Dharma for blind Tibetans

Forum for discussion of Tibetan Buddhism. Questions specific to one school are best posted in the appropriate sub-forum.
Post Reply
Mirror
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 9:53 am

Dharma for blind Tibetans

Post by Mirror »

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!
Memento mori
Remember that you die
stoneinfocus
Posts: 309
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:11 pm

Re: Dharma for blind Tibetans

Post by stoneinfocus »

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.
Mirror
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 9:53 am

Re: Dharma for blind Tibetans

Post by Mirror »

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.
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.?
Memento mori
Remember that you die
stoneinfocus
Posts: 309
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:11 pm

Re: Dharma for blind Tibetans

Post by stoneinfocus »

Mirror wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:28 pm
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.
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.?
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.

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.
Post Reply

Return to “Tibetan Buddhism”