Tag Archives: Tathagata-garbha Zen

The Heat of the Matter

As stated in the opening blog of this series Spiritual-Heat, or Tapas, is generated when utilized for spiritual rejuvenation; tapas is always a self-imposed and voluntary type of asceticism, rather than a natural occurring one. These voluntary practices may entail seclusion, silence, and fasting. It is considered to be a personalized form of austerity or asceticism. By engaging in tapas, individuals purify themselves and transition from impurity to purity, ultimately reaching a celestial state. Therefore, tapas encompasses both the practices performed and the outcome of asceticism, such as the heat generated during the practice. Through the practice of asceticism, or tapas, the ascetic experiences spiritual fervor. In Unborn Mind Zen it is a formidable surge of luminosity that solely the devout pursuer dares to embark upon, for it is through such divine benevolence that they relish in the delightful ecstasy discovered within its boundless core of perpetual solicitude. When practitioners engage in meditation and invoke the Tathagata deities, their inner mind and spirit become infused with the potency of bodhi, thereby enabling them to access the Element of Truth (Dharmadhatu). The resulting inner-heat has the potential to transmute one’s being into a crystalline Vajra-Body, which is commonly referred to as the Blue Flame of the Bodhichild within our tradition. This phenomenon takes place within the sacred womb of the Tathagata-garbha. The wise ancients have presented a highly fitting analogy of the aforementioned interconnection: the mother hen is capable of hatching her eggs owing to her constant and attentive inward listening to the chick’s growth. Despite the outward appearance of merely warming the outer-shell, her concentrated focus also engenders an inner-heat, thereby facilitating the circulation of Qi that incubates the embryos. read more

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