The Buddha Book: Buddhas, blessings, prayers, and rituals to grant you love, wisdom, and healing. Lillian Too

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СКАЧАТЬ aspect. This is the aspect that can guide us from the lower realms to the human realms, from samsara to enlightenment.

      It is understanding this that makes us realize that even the ordinary aspect of the Buddha is extremely precious. And all the numberless buddhas – Shakyamuni, Tara, Maitreya, Vajrasattva, Amitabha, and so on – all the buddhas of this eon can guide us, interact with us, through the ordinary aspect of the guru. This is why when we meet a lama who can lead us on the journey to enlightenment he becomes the most precious and most kind being – the most important being – in our life.

      Because without him we are lost in samsara – guideless, moving from one rebirth to the next, unceasingly creating causes for rebirth in the lower realms and ignorant of the way to attain liberation and ultimately reach the sorrowless state of enlightenment. It is the lama, or guru, who embodies all the buddhas, and realizing this becomes the foundation of the spiritual journey to bliss.

      Buddhas are best thought of as a visualized presence. And since we are unable to “see” real buddhas, images of them also become extremely precious, because they can help us imagine their presence. Thus pictures, thangka paintings on cloth, statues (also known as rupas), and all forms of Buddhist art are revered as precious holy objects, because they actually help us “see” Buddha in our mind’s eye.

      Of course I have never seen or met any of the buddhas about whom Lama Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche has told me, except perhaps in dreams or when I am hallucinating. Yet meeting them, even through the dimension of visualization, has enriched my life in the most meaningful way. My home is filled with beautiful Buddhist art and it has become easy to visualize the light emanation of the buddhas, who for me have come to represent so many aspects of the spiritual path.

      IT BEGAN IN BODHGAYA

      Lama Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche took my heart as soon as I laid eyes upon him. In Bodhgaya – where the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, attained the perfect state of enlightenment – I began my tentative steps on the path to enlightenment.

      Rinpoche had communicated his holy wish for me to come to Bodhgaya to advise on the feng shui of a giant Maitreya Buddha statue, whose construction was being planned. I was not confident that I could single-handedly accept such a responsibility, but a request from such a high lama could not be ignored. So I flew to India, even though I had never previously met or heard of Lama Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. His approach to me came in a letter faxed from America, and my response was a purely instinctive one.

      It did not take me long to realize my great good fortune in having met Rinpoche under such wonderful circumstances. Shortly after the Bodhgaya meeting, Rinpoche came to Malaysia to give a series of teachings and to conduct a one-week spiritual retreat in the mountains just outside Kuala Lumpur. In those few days I took the most intensive course imaginable in Mahayana Buddhism. It was a mind-blowing experience. I discovered what a perfectly qualified lama I had inadvertently met. I saw at first hand his awesome qualities of humility, compassion, and wisdom. There is an aura of purity around Rinpoche that words cannot describe.

      I followed the Buddhist tradition and took “refuge” with Rinpoche. This is the process of officially becoming his student and taking him as my lama, thereby entering into a guru-disciple relationship. He let me participate in the Great Chenrezig initiation, a Buddhist ritual that opened further new worlds to me. In the months and years that have followed, Rinpoche has introduced me to a stunning pantheon of buddhas – each personifying some aspect or dimension of the enlightened mind.

      In time I would learn the secret teachings of Buddha, engage in the practice of sadhanas (meditative visualizations), make offerings, prostrations, and circumambulations, recite the magical mantras, learn the visualizations, and, most importantly of all, learn the bodhisattva way of life, which would put me on the quick path to enlightenment. I was to come to understand the bodhisattva vows and the mind-training that would make my bodhichitta heart arise. All of these terms seemed strange then, but over time I was to develop an easy familiarity with them … just as you will, as you meet the buddhas in this book.

      If you have read this far, let me take you with me on my journey of bliss into the boundless. Let me introduce you to some of the buddhas of this fortunate age – the tathagatas, the fully enlightened ones, the foe-destroyers, the conquerors – all in their compassionate aspect. Look closely at the images so that you, too, may attune your mind to meeting the buddhas at an inner level, taking them into your heart and mind as you seek the awakening of ultimate happiness.

       Chapter 1 Meeting the Founder-Buddha, Shakyamuni

      Do not engage in any harmful actions;

      Perform only those that are good Subdue your own mind – This is the teaching of the Buddha

      GURU SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA

      Shakyamuni Buddha’s meditation and visualization

      This wonderful, fifteen-minute meditation can be practiced each morning. Sitting cross-legged, ideally in the lotus position, the back is held straight. The mind is calmed and thoughts turn to contemplation. The purpose of the meditation is considered: to embark on the spiritual path that will lead to awakening wisdom. The breath is rhythmic and steady.

      Now a beautiful, bright-blue sky is visualized, stretching into the beyond just at the edge of consciousness. A sense of the cosmos pervades the mind, body, and spirit.

      An awareness is brought to the level of the forehead; a large golden throne, beautifully adorned with all kinds of precious gemstones and jewels, is visualized. At each corner is a pair of snow lions, signifying the fearlessness of the buddhas. On top of the throne is a fully opened lotus, signifying the Buddha’s holy mind. On the lotus are a sun disk and a moon disk. The sun signifies wisdom and the moon, method. Together they represent the unification of no more learning (the ultimate achievement: buddhahood). Seated upon them is the historical buddha Shakyamuni, who signifies the attainment of this unification. The lotus, sun, and moon also symbolize the principal aspects of the path to enlightenment.

      As this image is held in the mind, one thinks how Shakyamuni Buddha, who took rebirth in the human realm, manifested the attainment of perfect realization – enlightenment – and then left the world the legacy of his teachings. As the ultimate teacher, the guru, he is therefore inseparable from one’s own “root guru” (see here).

      Buddha’s golden body and aura radiate infinite compassion. He wears the saffron robes of a monk. His face is beautiful and his eyes see all beings. His gaze is peaceful, and his mind is free of all critical thoughts. He fully accepts everyone.

       Buddhist art is an immensely valuable aid to visualization. In the thangka paintings of the Tibetan tradition, which are painted on cloth, the artist incorporates colorful symbolic imagery. Shakyamuni’s right hand touches the earth, signifying control over the maras* of desire and attachment. His left hand holds a bowl of nectar, symbolizing the conquest of the cycle of samsara. His body is in the vajra posture, signifying that he has destroyed death and his own four maras. The light beams that surround Shakyamuni show that he is working compassionately for all beings.

      BUDDHA’S СКАЧАТЬ