When a bodhisattva ascends into higher modes of advancement, the Tathagatas themselves appear to procure their progress: “Moreover, Mahamati, the tathagatas employ two kinds of powers for the support of bodhisattvas who come before them for instruction. And which two supporting powers? The power to appear in bodily form and speak to those in Samadhi and the power to anoint their foreheads.” (Red Pine, pg 130) Suzuki goes even further and refers to these as “sustaining” powers: “Further, Mahamati, there are two kinds of the sustaining power which issues from the Tathagatas who are Arhats and Fully-Enlightened Ones; and sustained by this power the Bodhisattvas would prostrate themselves at their feet and ask them questions. What is this twofold power that sustains the Bodhisattvas? The one is the power by which they are sustained to go through the Samadhis and Samapattis; while the other is the power whereby the Buddhas manifest themselves in person before the Bodhisattvas and baptize them with their own hands.” Interesting how Suzuki employs “baptism” in reference to “anointing”—almost as if this is some kind of Christian initiation, yet the terms are interchangeable. The Lanka describes a beautiful mystical transformation that occurs when the bodhisattvas reaches the tenth-stage, or dharmamegha (dharma-cloud): “As they work their way through the easy and difficult aspects of the various stages, they finally reach the dharma cloud stage, where they dwell inside a magnificent lotus flower palace seated upon a jeweled lotus flower throne surrounded by a retinue of their fellow bodhisattvas adorned with necklaces of jewels that shine like the sun or the moon or golden champaka flowers. The great victors of the ten directions then appear before their thrones in this lotus flower palace and anoint their foreheads…this is what is meant by the power to anoint the foreheads of bodhisattvas. Mahamati, this is what is meant by the two powers that support bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas who rely on these two powers will meet the tathagatas. Otherwise, they will not.” (Red Pine, pg 131) Quite a revelation here as the Lanka portrays a mystical anointing that needs to occur for initiation into the Tathata family.

Having now reached the “inner-realm of Noble Self-Realization” when their heads were anointed within the marvelous dharma-cloud, bodhisattvas can now begin to employ their own manomayakaya abilities, using their “higher powers, insights, and masteries to help protect all beings. For just as the earth supports everything that lives, so too do bodhisattvas aid beings everwhere. “ (Red Pine, pg 155) Yet, they still need to have an ongoing Recollection of the proper Buddha-gnosis needed for such an endeavor—there is a need to continually reside within their own bodhi-mandala (proper meditation setting)…Suzuki states this best: “In accordance with the authoritative teachings in which there are no discriminations, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva retire by oneself to a quiet secluded place, where one may reflect within oneself, not relying on anyone else, but by means of one’s own inner intelligence, in order to discard erroneous views and discriminations, make successive advances and exert oneself to finally enter upon the stage of Tathagatahood. This, Mahamati, is the characteristic feature of the inner realization to be gained by means of noble wisdom.” Another salient revelation as the advanced bodhisattva—in order to proceed on the way to full Tathagatahood, no longer relies upon “any-outside” influences other than the Tathagatas themselves. Thus the anointment becomes sealed through Tathagataic grace alone—devoid of all phenomenal and karmic outflows and empowering the developing Maha-Bodhisattva to awaken to the eternal kingdom of their own Self-Nature, the Dharmakaya.

Tags: anointing, Bodhisattvas, dharmakaya, gnosis, Lankavatara Sutra, Red Pine, Tathagata

A study on the Lanka would be remiss without focusing on one of its more prominent terms: manomayakaya. Red Pine describes it as, “a projection body—because it travels quickly and without obstruction, like a thought…endowed with higher powers and spiritual masteries obtained in the Samadhi of the Illusory, the different projection bodies of bodhisattvas appear simultaneously, like unobstructed projections, in whatever realms they recall having vowed to bring those beings to perfection who delight in the personal realization of Buddha knowledge.” Once again, his over-reliance on the word “projection” essentially “projects” a misleading understanding as to the nature of the term…like it’s some kind of an “astral-projection” appearing at will wherever it desires. Suzuki translates it as, “Mind-made body”, or “Will” body; I believe that he’s closer to the mark because the manomayakaya is a manifested Mind-Body of undivided awareness power that is revealed only through a perfected state of Samadhi. Manomayakaya is essentially a Mind-revelation initiating creative vibratory nodes within an otherwise constricted body-consciousness. It is not a ghost or an apparition or a corporal entity nor a spirit, and certainly NOT the stuff that dreams are made of—but rather an awakened resonance that emanates from the dark and luminous body of the Tathagatas.

When contemplating this remarkable term, one discovers that it is the very vehicle through which the Lankavatara Sutra itself expounds upon the Tathatagas’ Mind-revelation that enlightens and empowers one to dissolve-away their own feeble mind-projections. The Lanka teaches Ultimate Reality—free from all mind obstructions. Along the way, as Red Pine paraphrases the Lanka, it teaches “my disciples devices that make them happy”, but ultimately, “I instruct them to realize the realm of reality for themselves.” This is the beauty of the Lankavatarian path, because it does not make the adept dependant on devices, like organized religions do; there is no pulpit-pounding fiery preaching that is always confined to surface, phenomenal reality, but rather a gradual, inner- path, wherein one will, “by gradually ascending the stages, become established in Buddhahood.” (Lanka) Yes, organized religion perpetually keeps people enslaved to their own habit-energies—catechized into believing the true to be false and the false to be true. Blessed are those who can turn-about and abandon all false paths, thereby becoming free of all discriminatory projections, thus seeing the Greater Dream within and beyond the dream; then, countless Buddhas will come from every buddhaland, and, with hands beyond conception, will gently touch their heads as one—leading them into suchness. (Paraphrased from Red Pine’s Lanka, pg 129)

Tags: Dream Weaver, Lankavatara Sutra, Red Pine, religion, Zen

Having been graced with a full understanding of the Noble Wisdom of self-realization, the perfected bodhisattvas (mature garbha, or bodhichild) enter into deep and unfathomable samadhis for the benefit of all sentient beings: “And they enter hundreds of thousands of samadhis, countless hundreds of thousands of samadhis. And as they do so, they travel to other buddhalands and venerate other buddhas and are reborn in celestial palaces, where they praise the three treasures and appear as buddhas themselves surrounded by assemblies of sharvakas and bodhisattvas, and where they liberate beings by explaining to them that what they perceive is nothing but their own mind and that external existence does not exist, thus enabling them to transcend such views as existence and nonexistence.” Perfected in this fashion, these noble champions of Unborn Light empower the blind to see with imageless eyes that all dualistic manifestations are nothing more than fata morganas on the plane of emptiness (sunyata); devoid of self-awakening and recollection of the true and Primordial Self-hood in the dharmatic womb of suchness—tathata—these unwholesome projections of the deluded mind can even lead to the extremes of eternalism and nihilism, the awful curses of believing that some-thing (apart from the Unborn Mind) can exist forever—while simultaneously a belief that this thing-ness is basically a form of nothingness. The Lanka teaches that it is always best to avoid all forms of discriminatory assertions and denials—and also to never cling to the “word-ness” of things since this can lead to extreme wordiness and thus utter dependence upon words (vs. what words are pointing to) in themselves.

Section XXVIII begins to discuss the nature of the tathata-garbha: Red Pine highlights this understanding as, “The Buddha explains how the tathagata-garbha is not the same as a self but rather an expedient means used to attract those who cling to a self by providing something less frightening than no self.” Florin Sutton, in his analysis of the Lanka, Existence and Enlightenment in the Lankavatara Sutra, expounds upon it further: “For instance, we will find that quite often Tathagata-garbha is used with a sense resemblant to the Hindu Atman, that is, as an underlying ontological Reality, or essential nature behind phenomena.This can be said to attribute a passive, or static, quality to the garbha element in the compound. An opposite meaning is distinguishable when the Tathagata-garbha is said to evolve, or be set in motion, along with the personality aggregates (skandhas), elements (dhaatus), and bases (ayatanas). In such a case, the meaning of garbha is very appropriately rendered by the words “embryo”, “germ”, or “seed”, which suggest a dynamic, active sense. A third possible, intermediate, meaning – rendered by the words “womb”, “matrix”, or “receptacle” – as something potentially active but dormant (like a seed or an embryo) is conferred by Tathagata-garbha when explicitly equated with Alaya-vijnana, a situation uniquely evidenced in the Lankavatara-sutra.” (Sutton, p. 52) Sutton’s work wonderfully highlights that the nature of the Tathagata-garbha has a wide spectrum of scholarly interpretations—all culminating in the sense that it is used in a heavily didactic sense for expedient purposes. A note of caution: Red Pine translates the end of this section: “Therefore, Mahamati, in order to avoid the views of followers of other paths, you should rely on the selfless tathagata-garbha.” What he essentially means as “selfless” is the absence of the skandhas, as verse XXIX states, “A continuous person in the skandhas…projections of nothing but mind.” Suzuki translates the end of section XXVIII: “Therefore, Mahamati, in order to abandon the misconception cherished by the philosophers, you must strive after the teaching of egolessness and the Tathagata-garbha.” Suzuki has the better rendering since “egolessness AND the Tathagata-garbha” is preferable to “selfless tathagata-garbha”—which can be misconstrued as the womb of suchness somehow being aligned with and an affirmation of anātmanism.

For a full mystical slant on the nature of the tathataga-garbha and the growth of the developing bodhisattvic fetus, or bodhichild, the following video from part 3 of Tozen’s Dharmakaya Sutra offers a hearty dose of Bodhicitta–or the undivided bodhipower of the awakening mind:

Tags: bodhichild, Lankavatara Sutra, Red Pine, tathagata-garbha

Rabbit horns and Gandharvic Castles in the air; the mind, will and consciousness; the five dharmas and modes of reality; long and short, is and isn’t, I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob, ect—all are nothing more than a magician’s conjuring trick, designed to keep the great Ferris Wheel of Samsara turning round and round. Red Pine states, “Just as a magician fabricates forms that people imagine as being what they are not, thus does our repository consciousness produce our world of objects as well as our sensory bodies, both of which we imagine to be real, out of the seeds of habit-energy from past discriminations that we once more imagine as being what they are not.” Interesting take on how the defiled seeds of the alaya vijnana, if stirred into motion, create our apparent reality as such–thus initiating that magical mystery tour. One continuous action that dependently originates from all the accumulated habit-energy since time immemorial; as the Lanka itself expounds, “it is based on a dependent reality that the myriad projections of an imagined reality arise—the myriad projections of appearances that are the habit-energy of attachment to projections.” How does one stop all the spinning? How does one prevent the Mad-Hatter from sprouting unremitting discriminatory associations and attachments?

Enter the shadow-slayer of all discriminatory outlows: the Dharmata Buddha. “Mahamati, what the dharmata buddha does is establish and create that realm which transcends self-existent appearances of the mind and on which the personal realization of Buddha knowledge depends.” The Dharmata Buddha “does not teach, does not speak” (Red Pine), yet through detachment, as intuitively taught by this Transcendent Buddha, one enters into the tathagata family. Being free from all formal objective and subjective snares, the Dharmata Buddha initiates the Noble Power of self-realization upon those who are ready to awaken from the mad dream of samsara and who, through faith and reason in the Unborn Spirit, know that there is nothing apart from the Unborn Mind Itself.

The Lanka here also embellishes upon the notion of Nirvana. “Shravakas {those associated with Hinayana Buddhism} who are afraid of the suffering that comes from their projection of samsara seek nirvana unaware that the difference between samsara and nirvana, as well as their projection of everything else, does not exist. They conceive of nirvana as the cessation of all future sensory realms, not the transformation of repository consciousness through the personal realization of buddha knowledge.” A Lankavatarian discerns that nirvana is the Noble self-realization that there is no independent entity that needs salvation from an abstracted and defiled representation that masquerades as apparent existence; nirvana is annihilation of this false no-self representation, thus rendering it extinct. The meaning of nirvana is thus: Annihilation of the false, abstracted, no-self and giving full recollection to the undivided awareness power of the unborn mind.

Tags: Lankavatara Sutra, Magical Mystery Tour, nirvana, Red Pine, Unborn Mind

After inundating the Blessed One (Buddha), as well as the reader, with an incessantly long litany (108 questions) concerning literally everything under the Buddhist sun, Red Pine states that the Buddha “mercifully” (for both Mahamati and the reader) attempts to put to rest the obsessive workings of the meandering mind. It’s all “mind-stuff”—projections of an overly active cognitive apparatus (conceptual consciousness) trying to appease its voracious habit-energy since beginningless time. Rather than pursuing this futile and inadequate mind-game, one should focus on the highest reality—or paramartha: “It is by means of this…higher truth that the transcendental teachings of tathagatas are formed…by means of their wisdom eye…” This wisdom eye—the Eye of Tathata—transcends all phenomena by remaining “detached” from it; it sees Reality As It Is—Yathabhutam. In light of this, the Buddha is not concerned with “philosophical arguments as he is putting an end to suffering, which arises from projection and which ceases upon understanding the true nature of one’s perceptions.” The main cause of all dukkha (suffering) is that people, through avidya (ignorance) are constantly being led by their own “disordered beliefs”. As the Lanka states: “once the perceptions of their own minds are free of projections, they are able to dwell in the perfection of wisdom and to let go of their life and their practice and to enter the Diamond Samadhi that accompanies a tathagata’s body and that accompanies the transformation of suchness…thus transcending the mind, the will, and conceptual consciousness, these bodhisattvas gradually transform their body into the body of a tathagata.”

This leads us to perhaps the most central motif in the entire Lanka, section VIII in the Second Chapter—it is the very foundation of the Lankavatarian Path: “Who sees that the habit-energy of projections of the beginningless past is the cause of the three realms and who understands that the tathagata stage is free from projections or anything that arises, attains the personal realization of Buddha knowledge and effortless mastery over their own minds. And like gems capable of reflecting every color, they enter the subtlest thoughts of other beings and in their apparition bodies teach them “nothing but mind” while establishing them in the sequence of stages. Therefore, Mahamati, you should devote yourself to the cultivation of personal attainment.” It is worth contrasting this with Suzuki’s own translation: “Perceiving that the triple existence is by reason of the habit-energy of erroneous discrimination and false reasoning that has been going on since beginningless time, and also thinking of the state of Buddhahood which is imageless and unborn, the Bodhisattva will become thoroughly conversant with the noble truth of self-realization, will become a perfect master of one’s own mind, will conduct oneself without effort, will be like a gem reflecting a variety of colours, will be able to assume the body of transformation, will be able to enter into the subtle minds of all beings, and, because of one’s firm belief in the truth of Mind-only, will, by gradually ascending the stages, become established in Buddhahood. Therefore, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva be well disciplined in self-realization.” I prefer Suzuki here, in that he translates this as a truly Noble (Arya) Path of self-realization, not a “personal attainment”; also, Red Pine translates the “transformation body” of a Bodhisattva as an “apparition”—poor choice, as it is indicative of something “ghostly”, vs. the true transformation body that occurs inwardly (pavavriti) within the developing gotra (bodhichild) of the Bodhisattva.

The beauty of this awakening is that one does not make this journey alone, but rather, practitioners are drawn “near to buddhas and spiritual friends”. These spiritual friends awaken you to an essential truth. Think of it…a realm without projections, unknown to the worldlings, but one that the compassionate Buddhas and Bodhisattvas teach—the inner-realm of Noble self-realization. [{paraphrased} Lanka, Chapt 2, 26. pg 79, Red Pine]

Tags: Bodhisattvas, Lankavatara Sutra, Red Pine, Truth

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

Those lines from Shakespeare’s, As You Like It, bring to mind how Red Pine illustrates the vast array of images that comprise Chapter Two of the Lanka, or Mahamati’s Questions: “Worldly things are produced by the magician of the mind to decorate the stage on which the play of life and death is performed.” Acting on the stage of samsara, each character projects their own reality—their own personified masking of reality. The players are many and varied, like the Icchantikas—“those so immersed in pleasure…and whose karmic roots are so impoverished they are incapable of understanding the Dharma. Thus they are said to lack the ability to become Buddhas.” I also like Red Pine’s description of another major player, Mara—“ mara, or demon, is used for those who obstruct beings from understanding the Dharma or who cause chaos, illness, and death in the world.” Wonderful portrayal because “Mara” isn’t some isolated evil “spirit” like Satan in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition, but rather evil “personified” many times over—taking shape in any sentient-mind that harbors ill-will and who intentionally wreaks ruin by obstructing the minds and spirits of the unwary.

The 108 questions themselves essentially makes up what Red Pine refers to as a “Buddhist catechism—a list representing all levels of knowledge, from the most rudimentary to the most advanced.” All major Mahayana and Yogacara formulations comprise the list—yet, as we shall see within the next blog, when broken down all these concerns really constitute just “mind-stuff”, or what we Lankavatarians refer to as “images”; Red Pine substitutes “projections” for images, stating that images are really “projections” of the mind and when those projections cease, so do the images produced. Other listings include the eight forms of consciousness, “the basic five (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile), along with the conceptual consciousness (mano-vijnana), self-consciousness or will (manas), and repository or storehouse consciousness (alaya-vijnana).” UnbornMind Zen has another term that helps to transcend all these elements of the body-consciousness, and that is the “gotra”—or the dormant seed of Buddhahood that develops within the womb of all buddhas, or the tathataga-garbha. Red Pine adds that this gotra, while also meaning “lineage” is referred to in the Lanka as “the potential for spiritual advancement, while agotra (no lineage) refers to the absence of such potential among those who are spiritually barren, such as icchantikas.” When viewed from this angle, one could say that a developing “gotra” is in company with the family of Buddhas—or the Tathagatas; whereas “agotra” never reaches the potential to develop into a Bearer of Buddhaic Light, or a Bodhisattva. One needs to be careful here, though, with this whole understanding of just what constitutes lineage in this or any other sense, because where can the lineage in the Unborn be found?

In league with Bodhisattvahood, the Lanka teaches, and makes reference to in this second chapter, that there are ten stages in a Bodhisattvas’ development. The following video nicely depicts Tozen’s teaching regarding these ten stages. Ultimately though, a stage-less stage is reached wherein, as Red Pine asserts that the Buddha teaches “stages are provisional and are meant to be transcended if not abandoned.”

Tags: Lankavatara Sutra, Mara, Red Pine, Zen

For a Lankavatarian, the arrival in the mail of Red Pine’s new translation of the Lankavatara Sutra was like receiving the Holy Grail. This long anticipated release was well-worth the wait. Readers will not be disappointed as this contemporary rendition, through the skillful writing ability of Bill Porter, breathes new life into what is considered a difficult text. I found myself being mesmerized as soon as I opened the book. Often I find myself skipping through a book’s preface to get to the content, but not this time. Red Pine weaves a masterful synthesis of the Sutra’s origins—from the text itself to wonderful anecdotes revolving around key Zen players who were instrumental in the Lanka’s promulgation. One such anecdote relates how Shen-Hsiu, who lost that famous poetry contest with Hui-neng, was actually a greater admirer of the Lanka than the Sixth Patriarch himself; he was even buried beneath a hillock that he affectionately named Mount Lanka.

One salient feature that appears again and again in Bill Porter’s translation is the Sutra’s non-projection of dharmas: “Because the various projections of people’s minds appear before them as objects, they become attached to the existence of their projections.” The way to become free from one’s projections is to realize that “they are nothing but mind” Itself. The Buddha makes Mahamati (the spokesman in the sutra who addresses questions to the Buddha) aware that his incessant inquires are nothing more than “his own and others’ imagination and as such are tantamount to pie in the sky.” Consciousness itself is a “self-fabricated” fiction, but “bodhisattvas transform their consciousness into the projectionless tathagata-garbha, or the womb from which the buddhas arise.” Red Pine is right on target with his understanding of the tathagata-garbha and the alaya-vijnana, the latter “represents the defiled mind”, the former “the mind purified.” He also stresses a point about practitioners: “The Lanka is not a text that welcomes the casual reader. An understanding of its teachings requires a teacher, or incredibly good karma. And such teachers and karma have always been rare. There have been times when the Lanka achieved a certain amount of popularity, but it has never been a text whose readership was widespread—its reputation, yes, but not its readership.” Hence, one can see the validly of his decision to take the reductionist approach in order to enhance the Sutra’s readership.

I am also delighted that Red Pine decided to include the “Introductory Chapter”, something that editions like the Goddard abridged efforts have sorely left out. The interesting and edifying account of Ravana, the Overlord of the Yakshas, being transformed (Bill Porter’s translation of pavavriti—or the “turn about” within the deepest recesses of consciousness) through his discourse with the Buddha, in effect having a Yogic self-awakening, highlights in a nutshell the whole teaching within the Lanka on the process of the self-realization of Noble Wisdom. Am looking forward to reading the rest of Bill Porter’s marvelous and informative translation—his accompanying commentary is an invaluable and enjoyable asset. The only contentious points thus far is his decision to exclude arya-jnana in favor of buddha-jnana—in doing so he misses the authentic import of the true meaning of the “Noble-Ones” who are instilled with the proper Buddha-gnosis to attain that wonderful self-realization of Noble Wisdom…this is not some “personal revelation” as he asserts (personal revelation is akin to what I was describing in my recent blog: The Rapture, wherein a woman had a personal revelation as to the coming “Rapture”). The self-realization of Noble Wisdom found within the Lanka is not a “personal” revelation, but rather a singular divulgement of the Tathatagas. Also, like most contemporary Buddhist scholars, his emphasis upon the “no-self” leaves much to be desired—even though he breaks-down this “self” as being constituted of the Skandhas—he seems, thus far, to be leaning in the direction of pure anātmanism. All in all, a new majestic rendition of the Lanka’s marriage between Yogacarism and Zen—what Red Pine calls, “Zen tea in a Yogacara Cup.”

Tags: Lankavatara Sutra, Red Pine, Yogacara, Zen

I can remember on a warm day this past August being excited after pre-ordering a copy of Red Pine’s (Bill Porter) newly translated edition of the Lankavatara Sutra.
This was long in the making as he had been working on this translation for many years and so there has been eager anticipation as to its release. Originally, the publication date was set for late February, 2012. About a month ago I received an alert from Amazon that it would now be available by the end of January; then a few days ago another notice indicating that it would be shipping soon and one today notifying that it has been shipped and would arrive at my residence in a few days.

Red Pine has translated editions of the Diamond, Heart, and Platform Sutras as well as The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma and his masterful scholarship and running commentaries have always been a joy to read. Apparently, his Lanka translation is from the original text purportedly used by Bodhidharma and is an edition that Chinese Zen masters have consistently relied upon. Since the main English editions available have been exclusively by Suzuki since the 1930’s it will be refreshing to read Bill Porter’s take on the text. Many of us Lankavatarians have never been satisfied with Suzuki’s translation; for instance, his choice of words for pavavriti—or the “turn about” within the deepest recesses of consciousness—is “revulsion”—yuk! What a poor choice of words, bringing to mind something “revolting” and “disgusting”, when the “turn-about” really signifies something wonderfully happening—an actual process of “reversal” wherein the Self actually turns and Recollects IT’s very vivifying Primordial Stature. There will be those who could argue the point that Suzuki was referring to what one is turning about from, i.e., phenomena, and thus one has a sense of revulsion with the phenomenal; yet, the emphasis of pavavriti within the Lanka is on this “process of reversal”–in essence remaining prior-to all phenomena–rather than giving the phenomenal such undue focus.

Am looking forward to posting my reviews on this new translation after reading and reflecting upon the text; I’m hopeful that this new translation of the revered Lankavatara Sutra will prove to be the definitive edition for all earnest students of the Buddhadharma.

Tags: Bill Porter, Chinese Zen, Lankavatara Sutra, Red Pine

Writing about Colin Wilson’s, The Outsider, recently reinforced for me a main pericope within its pages—that this “Outsider” is someone who sees “too deep and too much” into the nature of reality and as a result suffers from a lingering existential crisis. Wilson’s main protagonists are prominent figures in literature like the early Romantics, Blake, Keats and Wordsworth; also with philosophers like Nietzsche, and artists like the dancer Nijinsky and Van Goth the painter and visionaries like H.G. Wells. In his subsequent publication, Religion and the Rebel, Wilson says that these “Outsiders” are like “pimples appearing on the face of civilization” and that they are never prone to resigning themselves to the “insider” malaise of conventionality, or what the Zennist recently described as “consensus reality.” As a result, many of them succumbed to the depths of despair—some falling into madness like Nietzsche and Nijinsky, and some even committing suicide like Van Goth. What is it about the essential nature of these “Outsiders”, possessing great creative talent and keen insight into what really makes things tick, while at the same time feeling the eternal pangs of seeing “too deep and too much.” There was a term very much in vogue one time in creative circles that aptly describes this “Outsider” condition, and that is Melancholia.

As seen through the contemporary lens of psychologists and psychiatrists this would be tantamount to someone being diagnosed with severe manic depression; once viewed from a singular perspective, it connoted a fashionable intellectual and noble privilege. Albrecht Dürer, the renowned classical German Engraver and painter, once depicted Melancholia in symbolic fashion in his engraving entitled, Melencolia I, as shown in the above image. The poet John Milton, once sang his praises to Melancholia in his poem, Il Penseroso”:

In service high and anthems clear,
As may with sweetness, through mine ear,
Dissolve me into ecstasies,
And bring all Heaven before mine eyes.
And may at last my weary age
Find out the peaceful hermitage,
The hairy gown and mossy cell,
Where I may sit and rightly spell,
Of every star that Heaven doth shew,
And every hearb that sips the dew;
Till old experience do attain
To something like prophetic strain.
These pleasures, Melancholy, give
And I with thee will choose to live.

Milton marvelously captures that Melancholic Spirit. Dürer’s masterpiece is composed of vibrant, hermetic symbolism; focusing here on one element in particular is the sphere, signifying the old hermetic adage: As Above So Below. That old adage is indicative of that crucial “spiritual equilibrium” written about here in a recent post. If that equilibrium were present in the lives of Nietzsche and Van Goth, for instance, perhaps they wouldn’t have met such an untimely end. As portrayed in Milton’s poem, early “Outsiders” were drawn to the scholarly or religious path. One religious Melancholic was St. Jerome.

Jerome, as depicted in the image, was a reclusive melancholic fellow yet his fervent spiritual equilibrium empowered him to put his noble “temperament” to good use as he translated the Bible into the first Latin Vulgate edition, based on the Septuagint.

Above all, I’d like to emphasize that Melancholia is a Temperament. One is born with it and cannot deny it anymore than they can deny their own gender identity. Melancholic types are drawn to more solitary lifestyles and many choose the religious or monastic vocation.

Thomas Merton was one such “Outsider”; he joined the Strict Observance of the Trappist Order even though he had earlier fathered a child out of wedlock. An innate Contemplative, he was at the forefront of creating that singular synthesis between Christian and Zen Buddhism Monastic Traditions; one of his finest books is “Zen and the Birds of Appetite.” Unfortunately, his life was cut short when he died from “accidental” electrocution just hours before meeting with Eastern Zen Masters; I say “accidental”, because there has been speculation since his death in 1968 that foul-play was at hand—I suspect that some Vatican “shoo-fly”, someone who keeps controversy away from the Pope, was to blame.

One final thought on “Monasticism” as a viable alternative lifestyle for those of Melancholic temperament: ideally, it appears to be the perfect setting for being able to focus exclusively on what lies at the core of their being, yet one should approach this option with prudent caution. Living in the contemporary world our psyches are so bombarded with excessive outside stimuli that living in an environment that fosters intensive “silence” can prove to be psychologically offsetting and even detrimental to one’s desired “peace of mind and spirit”, because that kind of silence is “DEAFENING” …so much so that one can actually “hear” what’s going on inside themselves internally and actually coming face to face with those internal demons can be a frightening and even devastating and unalterable occurrence. That’s why it’s best to “check out” that monastic setting—for at least several months—before making what could be a tragic decision. All in all, that way of “balance” is always key. I like the Zennist’s suggestion of seeking periods of solitude in a hermitage—far away from the deafening crowds with their incessant “consensus reality” and agendas. But even then, spending months alone in the wilderness of the mind needs to be tempered every now and then with some healthy stimuli—like music—just to maintain that Balance that is the hallmark of Spiritual Equilibrium. To my fellow “Melancholics”, good luck and may the Unborn Spirit enliven you with peace.

Tags: Albrecht Durer, contemplation, John Milton, meditation, Melancholia, Monasticism, solitude