Continuing with our journey through the Five Buddha Mandala, we find ourselves at the centre with Vairocana. Today’s FBA Podcast is entitled Sitting At the Centre of the Mandala by Vessantara. How do we balance the teachings of effort and openness? One way is through the image of the sun and relaxed being. The practice of the Dharma is simply to come back. Yet of course this requires effort. Another question is the balance between practical and mythical approaches : can we hold both at once? What do we give significance to? what do we make real ? can we open to a world of richer and deeper meaning? This is the eleventh and last talk of Padmaloka’s 2012 Winter Retreat and is part of the series The Mandala of the Five Buddhas.