Heretics and Buddhas

"During the time of the Buddha, there were some who slandered him and became disciples of heretics and demons." -- Mud & Water by Bassui, edited by A. Braverman

While some might wish to think of  "Heretics" in conjunction with an event such as the Christian-fueled Spanish Inquisition or the Crusades of Europe, fewer would bring the name of the Buddha to mind. Yet the great Zen master, Bassui does. It seems that all thinking souls are moved to discernment. He writes:

"Today's students of the Way go to teachers everywhere, but they don't want to penetrate all the way to the bottom of the great matter. They journey to the east, to the west, north and south, and take pride in having met many teachers. They try to surpass others with Zen stories and they collect paradoxical words and clever expressions from old masters. These are the ways of Heretics."

Writing further on the subject, Bassui delves into the value of knowledge. He writes of the karmic affinity for the way. Stating that some people have an affinity for the way while others do not, so if your karma does not discern a natural attraction, one that is immediate and affected, then you  neither trust nor believe what is taught. If, on the other hand, affinity is present, then that person will form a natural and easy bond with you. "Whether you follow the right path, or the path of heretics, depends upon your karmic inclination....A truly good teacher...does not destroy people's sight."

Acts of Liberation

"We must not discriminate." -- Cultivating the Mind of Love by Thich Nhat Hanh

Writing on the Ultimate Dimension, Buddhist monk and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh points out in this book, Cultivating the Mind of Love, that there is a moment when, for each of us, we wake up to the moment, just this moment. We feel alive and vibrant.
 He writes about French author, Albert Camus who wrote in his novel, L' Etranger, that Mersault, in prison, condemned to die in three days, for the very first time, notices the blue sky. It was a sudden opening, a moment of mindfulness; he realized that he had spent a lot of time, as people sometimes do, feeling frustrated, imprisoned by anger, lust, or by notions that peace and happiness are out there, somewhere, sometime.
At that moment he saw, really saw the blue sky for the first time, it was a revelation to him. Life did have meaning; there were things that mattered to him. He could live his short time remaining deliberately, with awareness of sun and sky. His seeing deeply made his life real; it became his true life.

Hanh notes that many persons walk about in their daily lives as though they were dead, not noticing much or allowing the world close enough to be touched. He insists that these persons must be helped to realize that they matter; this realization is an act of liberation.
The Christian faith teaches that the Christ wears many different clothing; he has many disguises. Often others fail to recognize him in the sick, the poor or the lame. For Mersault God comes to rescue him with a sudden, burning realization of the beauty of Creation in the form of a blue sky. Anything might bring us to awareness of the Avatamsaka realm, we may wake up to this moment, just this moment and see the beauty and peace of it all. "We must not discriminate," Hanh insists.

The Beauty of Spring

"When you do, you will see that your "first love" may not really be the first..."  Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love
Last night I returned home and heard something really wonderful. There were frogs singing in the night. Frogs, it seems, are one of the great harbingers of spring. They slumber over the winter, buried deep into the mud, protected by a sort of anti-freeze in their blood. When the very first warming of the spring temperatures commence to rain, they emerge from hibernation, as if magically, and serenade the night. Everywhere in the countryside one is treated to their song.
The frogs are singing! Their songs recollect the fine spring and summer evenings spent outdoors in the fresh breeze, the smell of grass, the wet of the dew and the arrival of song birds, creatures of all types. The Robin, a North American species of Thrush, arrived here a more than a month ago; the Cardinal which overwinters here, began its song in earnest weeks ago and now the Woodpeckers join in the busy merriment of spring song. The long winter is done over into the beauty of spring.

The Beauty of Spring is the title of a chapter in a book by Buddhist teacher and monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love. In a very personal and beautiful recollection he writes of first love, his own love, one which the French call the "coup de foudre" or the stroke of love, love at first sight.
This wise monk writes quite simply, "please think about your own first love. Do it slowly, picturing how it first came about, where it took place, and what brought you to that moment. Recall that experience and look at it calmly, deeply, with compassion and understanding. You will discover many things you did not notice at the time. There is a Kung An in the Zen tradition, 'What was your face before your parents were born?' This is an invitation to go on a journey and discover your true self, your true face.
Look deeply into your "first love" and try to see its true face. When you do, you will see that your "first love" may not really be the first, that your face when you were born may not have been your original face. If you [continue] look[ing] deeply, you will be able to see your true, original face, and your true first love. Your first love is still present, always here, continuing to shape your life. This is a subject for meditation."

An Overview of Mahayana Buddhism according to D.T. Suzuki

"Mahayana is not content to make us mere transmitters or "hearers" of the teachings of the Buddha..." --Suzuki

Many who ponder the Way, or the ideas of Eastern thought, particularly Buddhism make the assumption that it is a belief, a practice, a way that originates in the Far East. Yet nothing is further from the truth. Buddhism is, in its origins, a faith coming directly to the East and later, to the world from India. Via the ancient trade routes, such as the Silk Road, travelers brought their ideas, goods, technology and culture to the Far East, especially to China in the central and northern regions where the earliest Buddhism is to be found. It later spread to the south and more deeply into Asia.

Thus to be clear, the earliest forms such as Cha'an and Mahayana spring directly from their Indian neighbors and at times, even in modern practice, strongly resembles Yogi Hinduism. Mahayana remains the parent of most, if not all, modern forms of Buddhism now practiced.

It is important to recall this lineage from which the Way descends to practitioners of today. This important point even makes it possible to consider aspects of Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and even orthodox Christian beliefs. The author of the book considered here, Suzuki, does indeed make references to these other ways of seeing; he does not exclude them in the endeavor towards enlightenment.

Many writers of Buddhist topics will expound at length on "sentient beings," an imperfect way to describe the Buddhist notion of emptiness and perfect knowledge. Perhaps English lacks the precise Pali word or view to illustrate the notion that everything depends upon everything else; that as everything is in some form joined to everything else, there is a "vivification" (Suzuki's word) of all matter.

Yet we are cautioned not to become attached to notions; they are only for learning. Once learned, they, and even the Buddha's words, are of no use or substitution for the real, experienced way. So it may be said that the one who desires perfect knowledge, perfect insight is the Enlightened one. He practices to free himself of all worldly cares and sufferings.

Mahayana teaches the purification of self for the aid and enlightenment of others. Practitioners live in the world as it is; they do not avoid the ills or negatives of the everyday world. In other words, Bodhisattvas find their Way in everyday life and work in which they are purified, offering their presence for the benefit of all.

Suzuki further describes the Mahayana Bodhisattva as such:

"The Bodhisattva is a personification of love and sympathy, which freely issues from the font of his inner will. He gathers the clouds of wisdom and virtue, in which he manifests himself in manifold figures; he produces the lightnings of Buddhi, Vidyas... shaking the whole world with the thunder of Dharma, crushing all the evil ones; pouring forth the showers of good law, he quenches the burning flames of ignorance..."

This passage alludes to what has been thought to be the ideal life held out by Mahayanists... They are not content to make us mere transmitters or "hearers" of the teachings of the Buddha. We are inspired to the noblest heart of Shakyamuni, in full recognition of the human soul... it seeks to develop all the "possibilities of our soul-life, which by our strenuous efforts will one day be realized even on this earth of impermanence.' 'We, as individual existences, are nothing but shadows...

We, as mortal beings, are nothing more than thousands of dusty particles, haphazardly scattered about" in the winds of karma; when we unite in the love and intelligence of the Dharmakaya, we are Bodhisattvas... and can overcome the overwhelming blast of ignorance... acts of loving kindness will lead to Bliss, to the whole community to which he belongs.

"Because a stream of love flows from the Bodhichitta (Intelligence-heart), fed by the inexhaustible spring of Dharmakaya." Ignorance leads only to egotism, hatred, avarice, disturbance, and universal misery. Bodhisattvas dwell, in varying degrees, in the stream of Dharmakaya, the body of love, the Universal One.

*This article appeared here previously in August 2009

Tenzin Gyatso, My Land and My People

"Our escape route was long and hard for people more used to the sheltered life of Lhasa." My Land and My People by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama


Tenzin Gyatso, as he is customarily named, more often called the 'Dalai Lama,' especially in the West, is set to appear in connection with the the Tibetan Mongolian Cultural Center , the Kumbum Chamtse Ling monastery located in Bloomington, Indiana for a public talk and other events May 12-13, 2010. He is also set to speak at Indianapolis, Indiana at a public event on May 14, 2010. 


The establishment of this monastery on American soil is an important moment in American Buddhism. Not to be overlooked, it is an active monastery devoted to Mahayanan principles with its resident abbot, Arjia Rinpoche; this pivotal development, is a source of pride to the growing U.S. population of Mongolians and the few of Tibetan ancestry. The community now forming around the monastery in Bloomington, Indiana is decidedly an interfaith community, as Buddhism itself was once a persecuted and repressed faith, there has been a flowering of compassion regarding the beliefs of others. Still true today, in some parts of the world, Buddhism, like other faith communities, remains suppressed and scarcely tolerated.


Westerners, who through simple unfamiliarity with one of the great faiths of the world, have over the course of the past 50 years regarded this Eastern philosophy with varying degrees of suspicion. Others not comprehending that its message is one of peace, faith and salvation, have taken to Buddhism due to a notion of the exotic. Yet Buddhism in its forms, shares much with other faiths, far more familiar in the west, especially to Orthodox Christians and Jews whose traditions of scholarship, teaching and monastic activities in several respects mirror those of their Buddhist brothers and sisters.


Due to political events occurring more than 50 years ago, Tenzin Gyatso was forced to flee his homeland as a young man. The majority of his life has been lived in exile. Due to China's claims to Tibetan and Mongolian territories, as well as areas of Himalaya, the traditions of this part of the world especially its religious foundations, have been severely tested by enforced Chinese rule. 


In his book, My Land and My People, first published in English in 1962, the thoughts and impressions of Tenzin Gyatso are made available to general English readership for the first time. He writes, "If you hit a man on the skull and break his skull, you can hardly expect him to be friendly. This [thought] thoroughly angered the Chinese.... [In regards to political skill] I could only apply my religious training to these problems... But religious training, I believed and still believe, was a very reliable guide... Non-violence was the only moral course."

Later in this same book, he writes of the preparations and realization of his exile, "My journey through the border areas reminded me of two of my observations of China itself... The first was of Chinese monasteries... I had found all of the temples and monasteries neglected and almost empty... I was told that there were still learned Llamas in Inner Mongolia  ... several hundred people came from Inner Mongolia to ask for my blessing... This was the fate I could see hanging over the Tibetan monks and monasteries already in Chinese hands... I believe boys from Mongolia and East Turkestan clung equally stubbornly to their faith."


Now today in America, Tenzin Gyatso comes to share his faith with all; the establishment of the Tibetan Mongolian Cultural Center is one of the keys to this effort, and further evidence that Mahayana has a life not only within its historic boundaries, but in the wider world as well.