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The greatest advice on wisdom I have come across in recent memory is not to try to make it one’s own. The yearning for higher wisdom can delude us. It has been a hard lesson for me to realize that wisdom has resided within the Buddha principle forever and that we, as beings, are inseparable from wisdom throughout our obscurations.
Of all the paramitas, wisdom is what most puzzles me. That is, the _practice_ of wisdom. I find that when I let the mind settle down, and allow the radiant and effulgent light of being to transcend everyone and everything around me, there is a sense that my being, my body and mind, are almost breaking away, but joyously revealed. Perhaps this is wisdom of a sort, wisdom of self and non-self.
Yet to be free, and I think this is foremost in my consciousness these days, it appears for now to be an unshakeable truth that the content of our minds is the primordial problem of existence. This is not to say we should become like a vegetable or non-being, to annihilate the self, but to use our time and experiences to break apart the obscurations and to allow the light of everything to radiate within and without.
Doubt is indeed a troublesome factor, because the posture of non-knowing is useful to transcend the known and the many, infinite, traps of samsara. Yet doubt too is a two-edged sword because we can begin to doubt the peace-giving realizations of our practice and return to the object-driven, concept-grasping ordinary mind which forgets that the light of the universe, I would say even the very Buddha matrix itself, is faith.
For this reason I am so grateful to this wonderful resource here, which stimulates the mind and opens new perspectives, while supportively and kindly expressing the same faith in a meaningful life, a wonderful existence, and the promise of genuine realizations along the spiritual path. So thank you, dear friends, thank you.
“I find that when I let the mind settle down, and allow the radiant and effulgent light of being to transcend everyone and everything around me, there is a sense that my being, my body and mind, are almost breaking away, but joyously revealed.”
That used to be a familiar experience of mine back in the early ‘80’s which reinforced my decision to pursue a spiritual vocation. It truly is wonderful and the type of “aura” that surrounds all is truly a gift of blissful light. Thank-you for sharing.
Vajragoni, do you feel this aural sensation is a trick of ordinary mind or a sign of transcendence? or neither or both? I’m curious because you refer to this experience in the past. Does this mean you no longer experience an ambient aura while resting in mind, or now see it differently?
I have noticed at times there are different auras for different people but this is very subtle, and not something I can consciously control. Sometime’s it’s just a feeling or a sense about someone, something hard to put into words. Certain people shine very brightly, often in surprising humble circumstances, and this is more common. Every once in a while I feel something very dark and repelling about certain people (sometimes just in a crowd), though I try not to let it stifle compassion or allow it to become aversion.
As I recall in the baghavad gita there are described certain spectra of auras, depending on the karma of the person, but I have not really seen it this way, as a color — those filled with anger shine red, those with compassion light blue or white, those materialistic like gold and so on. I sometimes think I can perceive a color, but in this case I am pretty sure it’s an illusion of ordinary mind. It seems from the traditional zen perspective not much consideration would be given to such experiences.
It’s true, for myself these aural-sensations were dominant only for a time in my early 20’s—a period in which I was undergoing profound spiritual transformation which impacted the course of my life at the time. When we cover Book III of the Yoga sutras mention of the various siddhis, like the ability to perceive auric-outlines, will be highlighted. Your own experiences speak of the ability to read people’s energy-signatures—most of the time these will be very subtle and not overtly auric in nature.
After those early kataphatic spiritual experiences, my own spirituality was primarily apophatic-based, hence my attunement with John of the Cross. And you’re right, these siddhic abilities, while fascinating, are worth only an honorable mention in all things zen. Zen is so totally beyond the siddhis, although I believe that these abilities can prove helpful in protecting one from those dark influences you mention.