Ben Yuan wrote:Thanks for clarifying.Malcom wrote:No. You do this as a practitioner on the path, not when you have realized mahāmudra. Anyway, you are missing the point -- which is: only in Vajrayāna (anuttarayoga tantra) does one make offerings to oneself as the deity from the beginning. These principles are so basic, I am surprised that practitioners who have been practicing for years do not understand this.
I hope it did not come across as if I was trying to pass my suggestion as an official practice of a lineage, it is just something I made up myself. Apologies.
Ah, well — it is always best to base oneself on authority. In reality, the proper way to have a conversation about the dharma is to make a statement, then present a sutra or a tantra which shows that one has not indulged in personal fabrications. Then the worst thing that can happen is that someone will show you why you have not understood the sense of the statement.
M