Tag Archives: samsara

The Lanka’s Nirvana

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Vajragoni

As a quick reference, the abridged version of the Lankavatara Sutra as found in the Buddhist Bible, Chapter XIII, offers a general overview of the Lanka’s take on Nirvana. Our Study will offer here a more extensive treatment as covered throughout the sutra. This is largely a compilation from the Complete Lanka and Discussion as found in our library. read more

Posted in Nirvana | Tagged Four kinds of Nirvana, icchantika, itaretara, manovijñāna, MEANING, nirvana, Samadhi Mayopama, samsara, Tozen | 3 Comments

The Mind of Zen

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Tozen

When it comes to matters of Spirit, and the innate Mind animating its will; Great minds discuss ideas around its true nature, relying solely on the light of its absolute reality as origin of their wisdom. read more

Posted in Tozen Teaching | Tagged Buddhadharma, Karma, light, Mind, samsara, Tozen | Leave a comment

Towards a Psychology of the Māras, Part I

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Vajragoni

The Sacred India Tarot

At the outset here one needs to be aware that the context in which Māra(s) is spoken is mythic in scope. Far more than any cognitively-based amalgams of collective-experiences shared in the human psyche—this mythos is more-than-human. It involves cosmic-forces that have been around longer than the early dawn of mankind’s limited evolutionary experiences. As Robert Warren Clark states in his excellent Dissertation, Māra: Psychopathology and Evil in the Buddhism of India and Tibet: read more

Posted in Māra and Satan | Tagged Abhisankhāra-Māra, amānuṣamāra, ātmagrāha, catvārimāra, Devaputramara, Khandha-Māra, Kileśa-Māra, kleśa, kleṣamāra), liberation, Maccu-Māra, Mara, Māradhatu, maranamāra, mṛtyupatimāra, myth, Patañjali, prajnaparamita, psychopathology, Robert Warren Clark, samsara, Six Paramitas, skandhamāra, the four Maras, Vikalpa, vikalpanāmā | Leave a comment

Etymology of the Evil Ones

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Vajragoni

Evil is wide and prevalent in our Saha-World. Unlike the Truth, it assumes an endless array of faces and embeds itself unmercifully in all the assorted-affairs of sentient beings. The dominant Western and Eastern terms for these faces of evil are Satan and Māra. The term “Satan” is derived from a Hebrew term meaning, the adversary. The popular term “Devil” is derived from the Greek, diabolos. Both of these terms are found in the New Testament and later on in the writings of the Church Fathers. Throughout the Millennium he’s also referred to as the “Dark-One”, the “Black-One” and the “wicked-one”; the term, the evil-one appears in a popular translation of the “Our Father” prayer—deliver us from the Evil One. Traditionally, Satan was originally the premier Angel of Light (son of the morning) in Heaven, named Lucifer; through his own conceited vanity, he tried to usurp the very throne of the Most High. John Milton’s Epic poem, “Paradise Lost”, describes this most evil of all adversaries: read more

Posted in Māra and Satan | Tagged Devil, diabolos, Evil, Evil One, Frankenstein, John Milton, Kanha, Lucifer, Mara, Māra kali cakram, Paradise Lost, Picture of Dorian Gray, samsara, Satan, the adversary, the Dark One, the Evil One, the True Story | 1 Comment

Coming Soon: Māra and Satan

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Vajragoni

On Ash Wednesday, February 18^th, roughly 1.2 Billion across the globe will be ushering-in the season of Lent. One of the passages from scripture that always begins this solemn season, is the one in which Jesus is tempted by Satan for 40 days in the Desert. This is a highly symbolic event, since Lent itself lasts 40 days; and so, during this stretch of time, one is asked to do assorted penances and make new resolutions, ones that are in tune with self-denying one’s carnal appetites, in favor of a highly spiritual-makeover. In a very real way, one is also seeking refuge from the forces of evil in the world, ones that are always afoot attempting to wreak havoc on a soul that is trying to better itself. There are parallels in both Christianity and Buddhism that personify these dark forces, the Fathers of Evil if you will. Hence we have Satan, and Māra. Back in 1975, James W. Boyd, published a well-informed book, Satan and Māra: Christian and Buddhist Symbols of Evil. Unfortunately his work is long out of print, but I was recently fortunate enough to find a copy. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, we shall be exploring in depth these interesting parallels between Satan and Māra. It’s by no small chance that Siddhartha Gautama experienced similar inclinations from Māra that Jesus did from Satan throughout his Dark night of the Soul in the desert. read more

Posted in Māra and Satan | Tagged Evil, James W. Boyd, Mara, Robert Warren Clark, samsara, Satan, Temptation | 5 Comments

The Realm of Suchness

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Vajragoni

(Hakeda)

THE ESSENCE ITSELF AND THE ATTRIUBUTES OF SUCHNESS, OR THE MEANING OF MAHĀ

A.The Greatness of the Essence of Suchness

[The essence of Suchness] knows no increase or decrease in ordinary men, the Hīnayānists, the bodhisattvas, or the buddhas. It was not brought into existence in the beginning nor will it cease to be at the end of time; it is eternal through and through. read more

Posted in The Awakening of Faith | Tagged dharmakaya, form, light, Mind, Mind-only, Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, samsara, Suchness, tathagata-garbha | 2 Comments

A Fiery Thirst

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Vajragoni

Evola next tackles the issue of Samsaric Consciousness. Self-consumption in samsara consists of the angst and continuum of lived experience; self-consumption is always flavored with momentary bits of consciousness that always return to the dark hole of impermanence. This is a great metaphor for the world of incessant becoming, one that is unsubstantial in nature. Everything in this inadequate globule is always contingent upon something else—thus dependently originated. The root science that investigates this tenuous affair is the breakdown of the Skandhas (Skt), or Khandhas (Pali): read more

Posted in The Doctrine of Awakening | Tagged dukkha, grasping, samsara, tanhā | Leave a comment

Mamaki Rising

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Vajragoni

Jeroen van Valkenburg

Mamaki raised Schäfer from his bed of sand and, taking his hand, led him into the deep recesses of Akshobhya’s domain. They arrived at a precipice over which Schäfer viewed a large waterfall that spiraled downwards into an icy blue-mist. As if lifted upon the wings of the air his body came to rest directly beneath the cascading water as its tremendous torrents rushed down and over his startled frame. Naked, his body soon became one with the powerful and incessant flow of the water and its accompanying sound that pierced him to his very core. A soothing female voice clarified that his lifeforce was becoming energized with prana (Qi) and that soon he would become part of the cosmic-ocean of mahaprana. Soon he awakened to the realization that he was not some separate and isolated persona bobbling about in the raging sea of samsara, but was indeed raised to a higher frequency of awareness (bodhipower). With this quantum-cognizance it was as if he was AT-ONE-MENT with the force of the water that at first chilled-him to the bone. Now he was able to generate great quantities of inner-heat that enhanced his inner-strength and vitality. read more

Posted in Mystagogia, Notes from the Iron Stupa | Tagged Acala, Fudō Myōō, Mamaki, Prana, samsara | Leave a comment

Impermanence

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Vajragoni

Incessant change is the product of a Self-empty World,
All arising and cessating out of sheer ignorance. read more

Posted in Hsin Hsin Ming | Tagged Deathless Suchness, Element of Truth, form, phantasm, samsara, Suchness, Truth, Unborn | Leave a comment

Choose Not…

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Vajragoni

The Way of the Unborn is not burdensome
Just let-go of partiality
Be neither positive nor negative
Stay illumined
If you are off by a hairsbreadth
Nirvana and samsara are infinitely divided read more

Posted in Hsin Hsin Ming | Tagged choices, Luminous Actuosity, neti, neti-neti, nirvana, samsara, The Way, Unborn | 2 Comments