The body and its consciousness is a vehicle (awareness mechanism) wherein [in Bardo Realm One] the awareness principle slowly comes to self-realization—like a pearl of great price embedded in its shell beneath the heavy-pressurized environment-matrix of the oceanic depths of samsara. In its early-stages the shell is moist and somewhat malleable but as the decades roll-on it becomes hardened and is in need of constant maintenance. Primordial Qigong is a modality that oils and lubricates the awareness mechanism, keeping the life-energy-current (Qi) circulating within the meridians and chakras—channels that direct and keep the Qi-flowing and thus preventing any form of breakdown or interference within the electro-magnetic fields that sustain the mechanism. On the spiritual-level something even more profound is occurring—the bodhi-seed (gotra), implanted through the auspicious and bodhidharmic actions of the Noble Ones (advocates of the Tathata-Family), begins its gestation in the dharma-womb as mystically-positioned in the Dantien (Bodhi-Chakra [see previous post]). As the ancient Daoists have described, this is the “spiritual-child” that has the potential to develop an immortal position within the dharma-cell of Tathagatadhatu Itself—provided that the awareness principle is fully attuned and aligned with the dharmatātic Element of Truth when the Bardo of Dharmatā arises. *This need not occur through a linear progression of the Bardo-stages as the Bodhichild can come to fruition prior to any stage; yet its “housed-positioned and ‘umbilical linkage’ to the tathagata-garbha” within the Dantien can become soiled and its progress curtailed if its defiled-twin (housed within the alaya-vijnana) supersedes its position via improper circulation within the meridian and chakra channels. Thus heaven (Shen) must be continuously aligned with Earth (Jing elements) via the proper bodhiflow of (Qi). Or, as stated in an earlier post, the psyche and awareness agency needs to become aligned [on a consistent basis] with the Unborn Will—or as the Daoist’s say, “Earth needs to be aligned with Heaven—with the Primordial Tao Itself.”

The actual movements of Primordial Qigong are very soothing and energizing, provided that they are done with Right Intent. Intention is key in directing the flow of Qi; it should not be rushed or forced. I recently had an unhappy occurrence when (practicing Primordial Qigong on a daily basis for months) one day, due to an outside and prolonged disturbance (literally outside my window during the middle-portion of the 30-minute exercise [following along with a DVD]) I became mentally perturbed during the movements—the result being that some Qi became blocked-up inside my kidney area—not a pleasant feeling to say the least. In point of fact, “Right-Intention” is a key player in undertaking any kind of spiritual/healing modality; if the proper intention is lacking, the energy can become dispersed in unhealthy ways—like in my own experience. The following is a “spiritual breakdown and chakra-flow in Light of the Unborn” of the 12 stages occurring within Primordial Qigong; the actual movements are depicted in a video link at the end. The Primordial Qigong demonstrator in the video is Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang ; his is an abbreviated presentation. An extended version is beautifully presented by his protégé, Chen Zhonghua, who’s located in Toronto. Both of their movements are very fluid, in particular Chen Zhonghua’s—true Masters of the art.

One: Lower The Qi And Cleanse Internally

Essentially, this is the igniter of the Qi-field that extends throughout all the chakras and concludes with what is referred to as “lowering the Qi to the middle Dantien, or Sugata-garbha Chakra.” *In fact, at the conclusion of “each stage” this “lowering” of the Qi is done in the same fashion—hence ending up gently hovering over the Sugata-garbha Chakra which empowers one to remain centered and focused in the Recollective Resolve; the sensation is one of transcendent contentment and centered-peace in the Unborn.

Two: Gather The Qi To The Three Dantians

The proper Mind-Intent is carrying the Qi of Shen (Spirit) and Jing (Earth elements) into the upper Dantien, or Self-Chakra [hence, activating the arousal of the primordial Unborn Spirit]; combining with the Unborn Spirit, the Qi moves down to the Dantien (Proper), or Bodhi-Chakra: mystically this Union between the Qi and Unborn Spirit impregnates the Dharma-womb, initiating the movement of the developing gotra, or Bodhi-Child. Next, the flow moves to the Lower Dantien, or The Primordial Dragon Chakra. This signifies that this lowest Chakra is the Root of illumined Vidya—or Primordial Awareness, as the re-circulation of Qi within the Bodhi-Chakra returns round-and-round before descending again (in fluid-like, circular- communication) with its Rootedness of Being-One-In-Spirit.

Three: Two Hands Rub The Ball

This stage gathers the Qi to “balance” the magnetic-field between Yin and Yang. I’ve discovered that by doing this particular stage that the “feel” of Qi becomes very strong throughout my body; indeed, those in the healing-modality professions know what this is like, because when they use “intent” to direct the healing energy—they are essentially utilizing this “balanced” energy (Qi) field.

Four: The Three-Dantiens Open And Close

Experiencing the elasticity of the internal-power of Qi; the movements are like expanding and bringing one’s hands together in squeezing a large balloon. In the first position, the intention is set on expanding the Self-Chakra—empowering it to become alive and vibrant. In like fashion, the Qi is utilized in strengthening the awareness muscles of the Bodhi-Chakra—heightening its resolve to expand its bodhipower of its self-realization as the receptacle of Truth. Lastly, intent is placed on widening the Primordial Dragon Chakra’s sambodhikayic sphere of influence on the other chakras.

Five: The Sun and Moon Turning

Wonderful, soothing massage of the Heart (Sun) and Lungs (Moon); this is an empowering movement via the hands that have become synchronized (in stage 3) in balancing the Yang and Yin energies as they circulate the healing movement of Qi.

Six: Circular Extension and Contraction

A quite remarkable sensation is experienced in this “drawing and pulling” of the Qi across the meridian system. When moving forward in drawing forth the Qi, it’s like giving a slight, but firm push; when moving backward in pulling the Qi, it’s like backing-up a large mountain. The mystical import of this exercise is that the extension and contraction is similar to the movement of a dragon.

Seven: Single Leg Ascending and Descending

This stage springs to life the realization of the Yin rising and the Yang sinking. In a real sense, it’s a reversal of these inherent (negative-positive) energies as the Primordial Yin within the Primordial Dragon Chakra is gathered (through the lowering of Yang-centered Self-Chakra) and arises (re-circulates) throughout the regions of the middle meridians and lower limbs. Once again, the movement of the Qi is not to be forced, but just guided through a gentle Intent.

Eight: Double-Leg Ascending and Descending

Essentially the same principle as in stage 7, but now both hands work together.

Nine: Belt Meridian Grinding

This stage circulates the Qi throughout the upper and middle meridian systems; one’s point of intention is focused on the Bodhi-Chakra as the Qi is now emanating from within its receptacle—where the Qi is constantly being reserved. As the Bodhi-Chakra disseminates the Qi through the circulation of the arms and hands it eventually works in unison with an inner-circle meridian point known as the Daimai. The sensation is most freeing as the Qi circumference shifts from “small-belt grinding” to “large-belt grinding.”

Ten: Heaven and Earth Open and Close

This is my favorite stage as the Qi, circulating from the top of the Dharmamegha Chakra (Heaven) encompasses the whole chakra and meridian system from head to toe, down to the Primordial Dragon Chakra (Rooted Earth energy), and vice-versa. This enfleshes the Hermetic Principle: As Above, So Below.

Eleven: Collecting The Qi To The Dantian

This stage effectively “seals” the all-encompassing Qi from the former stages and gathers it all to the Bodhi-Chakra where it becomes stored and strengthened. The sensation is like swimming through air.

Twelve: Health Massage Techniques

These series of exercises is like a final closure of the accumulated Qi in all the former stages and in a sense, “showers” it throughout the entire energy system of the awareness mechanism. The part I especially enjoy is when the Qi is drawn down and over the top Chakras: like drawing down a hood over the Dharmamegha, Dharmasota, and Dragon Eye of Tathata Chakras [pivotal observation: the Dragon Eye of Tathata Chakra is always present throughout these stages as the “mind intent” emanates from there]; when the ears, on either side of this Dragon Eye Chakra, is depicted in the exercise as being “popped”—this is symbolic of always piercing through sensate phenomena with the Dragon-Stare of Tathata, enjoyably depicted through the lively facial expressions of Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang.

Upon completion (Grand Closing) of the 12 stages, the inner-Qi is rapidly circulated from the Bodhi-Chakra to the outer bands of the awareness mechanism. The circles start slowly and gradually larger, like the formation of a hurricane, and then the cycle reverses itself as the circles grow gradually smaller as the Qi is then returned to the center-point of the Bodhi-Chakra. The Closing Stance is perhaps most pivotal of all, because one stands (with legs slightly bent—as they are throughout all of the stages) with the hands gently resting on top of the Bodhi-Chakra as one places “full-intent” as a gentle-centered gaze on this womb of the Bodhichild. One is advised to stand as long as possible in this centered-stance, Recollecting its primordial-significance.

Tags: Bardo, chakras, Chen Zhonghua, Feng Zhiqiang, intention, Primordial Dragon Chakra, Primordial Qigong, Qi, Unborn

Flipping through the channels on the ol’ tele the other day I came across a golden oldie from 1966: Born Free. A memorable flick about a lioness cub named Elsa who was raised by humans, neither of whom could bring it into their hearts to allow her to be relegated to a zoo; in fact, one of the top scenes for me was when Joy, the cub’s human mother, says that she would never stand for Elsa just rotting away, fat and dopey-like, behind the bars of a cage. No, she would always remain free. What a metaphor! It could also be used in reference to the adept who, in light of the Unborn Buddha Mind, can no longer be held captive behind the discriminatory bars of one’s own limited mind capacity (just staying fat and stupid and complacently lazy in Samsara)—one that is ruled by the vast projections of the Alaya receptacle—no, one needs to soar Free in the Freedom of Mind that the Unborn alone can offer. The following selected lyrics behind the hit single at the time, Born Free, really bring this home:

Fast, on a rough road riding
High, through the mountains climbing
Twisting, turning further from my home.
Young, like a new moon rising
Fierce, through the rain and lightning
Wandering out into this great unknown.

Like Elsa, who needed to roam into the great unknown on her own in order to come to the self-realization of her own natural state, likewise does the UnbornMind adept venture forth alone into the Undiscovered Country of the Unborn; there are many dangers along the way, for Mara will stop at nothing to prevent this Noble self-realization—one that empowers one to truly realize their own True Self-Identity in the Womb of Deathless Suchness.

And I don’t want no one to cry,
But tell ‘em if I don’t survive:

[Chorus:]
I was born free!
I was booooooorn free
I was born free, born free.

For the adept, there is no turning back, because it’s like turning one’s back on oneself. If others shed tears when not understanding the transformation…so be it! The adept has gone beyond the stage of mere “survival” in the volatile waters of samsara.

Free, like a river raging
Strong, if the wind I’m facing.
Chasing dreams and racing fathered time.
Deep like the grandest canyon,
Wild like an untamed stallion.
If you can’t see my heart you must be blind.
You can knock me down and watch me bleed
But you can’t keep no chains on me.

This Noble Stream-enterer now goes with the flow of where the Unborn Spirit leads—deep looking upon deep—untamed, primordial wildness breaking free from all projected dreams and memories in the Alaya receptacle and not allowing Mara to enchain them any longer…

And I’m not good at long goodbyes,
But look down deep into my eyes,

I was born free!

Yes, somehow born-free with the bodhi-seed of this Noble self-realization, even one’s earthy mother cannot comprehend the deep gaze of the Original Primordial Stature shining back like a dark luminosity from deep within. Born-free from the conventionality of the Prison-house…trailing, as Wordsworth wrote, “Clouds of Glory” from whence I come.

Calm, facing danger,
Lost like an unknown stranger,
Grateful, for my time with no regrets.
Close to my destination,
Tired, frail and achin’,
Waitin’ patiently for the sun to set.

No danger is too great from preventing the Noble determination to carry on—with no regrets of past karma—even despite being tired and achin’ for the journey to somehow wind-down—yet, faithfully persevering and waiting patiently for parinirvana—the True Self-Realization that you have never really been born and hence will never die, but rather, that you are now, and will always be…UNBORN.

Tags: Born Free, parinirvana, Unborn, Unborn Buddha Mind, UnbornMind Zen

The Avadhūta Gītā is traditionally considered as a sacred text of Advaita attributed to Dattatreya who was looked upon as an incarnation of Brahman. Yet it far exceeds any one limited definition. Avadhuta essentially means a “liberated one”—one who has transcended the material state and has awakened into the Self-Realization of the Divine Atman. A Shining One, beyond all secular or religious attributes and who now sings of the Pure, undefiled, and Unborn stateless state on the further shore of Nirvana. Reading and studying this Gita is a sheer joy as it seems to emanate from the Unborn Spirit Itself—bespeaking that all-pervasive Sacred Selfhood, devoid of all dualities—indeed, the Real looking at the Real and no-thing else…

One who has awakened and has seen one’s True Self Nature, That which is Unborn, Beyond Words and is Boundless, spontaneously celebrates the Sacred Unknowable.

Tags: Sacred Selfhood, Sacred Unknowable, True Self Nature, Unborn

As the dying embers of 2011 fade away into the rising horizon of January and the increasing frigid temperatures experienced in northern climes, it is a good opportunity to turn-about from all the crazed excessiveness of the holiday turmoil and just gently settle-in to the contemplative dimension that Winter Stillness can offer, namely Solitude itself. Usually when one considers solitude, images of locations that offer seclusion and solace from all sensory stimulations—like monasteries, temples, retreat centers, a mountain escape—immediately come to mind that define the exact parameters of what constitutes solitude. Having experienced such “retreat” locations in the past—for many years I frequented a Carmelite House of Prayer that was neatly nestled in the majestic mountains of New Hampshire—I can say with certainty that it was good and healthy and spiritually nourishing to frequent this setting from time to time to relish in the quietude it so graciously offered; yet, what about the other 99% of the time—is solitude necessarily defined by a location?

It is so easy to fall into the trap that “holy places” alone defines what is necessary, even a prerequisite, for one to thoroughly embrace a meditative and spiritual life. When one seriously reflects on this, however, it is clearly evident that the trap is sprung for falling into the darkest hole of materialism itself. Secluded locations can be nice for that spirit of reverie, yet they do not in and of themselves define the essential nature of solitude. If solitude is predicated on location, then it is materialistically dependent. Solitude is an inner-affair and is not an objective singularity. One can experience as much solitude walking down a darkened street alone at night as a secluded Carthusian monk does within his isolated cell. A Soto-Zen monk sitting on his zafu twirling his mala is not somehow spiritually superior to someone preparing breakfast for the kids on a frigid January morning. Solitude is not a particular location—indeed it is location-less and is a cultivation of that Recollective Resolve to remain centered in the Unborn at all times, irregardless of exterior temperament.

May the Unborn Spirit quieten your anxious mind so that you may truly cultivate your own sense of solitude in 2012—another imagined year in your apparent mind-realm.

Tags: contemplation, solitude, Spirituality, Unborn, Zen

Throughout Christendom the great feast of the Incarnation highlights again and again the early infancy narratives found within the gospels of Matthew and Luke, narratives that focus on the birth of the Christ-child, the Prince of Peace. It’s interesting to note that there are numerous parallels within many spiritual traditions throughout the millennia that speak of a miraculous birth of a long-awaited Messiah, most notably within many Pagan motifs like the one describing how the Egyptian Deity Horus was miraculously conceived of the virgin-Goddess Isis, who later fled to an isolated location to give birth since someone desired the death of her child. In fact, December 25th was chosen in antiquity for Christ’s birth since it coincided with the birth of the Sun-god, Sol Invictus; a reminder that the long days of darkness were now being supplanted with the slow return of the Light.

Standing apart from the anthropocentric emphasis that the Christos—the anointed-awakened one somehow had to be first conceived within an earthly womb to gain any salvific merit, the Gospel of John begins with the revelation that this Word-Made-Flesh was already vivaciously present since the beginning of the created order: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. “ (John 1:1) John’s Gospel contains many Gnostic elements, and there is increasing evidence showing that this Johannine community was heavily influenced by the Essenes. It also needs to be emphasized that this Eternal Word is in actuality, beginningless, without conception or perception of any kind. It is Unborn and completely devoid of all attributes since It is the very vivifying animator that precedes any-thing within the created or uncreated order—of all things visible and invisible.

From a Lankavatarian perspective, this “Word” is a decoder that directly points to the Prior and Unmoving Principle whose “dark-call” is the living dynamo that animates (breathes) all sentient forms into existence and then draws them back again into the primordial formless depths—as John’s gospel states, “All things were made through him (the Word) and without him nothing came to be” (John 1:3). The Self-same Prime motionless mover That awoke those shepherds keeping night watch in the fields; That was the Star directing the three magi bearing those gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; That empowered all those enamored smiling mouths that gazed so lovingly on the Christ-child who lay asleep on the hay; That inspired the developing bodhichild (bodhisattva) within the heart of Jesus the Christ, enlightening him to proclaim his Father’s nirvanic and undivided kingdom, the Dharmakaya. To paraphrase John, “To those who accepted the Word into their hearts were made into Bodhichildren themselves; to those who trusted in the Dark Animating Principle were not born by natural generation, nor by any sentient agency, but from the very mouth of the Unborn.”

Tags: Christmas, dharmakaya, Essenes, gnostic, Horus, Isis, Jesus, John, Lankavatara, Luke, magi, Matthew, Messiah, Spirituality, Unborn

When the adept’s perceptional faculties are regenerated, all discursive associations dissolve away like shadows disappearing into the deepening twilight. One awakens beyond the mundane affairs of the heavy-laden body consciousness into the boundless miracle of the deathless principle. There is no turning back; if one were to rekindle just one former attachment, then sweet union with the unborn is lost. All one need do is to allow this regeneration of one’s former pattern of existence to emerge. To paraphrase a familiar spiritual proclamation, “And I live, now not I, but the Unborn Spirit liveth in me.”

When this spiritual regeneration occurs, one is freed from all skandhic shackles and stands naked on the imageless terrain of deathlessness. The adept now begins to put to rest any further dialectical doubts: does this union with the Unborn in this transcendent dimension differ from union with It in the midst of one’s daily activities? Indeed, how can one be united with the Unborn in the daily events of life and not, at least in some measure, also being united with IT as It Is In Itself?

There is no bifurcation here: the awakening of the spiritual regeneration empowers the adept to see Reality (dharmadhatu) through the Very Eyes of the Blessed One and no longer through the constricted and dualistic lens of the body consciousness. There is no longer samsara or nirvana, enslaved mind or awakened bodhisattva, male or female, for all is One in the Sacred and Undivided Splendor of the Unborn.

Tags: deathlessness, samsara, shadows, Unborn

The great Rhineland Mystic, Meister Eckhart, expressed the opening of the dark principle in this fashion: “Seek God, so as never to find him”. Eckhart’s statement is packed with dharma-delight; if you’re trying to capture the essence of the Absolute Unknowable (cloaked by the term God), then It will constantly elude your efforts.  The Ecclesiastical authorities of his day could never pin Meister Eckhart down, although they were able to silence his profound mystical writings from gaining any merit within the exoteric church. Yet, his marvelous insights have outlived the Magisterial Monsters of his time and his work continues to shine within both apophatic and kataphatic spiritual traditions. In light of the Buddhadharma of the Sacred Unknowable, the beloved dark pearl of the Unborn Mind cannot be discovered through any obtuse discursive searching, but rather through a way of surrendering all sensate faculties in favor of the supraessential light of unbounded and undivided bodhipower. (The power of the awakened spirit-mind)

The unfolding of the dark contemplation, the way to union with the Sacred Unknown, can be discerned as follows: the important thing to understand is that there is nothing to understand—you don’t have to do or know anything; in this way you can let-go of all conceptual notions that hinder your progress. You need to be “empty” so that the Unborn Spirit can infuse into your bodhisoul Unborn Light Itself—so, let the Unborn Spirit act alone…allow It to drive for awhile. It is also essential that you cultivate solitude into your life—and this includes all areas of your life, even in the midst of the busy marketplace; in this cultivation you will be set free from the desire to experience some kind of extraordinary experience that will somehow reveal the presence of the transcendent—It is always being revealed and manifested daily in the ordinary events of your day. Do not be overly and obsessively concerned with your spiritual progress—just allow the Unborn Spirit to do Its stuff without you getting in the way; the only “seeking” you need to do is to abandon your own willfulness in favor of the Unborn will. Learn to accept whatever may cross your diurnal path, both the positive and the negative—when you learn to accept, then the imageless grace of the Unborn will be bestowed upon your spirit. Remember, above all, that this dark contemplation can only be realized in the perfection of love Itself.

Tags: contemplation, Meister Eckhart, Unborn, Unborn Spirit

The 16th century Spanish Mystic John of the Cross was most prolific when it came to spiritual writing that focused upon “All-Created-Things” that could hinder the path to Union with the Imageless purity of the Unborn. Although catholic in expedient form and using language that needed to appease the religious authority of the time, one can still discern the hidden “arcane” reason shining through to help the adept on the road to full Recollection of the Unborn Buddha Mind. If read in light of the Unborn, then his writings can prove to be of help for those adepts who struggle with their own “practice”. His classic poem, The Dark Night of the Soul, can be read as a loving process that depicts the movement from created obstructions to the very heart and development of the bodhichild. (Bodhisattvic Child of Light)

One dark night,
Fired with love’s urgent longings
–Ah, the sheer grace!—
I went out unseen,
My house being now all stilled;

This “night” is darkness to the senses; in a very real sense, the adept is now “free” of their bewitching influence by way of the “Turn-About” and, fired with the urgency of the antecedent vigilance, invokes the recollective-power of the Unborn. The effects are very grace-filled indeed! The volatile mind is now silenced as the “I” evaporates in the ecstasy of the recollective vigor; “My House” meaning the presence of the Five Skandhas (form, sensation, thought, motion, mortal consciousness) are no longer effective and hence “stilled”.

In darkness, and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised,
–Ah, the sheer grace!—
In darkness and concealment,
My house being now all stilled;

The luminous darkness of the Buddhic Light enhances securement from the former skandhic hold as if by a “secret ladder” ascending and descending right in the very midst of phenomena itself. The effects are very grace-filled indeed! The last two verses are a loving repetition of the recollective vigor.

On that glad night,
In secret, for no one saw me,
Nor did I look at anything,
With no other light or guide
Than the one that burned in my heart;

A further loving repetition of the recollective resolve; “In secret, for no one saw me”—meaning the gnostic and grace-filled moment cannot be understood nor recognized through the lens of skandhic perception; which, by the way, is an indicative reminder that phenomena is too ill-equipped and therefore void to the illuminating encounter; “Nor did I look at anything”—once again the “I” is absent since there is no phenomena for it to behold; “With no other light or guide Than the One that burned in my heart”—Indeed, the marvelous illuminating dark principle is all one needs since it is the authentic guide that is the constant pilot-light of the heart.

This guided me
More surely than the light of noon
To where Christ waited for me
–Him I knew so well—
In a place where no one else appeared.

IT alone is the guiding Light “More surely than the light of noon”—indeed! “To where Christ waited for me”—Christ—the anointed One of the Unborn, the great Bodhisattva Bringer of Light; “Him I knew so well, In a place where no one else appeared”—meaning, the “gotra”, the seedbed of the dormant Christ-bodhichild—a place where nothing else “created” appears.

O guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!
O night that has united
The Lover with His beloved,
Transforming the beloved in her Lover.

A very significant and highly mystical verse; after the first two lines that sing further praise to the dark wonder bestowed within the recollective resolve, the verse depicts the actual “union” of the bodhichild with the Unborn. The marvelous moment of consecrated ecstasy occurs as this mystic child becomes transformed within Unborn Light Itself.

Upon my flowering breast
Which I kept wholly for Him alone,
There He lay sleeping,
And I caressing Him
There in a breeze from the fanning cedars.

After union, the language depicts the loving intimacy and careful nurturing of this Self-Actualized Child and future Tathagata.

When the breeze blew from the turret
Parting His hair,
He wounded my neck
With His gentle hand,
Suspending all my senses.

The opening line of this verse is reminiscent of a line from the Flower Ornament Scripture: “The pure light does not shine in vain–Any who meet IT, IT will cause to dissolve heavy barriers…” The purity of the bodhichild bespeaks intimacy with the Light; when one is attuned with this gentle Child of Light, a “spiritual wound” occurs–meaning the dark night of spirit now overshadows the garish light of the senses; thus dissolving and suspending them.

I abandonded and forgot myself,
Laying my face on my Beloved;
All things ceased; I went out from myself,
Leaving all my cares
Forgotten among the lilies.

This final verse depicts the total abandonment of the false-self through the abiding and total attentive care of the bodhichild; nothing else matters now but this persistent and vigilant attentiveness. ALL one’s cares are now forgotten among the lilies…

Tags: bodhichild, Darkness Visible, Parting His, Unborn

One of the words tossed around willy-nilly in this dharma-ending age is “hero”. It seems we are inundated with apparent heroes every which way we turn: movie and comic book animated heroes, football and baseball heroes, all-armed forces personnel heroes, emergency responders like policemen, paramedics and firefighters, even the small child climbing a tree to save the life of an entrapped kitten—all are indelibly classified as being “a hero”.

The ancient, Classical Greek, definition of hero is someone who, in the face of fate itself, singularly makes a choice to sacrifice their very existential existence for a far greater epic responsibility: consecrating their mortal being to a higher, transcendental reality. In this sense, then, how does today’s modern notion of “hero” stand up to this audacious and timeless realization? Does one act of gallantry, whether on the battlefield or someone putting a hole through Muammar Qaddafi’s head, constitute the very essence of heroism? One forgets, that, in the classical sense, a potential hero had to first overcome a vast array of Herculean adversities before being endowed with the title, hero. Today, unfortunately, this noble and well-earned salutation is smeared with diminutive conceits that undermine the former and premier criteria that constitutes hero-hood.

Indeed, the far greater, Olympian feat today—as it has been throughout the millennia—is to make an epic, inner-crusade, one that far outstrips any paltry exterior escapade that hopes to achieve courageous actions in the face of adversity. If one does not confront and overcome one’s own inner demons—how can one even attempt to claim victory in the external arena that is a mere shadow of what is occurring within the vast inner-plane of the alaya vijnana (the repository of consciousness that contains all karmic sensate impressions bearing the mark of dependent origination since time immemorial)? Homer’s heroes like Ulysses actually had to confront and transcend all these inner-demons that were phenomenally and miraculously manifested on the material plane.

In like fashion, the great inner-quest for the Unborn is representative of this transcendent, epic element of truth that far eclipses today’s bewitched bias of incessantly being fixated on achieving merit on the plane of defiled sensate phenomena. This worldling, phenomenal path, is like chopping off one head only to be faced time and time again with other, far more menacing ones of the ravaging Hydra; whereas making the epic journey to the undiscovered country of the Unborn, is like riding on the wondrous wings of Pegasus, empowering the Unborn Light Adept to rise above the phenomenal matrix and thus chop off the root, the very Shandkic entrails of the monstrous Hydra with one swift swing of Manjushri’s Imageless Sword! In this way, one makes that singular choice to sacrifice their very existential life, thus consecrating their mind and spirit to the far superior and supramundane Reality of the Unborn Mind. In so doing, one truly awakens to their True Primordial Identity, and yet coming to the full self-realization of Noble Wisdom that true heroism will not be achieved until Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. (Unexcelled Perfection in Inseparable Bodhi—Supreme Enlightenment)

Tags: Classical Greek, True Primordial Identity, Unborn, Unborn Light Adept