Today , i went to Amitabha Buddhist Centre , they will be teaching ' how to offer mandala ' next week. The mandala are out of stock , call evergreen also out of stock. Went to fu lu shou complex , found a shop that sells 1 set of mandala ( made of copper ) for $88. It's a small one. I compare it with other shops and find that this price is the lowest.
Any idea what is a reasonable price and where to get it ?
Originally posted by knightlll:Today , i went to Amitabha Buddhist Centre , they will be teaching ' how to offer mandala ' next week. The mandala are out of stock , call evergreen also out of stock. Went to fu lu shou complex , found a shop that sells 1 set of mandala ( made of copper ) for $88. It's a small one. I compare it with other shops and find that this price is the lowest.
Any idea what is a reasonable price and where to get it ?
OK, why edit out my quote of mandalas made out of excrement? There has been mandalas made out of shit before.
Kindly please emphasize on what mandala are you looking for.
If you are looking into Shingon Buddhism, note there are 2 kinds of mandala.(of Diamond or Womb realm.)
Tibetan Buddhism has sand mandalas.
The one which there are 3 levels to it. Place stones on the plate and stack it.
u can find in chan yun or green tara culture services ...also u can go ask ur fellow bro and sis at Amitabha where they ordered..
If i not wrong ,online u can order .. shambhala online
Fu Lu Shou got many shops selling religious stuffs including mandala set.
So you have learnt how to do mandala offering already?
Originally posted by Display Name:Fu Lu Shou got many shops selling religious stuffs including mandala set.
So you have learnt how to do mandala offering already?
They are teaching this sunday. I havent bought the mandela yet. Need to buy the kind of mandela that you can afford . Best is gold , follow by silver , copper and brass. Materials best buy precious gems ( 1 packet $10 ) , crystals . Second best are seashells and rice. Will be practising with rice this week.
I am a bit worried , never practise with a pure , good motivation will cause a decrease in merits.
Originally posted by knightlll:
They are teaching this sunday. I havent bought the mandela yet. Need to buy the kind of mandela that you can afford . Best is gold , follow by silver , copper and brass. Materials best buy precious gems ( 1 packet $10 ) , crystals . Second best are seashells and rice. Will be practising with rice this week.I am a bit worried , never practise with a pure , good motivation will cause a decrease in merits.
When practicing, don't practice for selfish reasons/benefits, but practice for your own liberation and the liberation of all other sentient beings. Then that is pure motivation.
I understand. But most of the times , i only manage to achieve 60% - 95% ( just a figure of speech ) . Sometimes 100% . Sometimes just for the sake of the routine. Sometimes think of daily lives when chanting. Sometimes with anger when chanting and etc........
But i will strive for pure motivation. : )
Originally posted by knightlll:I understand. But most of the times , i only manage to achieve 60% - 95% ( just a figure of speech ) . Sometimes 100% . Sometimes just for the sake of the routine. Sometimes think of daily lives when chanting. Sometimes with anger when chanting and etc........
But i will strive for pure motivation. : )
Training one-pointedness is very important and is part of the goal of chanting and meditation. Don't be disheartened if you initially feel distracted, it happens to everyone and that is why we need meditation training.
At first distractions will arise, but we should ground ourselves into just chanting with a clear mind, with clear mindfulness/awareness. When we develope mindfulness strong enough, whenever even a moment of distraction arise, we are able to remain aware and unaffected.
Just remain a mirror-like awareness reflecting everything -- when no thoughts arise, there is just the awareness of chanting, but if even just a single thought arise or just a speck of dust appears in front of you, it is also clearly known/reflected in awareness... but there is no grasping of thought, it comes and goes in its own accord leaving no trace in the mirror.
Initially it is difficult but after practicing for some time it becomes increasingly easy.
From another thread, I posted:
...But the most important benefit is that it can calm your mind... when you are chanting, you must be aware of the chanting. If your mind wanders on what you are going to do next, or what someone has done to you, what happened to you, i.e. past and future, then the chanting will not be of much effect.
My local dharma teacher tells of 3 stages of chanting... I can only type from what I remember, briefly:
1) Chanting as a means to control our mind. Our mind is lost in discursive thinking, and lost its calmness. So by focusing our attention on chanting, we can prevent the discursive mind from wandering again. Unfortunately, many people at this stage simply 'chants with his mouth'. That is useless. His mind wanders on other things, and is not even aware that is chanting. It is only his mouth that 'chants'. The mind is not chanting. We must avoid this by all means, and chant with sincerity and one pointedness.
(split, cos sgforums couldn't display post properly)
2) When we chant for a long period of time, the chanting itself becomes a momentum that gathers strength and helps us in daily life, constantly 24/7. Even in sleep. That means lets say you chant Amitabha (or any other chant), you will reach a stage where you automatically chant the mantra... its like motor going by itself in your head... you just keep chanting, the chanting takes place 'automatically' even without your intention to start chanting. This is important so that whenever you face any situations, you will not lose your calm and samadhi (one pointedness). Even in sleep, even in dreams, if you have a nightmare or you dream of ghosts chasing you, you will automatically start chanting... and free yourself from such situations. If something bad happens to you, even if your past life debtors or spirits want to take away your life, you will automatically chant and even if you die you will be able to be born in higher realms or in the pure lands.
3) Be-with-buddha chanting. You maintain ever present awareness that knows your chanting. That means, you are aware of chanting Om-ma-ni-pad-me-hum... totally present, aware, as you chant. This awareness is also aware of every arising thought, or even when there is no thoughts, it is present. With this awareness you will not be tricked by ignorant thoughts, whether the thought is good or bad, awareness is present and knows. When you reach this level, it is 'nian zhong you fo'. Every 'nian' got 'Buddha'. What is Buddha? Buddha is our Awareness. It is our true nature that is ever present and inherent in every being. If you reach this level, you are being with buddha'.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Training one-pointedness is very important and is part of the goal of chanting and meditation. Don't be disheartened if you initially feel distracted, it happens to everyone and that is why we need meditation training.
At first distractions will arise, but we should ground ourselves into just chanting with a clear mind, with clear mindfulness/awareness. When we develope mindfulness strong enough, whenever even a moment of distraction arise, we are able to remain aware and unaffected.
Just remain a mirror-like awareness reflecting everything -- when no thoughts arise, there is just the awareness of chanting, but if even just a single thought arise or just a speck of dust appears in front of you, it is also clearly known/reflected in awareness... but there is no grasping of thought, it comes and goes in its own accord leaving no trace in the mirror.
Initially it is difficult but after practicing for some time it becomes increasingly easy.
Thanks for showing me the rope.
Originally posted by knightlll:They are teaching this sunday. I havent bought the mandela yet. Need to buy the kind of mandela that you can afford . Best is gold , follow by silver , copper and brass. Materials best buy precious gems ( 1 packet $10 ) , crystals . Second best are seashells and rice. Will be practising with rice this week.
I am a bit worried , never practise with a pure , good motivation will cause a decrease in merits.
Who got teach the mandala offering?
I find that sometime after we start to do certain practice, then we realize we need to improve on the basic requirement like selfless, single pointedness, all these.
Spiritual practice is really a very down to earth thing, must be done step by step.