Tag Archives: paramārtha-satya

Svabhāva

  1. (Chapter II verse 156) [Cleary]: This world is representation, made of names, not there as it appears.  The clusters are makers of optical illusions imagined by the naïve.

I Like Cleary’s description here of the skandhas as “clusters”. Suzuki’s translation says that the skandhas are like a “hair-net wherein discrimination goes on”; Cleary refers to this as being akin to an optical-illusion maker. We are indeed just made-up like clusters of an active imagination—just naïve and complacent dupes of our Skandhic-Overlords. read more

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Nāgārjuna and the Two Truths

Nāgārjuna is perhaps the most celebrated philosopher-sage of Mahayana/Mādhyamika Buddhism. Despite the enormous popularity very little is actually known concerning his Biographical details apart from the generally-held belief that he lived during the 2nd century CE. While rooted in rich mythical soil, his name is in reference to the “Nagas” from whom he received the Prajnaparamita teachings. The Śatasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, which the Buddha had especially entrusted to the Nagas for safekeeping, was handed over to Nāgārjuna who later propagated the teachings. In the west, he is best known for his teachings on emptiness, (śūnyatā), which he espoused during his formation of the Mādhyamika School. For our purposes in this series, his own nuanced views on śūnyatā follows most closely from the doctrine of Dependent-Origination which states that nothing within the created-order has an intrinsic-existence of its own. Indeed, the term śūnyatā has an “entirely different nuance in the Mādhyamika thought from that of other Buddhist schools and traditions.” read more

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Gnosis for the Journey Home

VIII. Gnosis for the Journey Home

1. The Spirit in the space of energy crystallizes in a four-fold fashion
Midsummer is whitened by snow
The disk of the Sun spirals-out into infinity
On the surface of the Water the Wind blows a face of gentleness
In the Midnight one is receptively-blessed with spiritual-solitude
Yet deeper still lies the Secret within the Secret:
Nowhere is the point of origin that returns to the True Primordial Home
2. The Essence of the journey-home is non-action within action: Wu-Wei.
3. Wu-Wei prevents one from becoming frozen in the movement of form and image; yet still inducing Right-Action one evades the dead-voidness of nihilism.
4. Recollect: the point of centeredness is between the two-lamps. In this recollection the Yang and Yin are properly-balanced.
5. The Spiritual Elixir is dependent upon the coalescing of spirit and breath. The aforementioned technique of turning-around-the light empowers adepts to control the movements of inner and outer, through which one procures spiritual independence.
6. This work is essential for adepts in the beginning stages. As the unfolding of the Way is gradually discovered in learning to master the technique, the very Heavens will open and reveal the gnosis of the unsurpassed-Dharma. Remember this and keep it hidden within your inmost Self.
7. Turning-around-the-light describes the over-all technique, whereas as one progresses the vibrancy of the Light is magnified; hence, the more the technique is utilized the greater the Golden Light of the Unborn unfolds ITs glorious hue. Hitherto, one listened attentively to the inner-voice of the Master in mastering the technique; now it is a complete dissemination of the methods employed in service of the Master. The whole relationship is reversed: before, one was a spiritual novice, now one becomes a genuine vehicle in service of the Master.
8. When entering into quietude, one’s spirit and mind needs to be fine-tuned and one-pointedly focused, letting-go of all outer and inner disturbances so that no-thing stands in the way of Recollective Union with the Unborn.
9. Center one’s attention at the Urna with the eyelids in half-closed position. This is done as if following a divine-edict; yea, what disciple of the Unborn dare disobey?
10. One then illumines the day with Fire (Yang) and the night with Water (Yin). When the Yang energy rules the Golden Light permeates outwards; when the Yin energy rules the Light recedes inwards and becomes fully receptive to the spirit.
11. It is important to note that the Yang cannot rule without being nurtured by the Yin, otherwise it would burn itself out. Both Yang and Yin contains energies of the other within, with the Yin being more dominant. This is referenced as the seed of the Sun emanating from and returning to the dark-point of the Void.
12. Thus when one turns-the-light-round to shine inward, all excesses of phenomena are burned-off leaving only the permanent reality of the Mind—the Dharmakaya.
13. Now, the adept leaves behind the ghostly-apparitions of the created to rest exclusively within the Uncreated One and Absolute.
14. One is aware now only of effulgence and infinity. The entire being feels lighter and would like to soar above the mundane into the Light-Heavens of the Unborn.
15. The moon gathers up the ten-thousand waters. In the heart of this Translucent Darkness, suddenly there is movement from deep within. This is the Return of the One Light, the moment when the Garbha-child comes to life.
16. When the mind is washed clean with Translucent Darkness and is anointed with the stirrings of this inner Child of Light, this is the initiation of the Living Midnight.
17. Ordinarily, when people perceive things they get stirred-up until the motion is stopped. This is likened unto a sovereign-ruler being enslaved by his subjects.
18. On the other hand, resting unbound within the Unborn Mind, the sovereign-ruler once again commands with the Rule of Stillness, completely unperturbed by any irritating thoughts or worldly associations. This is termed as resting serenely in the cave of the moon.
19. When the Garbha-child initiates True-Breathing, the mind lets-go as the breath moves rhythmically between inhalation and exhalation. Thus, one rises and falls with the Garbha-child; this is what is meant by rising to the roof of Heaven and setting within the cave of the moon.
20. Remember, when the heart is entangled with samsaric thoughts and emotions, it is ruled by human desire. When the heart is no longer entangled in these earthly woes, then it is ruled by the Ultimate Truth.
21. When first initiating the technique of turning-around-the-light one learns to turn to the root-source whenever distracting thoughts arise.
22. Once direct one-pointedness of Mind is procured, one is naturally buoyant and one’s strength is never exhausted; this is known as quieting the spirit in the boundless-space of the Primordials.
23. One is now so-far advanced that even every shadow and every echo has dissipated into the lair of hibernation wherein all energy is gathered and returned to the root-source.
24. This hibernation is the immeasurable ‘time of quieting’ when even vast kalpas are as one moment.
25. As long as the mind has not reached this stateless-state of perfect quiescence, it continues to act sporadically; whereas effortless-action (Wu-shin) is the mark of True-Mindfulness; IT does not move yet continues to spontaneously incur Right Action.
26. Referring back to the poem at the beginning of this chapter, the opening verse refers to the efficacy of the Spirit within the Golden Light of the Unborn; the Midsummer whitened by snow represents the Yin energy returning to the southern position of the Root-Source. The disk of the Sun represents the Yang energy returning to the northern position of the Dharmamegha-point. Water is the sign of hidden-gnosis being generated in the wind of the primordial-flame. Midnight represents the primordial-stillness.
27. The last two lines refer to the secret within the secret—THAT which cannot be dispensed; this is known as purifying thoughts with the Holy Bath.
28. In Buddhism, awakening the mind without dwelling on any created- thing is the core of the entire canon. The ancient sages knew this as beginning in the Source and ending in the Source.
29. The full-import of the Spiritual Elixir incurs Right Reliance (on the primordial breath-flow—coalescing of breath and spirit) under all circumstances; this is also referred to as Mind-Bathing in the sacred-pool of deathlessness. This single-realization can save one endless decades of seeking.
30. The Golden-point of Unborn Light is the omnipresent center at the heart of both known and unknown modes of being. IT is the center in the midst of all surrounding-skandhic-conditions of endless regeneration and thus is the portal of release from samsara. As to what one has to do with the center, nothing more need be said. read more

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