Mahamudra Teaching - Dharma Media

those instructions if you want to and establish your visualization and make an offering of all that
which is visible.
If we go into more detail then there are Mount Meru, and the east, south, west, north and the thirtyseven
points of mandala offering. Or more briefly, one can consider the seven points of mandala
offering, without any expectation, without any attachment to self make this offering, make it to the
root lama, the lineage lama, and the yidams, Buddha, Dharma, Bodhisattvas, Sangha and Dharma
Protectors. Offer by saying, “May I actualize all the realization of the Buddha Vajradhara and may I
become free from all the delusions. May I benefit all sentient beings through my realization of
Mahamudra.” That’s the mandala offering. After you have done that all of the visualization dissolves
into Vajradhara, who dissolve into you. Meditate that you receive all the blessings and that you free
from all the attachments and boundaries. Meditate in that and then do the dedication prayer.
Do mandala offerings not only when you are sitting, but you can also make mandala offerings when
you walk, even when you go to the shopping mall! [Khenpo: This is where some of you go
repeatedly, isn’t it?] When you see all the things in the shopping malls, instead of attaching to these
things, just make offerings to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. [Khenpo: Sit next to the shopping
mall, sit down and say prayer… I am just teasing!]. When you go to those different stores, even the
supermarket or any market, wherever you go and see things, make offerings to the Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas. When you drive and see a beautiful bay, beach, flowers or people, just make offerings
to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Milarepa said, “Some people say I have nothing to offer. That is
ignorant. Everything is an offering. Everything that you see, that you encounter, just make all things
an offering to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.” That is a special method by which to gather the great
accumulations. It requires nothing. It lacks nothing. There is such a great possibility to do virtuous
deeds everyplace, every time, everywhere.
The Importance of the Special Preliminaries
So the principle method or practice of Mahamudra is to release the self-grasping, the self-cherishing.
So don’t think that Guru yoga, Vajrasattva, mandala offerings are not Mahamudra practice. They are
also Mahamudra practice. They are also teachings. These teachings are special instructions to release
our attachment to the grasping of self. We always have to make this release from the self-grasping,
self-cherishing the focus of any practice we do. And if we can do this, all practice becomes
Mahamudra practice.
In the ngondro text two different kinds of mandala offering are mentioned. One is longer, the 37-
pointed mandala offering, the other is shorter, the 7-pointed mandala offering. You can get this from
the ngondro text. As for the supplication prayers, as mentioned earlier, “I make an offering of all my
body, speech, and mind and any virtues of the three times that I have gathered here without any
expectation to the precious lama. Please accept this fully.” Then also offer this to the Buddha, Dharma
and Sangha. Then request “Please give me the opportunity or blessing to actualize the supreme
realization of Mahamudra. Please grant me the manifest blessings to give rise to the unceasing
experience of the Mahamudra practice.” Say these prayers to the lama, yidam, Dharma, and Sangha.
So this practice is most important for the preparation for Mahamudra. It is most important for
enhancing Mahamudra practice. And finally, these are very important for the completion or
realization of Mahamudra practice.