In fact in “The Voice of the Silence”, Blavatsky writes

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 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.

A.A.Bailey writes in “The Rays and initiation”

When a Master takes the fifth initiation He… must become consciously aware of the highest aspect: the Will-to-Good. He has developed in Himself “the love necessary to salvation, His own and that of those He loves, His fellowmen;” all His actions and His thinking are qualified by goodwill, in its esoteric sense, and the significance of the Will-to-Good lies ahead of Him and will be later revealed.

Apparently amongst Christian esoterocists, the initiation when one becomes an arhat is understandably called the Ressurection. But apparently, it is the seventh which is the true ressurection. Hell, what do I know?

The fifth initiation is also called among esotericists: the initiation of revelation. I find this more interesting because of the emphasis within Buddhism on awakening. The word Buddha itself meaning one who has awoken; achieving liberation and revelation/awakening occuring at the same point.

Lest we forget. The Diamond Sutra, in which Buddha speaks to his disciple Subhuti, reminds us that there is no ego here.

“Subhuti, what do you think, can an Arhat have the thought, ‘Have I attained the Way of the Arhat?’” Subhuti said, “No World Honored One. Why? Actually there is no dharma called ‘Arhat.’ World Honored One, if an Arhat had the thought, ‘I have attained the Way of the Arhat,’ that would be an attachment to self, others, living beings and to a life. World Honored One, the Buddha has said that I am foremost in the attainment of the No Strife Samadhi, and I am the foremost Arhat free from desire. Yet, World Honored One, I do not have the thought, ‘I am an Arhat free from desire.’ If I had the thought, ‘I have attained the Way of the Arhat,’ then the World Honored One would not say, ‘Subhuti is foremost of those who delight in practicing Aranya.’ Since Subhuti actually does not practice anything, he is called, ‘Subhuti who delights in practicing Aranya.’”

So, this initiation – The initiation of liberation, of revelation – Is it the initiation of enlightenment? Well, just what does one mean by enlightenment? It does all get hard to fathom. We know the practice works in our own lives. We’ve seen what happens, so looking ahead isn’t such a bad thing.

Buddhism starts counting at Western Occultism’s second initiation. In that light and the light of Buddha’s discussion with Subhuti, here’s what Dogen has to say in the Shobogenzo:

The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind in the present transcend self and other; correct from head to tail, they are beyond our ability to comprehend thoroughly. For this reason, one’s whole body, as it is, “does not covet and is not defiled.” It does not covet and is not defiled by the whole of “any phenomena, existent or non-existent.” The wholeness, just as it is, of “holding to the four-line verse,” is called “does not covet and is not defiled”; it is also called “the fourth stage of fruition.” The fourth stage of fruition is the arhat.

Just a thought.

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I think people misunderstand the concept of sudden enlightenment. Satori itself is sudden and fully transformative, but getting to that point can take lifetimes. Buddha himself after making his vow when he first saw Dipankara took a number of lifetimes.

To think that people don’t stumble along the path is naive. We do, we say things that are cutting, we entertain selfish thoughts, we eat things it would be best not to, etc. etc. And that is one of the reasons we must generate compassion towards ourselves, not just towards others.

The other problem is the idea that we are perfecting our nature. In Zen we are not perfecting anything, just preparing the ground for enlightenment.

As a parting thought try this, in the enlightened mind the universe is already whole. There is no difference between you and the universe. As Alan Watts put it The inside and the outside are one. Where is there not Alaya?

Forgive yourself and be free.

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There’s a story about the Zen master Mu-nan who had only one successor. His name was Shoju. After Shoju had finished his training, Mu-nan called him into his room. “I am getting old,” he said, “and as far as I know, Shoju, you are the only one who will carry on this teaching. Here is a book. It has been passed down from master to master for seven generations. I also have added many points according to my understanding. The book is very valuable, and I am giving it to you to represent your successorship.”

“If the book is such an important thing, you had better keep it,” Shoju replied. “I received your Zen without writing and am satisfied with it as it is.”

“I know that,” said Mu-nan. “Even so, this work has been carried from master to master for seven generations, so you may keep it as a symbol of having received the teaching. Here.”

The two happened to be talking before a brazier. The instant Shoju felt the book in his hands he thrust it into the flaming coals.

Mu-nan, who never had been angry before, yelled: “What are you doing!”

Shoju shouted back: “What are you saying!”

In Tibetan Buddhism there’s the art of the Sand Mandala, which is ritualistically destroyed once it has been completed and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished to symbolize the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.

Objects are impermanent. The Taliban’s ritual is full of anger. You can read more about it here. This is an important part of Buddhist history. It is upsetting to many people. Yet perhaps it is time to create new art for a new time.

Yet for me 80 minutes, which is what I do like to do in a morning, is definitely better than 15 and it seems that with 30 I’m only just getting started. But that’s just my experience.

Then there are seshins although I’ve never been on one. It must be fabulous.

What’s your experience?

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Who seeks me by form,
Who seeks me by sound,
Perverted are his footsteps on the way;
For he cannot perceive the Tathagata.

The Diamond Sutra, The Buddha

There are a number of products out there that claim to work on the brain to produce deepened meditation or enlightenment. One came in my mailbox yesterday claiming Discover how to meditate deeper than a zen monk in just five minutes – without years of practice, or hours of boring meditation CDs – by using a secret shortcut you can’t find anywhere else. How do they promise to achieve this? Through sound.

Binaural beat recordings use specially generated sounds to alter your brainwaves. Using our research skills and the latest computer technology, we have produced the following range of binaural beat CDs, allowing you to quickly and easily enter states of creativity, relaxation, or pure energy! These are the highest quality, most professional Binaural Beats products available anywhere.

Maybe it works. I don’t know. In fact, I don’t know anything much to be completely honest, but it does strike me as strange trying to liberate ourselves from form by using form.

When Hui Neng, commented that the mind of the ideal person rests nowhere, I think he was pointing clearly to being awake.

Imperturbable and serene the ideal man practises no virtue.
Self-possessed and dispassionate, he commits no sin.
Calm and silent, he gives up seeing and hearing.
Even and upright his mind abides nowhere.

As you know, Buddha means the one who as awakened. The problem is not matter but identification with it. That’s materialism, a resting of the mind within a conceptual framework. However the issue is any resting of the mind in any concept. To awaken from the sleep of identification with thought, even the concept of self, that’s being awake.

A while ago I did a list of values that I live by and highest on that list was freedom and reviewing that this new year I don’t think it’s changed, but then the question is how one sees freedom. Unlike some I do not search for it outwardly, but rather I search for it in my own mind. Why not? Victor Frankl, paid testament to this in the concentration camps of the Third Reich. And in this view I find what Bodhidharma points to very interesting. Here are few snippets from the Blood Stream Sermon.

“Beyond this mind you’ll never see another Buddha… Whoever sees his nature is a Buddha… And the Buddha is the person who’s free… At every moment, where language can’t go, that’s your mind… If you seek direct understanding, don’t hold on to any appearance whatsoever, and you’ll succeed… And this nature is the mind and this mind is the buddha.”

Another thought that sticks with me on this topic is the universe in which we live. While Einstein may have demonstrated that spatially it’s finite, yet continuing to expand, Stephen Hawkings finding, at least as I understand it is that temporally it’s both finite and infinite. This blows my mind in the same way the Diamond Sutra did in my mid twenties. To me Einstein’s view that energy is indestructible amounts to much the same thought, just from another point of view. What meaning does becoming have in such a context? Truly everything is just so. There is no start, yet there is a start. Perhaps we are just like that.

“Like a meteor, like darkness, as a flickering lamp,
An illusion, like hoar-frost, or a bubble,
Like clouds, a flash of lightening, or a dream;
So is all conditioned existence to be seen.”

“One should use one’s mind in such a way that it will be free from attachment.” – The Diamond Sutra.

Counting the breath, meditation on an object are all techniques that build up the concentration, but that same concentration can come out of an intense inquiry into the nature of oneself.

And so it seems to me that Soto Zen and Rinzai Zen are essentially the same. Sitting on one’s mat in still awareness is the same as enquiring “Who am I?” I think it’s no co-incidence that Hui Neng, in my opinion the founder of Zen, asked his first student “What was your original nature before you were born?” You have to sit quietly for an answer don’t you.

It’s the same as the Christian injunction to “Be still and know that I am God.” And Dolano’s advice that you must love meditation is basically saying that you must love being still.

Christ pointed to the kingdom of heaven being within. Isn’t that such a major hint. Buddha pointed to the fullness of the seeming void. And more recently Ramana and Krishnamurti both pointed to the inquiry into one’s own nature.

And then to carry this stillness, call it spaciousness if you will beyond meditation and into one’s outer life. It strikes me that’s what mindfulness is.

Some teachers point to the idea that the practise of mindfulness in meditation leads to mindfulness in one’s life. If mindfulness and stillness are the same then we’re saying even in action be still.

And that carries the conversation back to that teaching in the Bhagavad Gita

He who can see inaction in action, and action in inaction is the wisest among men. He is a saint, even though he still acts.

-Attributed to the Buddha (from the Diamond Sutra)