Читать книгу The Buddha Book: Buddhas, blessings, prayers, and rituals to grant you love, wisdom, and healing - Lillian Too - Страница 16

TAYATA OM MUNE, MUNE, MAHA MUNEYE SOHA

A mala (a rosary repeated 108 times) of Buddha’s holy mantra is recited, while holding a mental image of the glorious Shakyamuni Buddha. Looking at a picture or a thangka painting (see here) can help with this. As the mantra is recited, the person meditating visualizes golden-yellow light rays emanating from the Buddha’s body and entering their own body through the crown of the head. It brings down a shower of blessings.

Closing the eyes can intensify the visualization experience. The mantra symbolizes the concentrated essence of the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion. Reciting the mantra and simultaneously doing the visualization represents a powerful purifying practice, which brings a mountain of merit. Mantras may be chanted aloud (but not too loud) or recited in the mind – reciting them aloud is better, as it engages the speech as well as the mind.

Reciting the mantra 108 times is traditional, but it can be recited as many times as is desired. This practice results in a very blissful, calm state, which causes a beautiful spiritual awakening. When the practice is finished, the person sits quietly, and feels themselves receiving Buddha’s blessings. Those who have a guru imagine that he is inseparable from the Buddha. Those who do not yet have a guru dedicate their mantra and visualization to meeting a perfectly qualified teacher who will help, guide, and empower their practices.

It is vital to make a dedication at the end in order to lock in the merit of the meditation. If this is omitted, then the merit created is wasted. The moment a person loses his temper, for instance, all the merit that has been accumulated evaporates.

The teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are the basis of Buddhism. This hand mudra is known as Dharmachakra, or the mudra of teaching.