Peacedog wrote:I would be highly cautious about using anything other than a mainline Buddhist mandala without significant training. And avoid any of the shamanistically influenced stuff, specifically Tibetan and Bonpo mandalas. There's some aggressive and not necesarily pacified stuff inside those.
I'm currently learning a vajra meditation from a Tibetan Bon lineage and it's very intense at times and definitely not fluffy and happy like the reiki portion of the class has been. Images of serpents and violence are pretty commonly reported in class after practicing the vajra breathing. The reiki stuff is much kinder and the channeled entities are helpful if not exactly willing to stick around if you're not doing the work or if you have an impure intent. I found it easier to see spirits after reiki attunement. White balls running around and some times they can be distracting and willing to talk. I'm told some are ancestral and some are from the healing lineage.