..续本文上一页speak about the history of the art of making a mandala

　　 Does this mastery originate from India

　　 Are there different visions of the mandala or are you describing that of the Karma Kagyu Lineage

　　 How does the mandala fit into artistic mastery

　　Rinpoche: In fact, the origin of mandalas is neither Tibetan nor Indian; rather the mandala is a direct Tantric revelation that Lord Buddha imparted. In the Tantras, the Buddha taught and explained every detail of mandalas; he defined all measurements; for example, he taught how large the doors should be, how thick the walls should be, and the exact distance between the rings and enclosures. The tradition on how to paint or build a mandala precisely is meticulously described in the Tantras, so we cannot say that it is Indian or Tibetan.

　　 There are many different kinds of mandalas, each depicting the pure realm of a specific deity. I spoke about the various mind poisons that drive people to experience life the way they do. I also mentioned that remedies are available to us in the form of the different yidam practices; they are remedies that transform one”s deluded apprehension into pure awareness. When the various disturbing mental fabrications have been purified and transformed, then all appearances are seen purely, and this is what makes it possible for mandalas to appear in the mind of a noble practitioner.

　　I am presenting a general description here and am not going into details of the different measurements and sizes. The general outline I am speaking about now is not specific to the Kagyu Tradition. This is just a general introduction to the principle of the mandala that all schools of Tibetan Buddhism share.

　　 One feature in making a mandala was developed in India, though. When mandalas were painted on canvas, the measurements and sizes taught in the Tantras were strictly observed, but there were no guidelines on how to fill in the gaps between the spaces that were drawn with lines. The tradition of filling in the gaps seems to have originated in Kashmir and spread to Tibet from there. Slight influences came from Nepal, later also from China, so different ways of filling in the gaps in reliance upon Kashmiri, Nepali, or Chinese artists did flourish. Also, different ways of filling in the gaps developed in the different traditions in Tibet. So, various styles of filling in the gaps in a mandala did develop in reliance upon foreign suggestions. No literature states that this missing link originated in Kashmir. It is only my feeling from what I have been able to see and hear.

　　Student: Can we ourselves be an independently existing yidam

　　Thrangu Rinpoche: The outer yidam is like a bodhisattva or a buddha. They are symbols that we use to remember that we can achieve the same values that they possess if we practice. Yes, the yidams are really present. There really are yidams, like Noble Chenrezig, but we cannot say that they exist in the same way that other things exist, because yidams are beyond coarse forms of existence. Yidams are present in the same way that the Buddha nature is present and aren”t solid existents. Rather, yidams are the nature of dharmadhatu, which is beyond such concepts as “existent” and “non-existent.” They are present in a form that is beyond form.

　　Impure and Pure Apprehension

　　Continuing with the teachings on the mandala, we learned that it is possible to visualize the mandala and that it can be made manifest in a perceivable way. Let me speak about pure and impure apprehensions now.

　　What takes place when one perceives appearances impurely due to conditionality that is always based on karmic latencies and tendencies within

　　 All appearances manifest as apprehended objects perceived by an apprehending subject. Exterior objects appear to the …

《Mandala》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…