Tantrayana Buddhism stresses a lot on the performance of rituals. Among them includes the way to "do" and "persevere".

Unfortunately, they are many learned scholars who are interested only in the theoretical aspects; they never practice what they know, just like the chefs who can cook many delicious dishes but never taste them. Although the chefs know the nutritional contents of the ingredients used, such as vitamin A, and vitamin C, they never really eat the food. As a result, they are always hungry . Likewise, if we know the theory and never practice them , we will never be full !

Putting the theory into practice is therefore tantamount to eating the cooked food. Thus, Tantrayana Buddhism always emphasizes the actual practice. Theory is only relevant if you put it into practice.

What are rituals ? They are the steps we have to follow when we do spiritual cultivation. Outwardly, they appear to be just shows of blind faith, but the truth is that there are many spiritual secrets hidden in the rites.

The process of controlling our inner self is an integral part of the rituals, commonly known as "Shi Fa" in Chinese. These are the rites that we must follow even if we are not cultivating. Among them are the four activities of walking, standing, sitting and sleeping.

In Tantrayana Buddhism, the most important thought is "You and your personal deity are one and the same person !",  therefore a cultivator must think of his personal deity all the time - albeit not many cultivators can comply with this rite.

I always remember that I am my personal deity, and my personal deity is me. I have never forgotten that I am a (future) Buddha. Visualizing that you are a Buddha is part and parcel of these rituals, although many cultivators do not know this secret.

Instead they doubt that they are (future) Buddhas. To them, the gap between a human and a Buddha is so great. First of all, Buddha is an enlightened person who is omnipotent and omnipresent, while a human being is unwise, not enlightened, and most of the time disgruntled. Tantrayana Buddhism advocates that cultivators must always visualize their personal deities, as all human beings have Buddha nature. Many cultivators do not realize that this visualization is very important, for they just ignore the theory that Buddha, mind and sentient beings are one and the same. They fail to put the theory into practice.

Tantrayana contains a lot of secrets. One of them is "You are a (future)Buddha." And this calls for constant visualization .

Secondly, it is not easy to visualize Buddha while we are not cultivating. We do not have the dignity of a Buddha when we eat or worse still perform natural actvities like emptying our bowels. Not many people will be able to visualize a Buddha emptying his bowels . To them it is unimaginable how a dignified Buddha would look when he is squatting on a toilet seat . They consider it disrespectful to have visualized the smell, the posture, etc.--in short it is not the right time to visualize.

Dharma master Guo Xian was right in pointing out that we are sitting on a lotus flower. When we are in the toilet, we can visualize that we are Buddhas sitting on lotus flowers. When we sit, our looks and our postures are very perfect. Moreover, we must visualize spirits from the lower realms come to eat what we discharge.

Fragrance or stink are one and the same. Change what you have just released from the few into many and fill the universe. This is one way of giving alms - what is discarded by you are badly needed by others in the different worlds. Thus, you must visualize you are a Buddha while you are walking , standing, sitting and eating , sleeping as well as emptying your bowels.

"You are a Buddha , and a Buddha you are" is the most important doctrine of Tantrayana Buddhism. You must always carry out visualization to this end. If you behave like a Buddha when you are walking, standing, sitting and sleeping , you are following the rituals, and very soon you will be enlightened !

Visualize the earth cracking open, and your droppings falling into it. There, many ghosts from the hells underneath rush to eat your alms. Remember You are a Buddha, so even your droppings are very useful for some other sentient beings.

Om Mani Padme Hum