14. “If you students of the Way desire knowledge of this great mystery, only avoid attachment to any single thing beyond Mind. To say that the real Dharmakaya of the Buddha1 resembles the Void is another way of saying that the Dharmakaya is the Void and that the Void is the Dharmakaya. People often claim that the Dharmakaya is in the Void and that the Void contains the Dharmakaya, not realizing that they are one and the same. But if you define the Void as something existing, then it is not the Dharmakaya; and if you define the Dharmakaya as something existing, then it is not the Void. Only refrain from any objective conception of the Void; then it is the Dharmakaya: and, if only you refrain from any objective conception of the Dharmakaya, why,then it is the Void. These two do not differ from each other, nor is there any difference between sentient beings and Buddhas, or between samsara and Nirvana,or between delusion and Bodhi. When all such forms are abandoned, there is the Buddha. Ordinary people look to their surroundings, while followers of the Way look to Mind, but the true Dharma is to forget them both. The former is easy enough, the latter very difficult. Men are afraid to forget their minds, fearing to fall through the Void with nothing to stay their fall. They do not know that the Void is not really void, but the realm of the real Dharma. This spiritually enlightening nature is without beginning, as ancient as the Void, subject neither to birth nor to destruction, neither existing nor not existing, neither impure nor pure, neither clamorous nor silent, neither old nor young, occupying no space, having neither inside nor outside, size nor form, colour nor sound. It cannot be looked for or sought, comprehended by wisdom or knowledge, explained in words, contacted materially or reached by meritorious achievement. All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, together with all wriggling things possessed of life, share in this great Nirvanic nature. This nature is Mind; Mind is the Buddha, and the Buddha is the Dharma. Any thought apart from this truth is entirely a wrong thought. You cannot use Mind to seek Mind, the Buddha to seek the Buddha, or the Dharma to seek the Dharma. So you students of the Way should immediately refrain from conceptual thought. Let a tacit understanding be all! Any mental process must lead to error. There is just a transmission of Mind with Mind. This is the proper view to hold. Be careful not to look outwards to material surroundings. To mistake material surroundings for Mind is to mistake a thief for your son.”2  

1 The highest of the three Bodies, synonymous with the Absolute

2 There is a story of a man who mistook a thief for his long-lost son and, giving him a warm welcome, enabled the latter to sneak away with most of his possessions. Those who place reliance on material things are in danger of losing that most valuable of all possessions-the key to the riddle of life which unlocks Nirvana’s gate.

Huang Po asserts that the Void is synonymous with the Dharmakaya. Oftentimes the Void can be mistaken as an Objective-stand-alone phenomenon that is absent of everything else but still subsisting in itself alone. The Master asserts that this is another conceptual conundrum that needs to be transcended and that the best way to do this is to focus on the realization that the Void is the Dharmakaya, just as all other attributions like sentient beings and Buddhas are also One in the Dharmakaya. Another way of saying this is that all IS the Dharmakaya manifesting as one variable of the Absolute or another; of course, one need be careful lest they fall into the pantheistic-trap of believing that the Dharmakaya IS and “equals” everything else. That is a false understanding. It needs to be “turned-round”, everything is IN the Dharmakaya, but the Dharmakaya IS NOT IN everything else. That’s why he says that one cannot even use Mind to seek Mind since Mind subtracted from the Absolute as a stand-alone entity is non-existent and is not greater than the Absolute Mind in It’s essential Voidness. Once again the Master utilizes the analogy of men being fearful of letting-go of their conceptual minds lest they fall into the Void not realizing that this Voidness is the real Dharma-realm of the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya is indeed Void-like since It is no-thing nominal in stature—devoid of being and non-being, size and form, color and sound, ect. Thus the Dharmakayic-Mind is Nirvanic in scope and no-thing in the phenomenal world can outweigh Its own intrinsic Absolute-Stature. Huang Po says to just allow this to be a “tacit understanding” and never to allow any kind of conceptual-framework to mess-up the inner-workings of the Unborn.  To do otherwise one falls into the claws of Materialism, which the Master says is like mistaking a thief for one’s son—which translates as mistaking the Skandhic-Materialistic mind for one’s own inner-bodhichild, or the Noble-Child of the Pure-Absolute Mind Itself.

15. “It is only in contradistinction to greed, anger and ignorance that abstinence, calm and wisdom exist. Without illusion, how could there be Enlightenment? Therefore Bodhidharma said: ‘The Buddha enunciated all Dharmas in order to eliminate every vestige of conceptual thinking. If I refrained entirely from conceptual thought, what would be the use of all the Dharmas?’ Attach yourselves to nothing beyond the pure Buddha-Nature which is the original source of all things. Suppose you were to adorn the Void with countless jewels, how could they remain in position? The Buddha-Nature is like the Void; though you were to adorn it with inestimable merit and wisdom, how could they remain there?1 They would only serve to conceal its original Nature and to render it invisible. That which is called the Doctrine of Mental Origins (followed by certain other sects) postulates that all things are built up in Mind and that they manifest themselves upon contact with external environment, ceasing to be manifest when that environment is not present. But it is wrong to conceive of an environment separate from the pure, unvarying nature of all things.2 That which is called the Mirror of Concentration and Wisdom (another reference to non-Zen Mahayana doctrine) requires the use of sight, hearing, feeling and cognition, which lead to successive states of calm and agitation. But these involve conceptions based on environmental objects; they are temporary expedients appertaining to one of the lower categories of ‘roots of goodness’.3 And this category of ‘roots of goodness’ merely enables people to understand what is said to them. If you wish to experience Enlightenment yourselves, you must not indulge in such conceptions. They are all environmental Dharmas concerning things which are and things which are not, based on existence and nonexistence. If only you will avoid concepts of existence and non-existence in regard to absolutely everything, you will then perceive THE DHARMA.”

1 Other Buddhist sects attach great importance to the acquisition of merit and wisdom, but this implies a dualistic conception of reality which Zen considers an insuperable obstacle to realization of the One Mind.

2 This constitutes a warning against another type of dualism.

3 Roots of goodness are believed by some Mahayanaists to be ‘Enlightenment-potentials’ of varying degrees of strength with which individuals are reborn in accordance with the varying merits gained in former lives.

All antithetical notions like ignorance and wisdom co-exist in relative contradistinction to each other, but have absolutely no bearing on one’s essential Buddha-nature “which is the Original source of all things” and having no-conflicting bifurcations in Itself. The Master makes classic use here of Bodhidharma’s assertion that the Buddha made use of Dharmas in order to eradicate all conceptual Dharmas from the Absolute Plane of Pure-Mind Realization. Attaching any-thing on the Absolute Face of the Unborn can be likened to trying to attach jewels on the face of the Void—indeed, where would they hang? Huang Po masterfully draws one’s attention to the “Doctrine of Mental Origins” that postulates that ALL that is manifested in the created order are originally just fancies “built-up in Mind” and appear to exist when hitting the atmosphere of a relative-environment; but when that environment dissolves, they cease to manifest. It would indeed be wrong to even begin to assert that this relative environment is somehow self-existent apart from the Absolute. The Master then hones-in on all “Environmental Dharmas”, such as utilizing mental fabrications of all sensate-cognitive associative materials, that can bring one a sense of momentary bliss, but ultimately are self-empty and only appeal to the lower bhumis wherein one equates accumulated-merits as being the end-all of everything since they are collectively understood as essentially and karmically beneficial in the noosphere; whereas in the Absolute-Milieu of the Unborn they are perceived as Adharma and quite antithetical to the non-dual Buddhadharma.

Tags: dharmakaya, no-environment, Noosphere, Void

Twenty-six: The True Body of the Buddha

“Subhūti, what do you think? Can one discern the Tathāgata by means of the thirty-two bodily characteristics?”

Subhūti said, “No, Blessed One. One cannot discern the Tathāgata by means of the thirty-two bodily characteristics.”

The Buddha said, “Well said, Subhūti.  If one tries to discern the Tathāgata by means of the thirty-two bodily characteristics, then the wheel-turning sage kings (chakravartins) are Tathāgatas.”

Subhūti said to the Buddha, “Blessed One, as I understand the gist of what you have said, one should not try to discern the Tathāgata by means of the thirty-two bodily characteristics.”

Then the Blessed One spoke in a verse:

Someone who tries to discern me in form
Or seek me in sound
Is practicing non-Buddhist methods
And will not discern the Tathāgata

A Buddha is to be seen [known] through Dharmakaya,
And his guidance manifests from Dharmakaya.
Yet the true nature of Dharmakaya cannot be understood,
And it is not capable of being known.

Mu Soeng’s appears to be the only translation—in the concluding Gatha of the closing verse—that fine-tunes the Sutra’s conveyance of the Dharmakaya, or the True Buddha Body of Perfect Suchness. The Dharmakaya is the Sole-Body that distinguishes a Buddha as the True Dharma-Body of Reality; the apparition body (Nirmanakaya) constituting the Thirty-Two Bodily marks, and the reward body (Sambhogakaya) are still subject to some form of dissolution at some point, but it is the Dharmakaya Alone that is Pure, unsullied and Paramount in Stature. The Buddha imparts to Subhuti’s mind that this Dharma-body cannot be discerned or conveyed in the usual methods of discernment. It cannot be known in any objective fashion. It can only be intuited via the grace of the Tathagatas, and this grace far supersedes any feeble analytic attempts to fathom its depths. Unlike the Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya, the Dharmakaya is attribute-less and thus can only be intuited through Noble Wisdom. Why does the Diamond Sutra emphasize here the True Dharma Body? Because the Dharmakaya is the True Body of all Buddhas; it is in this light that they do not differ from one another. Asanga writes, in context of the above verse, that if anyone thinks that they see and hear and “know” the “Real” Buddha—they are dead wrong. The Real Deathless Body of the Tathagatas far transcends any limited means of cognition. All this is reminiscent of Vimalakirti’s Inconceivable Wisdom at its best.

Tags: dharmakaya, True Buddha Body

Am sitting here awaiting the impending arrival of the mother-of-all storms, being recently christened as the Frankenstorm. Like last year’s nasty punch from Irene, this soon to be “hybrid” (merging with another gigantic weather system approaching from the west) freak of nature promises to bear down on my neck of the woods again—inducing:

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This all just leaves me to ponder once again the fragile reality of the saha-kingdom and the inevitable futility that its inhabitants face when confronted with such an occurrence; even “the cruelest savage exhibition of nature at her worst without” (classic line from The Bride of Frankenstein) exhibits karmic traits (configuration of variable elemental and atmospheric ACTIONS) that wreck ruin and havoc on the hapless lot of humanity. Not so the nirvanic-kingdom of the Dharmakaya; “doing the best we can” in samsara is not the same as devoting one’s energies (like developing that Deep Samadhis) in pursuit of the Absolute Certainty that in the Unborn Mind alone resides the final answer to all our queries, fears and tribulations. Life-Death-and Re-birth will forever assure the weary spirit an endless spin on the volatile hurricane-like vortex of samsara. If one enjoys the “thrill” of the ride—who can’t wait enough to get that next karmic-go-round, well, so be it. You see, when it comes to the Nature of Pure Mind, there are two choices: either make the effort to fully attune to IT—thus making FULL-STOP to the mad journey through endless kalpas on the other shore of Deathless Suchness—Tathata—or one continues the uncertain journey through those endless bhumis of suffering and all the outrageous fortunes of Re-becoming. The Lankavatarian Book of the Dead has posited a direction in light of the Buddhadharma that supersedes being incessantly chained to the Alaya-receptacle (forever ejaculating those karmic seeds of endless repetition and re-birth) thus favoring the Final Re-union with Bhutatathata (Absolute Suchness).

The general outline of the Lankavatarian Book of the Dead took root this past summer and has since evolved as such, enhanced through the intercession of the Tathatic-Spirit. Nothing has been arbitrarily conveyed here but rather has been revealed through that Self-Same Spirit. The Lankavatarian Path to Nobel Self-realization is not an easy one and is far-removed from any “belief-systems” that depend upon what Dietrich Bonhoeffer once referred to as “cheap-grace”; indeed, anything along the route of Awakening to Salvific-Grace is well earned through the hard ropes of self-discipline—making that RIGHT EFFORT as Buddha Gautama once demonstrated. In this vein, RIGHT RELEASE from all suffering bonds will be assured, provided of course that one makes that diligent and determined effort (through disciplined sutra-reading and dhyana techniques) in the right direction towards enlightenment on the illuminative shore of the Dharmakaya. The opposite and lazy path of cheap-grace at the end of the samsaric rainbow could very well result in one’s mind creating an apocryphal heaven of its own design; yet, in the end it’s just another fata morgana—fool’s gold in the rabid eye of the beholder since it will not last but will inevitably result in a future re-birth at some junction. The Noble Path of Self-realization is unquestionably an invariable one. There aren’t anymore Re-births of any kind. It is Total and Unequivocal awakening through the Pure and un-birth canal into the Clear Light and Mind of the Dharmakaya—the nirvanic kingdom of Self. End of Story.

The title affixed to this blog-post, Nunc dimittis, is in reference to Simeon’s proclamation in the temple and it means “now dismiss.” In like fashion, the following is a paraphrase of the Canticle of Simeon—an apt benediction for the closure of this series:

Blessed One, now you let your servant go in peace…
Your Word has been fulfilled…
The Imageless Tathatic Eye has revealed the Salvific Light…
Prepared for the benefit of all sentient beings…
A Pure Mind Revelation that dispels all ignorance and ignites the Eternal Flame of your Unborn Glory.

The following video from the Dragon Mind of Zen series is an excellent snapshot that effectively sums-up what this Bardo process was all about…

Tags: dharmakaya, Lanka Book of the Dead, nirvana, nirvanic kingdom of self, Nunc dimittis

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (all quotes are from the Francesca Fremantle-Chogyam Trungpa Edition) invokes the following supplication when the Bardo (5) of Dharmatā dawns:

Now when the bardo of dharmatā dawns upon me,
I will abandon all thoughts of fear and terror,
I will recognize whatever appears as my projection
and know it to be a vision of the bardo;
now that I have reached this crucial point
I will not fear the peaceful and wrathful ones, my own
projections.

It’s also stated that after 3 to 4 days of unconsciousness (after clinical death occurs) the Great Liberation is about to commence. The Diamond-Mind-Body—through its now heightened sense of Amala-consciousness—is empowered to truly abandon all those thoughts of fear and terror (diseased inclinations of the former Skandhic-host mind) fully supra-cognizant that “anything” appearing in the Bardo is just a projection (afterimage) of the now defunct body-consciousness. The Tibetan Book of the Dead also displays (almost Ad Infinitum) in these later Bardo Realms legions of images known as the “peaceful and wrathful ones”—elements of consciousness that are attributive of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, vidyadharas and herukas and their consorts (all in essence encapsulating a veritable storehouse of positive and negative forces within the psyche)—yet all of these, too, like any other “image” are just mere projections of Mind when entrapped in Pluralized Stenosis. While they all constitute some form of inner-transcendent-realization for the Tibetan annalist’s of the Great Bardo of Liberation, for the Lankavatarian they are more of a hindrance than an affirmative factor in the Bardo of Dharmatā. Hopefully, at this stage of the game Pure Luminous Mind has been Self-Realized and a now fully enlightened Tathatic-Spirit has Risen and now Recognizes through the Complete Self-realization of Noble Wisdom that this is truly Dharmakaya Arising—a return to the Primordial Unborn Father (Samantabhadra). Now the Great Mind-Void’s Emptiness is overflowing with the fullness of Uncreated Light that Enlightens the Way Home to Undivided Oneness in Self-Rapturement of the Dharmakayic Epiphany as illuminated through the Great Shining Dharmata Buddha. As Tozen wrote in “Spiritual Maxims: Choosing between the Body of Wisdom and Ignorance”, the concluding chapter in his Dharmakaya Sutra:

“…if your spirit is pure (divine), then this awakened and imageless power of the supreme [the undivided light of the root-buddha] will allow your mind to reveal a body of a deathless and permanent reality that is the shining dominion of absolute truth—the Dharmakaya; indeed, the very nirvanic land of the Buddhas.”

Now the Noble Self-Realization is complete. This is known as the First Liberation in the Bardo of Dharmatā. If there is indeed now full recognition (after lengthy preparation of Deep Samadhis in Bardo 3), then Liberation is won. *There are no further Bardo experiences.* If however, liberation does not occur in this first stage (Day One) of the Bardo of Dharmatā, then the estranged spirit is lead through Six other “Days” in this particular Bardo Realm in hopes of achieving that final liberation and release. Five days correspond to the Five Dhyani Buddhas we encountered in our study of Bardo 3: Vairocana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi. Since many do not first recognize the First Liberation in the Bardo of Dharmatā as the Dharmakaya of their own Mind, then these subsequent days follow suit. Each Tathagata offers a means of liberation, yet if their “pure” aspect is not met and recognized, then there is danger of reverting, and embracing, their “negative-skandhic” aspects. For instance, many people in “near death” experiences report seeing a “white light”; this light is NOT the Luminative-Liberating Light of the Dharmakaya, but rather the pleasurable soft-white-light of the gods—meaning the gods in one of the six realms of samsaric existence. Hence once can become “influenced” through one of these gods in their next incarnation (for example, the god “Jehovah”). Or, one can become encited by the smokish-hue of the Hungry Ghosts—the antithesis of Ratnasambhava’s Yellow Light—thus condemning themselves to the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts. The final “day” in the Bardo of Dharmatā revolves around visitations of the Wrathful Deities—the aforementioned negative manifestations of elements of consciousness. The Bardo of Dharmatā thus complete, a still estranged spirit needs to venture forth with the remainder of “49” days that completes the entire Bardo Cycle, as reported in our next blog—Bardo Realm Six, or the Bardo of Re-becoming.

Tags: Bardo 5, dharmakaya, Dharmata Buddha

HYMN TO SAMANTABHADRA

* One who is in Union with the Supreme Primordial Samantabhadra will celebrate with a Clear Heart and Mind-Body as hard as a diamond; for verily, when the water of the mind becomes transfigured in the Great Ocean of the Buddhakaya and of Perfected Noble Wisdom, it is changed into the Mind of infinite compassion—the Bodhicittapada.

Great Laud and supplication to the Wisdom Buddha Supreme
The Eternal Father of infinite and undivided salvific Unborn Light
The Clear-Light of His Dharmakaya—A blinding-flash to Darkened Samsaric minds
But a Darkness Visible who seek refuge in the Light of True Illumination

O’ seek refuge in the Universal Light That is beyond all understanding
Whose Pure Radiance frees and cleanses spirit from the defiled soil of Karma
His unparalleled Majesty outshines sun and moon
Measure beyond Measure in inconceivable Compassion

Myriad Buddhas and Bodhisattvas gather from the Ten Directions
Bearing great praise and honor on Triumphant Imageless Wings
That Bespeak the All-Glorious Hue bedecked with the Seven-fold Jewels
Emanating from the Living Bodhi-Tree within the Sacred Heart of Suchness

Turn-forth thy Dharma-eye upon us
For True Faith is seeing through the Light of your Perfected Bodhi-seed
That is itself the potentiality of all that is Divine in You
Empower us to abide in that Deathless Light, with no more Kalpas to come

*The following is a meditation that compliments this hymn. Frequent meditation on the Samantabhadra Mandala empowers one to discern new visionary patterns, revealed each time, that can heighten the developing Awareness Principle within your spirit. Also, it highlights what Lama Anagarika Govinda once wrote, an “indescribable experience of primordial unity-not dull and inert, but vibrant with rhythmic life and light, with celestial sounds of songs and harmonies , melodiously rising and falling and merging and then fading away into silence.”

Tags: Clear Light, dharmakaya, Lama Anagarika Govinda, Mandala, Samantabhadra

Perhaps the greatest words that were bestowed upon me during this go-round of the diurnal spin of samsara came from my maternal grandfather: “I seldom weep at funerals, but I always find myself shedding a tear when a baby is born into this world.” His words of wisdom did not originate from some deep immersion into the epistemological bowels of some eastern-esoteric philosophy, but rather from a simple (he was a Christian Fundamentalist) observation that birth into this world is delivery into the realm of some form of suffering. It’s an innate understanding. An understanding deeply ingrained into a psyche that has perhaps endured eons upon eons of life, death, and rebirth; in essence, being stuck on the karmic spin of what the Tibetan Buddhists refer to as the Wheel of Life. Like its Tibetan counterpart, the Lankavatarian Book of the Dead is an expedient vehicle that attempts to map the territory of what this psychic-journey entails, i.e., mastering the Bardo Pathways that lead to the beginning of liberation from samsaric incarceration, or, if all else fails, at least some direction and insight that will lead to a favorable rebirth—like that of a non-returner, an awareness that is indelibly linked with the imprint of immeasurable nirvanic satisfaction in the clear-light of boundless Dharmakayic ecstasy.

As stated in the previous blog entry, life is just one big “Bardo Experience”—an endless repetition of “in-between states” that revolve around the True Body of Reality, the Dharmakaya, like planetoids orbiting around their primordial origin. There are six bardo-states: the bardo of birth and life; the bardo of the dream realm; the bardo of meditation and deep Samadhi; the bardo of first tasting death; the bardo of the dharmatā and Dharmata Buddha and the bardo of re-becoming, or rebirth. The Lankavatarian Book of the Dead is a systematic overview of these bardo-states; the first three are really invitations within this lifespan to carefully discern and better prepare for the latter three which basically determines whether or not the awareness principle recognizes and attunes (strengthening its Diamond body) to its Primordial Stature, or decides to spin the karmic dice once again. The latter three are especially bracketed by the undivided Spirit of Bodhi, whose Liberative Technique heightens the awareness principle into discerning the Clear Light of Dharmakayic dominance on the terrain of imagelessness, before receding once again into the phantasmagorical maze of Re-becoming.

It needs to be stressed from the outset that this attempt is an endeavor shared from the lens of the Lankavatarian perspective and in no way attempts to supersede its Tibetan cousin. To lend an air of further authenticity, the first bardo realm—the bardo of birth and life—will be shared through the singular life-experience of this author, one that recollects the long and winding road to the Unborn and beyond. Blog entries pertaining to The Lankavatarian Book of the Dead will be stored under their own category with this title. It is the fervent wish of this author that this large scale undertaking will slowly come to fruition so that future students and adepts of the Buddhadharma will come to better self-realize the salient significance of the Bardo Realms in their quest for Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi.

Tags: Book of the Dead, dharmakaya, Lankavatarian, The Bardo

Good Friday is considered to be the most solemn day in Christendom; it is known as the ultimate sacrifice as the Christ suffered and died on the Cross for the atonement of people’s sins—so that they could once again be reconciled with God. This most auspicious action can also be recognized as that Supreme Moment when the Anointed-Christos element overcame the dark veil of the five skandhas—as those five-wounds of the Bodhisattva Jesus the Christ represent their very extinction as the Christos-Element awakens and recognizes its True Deathless Self within the Absolute Self-Same Dharmakaya. Indeed, all of the elements of the former egg-shell existence become metamorphosed into Dharmakayic-Unborn-Light. Jesus’ feet representing the earth element; his abdomen, wherein the Spear of Wisdom was thrust (activating that awakening self-realization) representing the water element; his heart, which was pulsating rapidly with blood, representing the Fire element; his parched and aching throat through which the life-force breathes, representing the element wind; his crown which was impinged and throbbing with thorns, representing the element space. With his last dying breath these elements were expunged as he cried-out from the cross of phenomenal pain: “Into your hands, Father, I commend my Unborn Spirit!” This loving Bodhisattvic Action was fully the Atonement—the great Metamorphosis—That At-One-Ment with the Dharmakaya Itself, thus empowering many to cross over from the sea of pain in samsara into Dharmameghic Ecstasy.

Tags: Atonement, Bodhisattva, dharmakaya, Good Friday, Jesus the Christ

Bodhisattvahood, part 4

In Tathagata-garbha, Unborn Mind Zen, there are Ten-Stages (Bhumis) of development:

1. Awareness: seeing into the Nature of Buddhi As It Is: Yathabhutam
2. Hearing through Ears That See the Dharmadhatu: Dhammasota
3. Being perfumed with the very Essence of the Tathagata: Mahabodhicitta
4. The Bodhichild is now able to taste and digest this Buddhi: Bodhi-dhatu
5. Being now fully embodied with the Essence of Bodhi: Bodhikaya
6. Attunement with the Supraconsciousness of the Tathagata: Cittipada
7. Alignment with the Self as devoid of adventitious associations: Cittidhatu
8. Partaking in the Bodhi-store of the accumulated Buddha-gnosis of the Tathagata: Amala-vijñāna
9. Yoked-union with the Element of Truth: Yogadhatu
10. Relishing in the Dharmakaya As the Dharmakaya: Dharmamegha

Tags: Amala vijnana, Bhumis, dharmakaya, Dharmamegha, Ten Stages, Yathabhutam, Yogadhatu

2. Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Technique

Thurman masterfully translates upaya (expedient tool) as a liberative method skillfully employed by Vimalakirti, who cleverly deploys many and diverse expedient means for the liberation of sentient beings.

At that time, there lived in the great city of Vaisali a certain Licchavi, Vimalakirti by name. Having served the ancient Buddhas, he had generated the roots of virtue by honoring them and making offerings to them. He had attained tolerance as well as eloquence. He played with the great superknowledges. He had attained the power of incantations and the fearlessnesses. He had conquered all demons and opponents. He had penetrated the profound way of the Dharma. He was liberated through the transcendence of wisdom. Having integrated his realization with skill in liberative technique, he was expert in knowing the thoughts and actions of living beings. Knowing the strength or weakness of their faculties, and being gifted with unrivaled eloquence, he taught the Dharma appropriately to each. Having applied himself energetically to the Mahayana, he understood it and accomplished his tasks with great finesse. He lived with the deportment of a Buddha, and his superior intelligence was as wide as an ocean. He was praised, honored, and commended by all the Buddhas and was respected by Indra, Brahma, and all the Lokapalas. In order to develop living beings with his skill in liberative technique, he lived in the great city of Vaisali.

Vimalakirti is truly a man for all seasons as he shatters the barrier of being unable to become all things to all people. Vimalakirti is a true hero (see blog, The Hero). He has all the attributes, and then some, for breaking any modern-day record of anyone who has the uncanny ability to enter into the all-inclusive sentient-dilemma and truly make a difference. He is a friend and benefactor to both old and young alike. While being able to take-on the baggage of others, he was not a crazed eccentric like the one in Woody Allen’s movie, Zelig. Spiritually, his fortitude and Recollective Resolve was monastic in nature, yet he is also considered to be a Cosmopolitan Man. An astute businessman, but his real business was the Buddhadharma; a fashionable dresser, though he never once flaunted his style. He was determined to always meet people “where they were at”—either spiritually or mentally or even emotionally. Being a gambling-man he was not afraid to risk his own reputation by even frequenting the houses of ill-repute—although not to chastise and condemn the working-girls and their clients, but rather to teach them the evils of the Five-Whores of Mara—pride, greed, fear, ignorance (avidya) and dark desires (lust). He was no stranger to sexual intercourse, but chose instead to cultivate chastity. Vimalakirti lived in the Material-World while at the same time living exclusively in inner-Solitude—so totally himself, yet also comfortable in mixed-company. His bread and butter were the Dharma. Even among great Brahmins, his Buddha-gnosis was unexcelled. Like a Black Dragon, he was able to discern someone’s energy-signature and level of Buddha-gnosis even before they spoke.

Rupakaya vs. Buddhakaya

Vimalakirti always encouraged everyone not to focus on what is temporal and decaying, but rather upon THAT which is Undying, Uncreated and Unborn:

This body is inert, like the earth; selfless, like water; lifeless, like fire;impersonal, like the wind; and nonsubstantial, like space. This body is unreal, being a collocation of the four main elements. It is void, not existing as self or as self-possessed. It is inanimate, being like grass, trees, walls, clods of earth, and hallucinations. It is insensate, being driven like a windmill. It is filthy, being an agglomeration of pus and excrement. It is false, being fated to be broken and destroyed, in spite of being anointed and massaged. It is afflicted by the four hundred and four diseases. It is like an ancient well, constantly overwhelmed by old age. Its duration is never certain – certain only is itsend in death. This body is a combination of aggregates, elements, and sense-media, which are comparable to murderers, poisonous snakes, and an empty town respectively. Therefore, you should be revulsed by such a body. You should despair of it and should arouse your admiration for the body of the Tathagata.

For Vimalakirti, the physical body (rupakaya) was just a decaying composite of the five Skandhas (form, sensation, thought, volition, mortal consciousness); a mere Fata-Morgana to attempt to quell the ravenous thirsts of sensate desire. He is also unequivocally clear here—you shouldn’t glorify such a body; in fact, in sharp contrast to the body of the Tathagata, you should feel repugnance towards it. In order to drive this point home for folk, he would oftentimes feign illness; since he was so well-loved and respected, many would come to visit and attempt to bring him comfort in his time of need, yet his intention was to always put them at ease so that they would be in a receptive mode to receive the Buddhadharma.

Friends, the body of a Tathagata is the body of Dharma, born of gnosis. The body of a Tathagata is born of the stores of merit and wisdom. It is born of morality, of meditation, of wisdom, of the liberations, and of the knowledge and vision of liberation. It is born of love, compassion, joy, and impartiality. It is born of charity, discipline, and self-control. It is born of the path of ten virtues. It is born of patience and gentleness. It is born of the roots of virtue planted by solid efforts. It is born of the concentrations, the liberations, the meditations, and the absorptions. It is born of learning, wisdom, and liberative technique. It is born of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment. It is born of mental quiescence and transcendental analysis. It is born of the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen special qualities. It is born of all the transcendences. It is born from sciences and superknowledges. It is born of the abandonment of all evil qualities, and of the collection of all good qualities. It is born of truth. It is born of reality.It is born of conscious awareness.

In true Maha-Bodhisattvic Resolve and Spirit, Vimalakirti teaches the Nature and True Buddha-body (buddhakaya)—the Dharmakaya. True liberation does not consist in finding ways to comfort the tortured no-self—which in actuality is a non-entity—just a fleeting shadow against the canvas of samsara. Rather, liberation is turning the spotlight behind the curtain, directly on THAT which is animating the movement—not the movement itself. Following the Moving Principle is like following Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, who even in death—impaled on the hump of the Great White Whale beckons one to incessantly hunt and attempt to destroy the white and unseen (imageless) mystery behind it all—the Unmoving Principle behind that curtain. It cannot happen. IT simply IS AS IT IS. Liberation is finally abandoning the hunt—the endless searching and yearning for the meaning behind it all, when in Reality there is no meaning…no understanding…just deathless suchness…the true pot of gold at the end of the rainbow—the Real and Only Self…the Dharmakaya. Vimalakirti concludes here by stating that there is no greater task or goal in life than to strive after anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi— Unequaled Perfection in undividable Bodhi—Ultimate Enlightenment.

Tags: dharmakaya, Robert Thurman, upaya, Vimalakirti Sutra