Category: buddhism

buddhism, Cause & Effect, Karma, Mental Health, Musings, personal

Drawn Back to the Bodhicaryāvatāra

“The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Bodhicaryāvatāra translated into English as “A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life”, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text written c. 700 AD in Sanskrit verse by Shantideva (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at Nālandā Monastic University in India which is also where it was composed.”

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To anyone who studies {and enacts} Buddhist philosophy it quickly becomes obvious that many of the foibles of modern life are not considered to bring enlightenment. Self-promotion, greed, gossip, attachment to worldly goods and gonadal corporeal acts are considered to be hindrances to attaining bodhi-mind. One could say that the ambitious “cut and thrust” of modern society is at odds with Buddhist thought and society actively discriminates against anyone who practises and embodies the precepts.

To use a metaphor; if you do not blow your own trumpet sufficiently loudly you will never get promoted up the greasy pole. Buddhism does not promote such trumpet blowing.

Modern western society discriminates against people who are not forceful, nor demanding, ambitious or manipulative. People who won’t play the itchy back game do not advance in our society as it currently manifests. If you can’t be bribed with some desire, some wish, then you are not to be trusted. If you do not want there are no levers to apply. If you don’t bullshit and hype like everyone else, but are accurate and modest, then you can appear as a nothing, a no-hoper.

People in general do not like it if you reject their ethos and mores. They are likely to judge you and condemn you if you renounce their ways of being, this is especially so if you look like them and talk like them. {I can, for real, talk reductionist science better than your average human.}

I have an ongoing joke, if I wore Buddhist robes instead of black Levi’s 501s people would cut me more slack for my apparent “eccentricities”. If I tipped up at a UK science conference in Saffron or Magenta, people would metaphorically shit a brick, especially those who once had my acquaintance.

But I am not a clown, nor do I do tricks.

Similarly, if one practises Christianity as per Jesus and not the church, there would be conflict with what modern society deems to be dandy.

If what I was “told” is correct then in two previous lives I did indeed wear Buddhist robes and in another I was a Christian priest. I have been “told” that this is my very last incarnation on this planet.

When you look at all that stuff which people largely unthinking engage in, you can’t help but wonder why. Humanity is not happy, satisfied and at peace. There is precious little equanimity and a horde, a host of drama. There is a mental health crisis, allegedly.

Something in the way of life is not working…maybe it will one day lose its gloss…

 Anyway, today I am drawn once again to Śāntideva and the Bodhicaryāvatāra…

It is a candle in a dark and often petty world…

buddhism, Quotations

Bodhisattva and Pratyekabudda

From Wikipedia

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva (/ˌboʊdiːˈsʌtvə/ BOH-dee-SUT-və; Sanskrit: 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), romanized: bodhisattva) or bodhisatva is any person who is on the path towards bodhi (‘awakening’) or Buddhahood.

In the Early Buddhist schools as well as modern Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva (Pali: bodhisatta) refers to anyone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so.

In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated bodhicitta, a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. Mahayana bodhisattvas are spiritually heroic persons that work to attain awakening and are driven by a great compassion (mahakaruṇā). These beings are exemplified by important spiritual qualities such as the “four divine abodes” (brahmaviharas) of loving-kindness (metta), compassion (karuṇā), empathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha) as well as the various bodhisattva “perfections” (pāramitās) which include prajñāpāramitā (“transcendent knowledge” or “perfection of wisdom”) and skillful means (upaya).

In Theravada Buddhism, the bodhisattva is mainly seen as an exceptional and rare individual. Only a few select individuals are ultimately able to become bodhisattvas (such as Maitreya). Mahayana Buddhism generally understands the bodhisattva path as being open to everyone and Mahayanists encourage all individuals to become bodhisattvas. Spiritually advanced bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteshvara, Maitreya and Manjushri are also widely venerated across the Mahayana Buddhist world and are believed to possess great magical power which they employ to help all living beings.

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From Britannica

bodhisattva, (Sanskrit), Pali bodhisatta (“one whose goal is awakening”), in Buddhism, one who seeks awakening (bodhi)—hence, an individual on the path to becoming a buddha.

In early Indian Buddhism and in some later traditions—including Theravada, at present the major form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and other parts of Southeast Asia—the term bodhisattva was used primarily to refer to the Buddha Shakyamuni (as Gautama Siddhartha is known) in his former lives. The stories of his lives, the Jatakas, portray the efforts of the bodhisattva to cultivate the qualities, including morality, self-sacrifice, and wisdom, which will define him as a buddha. Later, and especially in the Mahayana tradition—the major form of Buddhism in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan—it was thought that anyone who made the aspiration to awakening (bodhicittotpada)—vowing, often in a communal ritual context, to become a buddha—is therefore a bodhisattva. According to Mahayana teachings, throughout the history of the universe, which had no beginning, many have committed themselves to becoming buddhas. As a result, the universe is filled with a broad range of potential buddhas, from those just setting out on the path of buddhahood to those who have spent lifetimes in training and have thereby acquired supernatural powers. These “celestial” bodhisattvas are functionally equivalent to buddhas in their wisdom, compassion, and powers: their compassion motivates them to assist ordinary beings, their wisdom informs them how best to do so, and their accumulated powers enable them to act in miraculous ways.

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From Wikipedia

Pratyekabuddha

Pratyekabuddhayāna (Sanskrit: प्रत्येकबुद्धयान; traditional Chinese: 緣覺乘; ; pinyin: Yuánjué Chéng) is a Buddhist term for the mode or vehicle of enlightenment of a pratyekabuddha or paccekabuddha (Sanskrit and Pali respectively), a term which literally means “solitary buddha” or “a buddha on their own” (prati- each, eka-one). The pratyekabuddha is an individual who independently achieves liberation without the aid of teachers or guides and without teaching others to do the same. Pratyekabuddhas may give moral teachings but do not bring others to enlightenment. They leave no sangha as a legacy to carry on the Dhamma.

In Theravāda teaching

Pratyekabuddhas are said to achieve enlightenment on their own, without the use of teachers or guides, according to some traditions by seeing and understanding dependent origination. They are said to arise only in ages where there is no Buddha and the Buddhist teachings (Sanskrit: Dharma; Pāli: Dhamma) are lost. “The idea of a Paccekabuddha … is interesting, as much as it implies that even when the four truths are not preached they still exist and can be discovered by anyone who makes the necessary mental and moral effort”. Many may arise at a single time.

According to the Theravada school, paccekabuddhas (“one who has attained to supreme and perfect insight, but who dies without proclaiming the truth to the world”) are unable to teach the Dhamma, which requires the omniscience and supreme compassion of a sammāsambuddha, who may even hesitate to attempt to teach.

From Rigpa Wiki

Pratyekabuddhas (Skt.; Tib. རང་སངས་རྒྱས་, rang sangyé, Wyl. rang sangs rgyas), or ‘solitary realisers’, are followers of the basic vehicle, and more specifically of the pratyekabuddha yana, who attain the level of a pratyekabuddha arhat by themselves, in solitude.

According to some early schools of Buddhism, and the Mahayana, pratyekabuddhas first hear the teachings of the Buddha, then study and reflect upon the twelve links of interdependent origination, and accumulate merit for a hundred kalpas. They pray to be reborn in a world to which no buddha has come, and they attain realization without relying on a teacher. They usually teach visually rather than verbally; for example, by displaying miracles such as transforming the upper part of their bodies into fire, and the lower part into water.

‘Intermediate Buddhas’

They are sometimes referred to as ‘intermediate buddhas’ and their enlightenment is considered to be a higher form of realization than that of shravakas for two reasons: their accumulation of merit, and their accumulation of wisdom.

The shravakas accumulate merit for up to sixteen lifetimes, whereas pratyekabuddhas accumulate merit for a hundred kalpas. In their accumulation of wisdom, shravakas only realise one type of selflessness—the selflessness of the individual—whereas pratyekabuddhas also realise half of the selflessness of phenomena. For the same reasons, the pratyekabuddhas’ realization is considered inferior to the full enlightenment of those following the bodhisattva path. A bodhisattva accumulates merit for three countless aeons and fully realises both types of selflessness.

buddhism, Quotations

The Buddha’s Father – Suddhodana

THE Buddha’s name became famous over all India and Suddhodana, his father, sent word to him saying: “I am growing old and wish to see my son before I die. Others have had the benefit of his doctrine, but not his father nor his relatives.” And the messenger said: “O world-honored Tathagata, thy father looks for thy coming as the lily longs for the rising of the sun.”

The Blessed One consented to the request of his father and set out on his journey to Kapilavatthu. Soon the tidings spread in the native country of the Buddha: “Prince Siddhattha, who wandered forth from home into homelessness to obtain enlightenment, having attained his purpose, is coming back.”

Suddhodana went out with his relatives and ministers to meet the prince. When the king saw Siddhattha, his son, from afar, he was struck with his beauty and dignity, and he rejoiced in his heart, but his mouth found no words to utter. This, indeed, was his son; these were the features of Siddhattha. How near was the great samana to his heart, and yet what a distance lay between them! That noble muni was no longer Siddhattha, his son; he was the Buddha, the Blessed One, the Holy One, Lord of truth, and teacher of mankind. Suddhodana the king, considering the religious dignity of his son, descended from his chariot and after saluting his son said: “It is now seven years since I have seen thee. How I have longed for this moment!”

Then the Sakyamuni took a seat opposite his father, and the king gazed eagerly at his son. He longed to call him by his name, but he dared not. “Siddhattha,” he exclaimed silently in his heart, “Siddhattha, come back to thine aged father and be his son again!” But seeing the determination of his son, he suppressed his sentiments, and, desolation overcame him. Thus the king sat face to face with his son, rejoicing in his sadness and sad in his rejoicing. Well might he be proud of his son, but his pride broke down at the idea that his great son would never be his heir.

“I would offer thee my kingdom,” said, the king, “but if I did, thou wouldst account it but as ashes.”

And the Buddha said: “I know that the king’s heart is full of love and that for his son’s sake he feels deep grief. But let the ties of love that bind him to the son whom he lost embrace with equal kindness all his fellow-beings, and he will receive in his place a greater one than Siddhattha; he will receive the Buddha, the teacher of truth, the preacher of righteousness, and the peace of Nirvana will enter into his heart.”

Suddhodana trembled with joy when he heard the melodious words of his son, the Buddha, and clasping his hands, exclaimed with tears in his eyes: “Wonderful in this change! The overwhelming sorrow has passed away. At first my sorrowing heart was heavy, but now I reap the fruit of thy great renunciation. It was right that, moved by thy mighty sympathy, thou shouldst reject the pleasures of royal power and achieve thy noble purpose in religious devotion. Now that thou hast found the path, thou canst preach the law of immortality to all the world that yearns for deliverance.” The king returned to the palace, while the Buddha remained in the grove before the city.

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BUDDHA, THE GOSPEL

By Paul Carus

Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Company,

[1894]

ॐ, buddhism, Cause & Effect, Karma, Mantra, Meditations, Poetry, Rāja yoga, Yoga

Golden Lotus

Floating free in the æther

the golden lotus

swirls on the pond

of inner sacred space

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Om Ah Hum

Three Petals open

Om Ah Hum

Then three more

Om Ah Hum

Now there are nine

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Perfect kernel of wisdom

still clasps tight knowledge

sealed within its naked bud

radiant magnificence

–

Sat upon the leaves of gold

the sea electric

whirlpools round

an ice blue vortex

all wisps and whispers

–

Call in the fire

the lightning snakes

Strikes once

Strikes twice

–

A dual conveyor

one going up

one coming down

the blue electric fire

–

Now tinted with indigo

deeper and more vibrant

ocean deep

and current strong

–

The bud rises on its

Auric pin

stretching

the snakes and ladders

pulsing now, a heart

–

The bud rotates

and finally yields

through open wings

peeling chrysalis back

to show brilliance

–

Pure ecstatic white

faceted with stardust

crispest Diamond

sparkles like February’s

coldest dew at dawn

–

The jewel levitates

and starts to turn

gaining brilliance

with each revolution

–

Behold resplendent!!

–

The Jewel in the Centre of the Lotus

–

Om Mane Padme Hum

buddhism, Dreams

Himalayan Monastery – Security Forces Dream 5-1-23

This is the first of a whole dreaming sequence that was too extensive to remember in its entirety.

The dream starts off with me talking to P. She is having to explain to security why she has no idea as to my whereabouts.

The scene shifts and I am in a kind of shared guest accommodation in a Himalayan Buddhist monastery. There are a few younger dharma bums there. Some of the people in the room are wearing monk’s robes. I have partial robes on.

A young white man gets us to do stretching exercises. He is an accepted novice. He then goes around the room projecting Ki at us. The idea is that we should let the Ki move us backward. He comes to me. The first time he projects Ki at me I allow it to move me backwards. The next time I project Ki back and it is he who moves backwards. I explain that way back I did some martial arts. He says I bet that they are not as good as those at this monastery. I agree.

They have decided that they want me to help with the technical running of the establishment. Particularly with the laser lighting. A young man shows me a small circuit board which has stopped working. I examine it and one of the chips has come loose from its housing. I place this carefully back and the circuit board is now functional. The young man brings me three flashlamps wired together. They come from the O lasers which they have. Together we hold the lamps and they light up, the static electricity raises the hairs on our arms.

I take a walk to the edge of the compound where there is a fence. I climb over the fence. A young man asks me if I would like sex. I reply that no I am not homosexual. He says never mind. Apparently when some of the younger monks leave the compound they do so in search of gratification. The scenery around is Himalayan and absolutely stunning. I climb back over the fence.

As I am making my way to the main temple building, I notice two military helicopters circling. They are headed to the helipad on the flat part of the mountainside just outside the main compound. One of them lands and the other takes up a covering position with its machine guns. Out of the first helicopter a collection of people in non-standard military uniform gets out. They are armed but their weapons are not drawn. They fan out in a very professional looking manner. One of them a black woman who has the presence of an officer walks forward.

The Abbot fully robed and with a ceremonial hat moves forward to check what they want. The woman says that they want to check on some of the guests. The Abbots says that this is Ok. She calls out the name Isobel and a German woman moves towards them. They start to question her.

In the dream I know that I am next. So, I make my way towards them. When the woman calls out my name I am already there. She hands me over to a senior civilian man of middle age who speaks with a Bostonian accent. He takes me to one side and asks me to recount my history as an adult.  I do this explaining that The Royal Institution is very niche and has the highest Nobel prize per capita density. I talk about UCL, Imperial, UMIST and Bern. When I get to the laser spin out, he goes bingo. Somehow it is me that they have come here for. He is struggling to comprehend how come I am here up at this monastery in the Himalayas. It does not make sense to him.

Dream ends

On waking I know that this dream is directly related to the filing of my patent yesterday and that from time to time P is subject to deep security clearance audit.

ॐ, buddhism, Cause & Effect, Dharma of the Day, Karma

Dharma of the Day

self importance is a root cause of suffering

both for the self

and the others you inflict it upon

–

your self image is a pack of lies

insistence upon its reality

causes suffering and impedes evolution

–

if you are sure you are not being separative

then in your conviction

you most certainly are

–

unless omniscience is a quality you own

behaving as if you have the consciousness of a God

is inconsistent with reality

–

the wisdom of humanity

is an oxymoron

in nearly every case

–

pride and arrogance are also

root causes of suffering

they stem from the same germ

–

the desire for and enactment of revenge

not only causes dual suffering

it is one of the most karmically damaging things a being can do

–

clinging in all its forms suffocates

better to release a dove from a cage

than to watch it wither and die

–

living a redemptive life

not only eases suffering

but gains karmic merit

–

whilst karmic debt persists

enlightenment is not possible

and rebirth consequently inevitable

–

power over another being is an illusion

such illusory power is corporeal

and therefore has no reality

at the level of the dreamer there is no such thing

–

the primal root of all suffering

is individuating identity upon carnation

all beings resent this

few have sufficient knowledge to see this

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emptying the cup of karma removes all suffering

this is the way to Bodhi mind

and eventual liberation

–

actions beget karma

redemptive action works this off

there is no other way

buddhism, Juxtaposition, Quantum, Zen

Nansen Cuts the Cat in Two

Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: “If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat.”

No one answered. So Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces.

That evening Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out.

Nansen said: “If you had been there, you could have saved the cat.”

    Mumon’s comment: Why did Joshu put his sandals on his head? If anyone answers this question, he will understand exactly how Nansen enforced the edict. If not, he should watch his own head.

Had Joshu been there,

He would have enforced the edict oppositely.

Joshu snatches the sword

And Nansen begs for his life.

——

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buddhism, Quotations

The Four Stages of Attainment

Excerpted from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_enlightenment

The four stages of attainment

The Sangha of the Tathagata’s disciples (Ariya Sangha) can be described as including four or eight kinds of individuals. There are four {groups of noble disciples} when path and fruit are taken as pairs, and eight groups of individuals, when each path and fruit are taken separately:

    (1) the path to stream-entry; (2) the fruition of stream-entry;

    (3) the path to once-returning; (4) the fruition of once-returning;

    (5) the path to non-returning; (6) the fruition of non-returning;

    (7) the path to arahantship; (8) the fruition of arahantship.

Stream-enterer

The first stage is that of Sotāpanna (Pali; Sanskrit: Srotāpanna), literally meaning “one who enters (āpadyate) the stream (sotas),” with the stream being the supermundane Noble Eightfold Path regarded as the highest Dharma. The stream-enterer is also said to have “opened the eye of the Dharma” (dhammacakkhu, Sanskrit: dharmacakṣus).

A stream-enterer reaches arahantship within seven rebirths upon opening the eye of the Dharma.

Because the stream-enterer has attained an intuitive grasp of Buddhist doctrine (samyagdṛṣṭi or sammādiṭṭhi, “right view”) and has complete confidence or Saddha in the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and has removed the sankharas that force rebirth in lower planes, that individual will not be reborn in any plane lower than the human (animal, preta, or in hell).

Once-returner

The second stage is that of the Sakadāgāmī (Sanskrit: Sakṛdāgāmin), literally meaning “one who once (sakṛt) comes (āgacchati)”. The once-returner will at most return to the realm of the senses (the lowest being human and the highest being the devas wielding power over the creations of others) one more time. Both the stream-enterer and the once-returner have abandoned the first three fetters. The stream-enterer and once-returner are distinguished by the fact that the once-returner has weakened lust, hate, and delusion to a greater degree. The once-returner therefore has fewer than seven rebirths. Once-returners do not have only one more rebirth, as the name suggests, for that may not even be said with certainty about the non-returner who can take multiple rebirths in the five “Pure Abodes”. They do, however, only have one more rebirth in the realm of the senses, excluding, of course, the planes of hell, animals and hungry ghosts.

Non-returner

The third stage is that of the Anāgāmī (Sanskrit: Anāgāmin), literally meaning “one who does not (an-) come (āgacchati)”. The non-returner, having overcome sensuality, does not return to the human world, or any unfortunate world lower than that, after death. Instead, non-returners are reborn in one of the five special worlds in Rūpadhātu called the Śuddhāvāsa worlds, or “Pure Abodes”, and there attain Nirvāṇa; Pāli: Nibbana; some of them are reborn a second time in a higher world of the Pure Abodes.

An Anāgāmī has abandoned the five lower fetters, out of ten total fetters, that bind beings to the cycle of rebirth. An Anāgāmī is well-advanced.

Arahant

The fourth stage is that of Arahant (Sanskrit: Arhat), a fully awakened person. They have abandoned all ten fetters and, upon death (Sanskrit: Parinirvāṇa, Pāli: Parinibbāna) will never be reborn in any plane or world, having wholly escaped saṃsāra. An Arahant has attained awakening by following the path given by the Buddha. In Theravada Buddhism the term Buddha is reserved for ones who “self-enlighten” such as Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, who discovered the path by himself.

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People who do not know what they are interacting with can make a mistake, a boo boo, in their self-diagnosed omniscience. They can assume many things and succumb to group confirmation bias.