Happiness & Hunger
Ven. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
THE
TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL
Those of you who are Christians or
who have read the Bible will be familiar with the story of tree of the knowledge
of good and evil that appears at the beginning of Genesis. It tells how God forbade
Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He
warned them that they would die if they did not obey. If you understand the meaning
of this passage, you will understand the core of Buddhism. When there is no knowledge
of good and evil, we can't attach to them, we're void and free of dukkha. Once
we know about good and evil, we attach to them and must suffer dukkha. The fruit
of that tree is this attachment to good and evil. This causes dukkha and dukkha
is death, spiritual death.
Adam's children, down through the ages to us, carry
this burden of knowing good and evil, the burden of the self that attaches to
good and evil and suffers spiritual death. We identify things as good and attach
to them. We identify things as bad and detach from them. We are trapped in worldly
conditions by our dualistic obsession with good and bad. This is the death of
which God warned. Will you heed his warning?
Now what are we who have inherited
this problem going to do about it? To continue running after the satisfaction
of our hunger for "the best" is simply to perpetuate this cycle of birth
and death. Thus, Buddhism isn't interested in any of the realms of lokiya-sukha,
of good, better, and best. The Buddhist solution is to be above good and evil
--to be void.
Please understand that "the best" is not the highest
thing. If you talk about God as the "supreme good." Buddhists won't
be able to accept your words. To say that God, the highest thing in the universe,
is the collection of everything good or the perfection of good is to limit God.
The Supreme Thing, within dualistic conditions. Buddhists cannot accept this.
The God of the Bible himself said that if we know good and evil we must die.
If you say, however, that God --if we choose to use this word-- is beyond good
and evil, then Buddhists can agree. In Buddhism, the goal is to transcend both
good and evil, and realize voidness --to be void of "I," "me,"
..... "mine," and "myself." If we don't know good and evil,
we can't attach to them and there is no dukkha. Or, if we know good and evil but
still don't attach to them, then there is no dukkha just the same. Thus, the highest
point for humanity is beyond good.
ABOVE & BEYOND GOOD
Beyond
good there is nothing to hunger for and no one to hunger. Hunger stops. The "I"
who hungers and all its desires disappear in voidness --the emptiness of self
and soul. This voidness is the purpose of the practice of Dhamma. It is the way
to transcend the endless cycles of hunger and worldly happiness. It is the Supreme
Thing, the final goal of Buddhism.
The thing to observe in this matter is
that it is imposible to attach to good and evil when there's no knowledge of good
and evil. When there's no attachment, there's no dukkha and no problem. Once the
fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What happens then? If we
lack the wisdom (panna) to know that we shouldn't attach to good and evil, we'll
go and attach to the good and evil of common sentient beings. Thus, there is dukkha,
which brings with it all the problems of life. These are the results of eating
that fruit: attachment, dukkka, and death.
Once there is this knowledge, there
is no going back to a state of innocence in which good and evil aren't known.
After this knowledge arises, after the fruit has been eaten, we must go on to
know fully that good and evil cannot be attached to. It is our duty and responsibility
to learn this. Don't attach to good and evil because they are impermanent (anicca),
unsatisfactory (dukkha), and not-self (anatta). Good and evil are anicca, dukkha,
anatta. When there's this correct knowledge of good and evil, there's no attachment.
Then there's no death, just as with Adam and Eve before they ate the fruit. We've
all eaten that fruit; we all know about good and evil. There's no going back to
a state of innocence for us. Instead, we have the duty to know that good and evil
should not be attached to. They must not be attached to. Please understand this
matter wisely.
Don't attach to good and evil. Khow them so thoroughly that
you will never attach to them. This is the heart of Buddhism and the essence of
Christianity. Both religions teach this same thing, although people may interpret
it in quite different ways. If you understand this, you will have the key to the
genuine happiness of freedom from hanger.
You can see that if we grasp and
cling to "good", we are hungry for good. If we have something better,
we hunger for what is better. If we have what is the best, we hunger for the best.
No matter how "best" something is, it still cause hunger. We hunger
for the best best. Inevitably, this hunger is the problem that leads to dukkha.
No matter what the degree of hunger, it will still cause some sort of dukkha.
Coarse hunger afflicts us in a crude way, while even the most subtle hunger --so
refined that it can't be seen or understood --harms us in a way too subtle to
be seen. If there is hunger, there will be dukkha. Life will be troubled and disturbed,
making perfect peace and perfect happiness impossible.
VOIDNESS
This is why Buddhism teaches voidness (sunnata) --the voidness of "I"
and "mine" that transcends the best. If we have knowledge of beyond
the best, of the voidness that is neither good nor evil, there's no problem. In
sunnata there's no hunger. Even the most subtle levels of hunger disappear. Therein
dukkha is quenched and true spiritual peace remains. This is the final goal. As
long as there is the slightest hunger, it prevents the final goal. As soon as
all hunger has been extinguished, and with it all problems and all dukkha, genuine
emancipation is evident. Emancipation in Buddhism is this freedom from hunger
that comes with the realization of sunnata (voidness). Please study this matter
until your life is totally free of hunger.
NATURAL HUNGER & UNNECESSARY
HUNGER
Let's go back and take another look at this thing we call "hunger."
We ought to know that there are two levels of hunger. First, there is physical,
material hunger, which is a natural process of life. The body instinctually feels
hunger regarding its natural needs: clothing, food, shelter, medicine, exercise.
This kind of hunger is no problem. It doesn't cause dukkha and can be satisfied
without causing dukkha. Then, there is the second kind of hunger, which is mental,
that we call "spiritual hunger." This is the hunger of thinking born
out of attachment. Physical hunger really has no meaning, for it causes no problems.
Even animals experience physical hunger, so they eat as allowed by the limits
of the situation. Spiritual hungar, however, being tied up with ignorance (avijja)
and attachment (upadana), destroys the coolness and calm of the mind, which is
true happiness and peace, thus bringing dukkha.
The problem of human beings
is that our minds have developed beyond the animal mind. The consciousness of
animal has not learned how to turn physical hunger into mental hunger. They don't
attach to their instinctual hunger as we do, so they are free of the dukkha caused
by craving (tanha) and clinging (upadana). The human mind is more highly evolved
and suffers from more highly evolved hunger. Through attachment the human mind
knows spiritual hunger.
We must distinguish between these two kinds of hunger.
Physical hunger can be dealt with easily. One day of work can satisfy our bodily
needs for many days. With mindfulness and wisdom, physical hunger is no problem.
Don't foolishly make it into dukkha. When it arises, just see it as tathata --thusness,
the state of being "just like that." The body has a nervous system.
When it lacks something that it needs there arises a certain activity which we
call "hunger." That's all there is to it --tathata. Don't let it cook
up into spiritual hunger by attaching to it as "my hunger" or the "I
who hungers." That is very dangerous, for it causes a lot of dukkha. When
the body is hungry, eat mindfully and wisely. Then physical hunger won't disturb
the mind.
Hunger is solely a mental problem. The highly developed human mind
develops hunger into the spiritual hunger that results in attachment. These are
mental phenomena --tanha (craving) and upadana (grasping and clinging, attachment)
--which aren't at all cool. Although we may be millionaires, with homes full of
consumer products and pockets full of money, we still hunger spiritually. The
more we consume, the more we hunger. However much we try to satisfy mental hunger,
to that extent it will expand, grow, and disturb the mind ever more. Even billionaires
are spiritually hungry.
So how are we to solve this problems? There is the
Dhamma principle that stopping this foolish hunger results in peace of mind, cool
happiness, freedom from disturbance.
Physical hunger doesn't bother us. It's
easy to take care of, to find something to eat that satisfies the hunger. Spiritual
hunger, however, is another matter. The more we eat, the more we hunger. This
is the problem we're caught in --being annoyed, pestered, bothered, agitated by
spiritual hunger. When nothing annoys the mind, that is true happiness. This may
sound funny to you, but the absence of disturbance is genuine happiness.
We're
sure that each of you is bothered by hopes and wishes. You've come here with your
hopes and expectations. These hopes, wishes, and expectations are another kind
of spiritual hunger, so be very careful about them. Don't let them become dangerous!
Find a way to stop the expecting and hoping. Live by sati-panna (mindfulnesss
and wisdom); don't live by expectations.
Usually we teach children to be full
of wishes --to "make a wish." to "dream the impossible dream."
This isn't correct. Why teach them to live in spiritual hunger? It torments them,
even to the point of causing physical pain, illness, and death. It would be kinder
to teach them to live without hunger, expecially without spiritual hunger. Live
with sati-panna, do whatever must be done, but don't hope, don't dream, don't
expect. Hopes are merely spiritual hunger. Teach them not to attach. No hunger,
neither physically nor mentally --think about it-- what happiness that would be!
There's no happiness greater than this. Can you see?
THREE KINDS OF
SOLITUDE
Lastly, we'll talk about the benefits of the end of hunger. To do
so, we'll ask you to learn one more Pali word. Listen carefully and remember it,
for it is a most important word: viveka, in Pali; vivek, in Thai. Viveka can be
translated "utmost aloneness, perfect singleness, complete solitude."
Because people no longer understand this correctly, you've probably never heard
of it. First, know that viveka has three levels. Physical viveka (kaya-viveka)
is when nothing disturbs the physical level of life. Mental viveka (citta-viveka)
is when no emotions disturb the mind, when the citta isn't troubled by things
like sexual lust, hatred. fear, frustration, envy, sentimentality, and love. This
mental viveka can occur even in a crowded noisy room; it isn't dependent on physical
solitude. The third kind, spiritual viveka (upadhi-viveka) is when no feelings
or thoughts of attachment to "I" and "mine", "soul"
or "myself" disturb the mind. If all three levels happen, you are truly
alone and free.
Merely being free of physical disturbances while emotions
pester one isn't viveka. Many "meditators" run off into forests and
caves to find solitude, but if they bring their emotions with them, they won't
find what they're looking for. True happiness will elude them. If the emotions
don't annoy them, but feelings of "I" and "mine" disturb and
distract them, it can't be called "viveka, " either. There must be no
feeling of "I" or "mine" interfering. Then, there will be
no hunger of any kind disturbing and no hopes pestering. This is solitude. The
mind is perfectly alone. This is the happiness that is the aim of Buddhism. It
is vimutti (emancipation) on Buddhism's highest level. The final goal of Buddhism,
the highest liberation, isn't a mind that is merely happy or quiet. The ultimate
goal is total freedom from all attachment, from any clinging to "I"
or "mine." We want you to know about these three levels of viveka.
If you are able to practice mindfulness with breathing completely and correctly
through all sixteen of its steps and stages, then you will discover these three
kinds of viveka. Then you will receive the happiness of never being tormented
by hunger again. But if you don't like this kind of happiness, if you prefer the
happiness of responding to hunger, of feeding desire, then nothing can help you.
Buddhism won't be able to help you a bit. It can't help you because Buddhism aims
to eliminate the kind of happiness and enjoyment that depends on things to satisfy
its hunger. We want that to end. We need the kind of viveka that is undisturbed
by hunger.
This is what we are afraid you may misunderstand. If you don't
understood the Buddhist kind of happiness, you might expect something that Buddhism
can't provide. Then you will be disappointed. You will be wasting your time here.
If you want the happiness that comes from responding to hunger, we have nothing
to talk about. There's nothing for us to say. But if you want the happiness born
from not having any hunger at all, we have something to talk about. And we've
said it already.
We hope that you will meet with success in your practice
and development of mindfulness with breathing. Once you have, you will receive
the genuine happiness born of the total absence of hunger.
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The
Middle Way
Reproduced from "The
Theosophist" August 1996 issue
The term 'The Middle Way' is found
in Buddhism, that most gentle, compassionate and wise of religions. It probably
referred originally to the realization by Buddha that the way to enlightenment
lies neither in exaggerated asceticism nor in self-indulgence.
In striving--for
the sake of humanity in its blindness and all beings in their suffering--to reach
the Truth of things, Buddha is said to have lived for a time an ascetic life,
starving himself, perhaps torturing his body, as was the custom for ascetics.
When he was so weak as to be near death, he realized that the way to enlightenment
does not lie in exaggerated asceticism. He had of course long since realized that
that way does not lie either in gratifying one's every wish and leading a loose
life--as is taught nowadays by some 'gurus'!
This realization is said to have
come to him when a group of temple dancers passed singing a song (rendered in
Sir Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia as follows):
Fair goes the dancing when the
sitar's tuned;
Tune us the sitar neither low nor high,
The string o'erstretched
breaks, and the music flies;
The string o'erslack is dumb, and music dies.
According
to the legend, Buddha took the lesson to heart and renounced the path of excessive
asceticism. Accepting nourishing food, he recovered his strength and took the
final steps to Enlightenment. In his sermon in the Deer Park near Varanasi, he
is said to have taught this realization to his former companions in asceticism:
These two extremes, monks, are not to be practiced by one who has gone forth
from the world. What are the two? That conjoined with the passions and luxury,
low, vulgar, common, ignoble, and useless; and that conjoined with self-torture,
painful, ignoble, and useless. Avoiding these two extremes the Tathãgata
gained the enlightenment of the Middle Path, which produces insight and knowledge,
and tends to calm, to higher knowledge, enlightenment, Nirvana.
The extremes
of asceticism and over-indulgence are not and never were limited to any particular
period or religion. Christianity and other religions also had and still have their
penitents. At an Easter Festival in the Philippines, volunteers are nailed to
crosses, like Christ according to the biblical story! The Spartans indulged in
frugality and hardship for other reasons. On the other hand, so-called civilizations
tend, when they reach a certain affluence, to over-indulgence which often heralds
their decline and fall--as in the case of the Roman Empire.
We witness, too,
other types of exaggeration: excessive virtue and vice, love and hate, praise
and condemnation. Often the same person indulges by turns in such extremes. Why
do people exaggerate, why do they go to extremes? Why do they indulge or torture
themselves, sometimes to breaking point? Why do they utterly condemn or blindly
worship?...often by turns? Perhaps this is in the nature of things. Although the
heart of all is Oneness, 'the Manifested Universe is', as HPB wrote, 'pervaded
by duality', that is, we live in a world of duality, of extremes. It is, indeed,
a world of beautiful and luxuriant diversity. But the basis of this world of infinite
variety is duality, a tendency towards twoness--towards going off in one of two
opposite directions.
This duality is actually what we might call polarity.
If the source and the heart of all is Oneness--which is the fundamental teaching
of Theosophy--then pairs of opposites have the same source and foundation. They
are two poles, ends or extreme manifestations of the same thing, like the North
and South Poles, or the two ends of a piece of string or elastic. They are complementary.
If we consider the origen of things as we know them, for example of our solar
system, the two poles (or polar opposites) which originally emerged from the One,
the Absolute, are primordial consciousness and primordial matter, which are, in
the theosophical philosophy, inseparably linked. This original polarity is reflected
in the many polarities or apparent opposites we know in daily life; beginning
and end, light and darkness, outside and inside, hot and cold, soft and hard.
But are not those apparent opposites intimately connected, indeed dependent
on each other? Could there be a beginning without an end? Would we recognize light
if we had not experienced darkness? Whether we feel something is hot or cold,
soft or hard and so on, is often rather a matter of attitude than of objective
judgement. To the optimist the glass is half full; to the pessimist it is half
empty! If one of my hands is cold and the other hot and I plunge them into lukewarm
water, it will seem warm to the cold hand and cool to the hot hand--relativity
in daily life!
Indeed, in a sense, hot and cold and the other polar opposites
do not exist at all objectively. 'Look at your thermometer and see if you can
discover where "heat" terminates and "cold" begins!' Thus
none of the things around us is absolutely light or dark, hot or cold and so forth
but only more or less--that is relatively so. Does not relativity indicate a relationship
between things?
A visible sign of this relationship is a tendency in Nature
towards a pendular movement from one of two imaginary extremes to the other. HPB
calls this the 'Law of Periodicity: 'An alternation such as that of day and night,
life and death, sleeping and waking, is...one of the absolutely fundamental laws
of the universe. This pendular movement between two poles perhaps expresses an
attempt to return to the Oneness out of which the two poles originally emerged.
Another example of this pendular movement in Nature is our own out-breathing.
Examples are also to be found in the field of psychology, in human nature. The
more emotionally elated we tend to be, the more we may be prone to depression.
We all know of the sad clown, who can at times make others laugh with his gaiety,
but at other times feels his own heart is broken. We all experience this to some
extent. The further the pendulum swings in one direction, the further it will
swing to the opposite direction.
And, thus, if we swing with the pendulum,
we go to extremes, perhaps not extremes of asceticism and over-indulgence, but
certainly extremes of joy, and depression, perhaps love and hate. There are people,
too who change their allegiances to individuals or to ideologies. We have examples
in the history of the Theosophical Society. Hysterical enthusiasm is quite likely
to change its object. 'Gushing' should be viewed with scepticism.
What happens
when we thus go to extremes? Perhaps going to extremes means treating the relative
as if it were absolute. We take one extreme too seriously as if it were an absolute
value. Thus people may be ready to sacrifice higher human values for an imaginary
ideal. That is what fanatics do--like inquisitors perpetrating terrible cruelty
in order to 'save the souls' of the condemned--or Nazis excusing their brutality
by saying they were merely obeying orders, or Communists torturing and killing
individuals 'for the benefit of the masses'.
It is probably a human tendency
to go from one extreme to the other in the search for balance--for the Middle
Way. But we should not take these extremes too seriously. To do so may lead to
fanaticism, as illustrated above. These are of course extreme cases of heartless
human beings. But are not similar tendencies at least dormant within us, ready
to awaken under certain circumstances? There is a cruelty of the heart not expressed
in deeds but perhaps in feelings of irritation or impatience to which we are all
subject at times.
But if such tendencies become habitual, if we take our views
and ourselves too seriously, we may become fanatical. What does fanaticism imply?
Does it not lead to stagnation in ourselves and dogmatism in our treatment of
others on whom we try to impose our opinions? Many people hold extreme views about
health (what diet is best, what exercises one should do and so on)--or in the
field of philosophy or religion.
Such extreme opinions often lead to quarrelling.
But, ironically, they mostly have to do with unimportant issues. We are treating
what is only relative as if it were absolute--a matter of life or death. This
does not mean, however, that we should never remain firm. If we refuse on principle
ever to be firm, we also exaggerate--and go to one of two extremes--far from the
Middle Path! And there are certain things about which we should remain firm. As
is said in At the Feet of the Master: 'Between right and wrong Occultism knows
no compromise... Firm as a rock where right and wrong are concerned, yield always
to others in things which do not matter'. What matters and what does not matter?
It is up to us to decide for ourselves, using discrimination and without imposing
our decision on others.
It has been said that, if one is in a dilemma, one
should wonder 'Is it possible for me to do anything?' If not, one should accept
the situation and not worry. But wisdom lies in knowing whether one can do something
or not. An example: there are outer circumstances which we cannot alter. But we
can always change ourselves, our attitude.
But is there no rule of thumb whereby
we may distinguish between right and wrong, between the important and the unimportant?
There is a rule of thumb, but its application in individual cases is up to us.
The basis of all theosophical teachings is the inner Oneness in the heart of things.
Out of insight into Oneness arises love, because we feel one with others, and
also wisdom, because, ideally, we are one with Truth, seeing things as they really
are and not just the images we make of them.
To perceive and to follow the
Middle Way is perhaps the most difficult thing in the world. It requires constant
discrimination. It is like walking on the razor's edge, which means being completely
conscious and wide awake at every moment--being aware, not of what we think we
are trying to do--but of ourselves doing it.
It may be useful to ask ourselves
what the Middle Way is not: The Middle Way does not mean constantly jumping from
one extreme to the other, like loving and hating someone by turns or compensating
an unjust scolding to a child by giving in to that child's every wish. Nor does
the Middle Way lie in trying to mix extremes--a little of this and a little of
that, as in so-called love-hate, or as in bargaining or seeking compromises, although
this is useful in business and political life.
Further, the Middle Way does
not mean seeking the mid-most point by making a dogmatic principle of avoiding
extremes at all costs! This may lead to indifference and laziness. The pendulum
of life ceases to move to and fro. In opposing the love of pleasure, we may make
ourselves numb--also to the suffering of others. The words in The Voice of the
Silence: 'There klesa [i.e. worldly enjoyment] is destroyed for ever...' are followed
by, '...Yet one word. Canst thou destroy divine compassion?...the Law of Laws...the
light of everlasting right, and fitness of all things, the law of love eternal.'
Such compassion is infinitely greater than what we, in our ignorance, consider
to be compassion. Though it may be seen as the source of our little personal feeling
of pity, it belongs to a different dimension.
And, indeed, the Middle Way
between or behind two extremes does not lie on the same level as the two extremes,
but above them.
If two extremes are pictured as the two ends of a horizontal
line, then the Middle Way does not lie on that horizontal line itself, somewhere
between the two ends, but in a point above the horizontal line. We may imagine
that point linked to the two ends of the line, to form a triangle. So out of one
dimension (the line) two dimensions arise (the triangle). Thus the Middle Way
signifies rising above both extremes. This would mean, for example neither personal
love nor hatred but impersonal love. Impersonal love perhaps seems cool to us--but
it is not cold. It is perhaps universal love--radiating towards no one object
or person in particular but, like the sun, shining on everything in its path.
It is the love of the Bodhisattva, the only love which deserves that name
in the highest sense, a love for which what appears to us to be self-sacrifice
is simply the most natural thing in the world. It is 'like the pure snow in the
mountain vales, cold and unfeeling to the touch, warm and protective to the seed
that sleepeth deep beneath its bosom.'
We are certainly not capable of such
love, neither of its level-headed coolness nor of its utter and perfectly natural
selflessness beyond heat and cold. We still swing like the pendulum from one extreme
to the other. Yet there may be moments when, forgetting ourselves, we rise above
our present selves and understand a little of what is meant by Compassion and
the Middle Way and of how such extremes as personal love and dislike may resolve
into One. Polarity, the duality of two extremes, has its origin in Oneness and
resolves again into Oneness.
The triangle formed by the two poles and their
origin in a higher, overshadowing Oneness, is not something foreign to us. We
ourselves are that triangle. We are its base in the outer world in which we are
conscious and we are also the Divine Spark--the apex of the triangle. Thus the
level of polarity--even in its ugliest forms, e.g. in fanaticism--is only one
side of the coin. And it does not correspond to our True Being. When we rise,
even for a moment, to that True Being which lies deeper within us, we may see
clearer. We may see, in the light of Oneness, what is important and what not.
Thus we shall avoid extremes. But this is no flight to Nirvana, for Samsara is
also Nirvana. The Middle Way is the Oneness behind, beyond--but also inherent
in--polarity. In practice, it is a matter of our attitude, also in daily life--seeing
things as they are, not being blinded by taking sides.
But how does one proceed
in daily life in order to seek and to follow--indeed consciously to become--the
Middle Way?
Perhaps we should first be conscious of the danger of extreme,
exaggerated attitudes in daily life--not in other people (which is easy) but in
ourselves--though others may be holding up a mirror to us in which we condemn
our own faults. When we have recognized extreme tendencies in ourselves, we can
ask ourselves why. Is it due to conditioning by environment and upbringing? Is
it because we accept some authority? Or is it a reaction against those?
What
we do not understand and therefore perhaps reject in ourselves--be it selfish
love or hate or personal desires or our fanatical opinions--torments us. What
we have understood and accepted will simply drop away, like leaves in autumn.
We can forget it. Then we can 'walk on...', on the Middle Way, on the razor's
edge. But do we want to rise above the extremes? Is their constant influence important
to us?--tickling our nerves or providing us with motivation? If so, we shall not
and should not wish to change. The need for change will come in time. Perhaps
we shall be like the little ant on the pendulum:
A little ant, clinging to
the tip of a pendulum, was swinging giddily to and fro, just as we swing to and
fro, clinging to our emotions: love and hate, joy and sadness. We identify ourselves
with them, we are them. After some time the little ant tired of the ceaseless,
relentless movement and discovered that he could climb further up the pendulum
to a different and more restful world. If we emulate the little ant, no longer
identifying ourselves with extremes, the pendulum goes on swinging but somehow
we know that we are not that constant movement. We see our emotions indulgently,
like the actions of a naughty child. So let us not be too hard on ourselves and
others caught in the passionate pendulum game.
To summarize, the Middle Way
between egocentric love and hatred is impersonal or universal love. The Middle
Way between fanatical acceptance and rejection lies in wisdom, discrimination,
common sense. The Middle Way between taking things and ourselves too seriously
on the one hand and flippancy on the other perhaps lies in an awareness of the
right proportions, expressed in a sense of humor, especially in the ability to
laugh at ourselves. The Middle Way between clinging to memories and taking refuge
in hopes lies in living in the here and now, that is, remaining wide awake. But
is this not the very end of the way our goal? The end, however, lies in the beginning.
For the Middle Way is not a way in the ordinary sense but a way of life. Like
the spiritual path, it lies within us. It is us! So let us be what we are.
Mary
Anderson
Miss Mary Anderson is the International Vice-President of the TS
and lives at Adyar.
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The
Middle Way
1. To those who choose
the path that leads to Enlightenment, there are two extremes that should be carefully
avoided. First, there is the extreme of indulgence in the desires of the body.
Second, there is the opposite extreme of ascetic discipline, torturing one's body
and mind unreasonably.
The Noble Path, that transcends these two extremes and
leads to Enlightenment and wisdom and peace of mind, may be called the Middle
Way. What is the Middle Way? It consists of the Eightfold Noble Path: right view,
right thought, right speech, right behavior, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness, and right concentration.
As has been said, all things appear or
disappear by reason of an endless series of causes. Ignorant people see life as
either existence or non-existence, but wise men see beyond both existence and
non-existence something that transcends them both; this is an observation of the
Middle Way.
2. Suppose a log is floating in a river. If the log does not become
grounded, or sink, or is not taken out by a man, or does not decay, ultimately
it will reach the sea. Life is like this log caught in the current of a great
river. If a person does not become attached to a life of self-indulgence, or,
by renouncing life, does not become attached to a life of self-torture; if a person
does not become proud of his virtues or does not become attached to his evil acts;
if in his search for Enligtenment he does not become contemptuous of delusion,
nor fear it, such a person is following the Middle Way.
The important thing
in following the path to Enlightenment is to avoid being caught and entangled
in any extreme, that is, always follow the Middle Way.
Knowing that things
neither exist nor do no exist, remembering the dream-like nature of everything,
one should avoid being caught by pride of personality or praise for good deeds;
or caught and entangled by anything else.
If a person is to avoid being caught
in the current of his desires, he must learn at the very beginning not to grasp
at things lest he should become accustomed to them and attached to them. He must
not become attached to existence nor to non-existence, to anything inside or outside,
neither to good things nor to bad things, neither to right nor to wrong.
If
he becomes attached to things, just at that moment, all at once, the life of delusion
begins. The one who follows the Noble Path to Enlightenment will not maintain
regrets, neither will he cherish anticipation, but with an equitable and peaceful
mind, will meet what comes.
3. Enlightenment has no definite form or nature
by which it can manifest itself; so in Enlightenment itself, there is nothing
to be enlightened.
Enlightenment exists solely because of delusion and ignorance;
if they disappear, so will Enlightenment. And the opposite is also true: there
is no Enlightenment apart from delusion and ignorance; no delusion and ignorance
apart from Enlightenment.
Therefore, be on guard against thinking of Enlightenment
as a "thing" to be grasped at, lest it, too, should become an obstruction.
When the mind that was in darkness become enlightened, it passes away, and with
its passing, the thing which we Enlightenment passes also.
As long as people
desire Enlightenment and grasp at it, it means that delusion is still with them;
therefore those who are following the way to Enlightenment must not grasp at it,
and if they reach Enlightenment they must not linger in it.
When people attain
Enlightenment in this sense, it means that everything is Enlightenment itself
as it is; therefore, people should follow the path to Enlightenment until in their
thoughts, worldly passions and Enlightenment become identical as they are.
4.
This concept of universal oneness - that things in their essential nature have
no distinguishing marks - is called "Sunyata." Sunyata means non-substantiality,
the un-born, having no self-nature, no duality. It is because things in themselves
have no form or characteristics that we can speak of them as neither being born
nor being destroyed. There is nothing about the essential nature of things that
can be described in terms of discrimination; that is why things are called non-substantial.
As
has been pointed out, all things appear and disappear because of causes and condition.
Nothing ever exist entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
Wherever
there is light, there is shadow; wherever there is length, there is shortness;
wherever there is white, there is black. Just like these, as the self-nature of
things cannot exist alone, they are called non-substantial.
By the same reasoning,
Enlightenment cannot exist apart from ignorance, nor ignorance apart from Enlightenment.
Since things do not differ in their essential nature, there can be no duality.
5.
People habitually think of themselves as being connected with birth and death,
but in reality there are no such conceptions.
When people are able to realize
this truth, they have realized the truth of the non-duality of birth and death.
It is because people cherish the idea of an ego personality that they cling
to the idea of possession; but since there is no such things as an "ego,"
there can be no such things as possessions. When people are able to realize this
truth, they will be able to realize the truth of "non-duality."
People
cherish the distinction of purity and impurity; but in the nature of things, there
is no such distinction, except as it rises from false and absurd images in their
mind.
In like manner people make a distinction between good and evil, but good
and evil does not exist separately. Those who are following the path to Enlightenment
recognize no such duality, and it leads them to neither praise the good and condemn
the evil, nor despise the good and condone the evil.
People naturally fear
misfortune and long for good fortune; but if the distinction is carefully studied,
misfortune often turns out to be good fortune and good fortune to be misfortune.
The wise man learns to meet the changing circumstances of life with an equitable
spirit, being neither elated by success nor depressed by failure. Thus one realizes
the truth of non-duality.
Therefore, all the words that express relations of
duality - such as existence and non-existence, worldly passions and true-knowledge,
purity and impurity, good and evil - none of these terms of contrast in one's
thinking are expressed or recognized in their true nature. When people keep free
from such terms and fromm the emotions engendered by them, they realize Sunyata's
universal truth.
6. Just as the pure and fragrant lotus flower grows out of
the mud of a swamp rather than out of the clean loam of an upland field, so from
the muck of worldly passions springs the pure Enlightenment of Buddhahood. Even
the mistaken view of heretics and the delusions of worldly passions may be the
seeds for Buddhahood.
If a diver is to secure pearls he must descend to the
bottom of the sea, braving all dangers of jagged coral and vicious sharks. So
man must face the perils of worldly passion if he is to secure the precious pearl
of Enlightenment. He must first be lost among the mountainous crags of egoism
and selfishness, before there will awaken in him the desire to find a path that
will lead him to Enlightenment.
7. Buddha's teaching leads us to non-duality,
from the discriminating concept of two conflicting points of view. It is a mistake
for people to seek a thing supposed to be good and right, and to flee from another
supposed to be bad and evil.
If people insist that all things are empty and
transitory, it is just as great a mistake to insist that all things are real and
do not change. If a person becomes attached to his ego-personality, it is a mistake
because it cannot save him from dissatisfaction or suffering. If he believes there
is no ego, it is also a mistake and it would be useless for him to practice the
Way of Truth. If people assert that everything is suffering, it is also a mistake;
if they assert that everything is happiness, that is a mistake, too. Buddha teaches
the Middle Way transcending these prejudiced concepts, where duality merges into
oneness.
*************************************************************************************************************
The
Middle Way
The Middle Way is a
Buddhist term with rich connotations. Most simply, it implies a balanced approach
to life and the regulation of one's impulses and behavior, close to Aristotle's
idea of the "golden mean," whereby "every virtue is a mean between
two extremes, each of which is a vice."
While the word "middle"
denotes balance, however, the Middle Way should not be confused with passivity
or a kind of middle-of-the-road compromise. Rather, tread the Middle Way implies
ongoing effort.
In the broadest sense, the Middle Way refers to the correct
view of life that the Buddha teaches, and to the actions or attitudes that will
create happiness for oneself and others. Thus, Buddhism itself is sometimes referred
to as "the Middle Way," indicating a transcendence and reconciliation
of the extremes of opposing views.
All these ideas are exemplified by Shakyamuni's
own life, as conveyed to us by legend. Born a prince, Shakyamuni enjoyed every
physical comfort and pleasure. However, dissatisfied with the pursuit of fleeting
pleasures, he set out in search of a deeper, more enduring truth. He entered a
period of extreme ascetic practice, depriving himself of food and sleep, bringing
himself to the verge of physical collapse. Sensing the futility of this path,
however, he began meditating with the profound determination to realize the truth
of human existence, which had eluded him as much in a life of asceticism as in
a life of luxury. It was then that Shakyamuni awakened to the true nature of life--its
eternity and its deep wellspring of unbounded vitality and wisdom.
Later,
to guide his followers toward this same Middle Way, he taught the eightfold path:
eight principles, such as right conduct, right speech, etc., by which individuals
can govern their behavior and develop true self-knowledge.
Since then, at
various points in the history of Buddhism, Buddhist scholars have attempted to
clarify and define the true nature of life. Around the third century, Nagarjuna's
theory of the non-substantial nature of the universe (see "Emptiness")
explained that there is no permanent "thing" behind the constantly changing
phenomena of life, no fixed basis to reality. For Nagarjuna, this view was the
Middle Way, the ultimate perspective on life.
Nagarjuna's ideas were further
developed by T'ien-t'ai (Chi-i) in sixth-century China. All phenomena, he stated,
are the manifestations of a single entity--life itself. This entity of life, which
T'ien-t'ai called the Middle Way, exhibits two aspects--a physical aspect and
a non-substantial aspect. Ignoring or emphasizing either gives us a distorted
picture of life. We cannot, for example, realistically conceptualize a person
lacking either a physical or a mental/spiritual aspect. T'ien-t'ai thus clarified
the indivisible interrelationship between the physical and the spiritual. From
this viewpoint stem the Buddhist principles of the inseparability of the body
and the mind and of the self and the environment.
Nichiren (1222-1282), in
turn, gave concrete, practical form to these often quite abstract arguments. Based
on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren defined the Middle Way as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
and taught that by reciting this phrase one can harmonize and energize the physical
and spiritual aspects of one's life, and awaken to the deepest truth of one's
existence.
From this perspective, life--the vital energy and wisdom that permeates
the cosmos and manifests as all phenomena--is an entity that transcends and harmonizes
apparent contradictions between the physical and the mental, even between life
and death. SGI President Daisaku Ikeda takes the same view when he states that
it is life that gives rise to DNA, not the other way around.
According to
Buddhism, individuals and societies as a whole have a tendency toward either a
predominantly material or spiritual view of life. The negative effects of the
materialism that pervades the modern industrialized world are apparent at every
level of society, from environmental destruction to spiritual impoverishment.
Simply rejecting materialism out of hand, however, amounts to idealism or escapism
and undermines our ability to respond constructively to life's challenges.
The
historian Eric Hobsbawm titled his volume on the 20th century The Age of Extremes.
Indeed, the violence and grotesque imbalances of that era drive home the need
to find new ways of peacefully reconciling apparent opposites. What is most essential,
if humanity is to find a middle way toward a creative global society in the 21st
century, is a new appreciation and reverence for the inviolable sanctity of life.
Adapted from an article in the July 2001 issue of the SGI Quarterly with permission
from Soka Gakkai International Office of Public Relations.
*************************************************************************************************************
The Voice of the Silence
By
H. P. Blavatsky
BEING
CHOSEN FRAGMENTS FROM THE "BOOK OF THE GOLDEN PRECEPTS."
FOR THE DAILY USE OF LANOOS (DISCIPLES).
TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY "H.P.B."
CONTENTS.
PREFACE
FRAGMENT I. THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE (33K)
FRAGMENT II. THE TWO PATHS (29K)
FRAGMENT III. THE SEVEN PORTALS (43K)
PREFACE
THE
following pages are derived from "The Book of the Golden Precepts,"
one
of the works put into the hands of mystic students in the East. The
knowledge
of them is obligatory in that school, the teachings of which are
accepted by
many Theosophists. Therefore, as I know many of these Precepts
by heart, the
work of translating has been relatively an easy task for me.
It
is well known that, in India, the methods of psychic development differ
with
the Gurus (teachers or masters), not only because of their belonging to
different
schools of philosophy, of which there are six, but because every
Guru has his
own system, which he generally keeps very secret. But beyond
the Himalayas
the method in the Esoteric Schools does not differ, unless the
Guru is simply
a Lama, but little more learned than those he teaches.
The
work from which I here translate forms part of the same series as that
from
which the "Stanzas" of the Book of Dzyan were taken, on which the
Secret
Doctrine is based. Together with the great mystic work called
Paramartha, which,
the legend of Nagarjuna tells us, was delivered to the
great Arhat by the Nagas
or "Serpents" (in truth a name given to the ancient
Initiates), the
"Book of the Golden Precepts" claims the same origin. Yet
its maxims
and ideas, however noble and original, are often found under
different forms
in Sanskrit works, such as the Dnyaneshwari, that superb
mystic treatise in
which Krishna describes to Arjuna in glowing colours the
condition of a fully
illumined Yogi; and again in certain Upanishads. This
is but natural, since
most, if not all, of the greatest Arhats, the first
followers of Gautama Buddha
were Hindus and Aryans, not Mongolians,
especially those who emigrated into
Tibet. The works left by Aryasanga alone
are very numerous.
The
original Precepts are engraved on thin oblong squares; copies very often
on
discs. These discs, or plates, are generally preserved on the altars of
the
temples attached to centres where the so-called "contemplative" or
Mahayana
(Yogacharya) schools are established. They are written variously,
sometimes
in Tibetan but mostly in ideographs. The sacerdotal language
(Senzar), besides
an alphabet of its own, may be rendered in several modes
of writing in cypher
characters, which partake more of the nature of
ideographs than of syllables.
Another method (lug, in Tibetan) is to use the
numerals and colours, each of
which corresponds to a letter of the Tibetan
alphabet (thirty simple and seventy-four
compound letters) thus forming a
complete cryptographic alphabet. When the
ideographs are used there is a
definite mode of reading the text; as in this
case the symbols and signs
used in astrology, namely the twelve zodiacal animals
and the seven primary
colours, each a triplet in shade, i.e. the light, the
primary, and the dark
-- stand for the thirty-three letters of the simple alphabet,
for words and
sentences. For in this method, the twelve "animals"
five times repeated and
coupled with the five elements and the seven colours,
furnish a whole
alphabet composed of sixty sacred letters and twelve signs.
A sign placed at
the beginning of the text determines whether the reader has
to spell it
according to the Indian mode, when every word is simply a Sanskrit
adaptation,
or according to the Chinese principle of reading the ideographs.
The easiest
way however, is that which allows the reader to use no special,
or any language
he likes, as the signs and symbols were, like the Arabian
numerals or figures,
common and international property among initiated
mystics and their followers.
The same peculiarity is characteristic of one
of the Chinese modes of writing,
which can be read with equal facility by
any one acquainted with the character:
for instance, a Japanese can read it
in his own language as readily as a Chinaman
in his.
The Book
of the Golden Precepts -- some of which are pre-Buddhistic while
others belong
to a later date -- contains about ninety distinct little
treatises. Of these
I learnt thirty-nine by heart, years ago. To translate
the rest, I should have
to resort to notes scattered among a too large
number of papers and memoranda
collected for the last twenty years and never
put in order, to make of it by
any means an easy task. Nor could they be all
translated and given to a world
too selfish and too much attached to objects
of sense to be in any way prepared
to receive such exalted ethics in the
right spirit. For, unless a man perseveres
seriously in the pursuit of
self-knowledge, he will never lend a willing ear
to advice of this nature.
And
yet such ethics fill volumes upon volumes in Eastern literature,
especially
in the Upanishads. "Kill out all desire of life," says Krishna to
Arjuna.
That desire lingers only in the body, the vehicle of the embodied
Self, not
in the SELF which is "eternal, indestructible, which kills not nor
is
it killed" (Katha Upanishad). "Kill out sensation," teaches Sutta
Nipata;
"look alike on pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat."
Again,
"Seek shelter in the eternal alone" (ibid). "Destroy
the sense of
separateness," repeats Krishna under every form. "The
Mind (Manas) which
follows the rambling senses, makes the Soul (Buddhi) as
helpless as the boat
which the wind leads astray upon the waters" (Bhagavatgita
II. 70).
Therefore
it has been thought better to make a judicious selection only from
those treatises
which will best suit the few real mystics in the
Theosophical Society, and
which are sure to answer their needs. It is only
these who will appreciate
these words of Krishna-Christos, the "Higher
Self": --
"Sages
do not grieve for the living nor the dead. Never did I not exist, nor
you,
nor these rulers of men; nor will any one of us ever hereafter cease to
be."
(Bhagavatgita II. 27).
In
this translation, I have done my best to preserve the poetical beauty of
language
and imagery which characterise the original. How far this effort
has been successful,
is for the reader to judge. -- "H.P.B."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
The Voice of the Silence by H. P. Blavatsky
FRAGMENT I
THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE
THESE instructions
are for those ignorant of the dangers of the lower IDDHI
(1).
He
who would hear the voice of Nada (2), "the Soundless Sound," and
comprehend
it, he has to learn the nature of Dharana (3).
Having
become indifferent to objects of perception, the pupil must seek out
the rajah
of the senses, the Thought-Producer, he who awakes illusion.
The Mind is the great Slayer of the Real.
Let the Disciple slay the Slayer.
For: --
When to himself
his form appears unreal, as do on waking all the forms he
sees in dreams;
When
he has ceased to hear the many, he may discern the ONE -- the inner
sound which
kills the outer.
Then
only, not till then, shall he forsake the region of Asat, the false, to
come
unto the realm of Sat, the true.
Before
the soul can see, the Harmony within must be attained, and fleshly
eyes be
rendered blind to all illusion.
Before
the Soul can hear, the image (man) has to become as deaf to roarings
as to
whispers, to cries of bellowing elephants as to the silvery buzzing of
the
golden fire-fly.
Before
the soul can comprehend and may remember, she must unto the Silent
Speaker
be united just as the form to which the clay is modelled, is first
united with
the potter's mind.
For then the soul will hear, and will remember.
And then to the inner ear will speak --
THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE
And say: --
If thy soul
smiles while bathing in the Sunlight of thy Life; if thy soul
sings within
her chrysalis of flesh and matter; if thy soul weeps inside her
castle of illusion;
if thy soul struggles to break the silver thread that
binds her to the MASTER
(4); know, O Disciple, thy Soul is of the earth.
When
to the World's turmoil thy budding soul (5) lends ear; when to the
roaring
voice of the great illusion thy Soul responds (6) when frightened at
the sight
of the hot tears of pain, when deafened by the cries of distress,
thy soul
withdraws like the shy turtle within the carapace of SELFHOOD,
learn, O Disciple,
of her Silent "God," thy Soul is an unworthy shrine.
When
waxing stronger, thy Soul glides forth from her secure retreat: and
breaking
loose from the protecting shrine, extends her silver thread and
rushes onward;
when beholding her image on the waves of Space she whispers,
"This is
I," -- declare, O Disciple, that thy soul is caught in the webs of
delusion
(7).
This Earth,
Disciple, is the Hall of Sorrow, wherein are set along the Path
of dire probations,
traps to ensnare thy EGO by the delusion called "Great
Heresy" (8).
This
earth, O ignorant Disciple, is but the dismal entrance leading to the
twilight
that precedes the valley of true light -- that light which no wind
can extinguish,
that light which burns without a wick or fuel.
Saith
the Great Law: -- "In order to become the KNOWER of ALL SELF (9) thou
hast
first of SELF to be the knower." To reach the knowledge of that SELF,
thou
hast to give up Self to Non-Self, Being to Non-Being, and then thou
canst repose
between the wings of the GREAT BIRD. Aye, sweet is rest between
the wings of
that which is not born, nor dies, but is the AUM (10)
throughout eternal ages
(11).
Bestride the Bird of Life, if thou would'st know (12).
Give up thy life, if thou would'st live (13).
Three
Halls, O weary pilgrim, lead to the end of toils. Three Halls, O
conqueror
of Mara, will bring thee through three states (14) into the fourth
(15) and
thence into the seven worlds (16), the worlds of Rest Eternal.
If thou would'st learn their names, then hearken, and remember.
The name of the first Hall is IGNORANCE -- Avidya.
It
is the Hall in which thou saw'st the light, in which thou livest and
shalt
die (17).
The name
of Hall the second is the Hall of Learning.* In it thy Soul will
find the blossoms
of life, but under every flower a serpent coiled (18).
[*The Hall of Probationary Learning.]
The
name of the third Hall is Wisdom, beyond which stretch the shoreless
waters
of AKSHARA, the indestructible Fount of Omniscience (19).
If
thou would'st cross the first Hall safely, let not thy mind mistake the
fires
of lust that burn therein for the Sunlight of life.
If
thou would'st cross the second safely, stop not the fragrance of its
stupefying
blossoms to inhale. If freed thou would'st be from the Karmic
chains, seek
not for thy Guru in those Mayavic regions.
The WISE ONES tarry not in pleasure-grounds of senses.
The WISE ONES heed not the sweet-tongued voices of illusion.
Seek
for him who is to give thee birth (20), in the Hall of Wisdom, the Hall
which
lies beyond, wherein all shadows are unknown, and where the light of
truth
shines with unfading glory.
That
which is uncreate abides in thee, Disciple, as it abides in that Hall.
If thou
would'st reach it and blend the two, thou must divest thyself of thy
dark garments
of illusion. Stifle the voice of flesh, allow no image of the
senses to get
between its light and thine that thus the twain may blend in
one. And having
learnt thine own Agnyana (21), flee from the Hall of
Learning. This Hall is
dangerous in its perfidious beauty, is needed but for
thy probation. Beware,
Lanoo, lest dazzled by illusive radiance thy Soul
should linger and be caught
in its deceptive light.
This
light shines from the jewel of the Great Ensnarer, (Mara) (22). The
senses
it bewitches, blinds the mind, and leaves the unwary an abandoned
wreck.
The
moth attracted to the dazzling flame of thy night-lamp is doomed to
perish
in the viscid oil. The unwary Soul that fails to grapple with the
mocking demon
of illusion, will return to earth the slave of Mara.
Behold
the Hosts of Souls. Watch how they hover o'er the stormy sea of human
life,
and how exhausted, bleeding, broken-winged, they drop one after other
on the
swelling waves. Tossed by the fierce winds, chased by the gale, they
drift
into the eddies and disappear within the first great vortex.
If
through the Hall of Wisdom, thou would'st reach the Vale of Bliss,
Disciple,
close fast thy senses against the great dire heresy of
separateness that weans
thee from the rest.
Let
not thy "Heaven-born," merged in the sea of Maya, break from the
Universal
Parent (SOUL), but let the fiery power retire into the inmost
chamber, the
chamber of the Heart (23) and the abode of the World's Mother
(24).
Then
from the heart that Power shall rise into the sixth, the middle region,
the
place between thine eyes, when it becomes the breath of the ONE-SOUL,
the voice
which filleth all, thy Master's voice.
'Tis
only then thou canst become a "Walker of the Sky" (25) who treads the
winds
above the waves, whose step touches not the waters.
Before
thou set'st thy foot upon the ladder's upper rung, the ladder of the
mystic
sounds, thou hast to hear the voice of thy inner GOD* in seven
manners.
[*The Higher SELF.]
The
first is like the nightingale's sweet voice chanting a song of parting
to its
mate.
The second
comes as the sound of a silver cymbal of the Dhyanis, awakening
the twinkling
stars.
The next is
as the plaint melodious of the ocean-sprite imprisoned in its
shell.
And this is followed by the chant of Vina (26).
The fifth like sound of bamboo-flute shrills in thine ear.
It changes next into a trumpet-blast.
The last vibrates like the dull rumbling of a thunder-cloud.
The
seventh swallows all the other sounds. They die, and then are heard no
more.
When
the six (27) are slain and at the Master's feet are laid, then is the
pupil
merged into the ONE (28), becomes that ONE and lives therein.
Before
that path is entered, thou must destroy thy lunar body (29), cleanse
thy mind-body
(30) and make clean thy heart.
Eternal
life's pure waters, clear and crystal, with the monsoon tempest's
muddy torrents
cannot mingle.
Heaven's
dew-drop glittering in the morn's first sun-beam within the bosom
of the lotus,
when dropped on earth becomes a piece of clay; behold, the
pearl is now a speck
of mire.
Strive with
thy thoughts unclean before they overpower thee. Use them as
they will thee,
for if thou sparest them and they take root and grow, know
well, these thoughts
will overpower and kill thee. Beware, Disciple, suffer
not, e'en though it
be their shadow, to approach. For it will grow, increase
in size and power,
and then this thing of darkness will absorb thy being
before thou hast well
realized the black foul monster's presence.
Before
the "mystic Power" (31)* can make of thee a god, Lanoo, thou must
have
gained the faculty to slay thy lunar form at will.
[*Kundalini, the "Serpent Power" or mystic fire.]
The
Self of matter and the SELF of Spirit can never meet. One of the twain
must
disappear; there is no place for both.
Ere
thy Soul's mind can understand, the bud of personality must be crushed
out,
the worm of sense destroyed past resurrection.
Thou
canst not travel on the Path before thou hast become that Path itself
(32).
Let
thy Soul lend its ear to every cry of pain like as the lotus bares its
heart
to drink the morning sun.
Let
not the fierce Sun dry one tear of pain before thyself hast wiped it
from the
sufferer's eye.
But
let each burning human tear drop on thy heart and there remain, nor ever
brush
it off, until the pain that caused it is removed.
These
tears, O thou of heart most merciful, these are the streams that
irrigate the
fields of charity immortal. 'Tis on such soil that grows the
midnight blossom
of Buddha (33) more difficult to find, more rare to view
than is the flower
of the Vogay tree. It is the seed of freedom from
rebirth. It isolates the
Arhat both from strife and lust, it leads him
through the fields of Being unto
the peace and bliss known only in the land
of Silence and Non-Being.
Kill
out desire; but if thou killest it take heed lest from the dead it
should again
arise.
Kill love
of life, but if thou slayest tanha (34), let this not be for
thirst of life
eternal, but to replace the fleeting by the everlasting.
Desire
nothing. Chafe not at Karma, nor at Nature's changeless laws. But
struggle
only with the personal, the transitory, the evanescent and the
perishable.
Help
Nature and work on with her; and Nature will regard thee as one of her
creators
and make obeisance.
And
she will open wide before thee the portals of her secret chambers, lay
bare
before thy gaze the treasures hidden in the very depths of her pure
virgin
bosom. Unsullied by the hand of matter she shows her treasures only
to the
eye of Spirit -- the eye which never closes, the eye for which there
is no
veil in all her kingdoms.
Then
will she show thee the means and way, the first gate and the second,
the third,
up to the very seventh. And then, the goal -- beyond which lie,
bathed in the
sunlight of the Spirit, glories untold, unseen by any save the
eye of Soul.
There
is but one road to the Path; at its very end alone the "Voice of the
Silence"
can be heard. The ladder by which the candidate ascends is formed
of rungs
of suffering and pain; these can be silenced only by the voice of
virtue. Woe,
then, to thee, Disciple, if there is one single vice thou hast
not left behind.
For then the ladder will give way and overthrow thee; its
foot rests in the
deep mire of thy sins and failings, and ere thou canst
attempt to cross this
wide abyss of matter thou hast to lave thy feet in
Waters of Renunciation.
Beware lest thou should'st set a foot still soiled
upon the ladder's lowest
rung. Woe unto him who dares pollute one rung with
miry feet. The foul and
viscous mud will dry, become tenacious, then glue
his feet unto the spot, and
like a bird caught in the wily fowler's lime, he
will be stayed from further
progress. His vices will take shape and drag him
down. His sins will raise
their voices like as the jackal's laugh and sob
after the sun goes down; his
thoughts become an army, and bear him off a
captive slave.
Kill
thy desires, Lanoo, make thy vices impotent, ere the first step is
taken on
the solemn journey.
Strangle
thy sins, and make them dumb for ever, before thou dost lift one
foot to mount
the ladder.
Silence
thy thoughts and fix thy whole attention on thy Master whom yet thou
dost not
see, but whom thou feelest.
Merge
into one sense thy senses, if thou would'st be secure against the foe.
'Tis
by that sense alone which lies concealed within the hollow of thy
brain, that
the steep path which leadeth to thy Master may be disclosed
before thy Soul's
dim eyes.
Long and
weary is the way before thee, O Disciple. One single thought about
the past
that thou hast left behind, will drag thee down and thou wilt have
to start
the climb anew.
Kill
in thyself all memory of past experiences. Look not behind or thou art
lost.
Do
not believe that lust can ever be killed out if gratified or satiated,
for
this is an abomination inspired by Mara. It is by feeding vice that it
expands
and waxes strong, like to the worm that fattens on the blossom's
heart.
The
rose must re-become the bud born of its parent stem, before the parasite
has
eaten through its heart and drunk its life-sap.
The
golden tree puts forth its jewel-buds before its trunk is withered by
the storm.
The
pupil must regain the child-state he has lost ere the first sound can
fall
upon his ear.
The
light from the ONE Master, the one unfading golden light of Spirit,
shoots
its effulgent beams on the disciple from the very first. Its rays
thread through
the thick dark clouds of matter.
Now
here, now there, these rays illumine it, like sun-sparks light the earth
through
the thick foliage of the jungle growth. But, O Disciple, unless the
flesh is
passive, head cool, the soul as firm and pure as flaming diamond,
the radiance
will not reach the chamber (23), its sunlight will not warm the
heart, nor
will the mystic sounds of the Akasic heights (35) reach the ear,
however eager,
at the initial stage.
Unless thou hearest, thou canst not see.
Unless
thou seest thou canst not hear. To hear and see this is the second
stage.
. . . . . .
When the
disciple sees and hears, and when he smells and tastes, eyes
closed, ears shut,
with mouth and nostrils stopped; when the four senses
blend and ready are to
pass into the fifth, that of the inner touch -- then
into stage the fourth
he hath passed on.
And
in the fifth, O slayer of thy thoughts, all these again have to be
killed beyond
reanimation (36).
Withhold
thy mind from all external objects, all external sights. Withhold
internal
images, lest on thy Soul-light a dark shadow they should cast.
Thou art now in DHARANA (37), the sixth stage.
When
thou hast passed into the seventh, O happy one, thou shalt perceive no
more
the sacred three (38), for thou shalt have become that three thyself.
Thyself
and mind, like twins upon a line, the star which is thy goal, burns
overhead
(39). The three that dwell in glory and in bliss ineffable, now in
the world
of Maya have lost their names. They have become one star, the fire
that burns
but scorches not, that fire which is the Upadhi (40) of the
Flame.
And
this, O Yogi of success, is what men call Dhyana (41), the right
precursor
of Samadhi (42).
And
now thy Self is lost in SELF, thyself unto THYSELF, merged in THAT SELF
from
which thou first didst radiate.
Where
is thy individuality, Lanoo, where the Lanoo himself? It is the spark
lost
in the fire, the drop within the ocean, the ever-present Ray become the
all
and the eternal radiance.
And
now, Lanoo, thou art the doer and the witness, the radiator and the
radiation,
Light in the Sound, and the Sound in the Light.
Thou
art acquainted with the five impediments, O blessed one. Thou art their
conqueror,
the Master of the sixth, deliverer of the four modes of Truth
(43). The light
that falls upon them shines from thyself, O thou who wast
disciple but art
Teacher now.
And of these modes of Truth: --
Hast thou not passed through knowledge of all misery -- Truth the first?
Hast
thou not conquered the Maras' King at Tsi, the portal of assembling --
truth
the second? (44).
Hast thou not sin at the third gate destroyed and truth the third attained?
Hast
not thou entered Tau, "the Path" that leads to knowledge -- the fourth
truth?
(45).
And now, rest
'neath the Bodhi tree, which is perfection of all knowledge,
for, know, thou
art the Master of SAMADHI -- the state of faultless vision.
Behold!
thou hast become the light, thou hast become the Sound, thou art thy
Master
and thy God. Thou art THYSELF the object of thy search: the VOICE
unbroken,
that resounds throughout eternities, exempt from change, from sin
exempt, the
seven sounds in one, the
VOICE OF THE SILENCE
Om Tat Sat
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragment 2
Table of Contents
GLOSSARY TO PART I
The Voice of the Silence
(1).
The Pali word Iddhi, is the synonym of the Sanskrit Siddhis, or psychic
faculties,
the abnormal powers in man. There are two kinds of Siddhis. One
group which
embraces the lower, coarse, psychic and mental energies; the
other is one which
exacts the highest training of Spiritual powers. Says
Krishna in Shrimad Bhagavat:
--
"He who is
engaged in the performance of yoga, who has subdued his senses
and who has
concentrated his mind in me (Krishna), such yogis all the
Siddhis stand ready
to serve."
(2).
The "Soundless Voice," or the "Voice of the Silence." Literally
perhaps
this would read "Voice in the Spiritual Sound," as Nada is
the equivalent
word in Sanskrit, for the Sen-sar term.
(3).
Dharana, is the intense and perfect concentration of the mind upon some
one
interior object, accompanied by complete abstraction from everything
pertaining
to the external Universe, or the world of the senses.
(4).
The "great Master" is the term used by lanoos or chelas to
indicate-one's
"Higher Self." It is the equivalent of Avalokiteswara, and
the same
as Adi-Budha with the Buddhist Occultists, ATMAN the "Self" (the
Higher
Self) with the Brahmins, and CHRISTOS with the ancient Gnostics.
(5).
Soul is used here for the Human Ego or Manas, that which is referred to
in
our Occult Septenary division as the "Human Soul" (Vide the Secret
Doctrine)
in contradistinction to the Spiritual and Animal Souls.
(6). Maha Maya "Great Illusion," the objective Universe.
(7). Sakkayaditthi "delusion" of personality.
(8).
Attavada, the heresy of the belief in Soul or rather in the
separateness of
Soul or Self from the One Universal, infinite SELF.
(9).
The Tatwagyanee is the "knower" or discriminator of the principles in
nature
and in man; and Atmagyanee is the knower of ATMAN or the Universal,
ONE SELF.
(10).
Kala Hamsa, the "Bird" or Swan (Vide No. 11). Says the Nada-Bindu
Upanishad
(Rig Veda) translated by the Kumbakonam Theos. Society -- "The
syllable
A is considered to be its (the bird Hamsa's) right wing, u, its
left, M, its
tail, and the Ardha-matra (half metre) is said to be its head."
(11).
Eternity with the Orientals has quite another signification than it
has with
us. It stands generally for the 100 years or "age" of Brahma, the
duration
of a Kalpa or a period of 4,320,000,000 years.
(12).
Says the same Nada-Bindu, "A Yogi who bestrides the Hamsa (thus
contemplates
on Aum) is not affected by Karmic influences or crores of
sins."
(13). Give up the life of physical personality if you would live in spirit.
(14).
The three states of consciousness, which are Jagrat, the waking;
Swapna, the
dreaming; and Sushupti, the deep sleeping state. These three
Yogi conditions,
lead to the fourth, or --
(15).
The Turya, that beyond the dreamless state, the one above all, a state
of high
spiritual consciousness.
(16).
Some Sanskrit mystics locate seven planes of being, the seven
spiritual lokas
or worlds within the body of Kala Hamsa, the Swan out of
Time and Space, convertible
into the Swan in Time, when it becomes Brahma
instead of Brahma (neuter).
(17).
The phenomenal World of Senses and of terrestrial consciousness --
only.
(18).
The astral region, the Psychic World of supersensuous perceptions and
of deceptive
sights -- the world of Mediums. It is the great "Astral
Serpent"
of Eliphas Levi. No blossom plucked in those regions has ever yet
been brought
down on earth without its serpent coiled around the stem. It is
the world of
the Great Illusion.
(19).
The region of the full Spiritual Consciousness beyond which there is
no longer
danger for him who has reached it.
(20).
The Initiate who leads the disciple through the Knowledge given to him
to his
spiritual, or second, birth is called the Father guru or Master.
(21). Agnyana is ignorance or non-wisdom the opposite of "Knowledge" gnyana.
(22).
Mara is in exoteric religions a demon, an Asura, but in esoteric
philosophy
it is personified temptation through men's vices, and translated
literally
means "that which kills" the Soul. It is represented as a King (of
the
Maras) with a crown in which shines a jewel of such lustre that it
blinds those
who look at it, this lustre referring of course to the
fascination exercised
by vice upon certain natures.
(23).
[(23) second] The inner chamber of the Heart, called in Sanskrit
Brahma poori.
The "fiery power" is Kundalini.
(24).
The "Power" and the "World-mother" are names given to Kundalini
-- one
of the mystic "Yogi powers." It is Buddhi considered as an
active instead of
a passive principle (which it is generally, when regarded
only as the
vehicle, or casket of the Supreme Spirit ATMA). It is an electro-spiritual
force,
a creative power which when aroused into action can as easily kill as
it can
create.
(25). Keshara
or "sky-walker" or "goer." As explained in the 6th. Adhyaya
of
that king of mystic works the Dhyaneswari -- the body of the Yogi becomes
as
one formed of the wind; as "a cloud from which limbs have sprouted
out,"
after which -- "he (the Yogi) beholds the things beyond the
seas and stars;
he hears the language of the Devas and comprehends it, and
perceives what is
passing in the mind of the ant."
(26). Vina is an Indian stringed instrument like a lute.
(27).
The six principles; meaning when the lower personality is destroyed
and the
inner individuality is merged into and lost in the Seventh or
Spirit.
(28). The disciple is one with Brahma or the ATMAN.
(29).
The astral form produced by the Kamic principle, the Kama rupa or body
of desire.
(30).
Manasa rupa. The first refers to the astral or personal Self; the
second to
the individuality or the reincarnating Ego whose consciousness on
our plane
or the lower Manas -- has to be paralyzed.
(31).
Kundalini is called the "Serpentine" or the annular power on account
on
its spiral-like working or progress in the body of the ascetic developing
the
power in himself. It is an electric fiery occult or Fohatic power, the
great
pristine force, which underlies all organic and inorganic matter.
(32).
This "Path" is mentioned in all the Mystic Works. As Krishna says in
the
Dhyaneswari: "When this Path is beheld . . . whether one sets out to the
bloom
of the east or to the chambers of the west, without moving, O holder
of the
bow, is the travelling in this road. In this path, to whatever place
one would
go, that place one's own self becomes." "Thou art the Path" is
said
to the adept guru and by the latter to the disciple, after initiation.
"I
am the way and the Path" says another MASTER.
(33). Adeptship -- the "blossom of Bodhisattva."
(34).
Tanha -- "the will to live," the fear of death and love for life, that
force
or energy which causes the rebirths.
(35).
These mystic sounds or the melody heard by the ascetic at the
beginning of
his cycle of meditation called Anahad-shabd by the Yogis.
(36).
This means that in the sixth stage of development which, in the occult
system
is Dharana, every sense as an individual faculty has to be "killed"
(or
paralyzed) on this plane, passing into and merging with the Seventh
sense,
the most spiritual.
(37). See number 3.
(38).
Every stage of development in Raja Yoga is symbolised by a geometrical
figure.
This one is the sacred Triangle and precedes Dharana. The [triangle]
is the
sign of the high chelas, while another kind of triangle is that of
high Initiates.
It is the symbol "I" discoursed upon by Buddha and used by
him as
a symbol of the embodied form of Tathagata when released from the
three methods
of the Prajna. Once the preliminary and lower stages passed,
the disciple sees
no more the [triangle] but the -- the abbreviation of the
--, the full Septenary.
Its true form is not given here, as it is almost
sure to be pounced upon by
some charlatans and -- desecrated in its use for
fraudulent purposes.
(39).
The star that burns overhead is the "the star of initiation." The
caste-mark
of Saivas, or devotees of the sect of Siva, the great patron of
all Yogins,
is a black round spot, the symbol of the Sun now, perhaps, but
that of the
star of initiation, in Occultism, in days of old.
(40).
The basis (upadhi)of the ever unreachable FLAME," so long as the
ascetic
is still in this life.
(41).
Dhyana is the last stage before the final on this Earth unless one
becomes
a full MAHATMA. As said already in this state the Raj Yogi is yet
spiritually
conscious of Self, and the working of his higher principles. One
step more,
and he will be on the plane beyond the Seventh (or fourth
according to some
schools). These, after the practice of Pratyehara -- a
preliminary training,
in order to control one's mind and thoughts -- count
Dhasena, Dhyana and Samadhi
and embraces the three under the generic name of
SANNYAMA.
(42).
Samadhi is the state in which the ascetic loses the consciousness of
every
individuality including his own. He becomes -- the ALL.
(43).
The "four modes of truth" are, in Northern Buddhism, Ku "suffering
or
misery"; Tu the assembling of temptations; Mu "their destructions"
and Tau,
the "path." The "five impediments" are the knowledge
of misery, truth about
human frailty, oppressive restraints, and the absolute
necessity of
separation from all the ties of passion and even of desires. The
"Path of
Salvation" -- is the last one.
(44).
At the portal of the "assembling" the King of the Maras the Maha Mara
stands
trying to blind the candidate by the radiance of his "Jewel."
(45).
This is the fourth "Path" out of the five paths of rebirth which lead
and
toss all human beings into perpetual states of sorrow and joy. These
"paths"
are but sub-divisions of the One, the Path followed by Karma.
The Voice of
the Silence by H. P. Blavatsky
FRAGMENT II
THE TWO PATHS
AND
now, O Teacher of Compassion, point thou the way to other men. Behold,
all
those who knocking for admission, await in ignorance and darkness, to
see the
gate of the Sweet Law flung open!
The voice of the Candidates:
Shalt
not thou, Master of thine own Mercy, reveal the Doctrine of the Heart?
(1)
Shalt thou refuse to lead thy Servants unto the Path of Liberation?
Quoth the Teacher:
The
Paths are two; the great Perfections three; six are the Virtues that
transform
the body into the Tree of Knowledge (2).
Who shall approach them?
Who shall first enter them?
Who
shall first hear the doctrine of two Paths in one, the truth unveiled
about
the Secret Heart? (3) The Law which, shunning learning, teaches
Wisdom, reveals
a tale of woe.
Alas,
alas, that all men should possess Alaya, be one with the great Soul,
and that
possessing it, Alaya should so little avail them!
Behold
how like the moon, reflected in the tranquil waves, Alaya is
reflected by the
small and by the great, is mirrored in the tiniest atoms,
yet fails to reach
the heart of all. Alas, that so few men should profit by
the gift, the priceless
boon of learning truth, the right perception of
existing things, the Knowledge
of the non-existent!
Saith the pupil:
O Teacher, what shall I do to reach to Wisdom?
O Wise one, what, to gain perfection?
Search
for the Paths. But, O Lanoo, be of clean heart before thou startest
on thy
journey. Before thou takest thy first step learn to discern the real
from the
false, the ever-fleeting from the everlasting. Learn above all to
separate
Head-learning from Soul-Wisdom, the "Eye" from the "Heart"
doctrine.
Yea,
ignorance is like unto a closed and airless vessel; the soul a bird
shut up
within. It warbles not, nor can it stir a feather; but the songster
mute and
torpid sits, and of exhaustion dies.
But
even ignorance is better than Head-learning with no Soul-wisdom to
illuminate
and guide it.
The
seeds of Wisdom cannot sprout and grow in airless space. To live and
reap experience
the mind needs breadth and depth and points to draw it
towards the Diamond
Soul (4). Seek not those points in Maya's realm; but
soar beyond illusions,
search the eternal and the changeless SAT (5),
mistrusting fancy's false suggestions.
For
mind is like a mirror; it gathers dust while it reflects (6). It needs
the
gentle breezes of Soul-Wisdom to brush away the dust of our illusions.
Seek
O Beginner, to blend thy Mind and Soul.
Shun
ignorance, and likewise shun illusion. Avert thy face from world
deceptions;
mistrust thy senses, they are false. But within thy body -- the
shrine of thy
sensations -- seek in the Impersonal for the "eternal man"
(7); and
having sought him out, look inward: thou art Buddha (8).
Shun
praise, O Devotee. Praise leads to self-delusion. Thy body is not self,
thy
SELF is in itself without a body, and either praise or blame affects it
not.
Self-gratulation,
O disciple, is like unto a lofty tower, up which a haughty
fool has climbed.
Thereon he sits in prideful solitude and unperceived by
any but himself.
False
learning is rejected by the Wise, and scattered to the Winds by the
good Law.
Its wheel revolves for all, the humble and the proud. The
"Doctrine of
the Eye" (9) is for the crowd, the "Doctrine of the Heart," for
the
elect. The first repeat in pride: "Behold, I know," the last, they who
in
humbleness have garnered, low confess, "thus have I heard" (10).
"Great Sifter" is the name of the "Heart Doctrine," O disciple.
The
wheel of the good Law moves swiftly on. It grinds by night and day. The
worthless
husks it drives from out the golden grain, the refuse from the
flour. The hand
of Karma guides the wheel; the revolutions mark the beatings
of the Karmic
heart.
True knowledge
is the flour, false learning is the husk. If thou would'st
eat the bread of
Wisdom, thy flour thou hast to knead with Amrita's* clear
waters. But if thou
kneadest husks with Maya's dew, thou canst create but
food for the black doves
of death, the birds of birth, decay and sorrow.
[*Immortality.]
If
thou art told that to become Arhan thou hast to cease to love all beings
--
tell them they lie.
If
thou art told that to gain liberation thou hast to hate thy mother and
disregard
thy son; to disavow thy father and call him "householder" (11);
for
man and beast all pity to renounce -- tell them their tongue is false.
Thus teach the Tirthikas, the unbelievers.*
[*Brahman ascetics.]
If
thou art taught that sin is born of action and bliss of absolute
inaction,
then tell them that they err. Non-permanence of human action;
deliverance of
mind from thraldom by the cessation of sin and faults, are
not for "Deva
Egos."* Thus saith the "Doctrine of the Heart."
[*The reincarnating Ego.]
The
Dharma of the "Eye" is the embodiment of the external, and the
non-existing.
The
Dharma of the "Heart" is the embodiment of Bodhi,* the Permanent and
Everlasting.
[*True, divine Wisdom.]
The
Lamp burns bright when wick and oil are clean. To make them clean a
cleaner
is required. The flame feels not the process of the cleaning. "The
branches
of a tree are shaken by the wind; the trunk remains unmoved."
Both
action and inaction may find room in thee; thy body agitated, thy mind
tranquil,
thy Soul as limpid as a mountain lake.
Wouldst thou become a Yogi of "Time's Circle"? Then, O Lanoo: --
Believe
thou not that sitting in dark forests, in proud seclusion and apart
from men;
believe thou not that life on roots and plants, that thirst
assuaged with snow
from the great Range -- believe thou not, O Devotee, that
this will lead thee
to the goal of final liberation.
Think
not that breaking bone, that rending flesh and muscle, unites thee to
thy "silent
Self" (12). Think not, that when the sins of thy gross form are
conquered,
O Victim of thy Shadows (13), thy duty is accomplished by nature
and by man.
The
blessed ones have scorned to do so. The Lion of the Law, the Lord of
Mercy,*
perceiving the true cause of human woe, immediately forsook the
sweet but selfish
rest of quiet wilds. From Aranyaka (14) He became the
Teacher of mankind. After
Julai (15) had entered the Nirvana, He preached on
mount and plain, and held
discourses in the cities, to Devas, men and gods
(16).
[*Buddha.]
Sow kindly
acts and thou shalt reap their fruition. Inaction in a deed of
mercy becomes
an action in a deadly sin.
Thus saith the Sage.
Shalt
thou abstain from action? Not so shall gain thy soul her freedom. To
reach
Nirvana one must reach Self-Knowledge, and Self-Knowledge is of loving
deeds
the child.
Have patience,
Candidate, as one who fears no failure, courts no success.
Fix thy Soul's gaze
upon the star whose ray thou art (17), the flaming star
that shines within
the lightless depths of ever-being, the boundless fields
of the Unknown.
Have
perseverance as one who doth for evermore endure. Thy shadows live and
vanish
(18); that which in thee shall live for ever, that which in thee
knows, for
it is knowledge (19), is not of fleeing life: it is the man that
was, that
is, and will be, for whom the hour shall never strike.
If
thou would'st reap sweet peace and rest, Disciple, sow with the seeds of
merit
the fields of future harvests. Accept the woes of birth.
Step
out from sunlight into shade, to make more room for others. The tears
that
water the parched soil of pain and sorrow, bring forth the blossoms and
the
fruits of Karmic retribution. Out of the furnace of man's life and its
black
smoke, winged flames arise, flames purified, that soaring onward,
'neath the
Karmic eye, weave in the end the fabric glorified of the three
vestures of
the Path (20).
These
vestures are: Nirmanakaya, Sambhoga-Kaya, and Dharmakaya, robe
Sublime. (21).
The
Shangna robe (22), 'tis true, can purchase light eternal. The Shangna
robe
alone gives the Nirvana of destruction; it stops rebirth, but, O Lanoo,
it
also kills -- compassion. No longer can the perfect Buddhas, who don the
Dharmakaya
glory, help man's salvation. Alas! shall SELVES be sacrificed to
Self; mankind,
unto the weal of Units?
Know,
O beginner, this is the Open PATH, the way to selfish bliss, shunned
by the
Boddhisattvas of the "Secret Heart," the Buddhas of Compassion.
To
live to benefit mankind is the first step. To practise the six glorious
virtues
(23) is the second.
To
don Nirmanakaya's humble robe is to forego eternal bliss for Self, to
help
on man's salvation. To reach Nirvana's bliss, but to renounce it, is
the supreme,
the final step -- the highest on Renunciation's Path.
Know,
O Disciple, this is the Secret PATH, selected by the Buddhas of
Perfection,
who sacrificed The SELF to weaker Selves.
Yet,
if the "Doctrine of the Heart" is too high-winged for thee. If thou
need'st
help thyself and fearest to offer help to others, -- then, thou of
timid heart,
be warned in time: remain content with the "Eye Doctrine" of
the
Law. Hope still. For if the "Secret Path" is unattainable this "day,"
it
is within thy reach "to-morrow." (24). Learn that no efforts,
not the
smallest -- whether in right or wrong direction -- can vanish from
the world
of causes. E'en wasted smoke remains not traceless. "A harsh
word uttered in
past lives, is not destroyed but ever comes again."* The
pepper plant will
not give birth to roses, nor the sweet jessamine's silver
star to thorn or
thistle turn.
[*Precepts of the Prasanga School.]
Thou
canst create this "day" thy chances for thy "morrow." In the
"Great
Journey," (25) causes sown each hour bear each its harvest
of effects, for
rigid Justice rules the World. With mighty sweep of never erring
action, it
brings to mortals lives of weal or woe, the Karmic progeny of all
our former
thoughts and deeds.
Take
then as much as merit hath in store for thee, O thou of patient heart.
Be of
good cheer and rest content with fate. Such is thy Karma, the Karma of
the
cycle of thy births, the destiny of those, who, in their pain and
sorrow, are
born along with thee, rejoice and weep from life to life,
chained to thy previous
actions.
. . . . . .
Act thou for them to "day," and they will act for thee "to morrow."
'Tis
from the bud of Renunciation of the Self, that springeth the sweet
fruit of
final Liberation.
To
perish doomed is he, who out of fear of Mara refrains from helping man,
lest
he should act for Self. The pilgrim who would cool his weary limbs in
running
waters, yet dares not plunge for terror of the stream, risks to
succumb from
heat. Inaction based on selfish fear can bear but evil fruit.
The
Selfish devotee lives to no purpose. The man who does not go through his
appointed
work in life -- has lived in vain.
Follow
the wheel of life; follow the wheel of duty to race and kin, to
friend and
foe, and close thy mind to pleasures as to pain. Exhaust the law
of Karmic
retribution. Gain Siddhis for thy future birth.
If
Sun thou can'st not be, then be the humble planet. Aye, if thou art
debarred
from flaming like the noon-day Sun upon the snow-capped mount of
purity eternal,
then choose, O Neophyte, a humbler course.
Point
out the "Way" -- however dimly, and lost among the host -- as does the
evening
star to those who tread their path in darkness.
Behold
Migmar,* as in his crimson veils his "Eye" sweeps over slumbering
Earth.
Behold the fiery aura of the "Hand" of Lhagpa** extended in
protecting
love over the heads of his ascetics. Both are now servants to
Nyima*** (26)
left in his absence silent watchers in the night. Yet both in
Kalpas past were
bright Nyimas, and may in future "Days" again become two
Suns. Such
are the falls and rises of the Karmic Law in nature.
[*Mars.]
[**Mercury.]
[***The Sun.]
Be,
O Lanoo, like them. Give light and comfort to the toiling pilgrim, and
seek
out him who knows still less than thou; who in his wretched desolation
sits
starving for the bread of Wisdom and the bread which feeds the shadow,
without
a Teacher, hope or consolation, and -- let him hear the Law.
Tell
him, O Candidate, that he who makes of pride and self-regard
bond-maidens to
devotion; that he, who cleaving to existence, still lays his
patience and submission
to the Law, as a sweet flower at the feet of
Shakya-Thub-pa,* becomes a Srotapatti
(27) in this birth. The Siddhis of
perfection may loom far, far away; but the
first step is taken, the stream
is entered, and he may gain the eye-sight of
the mountain eagle, the hearing
of the timid doe.
[*Buddha.]
Tell him,
O Aspirant, that true devotion may bring him back the knowledge,
that knowledge
which was his in former births. The deva-sight and
deva-hearing are not obtained
in one short birth.
Be humble, if thou would'st attain to Wisdom.
Be humbler still, when Wisdom thou hast mastered.
Be
like the Ocean which receives all streams and rivers. The Ocean's mighty
calm
remains unmoved; it feels them not.
Restrain by thy Divine thy lower Self.
Restrain by the Eternal the Divine.
Aye, great is he, who is the slayer of desire.
Still
greater he, in whom the Self Divine has slain the very knowledge of
desire.
Guard thou the Lower lest it soil the Higher.
The way to final freedom is within thy SELF.
That way begins and ends outside of Self (28).
Unpraised
by men and humble is the mother of all Rivers, in Tirthika's proud
sight; empty
the human form though filled with Amrita's sweet waters, in the
sight of fools.
Withal, the birth-place of the sacred rivers is the sacred
land (29), and he
who Wisdom hath, is honoured by all men.
Arhans
and Sages of the boundless Vision (30) are rare as is the blossom of
the Udumbara
tree. Arhans are born at midnight hour, together with the
sacred plant of nine
and seven stalks (31), the holy flower that opes and
blooms in darkness, out
of the pure dew and on the frozen bed of snow-capped
heights, heights that
are trodden by no sinful foot.
No
Arhan, O Lanoo, becomes one in that birth when for the first the Soul
begins
to long for final liberation. Yet, O thou anxious one, no warrior
volunteering
fight in the fierce strife between the living and the dead
(32), not one recruit
can ever be refused the right to enter on the Path
that leads toward the field
of Battle.
For, either he shall win, or he shall fall.
Yea,
if he conquers, Nirvana shall be his. Before he casts his shadow off
his mortal
coil, that pregnant cause of anguish and illimitable pain -- in
him will men
a great and holy Buddha honour.
And
if he falls, e'en then he does not fall in vain; the enemies he slew in
the
last battle will not return to life in the next birth that will be his.
But
if thou would'st Nirvana reach, or cast the prize away (33), let not the
fruit
of action and inaction be thy motive, thou of dauntless heart.
Know
that the Bodhisattva who liberation changes for Renunciation to don the
miseries
of "Secret Life," (34) is called, "thrice Honoured," O thou
candidate
for woe throughout the cycles.
The
PATH is one, Disciple, yet in the end, twofold. Marked are its stages by
four
and seven Portals. At one end -- bliss immediate, and at the other --
bliss
deferred. Both are of merit the reward: the choice is thine.
The
One becomes the two, the Open and the Secret (35). The first one leadeth
to
the goal, the second, to Self-Immolation.
When
to the Permanent is sacrificed the Mutable, the prize is thine: the
drop returneth
whence it came. The Open PATH leads to the changeless change
-- Nirvana, the
glorious state of Absoluteness, the Bliss past human
thought.
Thus, the first Path is LIBERATION.
But
Path the Second is -- RENUNCIATION, and therefore called the "Path of
Woe."
That
Secret Path leads the Arhan to mental woe unspeakable; woe for the
living Dead
(36), and helpless pity for the men of Karmic sorrow, the fruit
of Karma Sages
dare not still.
For
it is written: "teach to eschew all causes; the ripple of effect, as the
great
tidal wave, thou shalt let run its course."
The
"Open Way," no sooner hast thou reached its goal, will lead thee to
reject
the Bodhisattvic body and make thee enter the thrice glorious state
of Dharmakaya
(37) which is oblivion of the World and men for ever.
The
"Secret Way" leads also to Paranirvanic bliss -- but at the close of
Kalpas
without number; Nirvanas gained and lost from boundless pity and
compassion
for the world of deluded mortals.
But
it is said "The last shall be the greatest," Samyak Sambuddha, the
Teacher
of Perfection, gave up his SELF for the salvation of the World, by
stopping
at the threshold of Nirvana -- the pure state.
. . . . . .
Thou hast
the knowledge now concerning the two Ways. Thy time will come for
choice, O
thou of eager Soul, when thou hast reached the end and passed the
seven Portals.
Thy mind is clear. No more art thou entangled in delusive
thoughts, for thou
hast learned all. Unveiled stands truth and looks thee
sternly in the face.
She says:
"Sweet
are the fruits of Rest and Liberation for the sake of Self; but
sweeter still
the fruits of long and bitter duty. Aye, Renunciation for the
sake of others,
of suffering fellow men."
He,
who becomes Pratyeka-Buddha (38), makes his obeisance but to his Self.
The
Bodhisattva who has won the battle, who holds the prize within his palm,
yet
says in his divine compassion:
"For
others' sake this great reward I yield" -- accomplishes the greater
Renunciation.
A SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD is he.
. . . . . .
Behold!
The goal of bliss and the long Path of Woe are at the furthest end.
Thou canst
choose either, O aspirant to Sorrow, throughout the coming
cycles! . . . .
OM VAJRAPANI HUM.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragment 3
Table of Contents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GLOSSARY TO PART II
The Two Paths
(1). The two
schools of Buddha's doctrine, the esoteric and the exoteric,
are respectively
called the "Heart" and the "Eye" Doctrine. Bodhidharma
called
them in China -- from whence the names reached Tibet -- the Tsung-men
(esoteric)
and Kiau-men (exoteric school). It is so named, because it is the
teaching
which emanated from Gautama Buddha's heart, whereas the "Eye"
Doctrine
was the work of his head or brain. The "Heart Doctrine" is also
called
"the seal of truth" or the "true seal," a symbol found on
the heading
of almost all esoteric works.
(2).
The "tree of knowledge" is a title given by the followers of the
Bodhidharma
(Wisdom religion) to those who have attained the height of
mystic knowledge
-- adepts. Nagarjuna the founder of the Madhyamika School
was called the "Dragon
Tree," Dragon standing as a symbol of Wisdom and
Knowledge. The tree is
honoured because it is under the Bodhi (wisdom) Tree
that Buddha received his
birth and enlightenment, preached his first sermon
and died.
(3). "Secret Heart" is the esoteric doctrine.
(4).
"Diamond Soul" "Vajrasattva," a title of the supreme Buddha,
the "Lord
of all Mysteries," called Vajradhara and Adi-Buddha.
(5).
SAT, the one eternal and Absolute Reality and Truth, all the rest being
illusion.
(6).
From Shin-Sien's Doctrine, who teaches that the human mind is like a
mirror
which attracts and reflects every atom of dust, and has to be, like
that mirror,
watched over and dusted every day. Shin-Sien was the sixth
Patriarch of North
China who taught the esoteric doctrine of Bodhidharma.
(7).
The reincarnating EGO is called by the Northern Buddhists the "true
man,"
who becomes in union with his Higher-Self -- a Buddha.
(8). "Buddha" means "Enlightened."
(9). See No. 1. The exoteric Buddhism of the masses.
(10).
The usual formula that precedes the Buddhist Scriptures, meaning, that
that
which follows is what has been recorded by direct oral tradition from
Buddha
and the Arhats.
(11).
Rathapala the great Arhat thus addresses his father in the legend
called Rathapala
Sutrasanne. But as all such legends are allegorical (e.g.
Rathapala's father
has a mansion with seven doors)hence the reproof, to
those who accept them
literally.
(12). The "Higher Self" the "seventh" principle.
(13). Our physical bodies are called "Shadows" in the mystic schools.
(14).
A hermit who retires to the jungles and lives in a forest, when
becoming a
Yogi.
(15). Julai the Chinese name for Tathagata, a title applied to every Buddha.
(16).
All the Northern and Southern traditions agree in showing Buddha
quitting his
solitude as soon as he had resolved the problem of life -- i.
e., received
the inner enlightenment -- and teaching mankind publicly.
(17).
Every spiritual EGO is a ray of a "Planetary Spirit" according to
esoteric
teaching.
(18). "Personalities" or physical bodies called "shadows" are evanescent.
(19).
Mind (Manas)the thinking Principle or EGO in man, is referred to
"Knowledge"
itself, because the human Egos are called Manasa-putras the sons
of (universal)
Mind.
(20). Vide Part III. Glossary, paragraph 34 et seq.
(21). Ibid.
(22). The Shangna
robe, from Shangnavesu of Rajagriha the third great Arhat
or "Patriarch"
as the Orientalists call the hierarchy of the 33 Arhats who
spread Buddhism.
"Shangna robe" means metaphorically, the acquirement of
Wisdom with
which the Nirvana of destruction (of personality)is entered.
Literally, the
"initiation robe" of the Neophytes. Edkins states that this
"grass
cloth" was brought to China from Tibet in the Tong Dynasty. "When an
Arhan
is born this plant is found growing in a clean spot" says the Chinese
as
also the Tibetan legend.
(23).
To "practise the Paramita Path" means to become a Yogi with a view of
becoming
an ascetic.
(24). "To-morrow" means the following rebirth or reincarnation.
(25).
"Great journey" or the whole complete cycle of existences, in one
"Round."
(26).
Nyima, the Sun in Tibetan Astrology. Migmar or Mars is symbolized by
an "Eye,"
and Shagpa or Mercury by a "Hand."
(27).
Strotapatti or "he who enters in the stream" of Nirvana, unless he
reaches
the goal owing to some exceptional reasons, can rarely attain
Nirvana in one
birth. Usually a Chela is said to begin the ascending effort
in one life and
end or reach it only in his seventh succeeding birth.
(28). Meaning the personal lower "Self."
(29).
Tirthikas are the Brahmanical Sectarians "beyond" the Himalayas called
"infidels"
by the Buddhists in the sacred land, Tibet, and vice versa.
(30).
Boundless Vision or psychic, superhuman sight. An Arhan is credited
with "seeing"
and knowing all at a distance as well as on the spot.
(31). Vide supra 22: Shangna plant.
(32).
The "living" is the immortal Higher Ego, and the "dead" --
the lower
personal Ego.
(33). Vide infra Part III. par. 34.
(34). The "Secret Life" is life as a Nirmanakaya.
(35).
The "Open" and the "Secret Path" -- or the one taught to the
layman,
the exoteric and the generally accepted, and the other the Secret Path
--
the nature of which is explained at initiation.
(36).
Men ignorant of the Esoteric truths and Wisdom are called "the living
Dead."
(37). Vide infra, Part III. 34.
(38).
Pratyeka Buddhas are those Bodhisattvas who strive after and often
reach the
Dharmakaya robe after a series of lives. Caring nothing for the
woes of mankind
or to help it, but only for their own bliss, they enter
Nirvana and -- disappear
from the sight and the hearts of men. In Northern
Buddhism a "Pratyeka
Buddha" is a synonym of spiritual Selfishness.
The Voice of the Silence
by H. P. Blavatsky
FRAGMENT III
THE SEVEN PORTALS
"UPADYA
(1), the choice is made, I thirst for Wisdom. Now hast thou rent the
veil before
the secret Path and taught the greater Yana (2). Thy servant
here is ready
for thy guidance."
'Tis
well, Sravaka (3). Prepare thyself, for thou wilt have to travel on
alone.
The Teacher can but point the way. The Path is one for all, the means
to reach
the goal must vary with the Pilgrims.
Which
wilt thou choose, O thou of dauntless heart? The Samtan (4) of "eye
Doctrine,"
four-fold Dhyana, or thread thy way through Paramitas (5), six in
number, noble
gates of virtue leading to Bodhi and to Prajna, seventh step
of Wisdom?
The
rugged Path of four-fold Dhyana winds on uphill. Thrice great is he who
climbs
the lofty top.
The
Paramita heights are crossed by a still steeper path. Thou hast to fight
thy
way through portals seven, seven strongholds held by cruel crafty Powers
--
passions incarnate.
Be
of good cheer, Disciple; bear in mind the golden rule. Once thou hast
passed
the gate Srotapatti (6), "he who the stream hath entered"; once thy
foot
hath pressed the bed of the Nirvanic stream in this or any future life,
thou
hast but seven other births before thee, O thou of adamantine Will.
Look on. What see'st thou before thine eye, O aspirant to god-like Wisdom?
"The
cloak of darkness is upon the deep of matter; within its folds I
struggle.
Beneath my gaze it deepens, Lord; it is dispelled beneath the
waving of thy
hand. A shadow moveth, creeping like the stretching serpent
coils. . . . It
grows, swells out and disappears in darkness."
It
is the shadow of thyself outside the Path, cast on the darkness of thy
sins.
"Yea,
Lord; I see the PATH; its foot in mire, its summits lost in glorious
light
Nirvanic. And now I see the ever narrowing Portals on the hard and
thorny way
to Gnyana."*
[*Knowledge, Wisdom.]
Thou
seest well, Lanoo. These Portals lead the aspirant across the waters on
"to
the other shore" (7). Each Portal hath a golden key that openeth its
gate;
and these keys are: --
1. DANA, the key of charity and love immortal.
2.
SHILA, the key of Harmony in word and act, the key that counterbalances
the
cause and the effect, and leaves no further room f