Using Ritual to Cultivate Bodhicitta

This talk is the first in our theme of "Transforming Self and World", in which we will be exploring how ritual can help us put the conditions in place through which bodhicitta may arise. Vijayasri explores our reactions to the idea of ritual and how rituals can become meaningless. We then look at the concept of ritual as "entering into a realm of the imagination where we encounter Buddhas and Bodhisattvas". Vijayasri starts to unfold a map of our seven-fold puja using the Bodhicaryavatara, and we focus on the Worship section of the Puja through the idea of Mandarava. The session ends with the Avalokitesvara mantra. This talk was given at the Croydon Buddhist Centre in April 2016 as part of our regular Saturday morning sangha class.