Once again at the Centre of the Mandala, we meet Vairocana. 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? Vessantara gave this talk as part of the series The Mandala of the Five Buddhas at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, 2012 Winter Retreat. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today.  Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, two times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud