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:
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…