the ten directions, completely purifying these worlds and the beings who inhabit them. We imagine that all the impurities and imperfections of samsaric environments are purified. All rocky and uneven ground is made smooth, all extremes of heat and cold are removed, deserts are transformed into beautiful parks, floods abate, darkness is dispelled – the whole environment is transformed into Heruka’s Pure Land. At the same time all the defilements of body, speech, and mind of sentient beings are purified, their obstructions to liberation and omniscience are eliminated, and they all become Heroes and Heroines within Heruka’s Pure Land. Wherever we look we see only immaculate purity; not an atom of impure appearance remains. As we imagine this we recite the words from the sadhana:
Light rays radiate from my body,
Blessing all worlds and beings in the ten directions.
Everything becomes an exquisite array
Of immaculately pure good qualities.
When we become a Buddha we will be able to perform completely pure deeds and transform worlds and beings through the power of our blessings. At the moment we are practising bringing the result into the path by imagining that we have become Guru Heruka and have transformed the world into Heruka’s Pure Land and all sentient beings into Deities in Heruka’s mandala. This visualization is very powerful. It makes our mind clean and pure and it creates the cause for us to be reborn in a Pure Land, or at least in a good country with few problems. This practice is also a collection of merit, and it causes our Buddha seed to ripen. When we visualize ourself as a Buddha blessing all sentient beings and their environments we are training in bodhichitta by bringing the result into the path.
BLESSING THE OFFERINGS
In general, four types of offering are made during Offering to the Spiritual Guide – outer, inner, secret, and thatness offerings. Of these, the outer and inner offerings must be blessed before they are offered. If possible we should actually set out on the shrine at least one row of outer offerings. This should include the four waters – water for drinking, water for bathing the feet, water for rinsing the mouth, and water for sprinkling – as well as flowers, incense, light, perfume, and food. It is not usual in our tradition to set out a substance to symbolize music because music is sound, not visual form. If it is not possible to set out offerings in the traditional manner, any clean offering substances such as pure water, flowers, honey, fruit, or chocolate can be placed on the shrine. In addition to these, we should set out on a table in front of us a skullcup, or similar vessel, containing the substance of the inner offering. A detailed explanation of the inner offering is given in The New Guide to Dakini Land and Essence of Vajrayana.
Before we offer these substances we need to bless them because it is not appropriate to offer ordinary, impure substances to holy beings. In reality, holy beings experience whatever we offer them as nectar, whether we bless it or not, but so that we can establish a strong connection with them it is very helpful if we bless the offering substances first. Thus, instead of offering ordinary substances in ordinary containers, we imagine that we are offering uncontaminated nectar in jewelled vessels.
If we have time, we can bless the outer offerings and inner offering according to the extensive rituals of the Yamantaka, Heruka, or Vajrayogini sadhanas. The method for blessing offerings according to Heruka and Vajrayogini Tantras is explained in The New Guide to Dakini Land and Essence of Vajrayana. Alternatively, we can bless the offerings according to the brief ritual in Offering to the Spiritual Guide, as follows.
We imagine all the offerings in the space in front of us, and above each offering we visualize the three letters: OM AH HUM. Immediately above each substance there is a white OM, the nature of Buddha Vairochana, the vajra body of all the Buddhas; above this is a red AH, the nature of Buddha Amitabha, the vajra speech of all the Buddhas; and above this is a blue HUM, the nature of Buddha Akshobya, the vajra mind of all the Buddhas. These letters are called ‘the three vajras’ – the body, speech, and mind of all the Buddhas. Countless light rays radiate from these letters and draw back the blessings of all the Buddhas of the ten directions in the aspect of Buddha Vairochana, Buddha Amitabha, and Buddha Akshobya. We imagine that thousands and thousands of these Buddhas appear and dissolve into the three letters. Then the letter HUM turns upside-down, descends, and dissolves into the offering substance, purifying it of all faults and ordinary characteristics such as an unpleasant smell or ordinary colour, and transforming it into a completely clean, pure substance. Then the letter AH turns upside-down and dissolves into the offering substance, transforming it into blissful nectar possessing three qualities: wisdom nectar that destroys delusions, medicine nectar that cures sickness, and life nectar that overcomes death. Finally, the letter OM turns upside-down and dissolves into the offering substance whereby it becomes inexhaustible.
As we visualize this we recite the words from the sadhana:
OM AH HUM
By nature exalted wisdom, having the aspect of the inner offering and the individual offering substances, and functioning as objects of enjoyment of the six senses to generate a special exalted wisdom of bliss and emptiness, inconceivable clouds of outer, inner, and secret offerings, commitment substances, and attractive offerings cover all the ground and fill the whole of space.
We strongly imagine that (1) all the offerings appear in their individual aspects, (2) they are by nature wisdom because all the wisdom beings of the ten directions have dissolved into them, and (3) they function as objects of enjoyment of the six senses to generate spontaneous great bliss and emptiness in whoever experiences them. We should visualize a vast array of such offerings covering all the ground and filling the whole of space.
According to the words of the sadhana we visualize outer offerings (such as the four waters), inner offerings (ten substances derived from the body transformed into blissful nectar), secret offerings (beautiful consorts that we offer to Guru Vajradhara), commitment substances (various special substances that we offer to fulfil our commitments), and attractive offerings (such as parks containing wild animals).
Sometimes, for example if we are travelling or if our domestic circumstances do not permit us actually to set out offerings, we can create offerings with our mind. First we remember the emptiness of all phenomena and meditate on this for a while. We contemplate that all phenomena are of one taste in emptiness, which is the source of all phenomena. Then, from that state of emptiness, we generate completely new offerings. We imagine that all forms appear as Rupavajra Goddesses, all sounds as Shaptavajra Goddesses, all smells as Gändhavajra Goddesses, all tastes as Rasavajra Goddesses, all tactile objects as Parshavajra Goddesses, and all other phenomena as Dharmadhatuvajra Goddesses. All flowers become flower goddesses, all water becomes water goddesses, and so on. We imagine all the ground and all of space filled with these offering goddesses, and later, when the time comes to make the actual offerings, we offer these. More detail on these goddesses can be found in The New Guide to Dakini Land and Essence of Vajrayana.
By blessing offerings in the ways described here we create the cause to experience wealth and riches in the future. We will experience only pure objects of enjoyment and we will be free from problems.
Panchen Losang Chokyi Gyaltsen
Visualizing the Field of Merit
THE ACTUAL PRACTICE
The actual practice of Offering to the Spiritual Guide has five parts:
1 Visualizing the Field of Merit and inviting and absorbing the wisdom beings
2 Offering the seven limbs and the mandala
3 Making praises and requests
4 Receiving blessings
5 Gathering and dissolving the Field of Merit
VISUALIZING THE FIELD OF MERIT AND INVITING AND ABSORBING THE WISDOM BEINGS
This has two parts:
1 Visualizing the Field of Merit
2 Inviting and absorbing the wisdom beings