Friday 23 September 2016

What is Mandala?

Definition.

'Mandala (Tib. Khyilkhor): (1) The powerfield of a buddha, which emerges out of the countless possibilities of space, or the depiction of the powerfield. In broader sense, the powerfield of a person or a group. (2) A mentally-composed universe filled with the precious things that one offers to the buddhas when doing the Mandala Offerings meditation...'

-- Quoted from 'Buddha & Love' by Lama Ole Nydahl.


A wish.

i wish to learn & understand what is Mandala, for benefit of all beings.


Questions.

Following questions come to Mind:

- Does Mandala surround both beings & phenomena? if yes, than also how? (beings do have Mind, phenomena do not have Mind). i read in a book 'Being Useful' with long review with Lama Ole Nydahl, that a being can be surrounded by powerfield,
- What is Power of a being or group of beings? is it energy that surrounds beings? is it interrelations between phenomena? is it more or something else?,
- How Mandala relates with Mind?,
- Can Mandala affect material world, including beings & phenomena of material world? How?,
- What is Power of Buddha?,
- ...

... i have clues to answers, but do not understand them fully yet.

... these questions i ask - not only for myself.


Another Quote.

Just found something on Lama Ole Nydahl's page:


Sometimes we call the group of people who are active in the Buddhist center a “mandala.” What does this mean?

Lama Ole’s answer:

Mandalas are self-arisen enlightened power-fields. This term is also used for the people who belong to this power-field through attuning themselves to an enlightened principle. Concerning the groups that are connected to me, it works like this: as long as we are friends, are honest with each other, and trust each other, everything that happens in the centers will express Karmapa’s whole circle of protection.

It is important that these mandalas are beyond personal. As the Danish saying goes, “The cemeteries are full of irreplaceable people.” However often one may think, “Everything depends on me and nothing will work without me,” as soon as someone leaves, something within the power-field shifts and others take over that job. New aspects come in and maybe everything works even better than before.

Many people think that those who are active in the centers are completely altruistic and self-sacrificing, and are only working for others. These people hold themselves back from getting too involved in the center because they are afraid they won’t have enough time for their own practice. But actually, one also does center work for oneself. If we manage to be a good example at all times and not slack off when people come to hear something, we will experience real spiritual growth. After a long, hard day’s work, when we’re just about to pat ourselves on the back, there are people standing there again, with their uncle who hasn’t understood anything about the teachings. It just goes on like that until someday we forget to pat our own back and the ego dies miserably of starvation. Then everything is fun; whatever happens is meaningful and we experience it all as a gift. That’s where we want to be.

It’s a little secret: one does the work for others, but the one who does the work benefits most.


Source: Questions to Lama Ole - Mandala.

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