The essential principle behind Mo, or behind all divination for that matter, is the Tantric Buddhist principle of the interplay of Emptiness and Form. Form arises from the empty state, exists in its characteristic condition for a period of time, then dissipates and is re-absorbed into the empty state. From this perspective the only difference between something as fleeting and intangible as thought, and something as immense and substantial as a mountain, is its duration. All things are impermanent.

If Form and Emptiness are translated as Pattern and Chaos we start to see how divination works. As human beings we all act out patterns, consciously or otherwise, and so we all arrive at a particular end point in our life or lives depending upon the pattern we are engaged in. For Buddhists this process is known as Karma. Whilst the complexity of the interaction of all sentient beings is beyond the grasp of the intellect, it is not beyond the reach of wisdom. As all sentient beings and formed things in the universe are interdependent and are not isolated one from another, wisdom can arise from the empty state to give an understanding of events that are unclear to the rational mind, or that have not yet fully evolved into the present, material world. All that is necessary is a mechanism by which this wisdom can be introduced and interpreted.

Mo is such a mechanism. All of these mechanisms or divinations have the same principle. Firstly there is a method for introducing a random result, thus allowing wisdom to manifest free of the intellect and of ego. There are many, many methods for generating a random result, such as heating the shoulder blade of a sheep in a fire so that a random pattern of cracks appear; such as observing and interpreting the movement of crows in flight, such as interpreting the pattern of tea leaves left in the bottom of a cup; such as using the throw of dice or the dealing of cards. Secondly there is a specific procedure or formula for interpreting the random result. As you can see, the pattern of emptiness and form continues - a method to allow emptiness to manifest wisdom; and a procedural form that allows interpretation of the result.

Mo is generally done in two ways, by the casting of dice or by seizing the beads of a tenga’r or mala (rosary) at random. The latter method is known as Teng Mo and is the principal form practiced by Mingyür Dorje, although he also uses dice Mo where appropriate. First of all a visualisation practice is entered into. Then a random result is generated by seizing the beads on a tenga’r anywhere at all with both hands. The random number of beads thus obtained between one’s left and right hands are then reduced in a certain way giving a final random count of between 6 (maximum) and 0 (minimum) beads which are interpreted in the following way.