Go to:
Power Point Demo (1.2 Meg) - General Info:
enquiry@divinitydice.com
|
Go to:
Power Point Demo (1.2 Meg) - General Info:
enquiry@divinitydice.com |
|
A Number Harmonics Webpage |
The Art of Mo Did you realize that the Dalai Lama always consults the DICE when faced with difficult decisions?
Even the Dalai Lama Casts the Dice
All over the world Dice have been used for Divination purposes. Becoming better known is the Tibetan System called MO, which is in common use and is considered the major form of divination in a culture where the divination of omens and signs in the norm. (The following is an excerpt from His Holiness the Dalai Lama's address to the Tibetan people in Dharamsala on 14 May 1995 regarding the process of his choice for the next Panchen Lama) Issued
Dharamsala, 15 June 1995:
“Coming to the process of
making the final decision, I did a mo (Dice Divination) to find out if the
reincarnation was among the candidates whose names had been submitted. The
divination was affirmative. After selecting the more likely candidates, I threw
the divination dice while pronouncing the young child's name. I did it three
times, as is my usual practice. The divinations showed extremely good
indications.” The Tibetan divination system (called MO) has been relied upon for centuries to give insight into the future turns of events, undertakings, and relationships. It is a clear and simple method involving two rolls of a die to reveal one of the thirty-six possible outcomes described in the text. This MO, which obtains its power from Manjushri, was developed by the great master Jamgon Mipham from sacred texts expounded by the Buddha. There are several variations, one of which is the grasping of prayer beads, and counting the number of beads from a certain point to determine the “throw” A source for information is the book “MO, the Tibetan Divination System” by Jamgon Mipham, foreword by His Holiness Sakya Trizin, translated and edited by Jay Goldberg (More on MO at Page 158) Available through Snowlion Publications.
Background Info on MO ... www.divinemo.com In Central Asia many different forms of divination have evolved over thousands of years, particularly within shamanic communities. Tibetan Buddhism drew upon its shamanic pre-history to establish a form of divination driven by the power and wisdom of the teachings of the Buddha – Mo. Mo is a form of divination widely used within all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism with Lamas routinely offering some form of Mo divination as an aspect of their pastoral service. Non-Buddhist forms of Mo associated with the Bön and other pre-Buddhist shamanic cultures also continue to be widely practiced throughout the Himalayan region. The form of Mo used by Tibetan Buddhists evolved from its shamanic origins through the powerful influence of Mayahana and Vajrayana Buddhism. The Mahayana Bodhisattva ideal of compassionate activity for all sentient beings is the inspiration for Mo; while Vajrayana Buddhism, or Tantra, is the power that drives it. When doing Mo for someone the Mo practitioner - usually a Lama or Ngakpa - will first of all enter into visualisation practice, in which a Buddhist meditational deity or awareness being such as Padmasambhava, Manjusri, or Green Tara for example, is visualised. At the same time the practitioner invokes the energy of that awareness being by chanting its mantra. If the motivation of the practitioner is genuine compassion rather than an aspect of his or her self-interest, the Teacher may then act as a conduit for the Mo without obstructing its flow with ego. As all sentient beings and formed things in the universe are interdependent and are not isolated one from another, wisdom can arise from a state of unformed potentiality to give an understanding of events that are unclear to the rational mind, or that have not yet fully evolved into the present, material world. All that is necessary is a mechanism by which this wisdom can be introduced and interpreted. Mo is such a mechanism. All of these mechanisms or divinations have the same principle. Firstly there is a method for generating a random result, thus allowing wisdom to manifest free of the intellect and of ego. There are many, many methods for generating a random result, such as heating the shoulder blade of a sheep in a fire so that a random pattern of cracks appear; observing and interpreting the movement of crows in flight, interpreting the pattern of tea leaves left in the bottom of a cup; using the throw of dice or dealing cards or tying string loosely in a certain way so that a range of different types of knot can form when the string is pulled taut. Secondly there is a specific procedure for interpreting the random result that has been generated. The most important element in Divination generally seems to be that the practitioner must have a strong affinity to the particular method used. You either have it or you don’t - it is not something that can be developed. Like wisdom it is either there or it isn’t, you cannot generate or store or manipulate wisdom in the same way that you can knowledge. This is the same with healing, the method is not as important as the healer’s innate ability to heal. In Tibetan Buddhism Mo is generally done in two ways, by the casting of dice or by seizing the beads of a tenga’r or mala (rosary) at random. Different types of dice Mo needing no empowerment or transmission are currently available on the market together with an instruction booklet. For those interested in using Mo it is helpful to learn and understand the method involved, and to practice it on issues that are clearly identifiable but not too important. It is unhelpful and potentially dangerous to abandon one’s critical intelligence in favour of blind faith in an untried divination system. Keep a written record of what has been asked together with the results, and over time you will be able to assess the accuracy of the method. After 6 months or so you should be able to tell if it is working for you – if it isn’t then you should drop it and try another form of divination. Mo is – above all - a practical art.
Mingyür Dorje Mingyür Dorje is an English Tibetan Buddhist practitioner in Nyingma and Dzogchen traditions. For more information on Mo you can visit him on www.divinemo.com
|
|
Send mail to
info@divinitydice.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
