<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Yoshizen&#039;s Blog]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://yoshizen.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[yoshizen]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://yoshizen.wordpress.com/author/yoshizen/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Mandhara]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="133" data-permalink="https://yoshizen.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/mandhara/img_1159-3/" data-orig-file="https://yoshizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/img_11592.jpg" data-orig-size="785,788" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Picasa 3.0&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 5D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1249426531&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.25&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="IMG_1159" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://yoshizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/img_11592.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://yoshizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/img_11592.jpg?w=785" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-133" title="IMG_1159" src="https://yoshizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/img_11592.jpg?w=298&#038;h=300" alt="IMG_1159" width="298" height="300" srcset="https://yoshizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/img_11592.jpg?w=298&amp;h=300 298w, https://yoshizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/img_11592.jpg?w=596&amp;h=598 596w, https://yoshizen.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/img_11592.jpg?w=150&amp;h=150 150w" sizes="(max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px" /> A while ago, I was invited to attend a gathering of</p>
<p>the Tibetan Buddhists.</p>
<p>As a Tibetan Buddhism, it belongs to the Vajrayana Buddhism.</p>
<p>So that, the gathering went through an elaborated ritual rite</p>
<p>of which the participants taking part with chanting the mantra</p>
<p>and practice hand gestures.</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p>Elaborated rituals impress the people.</p>
<p>The people who attend such ritual, seeing gorgeous costumes</p>
<p>or strange regalia, never rise question but just follow.</p>
<p>People instantly accept it as it is, since it supposed to have ultimate authority with mysticism.</p>
<p>Anyhow it is beyond the comprehension of the ordinary mind, almost like looking inside of a computer.</p>
<p><strong>The more elaborated, looks expensive, looks remote from ordinary knowledge, it precludes the question.</strong></p>
<p>And deep impression becomes an imprint in the subconscious. (Then start to influence the person)</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p>A clever part of this sect&#8217;s practice is, as they ask the followers to visualise their Guru, the visual memory</p>
<p>of the rituals together with the feelings of the atmosphere comes back whenever the person meditates again.</p>
<p>This technique might be much easier to practice for the beginners.</p>
<p>Instead to vacate the mind, totally fills it with the image of Guru is, in effect, it is the state of non-self&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8211;somebody-else is definitely not oneself though, this is not Buddhism but Vedic practice.</p>
<p>When the mind was filled by an image or notion, it is impossible to see the things in clear eyes.</p>
<p><strong>This is the very reason why Buddha taught to see with empty mind / selflessness.</strong></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p>From this gathering, I brought back a flower which was used for a gesture of offering, thrown on to the</p>
<p>air and most of them end up on the floor.</p>
<p>After 10 days, this flower is still blooming in my kitchen.   And this must be the best gift I received at the day,</p>
<p>since I don&#8217;t need to question this flower of Natural Mandhara, created by the Dharma, or this is</p>
<p>the Dharma itself.</p>
<p>Why do we need to see a man-made print of  Mandhara.</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p><strong>PS:</strong> Funny phenomenon is, this blog received loads of virus spams.</p>
<p>(though they are all filtered out by the security program)</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not a Buddhist like behavior. So that, in deed this is a proof of</p>
<p>its not done by the Buddhists.</p>
<p>If the eyes has been deluded by a false vision, one can not see</p>
<p>even oneself, nor can not see what oneself is doing.(What a hell)</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;-I rather like to see the daughters of Mara dancing naked,</p>
<p>than the spams. Ha Ha Ha     😀</p>
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