The Meaning of A Guru Yoga & Mandala Offering Retreat

What is Guru Yoga?

Guru Yoga is a special way of relating to our own spiritual teacher where we regard them as an enlightened being. Guru yoga is a special and powerful method that enables us to receive the blessings of all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and holy beings.
In this retreat we visualize our Guru as Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka.

What is a mandala offering?

In this context , the mandala is the entire universe visualized as completely pure and offered to all buddhas, bodhisattvas, and holy beings. When we offer the mandala we imagine we are offering the entire universe in our hands, but our hands do not become larger and the universe does not become smaller. If we find this difficult to understand, we can think about how large images can be reflected in a small mirror or how whole cities can be shown on a television screen. Geshe-la says:

“Making mandala offerings is the best method to free us from future poverty and to enable us to obtain future rebirth in a Pure Land. Buddha Vajradhara made a guarantee that practitioners who sincerely make mandala offerings would never suffer from future poverty. Kadampa Geshes also said that if we want to be wealthy in the future, then we should stop ordinary business and make mandala offerings. We need to remind ourself of this many times because at first we may have doubts about this practice and lack confidence and determination. Through familiarity our faith and conviction will grow, and our determination to practise this will increase. Eventually we will feel that we are actually making a huge and generous offering to all the holy beings. From such a profound and special practice of giving we will of course receive wealth. Making mandala offerings is also a very powerful method to increase our merit, and to develop pure concentration. “

Sit back and relax – don’t worry about understanding it

A basic understanding of Buddhist teachings and meditation will be helpful during this retreat. However the main thing is to keep an open mind. Just relax and enjoy the experience even if you understand very little of the meaning.

No need to book just, just turn up on the day, if you are new, please show a little early so we can explain to you what to do.