Читать книгу The Buddha Book: Buddhas, blessings, prayers, and rituals to grant you love, wisdom, and healing - Lillian Too - Страница 15

This wonderful, fifteen-minute meditation can be practiced each morning. Sitting cross-legged, ideally in the lotus position, the back is held straight. The mind is calmed and thoughts turn to contemplation. The purpose of the meditation is considered: to embark on the spiritual path that will lead to awakening wisdom. The breath is rhythmic and steady.

Now a beautiful, bright-blue sky is visualized, stretching into the beyond just at the edge of consciousness. A sense of the cosmos pervades the mind, body, and spirit.

An awareness is brought to the level of the forehead; a large golden throne, beautifully adorned with all kinds of precious gemstones and jewels, is visualized. At each corner is a pair of snow lions, signifying the fearlessness of the buddhas. On top of the throne is a fully opened lotus, signifying the Buddha’s holy mind. On the lotus are a sun disk and a moon disk. The sun signifies wisdom and the moon, method. Together they represent the unification of no more learning (the ultimate achievement: buddhahood). Seated upon them is the historical buddha Shakyamuni, who signifies the attainment of this unification. The lotus, sun, and moon also symbolize the principal aspects of the path to enlightenment.

As this image is held in the mind, one thinks how Shakyamuni Buddha, who took rebirth in the human realm, manifested the attainment of perfect realization – enlightenment – and then left the world the legacy of his teachings. As the ultimate teacher, the guru, he is therefore inseparable from one’s own “root guru” (see here).

Buddha’s golden body and aura radiate infinite compassion. He wears the saffron robes of a monk. His face is beautiful and his eyes see all beings. His gaze is peaceful, and his mind is free of all critical thoughts. He fully accepts everyone.

Buddhist art is an immensely valuable aid to visualization. In the thangka paintings of the Tibetan tradition, which are painted on cloth, the artist incorporates colorful symbolic imagery. Shakyamuni’s right hand touches the earth, signifying control over the maras* of desire and attachment. His left hand holds a bowl of nectar, symbolizing the conquest of the cycle of samsara. His body is in the vajra posture, signifying that he has destroyed death and his own four maras. The light beams that surround Shakyamuni show that he is working compassionately for all beings.