mind of both myself and others,

Our possessions, and masses of goodness of the past, present, and future,

And the precious mandala of the King of Mountains and so forth,

Together with Samantabhadra’s peerless offerings,

I mentally claim and offer as a mandala to the lamas,

Yidams, and the Three Precious Jewels;

Out of compassion please accept them

And bestow upon me your transforming powers.

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATA YAMI

Generally speaking, in a practice of offering related to a tantric practice such as Lama Choepa, there are different types of offering: outer offerings, associated with the vase initiation; inner offerings, associated with the secret initiation; secret offerings, associated with the wisdom-knowledge initiation; and suchness offerings, associated with the word initiation. The same is true of the mandala offering—there are outer, inner, secret, and suchness mandala offerings.

The internal mandala is the offering of your own physical body, visualizing specific parts of the body as specific parts of the universe.

Perceiving all of them as manifestations of the union of bliss and emptiness, and also seeing them as the mere sport and manifestation of the subtle wind (energy) and mind is the suchness mandala offering.

When you make the outer mandala offering, you can do the visualizations of the universe as described in the mandala formula. But that does not mean that you have to accept that the universe exists in such a manner, with Mount Meru, the four continents, and so forth. It is always important when studying a text to take into account the time, the community, and the mentality of the people when the particular text was written or taught. Ancient Buddhist treatises describe the universe in conformity with the popular theory of the universe current at that time. Consequently, the descriptions differ from those found in modern cosmology.

The point is to offer the entire universe—your own possessions and also things that do not belong to you. Doing this signifies the overcoming of even a subtle form of possessiveness and attachment, but does not mean that we have to accept that the universe system exists as explained in the Abhidharma texts. After all, the basic approach of the Buddhist is to subject concepts to rigorous logical processes, and if anything contradicts direct observation and logic, it should not be accepted just because it is taught in the sutras or the texts. The earth of scientific experimentation and observation—its size and relative position in the solar system—is the earth that we live in, and its appearance is common to the beings living in this world. I think that the scientific observations on this matter are beyond dispute and have to be taken as the truth; otherwise, there is a danger of causing misunderstanding in others who, because of not understanding the profound philosophy of Buddhism, might despise it for certain of its views on cosmology.

PRAYER OF THE THREE ASPIRATIONS

Next, make a prayer that may you, not only in this lifetime but also always in future lifetimes, never be separated from the kind care of a spiritual master. Also, request—with the three great aspirations, as one finds in Lamrim Chenmo—the spiritual masters to help free you from all the obstacles that hinder you from achieving high realizations. The three great aspirations are:

May all deluded views, ranging from not being respectful to the gurus to the subtle forms of duality, cease;

May all the positive states of mind, ranging from being respectful to the gurus to the final achievement of union, be realized within; and

May all external and internal obstacles to the realization of these two aspirations be overcome.

These aspirations include and encompass all the aspirations of a spiritual practitioner: to be free of all the obstacles and to obtain all the factors necessary for the realizations. There is nothing more that a practitioner could seek.