Mandala

Residing in the marginal Tibet Plateau, Tibetans have always lived with the daily possibility of snowstorms, avalanches, and the risk of crop failure or animal disease. The untamed environment makes survival the first priority. As Buddhism was transmitted into Tibet, the core is, therefore, not the philosophy in an intellectual or cognitive sense, but the set of tantric (vajrayana) practices provided to deal with the dangerous powers of the spirit world in everyday life (Samuel 11). Additionally, the emphasis on everyday life also leads to a strong craving for ritual practices, which dissolve sacred philosophical knowledge into ordinary experience. In this sense, understanding the ongoing tantric practice is vital for understanding of Tibetan Buddhism. As Samuel states in his book, a standard process for early tantric practice is the visualization of the deity at the centre of an array or mandala of secondary deity (29). In my essay, I will exam this very important tantric practice - the mandala (kyilkhor) in three approaches on the basis of Tibetan Buddhist principles. In terms of praxis and conflicts, I will exam the contemporary use of the mandala with example of Kalachakra initiation in Toronto as well as the peace vase project; in terms of representing tantric tradition, I will introduce the approach of interpretation which underlie the cosmology of Tibetan Buddhism; lastly, i will introduce the symbolic way of interpreting the mandala with doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism by an unconventional lama (lecture).

PRAXIS AND CONFLICTS

Mandala takes various forms of paintings, such as drawing on sand and clothing, and some simple version of mandala only consists of a mandala base and rings filled with rice. Sand Mandala and clothing mandala are used as decorations very recently. In most cases, the simple version of mandala is used in offering to request teachings from a lama and to show gratitude after receiving it (???lecture??? WHICH ONE). Mandala offering is also a vital part of initiation or empowerment, which is the initial step in tantric practice. Traditionally, if a practitioner intended to take a serious commitment, an empowerment is being taken with preliminary practice. Among the five schools of Tibetan Buddhism, for all of them except for Gelukpa, preliminary practice takes form of the tantric ngondro. Although nowadays, it is common that empowerment is given to a general audience without preliminary practice. However, this preliminary practice is the first step to cumulate merit. It is not minor at all as it set the foundation for the whole path. In ordinary preliminaries, for example, the ngondro begins with "four ordinary preliminaries", mandala offering is the third practice conducted before visualization of refuge and bodhisattva for 100,000 times and recitation of purificatory mantras for 100,000 times (79). Offering of a mandala is "a physical offering of rice, often mixed with precious stones which represents the entire universe of traditional Buddhist cosmology with mount Meru at its center" (82). Lastly, the guru yoga practice consists of 100, 000 repetitions of the Guru yoga. These repetitive practices function to cumulate merit and to prepare practitioners for bestowment of empowerment. In addition, "a sand mandala representation of the mandala in question may be made, and destroyed at the end of the ritual."(80).

These days, initiation programs, although retaining the mandala visualization, no longer function strictly as a pre-condition to admission in tantric Buddhism, but often given to general audience as a ritual for prosperity, success and good fortune. Another ritual concerning the practice of mandala for blessing is the "treasure vase" (terbum). Similar to Christians who put the symbol of the cross everywhere, these vases are filled with all kinds of blessed items including mandala, which are then placed underground all around the world for collective positive effect. Also, this has to do with the Buddhist idea of planting seeds, which will eventually bear fruit according to karma. However, with globalization and increasing mutual interaction with other religions, these blessing rituals are seen as problematic. For example, "the Kalachakra initiation for world peace" in 2004 and "the Peace Vase Program" are thought of as "spiritual mapping" or "spiritual warfare" which arose severe panic in some Christian communities (lecture).

To look at this in detail, it is reported that on the final day of the "Kalachakra for World Peace" initiation program in 2004, giant sand mandalas were publically destroyed and poured by His Holiness into the waters of Lake Ontario. It is stated this destruction of sand mandalas, where Kalachakra deity, his palace, and 721 surrounding deities reside, is an act of blessing as well as prayer for collective peace and harmony of the surrounding. In response to this destruction of sand mandala, a Christian group conducted exorcism by starting a prayer group around the Lake to prevent the Tibetan spirits that would be poured into the waters from being dispersed into the adjacent lands. Christians interpret the widespread practices concerning destruction or placement of mandala as Tibetan Buddhists’ attempt to take over the world, which is no way regarded as just a neutral power. To trace down this aggressive sentiment posed by Tibetan Buddhism in history, we find the shift from peaceful image to emphasis on taming power in development of the Kalachakra Tantra (lecture). I will explain in detail in the following section.

TRADITION

According to Samuel, two definitions of Mandala are given. First definition refers to mandala as "a structure in which a central deity is surrounded by a number of subsidiary figures, typically in the four or eight directions, which are understood as manifestations or projections of the central figure" (28). This is closely connected to one of the most important features that distinguish Tibetan Buddhism from the other two branches: its emphasis on "making the result into the path". The practitioners imagined themselves as being a form of the Buddha or “as receiving purifying nectars or rays of light from a Buddha above or within their bodies”.

Moreover, it is a "physical offering, usually of rice, often mixed with precious stones, on a special offering plate, representing the entire universe of traditional Buddhist cosmology with mount Meru at its centre" (28). There are two ways of understanding the traditional model of the universe, the wheel of existence and the absurd diagram with mount Meru at center and continents in four directions. This integrated the idea that one has to be a Buddha to see the world as the Buddha does into this enlightened version of universe that is visualized in three dimensions with heaven above and hell below. (93).

Taking a look into history, we can see that by the fourth or fifth centuries CE, mandala of deities has developed in the Mahayana sutras. In early tantric traditions, deities involved are for the most part peaceful (28). The later development includes a series of new Buddhist tantric cycles. The last and most complex tantric cycle is the kalacacakra, wheel of time, which is also the name of the deity at the center of the increasingly complex mandala structure. However, these central deities image gradually move away from the peaceful Buddha figure and in most cases manifested to be in form of male-female couples in sexual union. Violent and aggressive imagery provide a basis for “taming” the landscape and converting local deity into Buddhism guard. Kalacakra tantra also shows strong signs of “militaristic and threatened state of northern India at that time, and includes both reference to Islam and a detailed account of military technology.” This explains the reaction of Christian community and why Kalacakra initiation keeps their nerve on edge.

SYMBOLIC APPROACH

In the chapter Mandala of Unconditioned Energy, Trungpa Rinpoche connects mandala principle with energies. In his narration, "KyilKhor" is Mandala in Tibetan, constituted by “Kyil” that means center and “khor” that means fringe or periphery. “This relativity in space indicates the interdependent existence of things in chaos” (314). With the awareness of ground, mandala establish passion, aggression, and ignorance in the mind. He promoted that the mandala here represents an enlightened mind. The five Buddhas, representing the five wisdom energies, are separate aspects of mind, both enlightened and neurotic. There is nothing inherently wrong or bad about the energy itself but if tainted by ego, these five wisdoms of enlightened mind turn into the five poisons in ego-centered existence.

Vairocana, the white Buddha at the centre of mandala, is the Lord of "the Buddha family.” He represents all-encompassing space as well as ignorance that drives ego grasping. Spaciousness is the feature connecting this all-encompassing space and ignorance. To put this in another way, this vast space accommodates everything that is converted from the dullness of ignorance, and this space is the source that caught all creatures in samsara. In the east of mandala is a blue Buddha, Aksobya. He is from the vajra family, representing mirror like wisdom and its opposite, aggression. Clarity connects these two poles. In manifestation of the wisdom aspect, they are clear-minded but can be overly critical and demanding of perfection when ego cuts in. In the south of the mandala is Ratnasambhava, yellow Buddha of the ratna family. He represents the wisdom of equanimity, which in a sense regards everything as the same because it’s all empty. Its opposite is pride or arrogance and their connection feature is richness. The Ratna family exudes a golden colour that encompasses and enriches everything. Ratna energy displays equanimity and satisfaction. When people manifest the wisdom aspect of Ratna, they are expansive, resourceful, hospitable and appreciative. But ratna can also turn into greedy territoriality and puffed-up pride. When people manifest the neurotic quality of ratna, they can be arrogant, ostentatious, oppressive and emotionally needy. In the west of the mandala is Aamirabaha, red buddha of the padma family. He represents discriminating-awareness wisdom and desire or grasping. In this case, emptiness didn't means no more detail, people with wisdom aspect of this energy sees the details. However, the negative manifestation can be focusing on pleasure, emotion, and the tendency to beautify life, and will always want to make things harmonious. In the north of the mandala is Amogasiddhi, green buddha of the karma family, and represents all-accomplishing wisdom and its opposite, jealousy or paranoia. The two manifestations are efficiency and being overly competitive, which ends in paranoia or jealousy respectively.

The dullness of ignorance at the center makes the other four poisons in the four quarters possible by making them insensitive to their situation. This approach to mandala interpretation did not prompt means to overcome these negative qualities but rather aroused our awareness of their existence and how to relate to them.

Works Cited

Geoffrey Samuel. Introducing Tibetan Buddhism. Great Britain: TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall, 2012.

Lecture, Professor Lara Braitstein. RELG 369. Mcgill