Monthly Archives: November 2022

The Core of the Issue

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Vajragoni

The Core of the issue—the bottom line—is the belief that a psychophysical formal based being is in need of attaining an afterlife. As the Diamond Sutra teaches, “no one is to be called a Bodhisattva, for whom there should exist the idea of a being or non-being, the idea of any form of living entity, or the idea of a person”. This is perhaps the most pivotal line in all Buddhism. One is in grave error if they even begin to conceive of such notions. The Lanka also sheds light on this whole business: There is no being or non-being or any form or formless entity, and certainly no idea of a skandhic “person” that has any innate self-nature; they are all totally devoid of Substance—of the Mind-Stuff that alone constitutes Reality (Dharmadhatu). Sentient beingness is not in need of salvation since there is really no-one there to begin with—only skandhic overflows. In point of fact, “True Compassion” is never about a person-thing, but rather about a Mind-thing. Thus empowering the Mind to awaken from its drunken stupor and to finally face-up to all that it created within the mad pluralized-dream of its own making. The Unborn Mind Alone is sufficient, with no-thing to grasp or strive for. read more

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Where There Are No Shadows

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Vajragoni

It needs to be noted that within the Lanka, and within Unborn Mind Zen too, the notion of the reality of an objective world is not denied within its own relativity; Tozen once taught that, “You have to understand that for we Lankavatarians, the world is a concrete intellectual synthesis highly visible and touchable.” So the sensualist notions of the afterlife are very real since “what the mind focuses on determines its reality.” There is a Jehovah Heaven, just as there is a Gehenna and an Avicci Hell as well. But they are still samsaric realms and not permanent in themselves (being one of the six realms of impermanence.) It’s all relative to Karmic based repercussions—there is no escaping these forms of destiny whatever given belief system is intoned. Karma is the determining factor and one needs to see to it that karmic ties are severed in one’s lifetime. However, for the Lankavatarian these sensualist notions are not extended to the pure perception of the Tathata, and that is what the Lanka focuses on—that pure perception—even though it’s sometimes cloaked in expediency for the benefit of the sensualist. Those “who are stupid talk of the trinity of vehicles and not of the state of Mind−only where there are no shadows. Therefore, Mahamati, those who do not understand the teachings of the Tathagatas of the past, present, and future, concerning the external world, which is of Mind itself, cling to the notion that there is a world outside what is seen of the Mind and, Mahamati, go on rolling themselves along the wheel of birth and death.” (Lanka, XVIII) Hence our motto, What the mind focuses on WILL determine its reality. read more

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Preparation for the Afterlife

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Vajragoni

Many consider that events in the saha realm have never been worse. The gods of many realms are not pleased. Humanity has reached a terrible low from which there is no return. It’s worse than Sodom and Gomorrah ever was. The natural order has been defiled and dragged through the mud. Best recourse? Make preparations for the afterlife because it’s due on the horizon. And yet, what is the afterlife? Is it a particular place, or more that an individual’s stream of consciousness continues in some form after death? Mainline religions maintain that it is a given and permanent locale, while other traditions maintain that it is only a temporary respite before being reincarnated again. It is not the purpose of this blog series to catalog all the sundry interpretations but rather to study it from a Lankavatarian lens. In this vein we shall come to see that the best preparation for the afterlife is a non-preparation, something that both the Lankavatara and Diamond Sutras share in common. It is perhaps the most sane observation (given current events) of our subject matter. It’s also interesting that this series commences on what Christian Religions refer to as All Souls Day, or the Day of the Dead in more indigenous religions—both commemorating the journey to the afterlife by all the dearly departed, and also one in which the dead can also communicate with the living in some form or fashion. Tis the season to look for a transcendent dimension that will point the way out of a world gone insane. Our series will be forthcoming very soon. read more

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