2. How I Offer Food: The Actual Practice

Part 1. Many Into One or One Into Many

(duration: 11 minutes)

Transcript of Video 4: How I Offer Food - The Actual Practice, Part 1

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Now to mention the higher experience or tantra, you need to have received an initiation before that, otherwise it can’t be explained. Some of you might have received highest tantra but some may not, so I will leave that part. Those who have received highest tantra initiation, then how to do that is to transform into the mandala deity. The way to do it is by transcending, everything becomes pure, transcendent. I will just say that much as it can’t be explained, the actual meditation, without having received a great initiation. Those who have received a great initiation you become the deity and the mandala, and the food into nectar, the highest tantra nectar. Of course, it can be blessed after the visualization.

(Short prayer in Tibetan)

OM AH HUM. OM AH HUM. OM AH HUM.

(Short prayer in Tibetan)

However, you think oceans of nectar. Oceans of nectar. Even if you haven't received an initiation, it becomes oceans of nectar, numberless around you, and you are offering it to…

The simple way is to think of someone like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whoever is your Root guru; that means naturally he is all the gurus. They are not separate beings, they are not separate mentally, they are all one, like one person. However many gurus you have, they are like one person. You think they are Guru Vajradhara, the essence of the dharmakaya, the holy mind of all the buddhas, one being. That means they are all the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. That is a very simple way, a rich way, a simple way. It is rich because then you think “Guru,” in that way he is all the numberless buddhas, Dharma, and sangha. So you offer to him, which means you offer to numberless buddhas, Dharma, and sangha as well; [many into one].

Then the other one… The Guru Puja merit field, you are familiar with it, the example is like that – one into many. A thousand, a billion, or whatever, that is one into many. “One” means the guru, Guru Vajradhara, the essence of the dharmakaya, all the buddhas’ holy minds; one into many, so many different aspects. The lineage lamas starting from the Buddha, of the practice, profound, and extensive, the deities, the four classes of tantra deities, the fortunate eon buddhas, the one thousand buddhas, all of them, then the bodhisattvas, the arhats, the dakas and dakinis, the Dharma protectors, all are the guru, all are one, the guru. They are manifestations of the one, the guru. That is the richest offering, the richest guru yoga meditation: many into one, or one into many, whichever you do.

Personally I do like this, just to say a little bit. All the gurus you visualize, those with whom you have a Dharma connection, all the gurus, and nectar-food, numberless nectar-food, and then: all the offerings at Tushita Dharamsala, all the offerings there; next, all the offerings in Kopan, upstairs in the different rooms, in the main room and all the small rooms, all the extensive offerings there, the light offerings, the flower offerings, so many water offerings, also all that, and outside to the thousand buddhas the offerings;

then the offerings in Washington, in Amitabha Pure Land retreat place, all the offerings in the different rooms, the three different rooms, all the lights, flowers, water offerings, so many water offerings (there is one monk, two monks, making the offerings), all the offerings upstairs in all the three rooms, so many offerings, then downstairs, then outside there are flower offerings around the Medicine Buddha, outside there is a Medicine Buddha, and there are flower offerings around the Amitabha Buddha;
then in the Aptos house there are offerings, in the main big room there are so many offerings of water and light, so many, in the Mahakala Room there are so many offerings, and the Prajnaparamita Room, where I write the Prajnaparamita in gold, the offerings, there so many offerings, water offerings and light offerings, then in the Medicine Buddha Room there are so many offerings, all of that, then downstairs where there are the Tweny-one Taras, all the water offerings and light offerings, then outside there are so many flowers offerings to the stupa, so many flowers, then in front there are so many flowers, around the Buddha there are so many flowers;
then in Singapore, Amitabha Buddhist Centre, the FPMT center, there are so many, one hundred thousand light offerings, so many, so many offerings;
then in Tegchen Choling retreat center, there are so many offerings;
then in Penang there are one hundred thousand light offerings, one hundred thousand light offerings and one more, like that there are many offerings;
there are many offerings in Mongolia, in my two rooms and then downstairs there are six or seven ladies making water offerings every day, so many water offerings;
then in Bodhgaya (I’m not sure what the time there is now), in Bodhgaya there are so many light offerings, different colored light offerings, outside, inside and outside, so many light offerings around the house, then on the road around the Buddha, there are small statues of the Buddha around, then on the prayer wheel, on the gompa, on top there are many, many, so many light offerings;
then also in Sera there are light offerings;
so all the extensive offerings which are in the FPMT centers, all the extensive offerings, every water offering, every light offering, every single one in the FPMT.

2. How I Offer Food: The Actual Practice