Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

Teacher by his disciples is something never done by
Tibetans. Even an image of a Bodhisattva found on
a stamp should be treated reverently according to
Buddhist ways of thought. Sometimes stamps show a
head or bust of a Buddhist holy person, but again
Tibetan tradition does not approve—the whole
figure must be shown. No painting, Bhante said, or
image is ever made in Tibet of only a part of a
sacred form.
Mr. Chen remarked that if one requested a guru for
his photograph, he would always give a complete
picture, not just one showing head and shoulders.
Our preparations complete, we turned our attention
from Bodhisattvas generally, to those two in
particular who guide this chapter.
A. THE HOMAGE
In this talk we are concerned with how various factors
center upon our meditation. Therefore, we offer our
devoted worship to the great Lord Avalokitesvara, who
has been in deep meditation ever since Shakyamuni
lived on this earth. It is he, the Bodhisattva of
compassion, who is described in the Heart Sutra as
"moving in the deep course of the wisdom which has
gone beyond" (translated by E. Conze in Buddhist
Wisdom Books). It is to this Holy Lord that we dedicate
the central aspect of this chapter. Deeply, devotedly,
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