..續本文上一頁desire or attachment. The palace itself, the home of the buddhas and yidams, is the pure manifestation of all five jnanas. In the discussion above, we saw that the palace of the buddha is in the centre of the mandala and is surrounded by a vast field of offerings. The palace of the buddha and yidams was translated into Tibetan to also mean “immeasurable abode,” because it is expansive and unfathomable. 13
The central palace of every mandala is square and has four gates and doors. While in the impure state that is governed by karmic circumstances and conditions, people build their houses according to their personal taste – some people prefer a round house, some a square house, and others would rather live in a rectangular house. The palace within the mandala is the pure realm in which everything is immaculate and non-differentiate. Therefore, the residence in every mandala will always be square and have four doors. Lord Buddha taught the Dharma without deception, without manipulating his disciples in order to win them over or to push them towards the path to liberation. He only spoke about the true nature of things, just as they appear and are. What did he teach
The Four Noble Truths. The square palace symbolizes the Four Noble Truths and is therefore always square.
The four gates or doors symbolize that, due to mind”s fundamental nature and the way things really are, a practitioner can realize the ultimate truth of the centre by passing through one of the four doors, either by entering through the eastern door, the western door, the northern door, or the southern door. Whoever follows the path of the precious Buddhadharma and passes through one of the four portals will reach liberation, since “All roads lead to Rome” and here, “All ways lead to the mandala”s centre.”
The walls of the residence of a yidam are painted or strewn with precious substances in the colour that corresponds with the direction, the centre being in the fifth colour. The five precious substances that are used to create and visualize a sand mandala are gold for yellow, crystal for white, lapis lazuli for blue, ruby for red, and emerald for green. The entire palace (the pillars, walls, and baldachins) of a sand mandala is made of these precious substances. Why is the palace made of precious gems
Since we estimate their value higher than earth, water, or metals that lie around for the taking, we treat precious gems and priceless metals with much more care. Is the exquisite palace therefore only open for the wealthy and rich
No, not at all. Each precious substance is associated with a transformation of a specific mind poison into one of the five wisdoms. As it is, our impure thoughts cause us to react negatively; our negative reactions lead us to commit non-virtuous actions that bring on painful results. When the entire chain-reaction has collapsed, i.e., been purified, then what were once objects of delusion and attachment no longer give rise to disruptive reactions in the mind of a practitioner, and, as a result, suffering and anguish cease. For instance, we may think that possessing gold and precious gems will make us happy, so we invest all our time and energy to earn enough money to buy them. While working our heads off to one day be able to pay the price, we endure hardships, stress, and anguish. Once we have finally managed to buy the jewels and gems we wanted so badly, fear of robbers and inflation that will leave us empty-handed bring on further headaches. This short account only intends to show how useless such pursuits really are, and that the precious substances are not to blame for all stress and strain one goes through in order to own them; rather attachment and desire bring on the anguish that greed always entails. The precious substances…
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