Tag Archives: Buddhist Spirituality

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: read more