Buddhist practice-y stuff

[icarus]

In Tibetan Buddhism there's this series of preliminary practices called "ngundro" (which means, coincidentally, "early go" or ... preliminaries). It's an accumulation of 100,000 refuge practices with prostrations, 100,000 recitations of the vow of compassion, 100,000 generosity/offering practices called "mandala offerings," 100,000 confession practices with the long Vajrasattva mantra, and it closes with 1.2 million of the devotional practice mantra (fortunately it's a very short mantra).

Tibetans do all this in a six month retreat. Usually when they're kids.

Americans with their busy lives take a little longer.

I started in 1987. Stop laughing.

I finished the prostrations early, when I was 20. And oh, am I glad I did them when I was young and limber. I finished the confession practice around the same time, when I was 19, though this is my favorite practice and mantra and I do it all the time now:

The recitation of the vow of compassion I finished when I was 21, and then I finished about 30,000 of the offering practice. I did 280,000 of the devotional practice when I was 23.

Then ... I didn't ngundro for years, except an insignificant amount here and there.

I'm finally got back to doing the mandala in an intensive way last year. It's a pretty practice.

I have only 12,000 left of the full 100,000 to do. To put this in perspective, on a good day, with a half hour to open the practice and two hours to accumulate the mantra, I can do about 1,000.

I could finish mandala in 12 days. If I could just get my ass in gear. Trouble is, I've had 12,000 left to do for the last two months. Arrgh.

Comments

[jeshyr]

I am in awe of your persistence with this, even if you do have 12,000 to do. You'll get them done, if it's what needs doing.