As we recite HA HO HRIH these letters melt and fall into the skullcup, mixing with the ten substances. As the letters and substances mix together they transform into nectar possessing the three qualities, as explained in the inner offering. While reciting HA HO HRIH we perform the mudra of clearance, known as the ‘Garuda Mudra’. This mudra symbolizes the Deity, Garuda, who appears as a terrifying bird. At one time the people of this world were afflicted with many terrible diseases, caused by harmful naga-spirits, which were extremely difficult to cure. After being requested by Vajrapani, Buddha Shakyamuni manifested as the Garuda and completely pacified the harmful actions of these malevolent beings.
To perform the Garuda mudra we touch the middle finger and thumb of each hand together and then touch the joined middle fingers and thumbs of both hands together. The tip of the right ring finger then crosses on top of the nail of the left ring finger and both little fingers touch at the tips and point away from us. The two index fingers point upwards. The spaces inside the touching middle finger and thumb symbolize the Garuda’s eyes, the index fingers the Garuda’s horns, the two ring fingers the Garuda’s tucked-in wings, and the two little fingers the Garuda’s tail. Seeing this mudra, naga-spirits remember the Garuda and immediately flee in panic. This mudra also drives away the many other spirits who harbour harmful thoughts against practitioners, as well as the spirits who try to interfere with the blessing of the kusali tsog offering. An illustration of this mudra can be found in Appendix III.
Now our old body has been blessed and transformed into nectar, and is ready to be offered to the holy beings and given to ordinary beings. First we offer the nectar to the principal guest, our root Guru, Guru Vajradharma. To make offerings to our root Guru we hold the inner offering container at the level of our forehead and recite the offering verse from the sadhana:
I offer this nectar of commitment substance
To my root Guru, the nature of the four [Buddha] bodies;
May you be pleased.
At the same time we visualize that seven leading offering goddesses, together with many other goddesses, emanate from our heart. With their skullcups they scoop up nectar from the huge skullcup and offer it to our root Guru. At the end of the verse we say OM AH HUM seven times. Each time we say OM AH HUM we dip our left ring finger into the nectar and flick a drop of nectar into space. We imagine that our root Guru is delighted with our offering and accepts it by drawing the nectar through his tongue of vajra-light. This causes him to experience spontaneous great bliss. We then reabsorb all the offering goddesses into our heart.
After making offerings to our root Guru we offer the nectar to the lineage Gurus of these instructions. Holding the inner offering as before, we recite the next verse while imagining that many offering goddesses emanate from our heart. With their skullcups they scoop up nectar from the huge skullcup and offer it to the lineage Gurus who surround our root Guru. At the end of the verse we say OM AH HUM once and flick a drop of nectar away from us. We imagine that the lineage Gurus are delighted to accept our offering and we then reabsorb the offering goddesses.
Next we focus on the Three Jewels. Visualizing them as in the Lamrim Merit Field, we make offerings to all the other lineage Gurus of Sutra and Tantra, to the Buddhas, to the Yidams of the four classes of Tantra, and to the Bodhisattvas. Holding the inner offering at the level of our throat we recite the next verse while imagining that many offering goddesses emanate from our heart. With their skullcups they scoop up nectar and offer it to the Three Jewels. At the end of the verse we say OM AH HUM and flick the nectar once. We imagine that the Three Jewels are delighted to accept our offering and we then reabsorb the offering goddesses.
Next we offer the nectar to the different types of guardian. We visualize all the local guardians, regional guardians and directional guardians throughout the universe, concentrating especially on those who protect our own country and the area in which we live or are doing retreat. We also visualize all the peaceful and wrathful spirits and nagas – those who help, those who harm, and those who are neutral. Holding the inner offering at the level of our heart we recite the next verse, emanating offering goddesses who scoop up the nectar and offer it to the guardians. At the end of the verse we say OM AH HUM and flick the nectar once. We imagine that the guardians accept our offering and we then reabsorb the offering goddesses.
Lastly we offer the nectar to all sentient beings in the six realms and the intermediate state. Holding the inner offering at the level of our navel we recite the next verse, emanating offering goddesses who scoop up the nectar and give it to all these beings. At the end of the verse we say OM AH HUM and flick the nectar once.
We imagine that all the guests are completely satisfied and enjoy uncontaminated bliss. All sentient beings receive whatever they wish for – food, drink, beautiful things – and their mental and physical faults are purified. Their environment is purified and transforms into outer Dakini Land, their bodies transform into the form of Vajrayogini, and their minds transform into the supreme inner Dakini Land, the clear light Truth Body.
After making the offering we reabsorb the offering goddesses and contemplate that the three circles of the offering – the guests, the offering, and ourself – are empty of inherent existence and have the nature of the union of bliss and emptiness.
There are other ways of mentally giving our body. For example, in Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life Shantideva teaches a method of giving our body in which we imagine that it transforms into a wish-granting jewel that radiates light throughout the universe, fulfilling the wishes of all living beings and causing them to experience great happiness and satisfaction.
OFFERING THE MANDALA
In general ‘mandala’ means ‘universe’, but a literal translation of the Tibetan equivalent, ‘kyil khor’, is ‘taking the essence’. By making mandala offerings we create the cause to experience outer and inner Dakini Land, and so we are taking the essence of this precious human life.
In Guhyasamaja Tantra Vajradhara says:
Those who wish for attainments
Should mentally and skilfully fill this universe
With the seven precious objects.
By offering them every day,
Their wishes will be fulfilled.
This verse reveals the mandala offering. Although it explicitly mentions only seven points, implicitly it refers to the full thirty-seven-point mandala.
It is important for practitioners to obtain a traditional mandala set, which consists of a base, three rings and a top jewel. The base and rings are used to support heaps of rice, or some other grain, which represent the various features of the mandala. Such simple things may seem useless to those who do not know their significance, but they can be very valuable in the hands of a practitioner who knows how to use them to accumulate a vast collection of merit.
To construct the thirty-seven-point mandala we first take a little rice in our left hand and hold the mandala base with that hand. With our right hand we scoop up more rice and sprinkle a little onto the base. With the inside of our right wrist we rub the base three times clockwise, which symbolizes purification of the universal ground. As a result all rocky and uneven ground becomes smooth and level, and all our delusions are purified. We then rub the base three times counter-clockwise and imagine that all the blessings of the body, speech and mind of all the Buddhas gather into us. We think that the whole ground has been blessed and we recite the mantra for blessing the ground: OM VAJRA BHUMI AH HUM. We then sprinkle the rice that remains in our right hand onto the base and visualize that the ground throughout the entire universe transforms into a pure golden ground.
While reciting OM VAJRA REKHE AH HUM we now put the largest ring on the base and, in a clockwise direction, pour a ring of rice inside it to symbolize the precious iron fence. We then place a heap of rice in the centre of the ring to symbolize Mount Meru, visualizing it as a huge mountain made of precious jewels. We then place another heap of rice in the east, the part of the mandala base nearest to us, to symbolize the eastern continent. Proceeding clockwise around the ring we place heaps of rice in the three remaining cardinal directions to symbolize the southern,