Dharma for blind Tibetans
Dharma for blind Tibetans
In Tibet blindness was always an issue, because of its high altitude. How did it change Tibetan Buddhism? Was there a lineage or a special kind of practices for those people, who weren't able to practice in a traditional way due to blindness? Thank you very much for any reply!
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Re: Dharma for blind Tibetans
From a tantric pov, being blind from birth is an issue due to not having a defect free body/the body mandala is incomplete. I'm not sure if the case is exactly the same if one goes blind later, but I don't think it is if the structures of the eye and optic nerves are still fully formed, just damaged.
Dzogchen is not dependent on a defect free body mandala, and there are practices for direct perception of dharmata through sound, so these are great practice lineages for blind people, so I have heard.
Dzogchen is not dependent on a defect free body mandala, and there are practices for direct perception of dharmata through sound, so these are great practice lineages for blind people, so I have heard.
Re: Dharma for blind Tibetans
I was thinking about practices in general. Most of the practices I know are based on sadhanas and visualisations, but if you can't read them or see the pictures, then you're practice is very limited or at least much more difficult. How can one go on a retreat and practice Ngöndro, Mahamudra etc.?stoneinfocus wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 2:35 am Dzogchen is not dependent on a defect free body mandala, and there are practices for direct perception of dharmata through sound, so these are great practice lineages for blind people, so I have heard.
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Re: Dharma for blind Tibetans
Not sure about standard ngondro and retreat procedures. But sems khrid/mind teachings are not really always necessarily working with visualization, and some deal with direct perception that is not based in the visual aspect. So those practices in their various systems would likely be appropriate if a lama has the skill to introduce these things without referring to the visual aspect.Mirror wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:28 pmI was thinking about practices in general. Most of the practices I know are based on sadhanas and visualisations, but if you can't read them or see the pictures, then you're practice is very limited or at least much more difficult. How can one go on a retreat and practice Ngöndro, Mahamudra etc.?stoneinfocus wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 2:35 am Dzogchen is not dependent on a defect free body mandala, and there are practices for direct perception of dharmata through sound, so these are great practice lineages for blind people, so I have heard.
Otherwise, devotional practices are good for everyone and don't require visualization.
But once somebody has an inkling of their mind's nature, they can perform guru yoga and that's really the crux of Vajrayana practice anyway, so they'll be in a good position.
I'm sure one of the qualified teachers and some of the more experienced students here have more detailed/better answers; this is just my best shot.