© Susan Willett
2 Timothy 2 Verse 14
“That
there must be no wrangling about words.
All
that this ever achieves is the
Destruction
of those who are listening”
Milarepa, a Tibetan Saint
“Cling
not to meaningless words and empty talk,
Deeming
them to be truth,
Even
heretics can play with them,
One
can waste two and thirty lives and gain naught.”
A
spiritual master is one who has total compassion for all living beings that
they are willing to lay down their life as a living sacrifice. Their life is one of continual devotion and
dedication to showing the way out of a world of delusion ruled by man’s ideals
to a unification with the Father, ( God,spirit, luminosity) – Glory of God.
Before
Jesus’ disciples went out to teach this ‘way’ to the father, they had to have
experienced this for themselves. First
they climbed the ‘spiritual’ mountain with their teacher and they witnessed his
transfiguration. Also a series of ‘realizations,
insight’, takes place.
When
Jesus asks the question to his disciples, ‘who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter
replied, “You are Christ, Son of the Living God”. Jesus’ response to this was that ‘It was no
human agency that revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven”. So there is
this revelation, this insight, this recognition of the spirit, and because of
this revelation, this understanding, Jesus then says to Peter, “so now I say
unto you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my community”. Jesus was building the ‘spiritual’ church,
the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Again
we see in Luke 24 verse 49 when Jesus appears after his crucifixion, they
receive the instruction, “”stay in the city then, until you are clothed with
power from on high’. They also had the
kingdom conferred on them, as Jesus had the kingdom conferred on himself, Luke
22 verse 29. Jesus opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures, Luke 24 verse 45.
It
is interesting to observe in Mahayana Buddhism, in
Also
in Mahayana Buddhism, there is this same recognition of the spiritual within
the teacher.
“If
you see your guru as a Buddha[1]
you will receive a Buddha’s blessing. If
you see him as a Bodhisattva.[2]
If you see him as a Bodhisattva, you will receive a Bodhisattva’s
blessing. If you see him as a siddha,[3]
you will receive a siddha’s blessing. If
you seem him as an ordinary person, a good spiritual friend, such is the
blessing you will receive. If you feel
no devotion or reverence for him, you will receive absolutely no blessing”.[4]
If
we return to Matthew 16, where Jesus asks the question “Who do you say I am?” When Simon Peter replies, “You are Christ,
the son of the living God”, Jesus responds, “Simon, son of Jonah, you are a
blessed man, because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my
Father in Heaven”.
Also
Jesus returns to this same theme when he talks about people receiving the
reward with how they see him, like in the passage mentioned above in the Kagyu
tradition. People that see him as a
prophet will reap a prophet’s reward, and if they recognize him as “Christ’,
the same reward as Simon Peter.
The
Mahayana Buddhist also believes in the conferring of an empowerment from the
luminosity itself (The Father, God, the Spirit) rather like Jesus conferring
the Kingdom in Luke 22 verse 28,29. “You
are the men who have stood by me faithfully in my trials, and now I confer a
Kingdom on you, just as my Father conferred one on me”.
To
quote from the Buddhist prayer;
“The moment I make these requests, the whole
assembly dissolves into light and merges into the body of the principal who is
the embodiment of the three jewels clearly apparent in my Lama’s form. White light radiates from his forehead and
enters my forehead, purifying the obscuration of my body, thus receiving the
vase empowerment. I am empowered to
practice the development aspect of meditation and thus have become worthy of accomplishing
Nirmanakaya. Nirmanakaya, represents the variety of roles Buddha may play among
ordinary people. He may appear for
example as a type or artistic talent, as an apparently ordinary being such as a
Karmapa, or as a Buddha born in a given era, such as Shakyamuni. The latter is the ‘supreme’ type of
Nirmanakaya. The Nirmanakaya is often
called the ‘transformation’ or ‘illusory body’ because of its ability to appear
and function exactly as do the beings around it. This enables Buddha to communicate with all
types of beings and influence them most effectively.[5] Red light radiates from his throat and enters
my throat, purifying me of the obscurations of speech. Thus receiving the secret empowerment, I am
empowered to meditate on channels and winds, and thus have become worthy of
accomplishing the Sambhogakaya. The Sambhogakaya symbolizes the Buddha’s
activity among higher Bodhisattvas. Its
five certainties are;
a) The Sambhogakaya Buddha
abides only in the highest Buddha realm where he;
b) Appears only as the Sambhogakaya and
c) Teaches only the Mahayana
while
d) Surrounded only by 10th
level Bodhisattvas
e) He abides until Samsara
(world) is empty[6]
Blue
light radiates from his heart and enters my heart, purifying me of mental
obscurations. Thus receiving the wisdom
empowerment, I am empowered to meditate on union (entering together) and thus
have become worthy of accomplishing the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya, the only
one of the three considered to be ultimately real and thus incomprehensible
through concepts, is pure transcending awareness devoid of characteristics.[7] From the three places of the guru radiate
white, red and blue lights and these enter my three places, purifying me of
obscurations of body speech and mind, thus receiving the fourth empowerment, I
am empowered to meditate on Mahamudra and thus have become worthy of
accomplishing the Svabhavkiakaya, that is realizing the above three together.[8]
Then the guru dissolves into light and merges with me. My body speech and mind and the vajra body
speech (indestructible body, heavenly body) and mind of the guru become
inseparable and of one taste and possessing these three awareness’s, self
liberation is spontaneous.”
In
the Ascetic Discourse, St [10]Neilos,
we read; “understandably,
the entry must precede the planting, for when a man has not yet reached
perfection and lacks stability, the qualities he tries to implant in others will
not take root. In the spiritual life,
more than anywhere else, the proper order and sequence must be observed from
the start. Guests at dinner may not like
the introductory dishes and may feel more attracted by what comes later, but
they are forced to comply with the order of the courses.”
However, here comes a warning very much in evidence
today from the same discourse;
“Most people, however,
without exerting any effort or making any real progress, small or great in the
practice of virtue, simply chase after the status of spiritual director, not
realizing how dangerous this is. When
others urge them to undertake the work of teaching they do not refuse, indeed
they even wander about the back streets recruiting anyone they can find and
they promise all kinds of perquisites as if making a contract with servants
about food and clothing”. Spiritual Directors of this kind like to appear in
public, supported by a large crowd of attendants and to have all the outward
pomp of an abbot as if playing a part on a stage… such teachers should note how
Ezekiel condemns those who indulge the pleasures of others. In giving way to everyone’s wishes they are
treasuring up future punishment for themselves. “Woe to the women that sew
patches on every elbow”, says Ezekiel, “and puts veils on the heads of people
of every age… and so slay souls for a handful of barley and a piece of
bread”. (Ezekiel 13 verse 18,19.
Jesus
admonished Peter and John and the rest of the disciples to avoid such work and
consider themselves unworthy of such a position. How can anyone imagine himself superior to
them and claim for himself the office from which they were debarred. For in saying “Do not be called Rabbi”, he
does not mean that we are free to assume the office, so long as avoid the
title.. that is why the saints tried to leave behind them disciples whose
holiness was no less than their own, and to change these disciples from their
original condition to a better state”.[11]
So it is important to imitate the “true’ saint, the
“true” teacher.
If
the ego does not trap us in the world, it will sure try to raise its head in
the spiritual and under the influence of self esteem. A man may perhaps enter the priesthood or the
life of monastic perfection and because many come to him for help, his self
esteem makes him think highly of himself, thanks to what he says and does.
But,
we are told, to First Seek the
FAITH: dispassionate understanding of God.
HOPE: the flight of the intellect in love towards
that for which it hopes.
PATIENCE: With the eyes of the mind always to see
the Invisible as visible.
FREEDOM
FROM AVARICE: to desire not to have
possessions with the same fervor as men generally desire to have possessions.
KNOWLEDGE: to lose awareness of oneself through
going out to God in ecstasy
HUMILITY: attentive forgetfulness of what one has
accomplished.
FREEDOM FROM ANGER: a real longing not to lose one’s
temper.
PURITY: unwavering perception of God.
LOVE: growing affection for those who abuse us
TOTAL
TRANSFORMATION: through delight in God, to look on the repulsiveness of death
as a joy.
The
first requirement is Faith. It is an
unknown journey. The disciples did not
always understand what Jesus was pointing to, that Jesus himself is quite
exasperated at times. But they followed
him with faith; they recognized ‘that something’ about him that drew them to
him. Everything Jesus did have meaning,
the outer symbology had spiritual implications.
So
they had to take Jesus at trust, and there is no end of literature written on
the disciple is ‘tested’. Jesus leaves
the disciple to see how serious they are in their seeking. This of course takes many many years. Eventually the reward comes as Jesus promises
for ‘staying awake’, for ‘keeping guard’ and faith is turned to certainty in
spiritual knowledge which gives rise to hope and certainty. The brief ‘inward glimpses’ are given so that
one can endure until the end.
I WAS IN PRISION AND YOU VISITED ME
I WAS NAKED AND YOU CLOTHED ME (Mathew)
These
sayings are analogous to the spiritual journey.
The spirit is imprisoned in a heart of darkness, its intuitive voice
ignored, the person is thus in a state of ‘death’.
Job
declared the heavens are luminous. Job
25 verse 13. “His breath has made the heaven luminous.” That the heavenly, or Buddha field is
luminous is found in all traditions. In
Mahayana Buddhism one of the great teachings, “One moment’s experience of
luminous mind dispels an entire aeon of ignorance’.
In
Hebrew ruah means spirit, wind. In
Tibetan Buddhism there is emphasis on the oral transmission of the ‘lung, again
meaning wind. This spirit is the subtle
energy which one ‘awakens’ to. It is
spoken of by St. Teresa of
When
Adam fell, he found himself naked. In
the Jewish mystical tradition the word Adam, unlike Ish (Heb.), which also
means man, stands for a man over 40 years who has embarked upon the spiritual
path. Jesus states he was the second
‘Adam’. Adam realized he had done wrong
when he became aware he was ‘naked’. He
was naked in the sense that he had lost his spiritual sight; he no longer had
access to the heavenly. He was blind, a prisoner.
Jesus
states’ “ ‘I was naked’ and you did not clothe me.” You left me a prisoner in the world of
darkness, delusion, ignorance, when you could have taught me the way to my
original splendor. Adam, instead of
following the intuitive knowledge of God, he chose the knowledge which leads to
death. Jesus says in John “the way of
the world is not the way of the Father”.
As
we witness today, knowledge is a two edged sword, good and evil, and to partake
of it is death. If you partake of it you
become caught up in it, and worship it as a ‘god’ and turn and close the eyes
and ears to God’s spiritual knowledge and intuition. The intuitive voice of the spirit is stifled,
and we expend all our energy on something which is going to perish and keeps us
bound in the cycle of birth and death.
We are not awakened to the luminosity; we are ‘dead’ to the spirit and
in ‘death there is no remembrance’ Who
remembers anything other than this present life? Only an enlightened being has full memory of
what went before and comes after.
This
is why Jesus, speaking of being naked, and being clothed, places much emphasis
of preaching the Kingdom of heaven, which without, is impossible to break the
cycle of poor/rich, rich/poor. The poor
become rich and they in turn repress the poor.
Only when the kingdom is found will all these things be had. By preaching the kingdom of heaven, great
compassion is been shown to beings drowning in an ocean of suffering, who in
their blindness do not see their own nakedness.
But the spiritual teacher does.
Jesus saw mankind’s nakedness.
Jesus
says in John, “If God were your father, you would love me”. As well a physically feeding and clothing the
poor, which is essential, without this other knowledge one will not break the
endless cycle of suffering.
Isaiah
49:8-15. The passage is about the day of
salvation, “I will say to the prisoners, come out”. Again in the Daily Missal during the 5th
week of lent, the Tuesday reading from the book of psalms and revelation we
read, “For the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high. He looked down from heaven to the earth, that
he might hear the groans of the prisoners and free those condemned to die.”
Romans
11:32 states “God has imprisoned all human beings in their own disobedience
only to show mercy to them all”, and again in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “That is why
we do not waver, indeed, though this outer human nature of ours may be falling
into decay, at the same time our inner human nature is renewed day by day.” In v18 “Visible things are transitory, but
invisible things are eternal.
In
2 Corinthians 5;1 we read “For we are well aware that when the tent that houses
us on earth is folded up, there is a house for us from God, not made by human
hands, but everlasting in the heavens, v 4, “but because we want to be covered
with a second garment on top, so that what is mortal in us may be swallowed up
in life”.
YOU MUST BE BORN OF THE SPIRIT TO ENTER THE
The
Christian New Testament speaks of being ‘born of the spirit’, of being one with
the ‘Father’. In Mahayana Buddhism, one
has to have obtained the Vajra body, the indestructible body of luminosity, of
light. In the Book of Wisdom 2:1, 12-22
it says of the virtuous, “if they are God’s son’. The early desert fathers cite the
following. “For unless his Divinity
actively illumines the inner shrine of our heart, we shall not be able to taste
God’s goodness with the perceptive faculty undivided that is unified
aspiration”.[14] ‘One
must first deny oneself’, and then, taking up the cross must follow the master
towards the supreme state of deification.[15] “This is not only to behold the Trinity, supreme
in Kingship, but also to receive an influx of the divine and, as it were, to
suffer deification”.[16]
The
whole aim of the Mahayana Buddhist Sahdanas is so that one can understand the
stages of the path as the deity unfolds within one. The prayers have been designed so that the
student who has no knowledge of the spiritual will recognize the initiation of
the spirit when it happens, from the ‘root guru’.
Before
this can take place, one has to be purified.
One has to ender the Dark Night of the Spirit. This is a very alarming experience if one has
never been told what can happen at a certain depth of meditation, trance. In Mahayana Buddhism, this is called the
night of Black near Attainment. At a certain
point one feels all ones consciousness drawn to a single point sometimes within
the head, but mostly the descent will be to the heart, what the Christians
refer to as the Sacred Heart, Buddhists refer to this as all the ‘winds’ abiding
in the central channel. But Geshe
Kelsang describes this very well in his book Clear Light of bless.[17]
“There
are also two signs indicating that the winds are abiding in the central
channel.
After
this descent one experiences darkness, then luminosity, what the Mahayana
Buddhism terms ‘clear light’. This clear
light is the five Buddha families, the wisdom deities, which will unite with
one. Christians would understand this,
as the ‘luminous cloud’, the ‘glory of god with all his angels’. The Heavenly Jerusalem which is the ‘square
city’ mentioned in Revelation 21:18. The
Five Trees of
St
Teresa of