Greetings from Vajragoni here at Unborn Mind Zen.
It’s time yet again for that annual junction wherein my time apart from active blogging begins. Since last August in arriving back from Contemplative Sojourn IV many new blog-series have been offered. The most recent addition is the Lankavatarian Liturgical cycle, Little Office of Our Lady of the Void which, along with the Eremitical Meditations with the Five Dhyani Buddhas and the Divine Liturgy of Vajrasattva, constitute essential Dharma-tools in which to actively “participate” in the sacred mysteries of the Buddhadharma. Just prior to that is the culmination of a series that began back in 2014—The Bhagavad Gita (In Light of the Unborn); this series highlights many different forms of yoga: karma yoga, the yoga of discernment, Jnana yoga, yoga of gnosis, yoga of renunciation, Primordial Dharma Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, Divine Yoga, Unborn Yoga—(unites all the yogic disciplines), Dharmakaya Yoga, and Holy Yoga (Unexcelled Union in Inseparable Bodhi). There was also the series on Korean Sŏn Buddhism and Chinul, one that emphasizes the “syncretic-spirit” that inspired Chinul in his own teaching-style of Sŏn. Before that was the series on the Ariyapariyesana Sutta; as a brief spiritual-biographical exposition on the Buddha it highlights the Noble and ignoble paths and how to best articulate the Ariyan choice to rise above all the snares of defiled and aggregated existence for the further shore of deathlessness. Perhaps the best pièce de résistance this past blog season is the series on the Vajrasamadhi Sutra. For a Lankavatarian, or those so inclined, the Vajrasamadhi Sutra practically not only compliments, but also helps to complete the Lanka. It is representative of the full flowering of the Tathagatagarbha-Zen Tradition. This is not stated lightly, for it is one sutra to be savored over and over again—both in terms of enhancing one’s own spiritual cultivation and praxis. Prior to that we journeyed with Sudhana during his vast spiritual sojourn in the Gandavyuha-sutra (Entry into the Dharmadhatu). If totally entered into with a sincere spirit one is empowered and privileged to experience this majestic-mystic landscape and thus gain a full appreciation of the Hua-Yen Spirit that created it. As the ever-faithful mentor, Tozen has also added to his fine teachings. Perhaps the best series in terms of spiritual praxis and discernment is the one entitled Ascending the Noble Mountain of Primordial Perfection. As stated in the series overview:
Make no mistake, this is not an easy road to follow. It’s like going through a rigorous spiritual obstacle course that disciplines the adept’s resolve to work things out regardless of the pain involved. But like enduring the long-night of being in labor, the eventual spiritual breakthrough and liberated birth into a new and vibrant dimension of being is worth the cost of apparent endless agony. Although a most stringent endeavor, I encourage the sincere and authentic spiritual adept to take the plunge. Infused Contemplation is quite unlike experiencing anything else in today’s wide and wimpy plethora of pseudo-spiritual rubbish that offers no depth but only wading-through interminable puddles of mediocrity. It is the Real Stuff that true Spiritual Sojourners are made of, because they’ve had enough of empty paths that lead nowhere and who yearn for a way that leads to the awakening and revelation of their Authentic and Best-Self. One knows in their heart of hearts that anything worth one’s salt entails hard work and devotion. Ascending the Noble Mountain of Primordial Perfection is such a venture, and the payoff is beyond anything hoped for or imagined.
The season began in mid-August with the O Magnum Mysterium, Unborn I Ching:
The Unborn I Ching is not so much a crystal-ball that predicts and determines the future, but rather an expedient mind-tool that highlights principles that do not predetermine the future, but that help to invoke the course of proper ACTION in the prevailing and shifting winds of samsara. In order to become spiritually mature and illumined in the Unborn, this undertaking follows the classical approach of the “Great Work” of awakening to our True-Nature that guides and thus conforms one to the Unborn Will. As Lama Govinda has posited, “illumination does not mean omniscience”, rather it means that one has overcome ignorance (avidya) born out of the dark illusions of the body consciousness; Unborn Light has now become the all-prevailing principle. The prominent position of this series is that one is guided by this Light. Utilizing the Unborn I Ching one has access to inner truths that have guided sincere and worthy adepts throughout the millennia. It’s as if one draws nourishment from a deep-cistern that is constantly being replenished by the Unborn Spirit of the Primordials.
As always, it is essential for me in terms of healthy holistic growth to wisely choose some time apart for recharging my spiritual batteries. So I am once again looking forward now to that good quality time spent apart for extra dharma-study and meditation in deep samadhis.
Be safe and well and Happy Reading!
Vajragoni
Thank you!