A map of the mental universe - the mandala of the five Buddhas: a perfect practice; a perfect remedy for the five poisons - Buddha Weekly: Buddhist Practices, Mindfulness, Meditation (2023)

Buddha literally means "the awakened one" - which refers to someone who has awakened to the true nature of reality.

Shakyamuni awakened to the true nature of reality and the true nature of suffering - and gave us remedies for the five poisons that imprison us in samsara: anger, attachment, pride, jealousy and ignorance.

He taught us that we can all "awaken" or become buddhas by teaching various skillful ways to transform these five poisons into five wisdoms. One such method is meditation on the Mandala of the Five Buddhas.

The five Buddhas are often called the Buddhas of the five cardinal points. This map-like language is no coincidence.

The meaning of the "Five Buddhas Mental Universe Map" is extraordinarily profound. It invites us to be the explorer, to be the adventurer who embarks on a journey towards the great Jinn wisdom. Instead of regarding the five cosmic Buddhas as symbols with attributes, the "wisdom seeker" can travel in the mind to find the five wisdoms.

To start this journey, it is useful to have a map, a mandala, to guide us.

Part 2 of a 2-part series on the 5 Families of the Buddha

Part 1 of this series: “What does quantum mean?Physics has to do with the 5 Buddhas here>>

Por Lee Kane

In Part 1 we discussed the different views of the five Tathagatas: Vairochana, Amitabha, Akshobya, Ratnasambhava and Amoghasiddhi. In part 2 we will discuss the "mental universe map" - not a literal map of the universe, not a star map, not a dry picture of north, south, east, west, center - but a deep mental space where we learn the five wisdoms of Buddhas can explore.

It is not a matter of belief, superstition or arbitrary teaching methods. Intellectually understanding the attributes of the five Buddhas and the meaning of the symbolism may be the first step - we examine these attributes in depth in Part 3 of this series - but the real journey of experience takes place in the realm of the mind, not the "brain" realm. ” It is about preparing yourself for a deep thought journey to experience the wisdom of the five Buddhas and their families.

Meditation on the Five Buddhas is largely a mystical path, a journey into the mind to find wisdom and discern the true nature of reality. (For a discussion of dependent co-arising, vacuity, and quantum physics in the context ofthe true nature of the five Buddhas, see part 1 of this series.) Professor Dr. Alexander Berzin explains [2]:

“Buddha families – more specifically, Buddha family qualities – refer to aspects of Buddha nature that we all have, even worms. In general, Buddha-nature factors allow or explain that anyone can become a Buddha. More specifically, it is factors associated with each individual's corrupted mental continuum that transform or are responsible for the various aspects of a Buddha. They include enduring qualities that have always been part of our continuities and evolutionary qualities that are growing.”

mandala is a map

To help us navigate these complex concepts and benefit from these meditation techniques, the five Buddhas are presented with attributes in a mandala - a "map" in modern terms. It is not a map of a place. We experience mandalas in the realm of mind and visualization. The mind itself is obviously a great mystery, but the mind remains the focus of meditation. The Grand Lama Yeshe explains:

"What is the mind? It is nothing more than what the mind, the thought, merely attributes. In other words, because the ground - that formless phenomenon which is clear and knows objects - exists, the mind is denoted and believed only by thought. Therefore, thought makes the idea, the concept, the label "mind" and then believes in what is merely imputed by thought. Therefore, what the mind is is extremely subtle. It does not exist as it normally appears to us. In reality, existent mind does not exist as it normally appears to us, as we normally understand it, as a real mind existing on its own side, an inherently existent mind. It is not that."

Although the various commentaries express this in the form of a mandala with instructions, the context for this specific discussion is the meditative mind map of the five Buddhas. It should not be limited to "five" directions - in fact, there are ten symbolic directions, which includes everything. The mind and our "physical" universe have unlimited "dimensions".

"Directions" - the language used 2,500 years ago - could be expressed as "dimensions" today. Or not. These are just "imputed labels". The mind speaks the language of symbols, especially the intuitive and subconscious mind. Ultimately, we can only discover the true nature of reality as taught by the Buddha with a critical mind - hence the heavy emphasis on meditation and on metaphors and visual symbols in the teachings and visualizations. This is particularly explored in the powerful tantric methods known as Milam Sleep Yoga, a lucid dreaming method that helps us experience dualistic reality.[For a full story on Milam Sleep Yoga, see >>]

In modern "pop movie" terms, this would be a quick metaphor for the power of images and symbols - and meditative mind mapping.matrix matrixFilm that explored intriguing concepts of duality and "awakening".

Metaphor of "Awakening": the movie "Matrix".

matrix matrixThe film convincingly blurred the lines between perceptual reality and dream reality - a concept Buddha understood for a long time. In the film, most people were kept "asleep" by machines; these dreamy humans were convinced they were living their daily lives in an artificial construct called the Matrix. No one knew they slept in disgusting tanks that turned them into power generators for the machines. If you died in the dream, you died.

A translation of the title Buddha (which doesn't actually have a one-word translation) is "one who has awakened to the dreamlike nature of reality" or "one who has awakened to the true nature of reality". Or simply the "Awakened". Metaphorically, the Matrix in the film can be seen as Samsara and Neo as the Awakened One. He was given the chance to take either the green pill or the red pill. His "mentor" Morpheus explains:

"This is your last chance. After this, there's no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe what you want to believe. You take the red pill - you're in wonderland , and I'll show you down the rabbit hole. Remember, all I offer is the truth. Nothing more."

For more on this metaphor, see our previous story, What Teachers Say About Emptiness, in the section"The Matrix: "How Far Does the Rabbit Hole Go">>

The Language of the Mind: Symbols

There is a reason why "mandalas" are so important in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. They are meant to be visualized (rather than seen with the eyes) and express a multidimensional map of the universe in the context of the Buddhas and Pure Lands. After all, the language of the mind is not words; Symbols, colors and images are the universal language of all minds. The eminent Carl Jung explains:

"Any psychological term is a symbol if we assume that it says or means something more and different than itself, which escapes our present knowledge."

Since most Buddhist practice is "mind work" - sitting meditation, breath watching, Buddha visualization or more complicated deity practices - the symbols, images and colors become essential rather than arbitrary. They express the unknowable in ways the mind can comfortably explore.

Seeing red means something

When a Buddha manifests as red, it is for a reason. In the language of the spirit - which transcends modern associations - the universal "meanings" of red are fire (red flame), heat (hot fire), love (red rose), setting sun (energy). In Asia, red has even greater meaning: happiness, prosperity, celebration, happiness, long life.

Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, is associated with red in the Five Buddhas chart. He is the Buddha of the lotus family (symbolically fire), of the West (setting sun), of compassion and love, of happiness - and is strongly associated with long life through his emanation as Amitayus - Buddha of infinite life.

All five judged Buddhas have these strong color associations - the universal language of the mind. You could say that they visually radiate in this way to trigger a reaction in our mind.

map of the spiritual universe

Admittedly, we coined the term 'mind universe map', but more or less to express the essence of a mandala in more modern terms. Mandala is not meant to be just an image, thangka or sand mandala. It's a graphical representation of what we hope to experience in our visualization practices. It is a map of the mental universe in the context of the Buddhas. In advanced practices where we have training and initiation, we can even visualize ourselves as a Buddha at the center of the universe of mind (mandala). In previous practices, we could simply visualize the mandala "in front of us". However, the whole universe is in our mind. The key is to use practices – such as meditations on deities or mandalas – to gain glimpses of ultimate truth. Tulku Thondop, in the bookThe true nature of the mind, explains the dualistic nature of the mind [3]:

“The ordinary mind, also known as the deluded mind in the Mahayana teachings, is conceptual, dualistic and emotional. Enlightened mind - also known as awakening or Buddha nature - is the true and pure nature of mind. For most of us, the dualistic concepts, unhealthy emotions, and obsessive feelings (especially strong attachments and desires) of our ordinary mind overshadow the enlightened aspect of our mind. These thoughts are like coverings that keep us from realizing and manifesting our true nature – like clouds covering the sun.”

In Vajrayana visualization meditation - and deity practices - when we meditate, we don't use our eyes to observe. We use our mind to visualize. We don't see a "memory" of a thangka we've seen or admired; We explore the three-dimensional mandala with an open mind. The mind is as limitless a space as the imagination.

The average human mind has 100 billion neurons and about 100 trillion synapses. The Milky Way (our home) is about 100,000 light-years across and “only” has a mass of 100 billion solar masses – as much as the number of neurons in our brain. [1]

Why equate neurons with stars? In the universe of our brain, neurons are our shining stars. The brain is not the same as the mind - something we don't really understand yet - and it's conceivable that the mind doesn't scale. There is a modern saying that there are more neurons in the brain than there are stars in the universe. This is not true, of course, but on a galactic scale we are similar in size. Why Does It Matter? No, but it's interesting in the context of "mental work" with visualization practices. When we meditate, we traverse the universe of our mind.

the five poisons

We understand the relative truth of the Five Buddhas as expressing the manifestations of the Five Wisdoms - the remedies for the Five Poisons. Non-visual meditation focuses on the five poisons: we can use logical meditation, sutra meditation or recitation, or mindful observation of our emotions (anger, pride, jealousy). From a karmic point of view, it is important that we transform these sufferings. We cannot advance on the path without addressing the sufferings that keep us trapped in the suffering of samsara: anger, attachment, pride, jealousy, and ignorance. With these five "medicines" - the five wisdoms expressed in the five Buddhas - we can attain realizations.

How is this possible with the five Buddha visualizations? Buddha and all the great sages presented skillful methods - one of which was the visualization of perfect enlightened beings who represented the goal of our transformation. We visualize ourselves in these ways. As the language of the mind consists of symbols, colors and metaphors, the method is profound.

Snapshot of the Five Buddhas

While we delved into the symbolism and archetypes of the five Buddhas in Part 3, here is a brief summary of the symbolic qualities of the five Buddhas.

NOTE: Depending on the particular school, Vairochana and Akshobya visualization or tantra may be “switched”. Some schools place Vairochana in the center, Akshobya in the east, others place Akshobya in the center and Vairochana in the east. There are valid practices and symbolic reasons for this - best explained by your teacher - but there is no contradiction. The remaining three Buddhas do not differ in their "directions".When you have a teacher, always let the symbolism and attributes of your practice guide you. In higher tantras like Kalachakra, Heruka practice and Guhyasamaja, the attributes, directions and symbols can change. Other attributes may change depending on the exercise, such as B. the wife.

For part 1 of this series "What does quantum physics have to do with the five Buddhas” see >>

COMMENTS

[1]SPACE.com "How many stars are there in the Milky Way?"

[2]Berzin's Archive

[3]The true nature of the mind, Tulku Thondup