Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[C T]

Buddhism and the God-idea

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/godidea.html

Edited January 7, 2021 by C T

[C T]

~ Deity Yoga in a Nutshell ~ 

 

You've stumbled into a Tibetan Buddhist center or their website and you hear or read about the practice of deity-yoga or sādhana practice. After paying a little attention, you can perhaps discern that this seems to be one of the main practices of Tibetan Buddhism. You've also heard it said that Buddhism is a "non-theistic" religion and so you wonder, what's this deity-yoga? Who's this deity? So what's deity-yoga? How do we relate to vajrayāna sādhana practice?

 

 In simple terms, in terms that beginners like us can appreciate rather than the ideal that most texts and teachers tend to present - perhaps to inspire us or to show us what we have to aim for - deity-yoga can perhaps be understood in the following way: 

 

 

Buddhism starts with the premise that we are where we are - in this cycle of birth and death - because of confusion and its consequences. This confusion is fundamentally a confusion of identity - we mistakenly believe that what we see (smell, taste, touch, hear, think) exists ultimately in the way we see them. Furthermore, we deeply believe in a particular identity, self, personality to be who we truly are. But here, in deity-yoga, instead of believing in our present mistaken notions and conceptions of who we are - such as rigidly holding on to the identity that I have a doctoral degree in religious studies, founder of Urban Dharma North Carolina, blessed with the title of "dorjé lopön" by HH Drikung Kyabgön Rinpoché, in my 40s, worried about this or that, feeling rather unremarkable on some days, sometimes worrying about not being able to accomplish a laundry list of ambitions, other times recklessly throwing away opportunities and resources - instead of such limited conceptualizations, we drop them all and try to relate to who we truly are. We give up our personal narratives of suffering and happiness, successes and disappointments. We let go of our manufactured truths about ourselves and others. In deity-yoga, instead of continuing to hold on to our constructed self, we manifest the budddha that we are. In this practice, we take a leap of faith and trust that we are buddhas. This is the fundamental point of buddhanature, tathāgatagarbha. So in fact, the theory behind deity-yoga is shared with all traditions of Buddhism that accept the teachings on buddhanature and not just Tibetan Buddhism.

Thus, although not known as a vajrayāna figure, the Zen master Dōgen 道元禅師 (1200-53) has some words that aptly express how the vajrayāna practice of deity-yoga works. Dōgen writes in the essay Shōji 生死 ("Birth and Death"): "When you simply release and forget both your body and mind, you throw yourself into the house of Buddha, and when functioning comes from the direction of Buddha and you go in accord with it, then with no strength needed and no thought expended, freed from birth and death, you become Buddha."  Elsewhere he writes: "Only Buddha can become Buddha" - just as in vajrayāna, it is said that "only a deity can (truly) worship a deity."

 

 

So here, according to Dōgen, we have to throw ourselves "into the house of Buddha" and let the buddha that we are manifest. Instead of trying to muster all the power we can to force ourselves into becoming buddha while chanting our sādhanas, "let functioning come from the direction of Buddha." Then, as Dōgen goes on to explain, "there can be no obstacle in any man's mind," and it becomes "extremely easy to become Buddha." This is also the vajrayāna perspective - that the swiftest path to buddhahood is deity-yoga.

Of course we feel a bit awkward, a bit klutzy going through the sādhanas, imagining ourselves as "one face, four arms. Top two hands holding a lotus and a crystal-māla, bottom two holding a wish-fulfilling jewel." Am I really Avalokitesvara? Me? The compassion of all buddhas? Isn't this just silly - or even worse, sacrilegious - to pretend to be a buddha? But this is where faith comes in - faith not in the theistic sense of believing in some deity, some omnipotent other who will deliver us from evil. But faith in our truest identity as buddha.

 

Conversely, if you prefer to look at this from the side of doubt, then deity-yoga is the practice of casting doubt on our rigid views and narratives as limited and miserable creatures incapable of overthrowing the tyranny of confusion.

 

The greater a doubt we can muster up and direct towards the limited and confused view of who we believe we are, the greater the breakthrough and experience that we will have via the practice of deity-yoga.

 

It is unfortunately true that there's much in the world today to justify us being pessimists and not much to persuade us to be optimists. There is much in the news today to convince us that we're all wretched souls and not much to inspire us to be wisdom buddhas. But one thing is sure - pessimists don't change anything. While not all optimists actually change anything, in the end only optimists ever make a difference. 

 

 

So why not be the ultimate optimist? Take that leap of faith and trust that buddhas did not appear in this world to dupe us with some tall tales about all of us being buddhas but instead they have appeared for the sole purpose of showing us who we truly are. Give it a try - practice your deity-yoga!

 

(Courtesy of Konchok Yedor, who runs a blog and online shop called Tibetanspirit.com) 

[C T]

WORDS OF WISDOM 06.01.2021

 Published: 06 January 2021

 

In other words, a Buddhist practitioner need not necessarily eat poorly and dress poorly, or think he or she must refrain from using the good things in life. This would also be a form of attachment. The main point is not to develop greed for these things.

The whole purpose of bringing this up is to say Buddhism is not pessimistic. Although the Buddha exhorted his followers to be content with few desires, it does not mean one must live a life of austerity. Most importantly, one should seek meaning in life through liberation, not through the pursuit of worldly pleasures.

 

~Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA - The Practice of Suffering

 

[C T]

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

Where am "I" to be found in the absence (selflessness) of all propositions of place?

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by C T

[manitou]

LOL.   Everywhere.  All Time and Space are ours.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by manitou

[C T]

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

Anxiety is an inevitable consequence of striving to control and manage the ultimately uncontrollable and unmanageable — the inherently uncertain conditions of our contingent perceptual reality.

[manitou]

What a dichotomy.  Enlightenment is total acceptance of conditions, knowing that everything is going to be okay ultimately.

[C T]

4 minutes ago, manitou said:

What a dichotomy.  Enlightenment is total acceptance of conditions, knowing that everything is going to be okay ultimately.

 

For me, enlightenment's sweet spot lies right smack in between acceptance or rejection  

[manitou]

30 minutes ago, C T said:

 

For me, enlightenment's sweet spot lies right smack in between acceptance or rejection  

 

 

It's not even really rejection -- I feel like it's exercising the right option.  And when in doubt as to what to do?  The first thing to consider is doing nothing.  All that comes along is then handled with love.

[C T]

14 minutes ago, manitou said:

 

 

It's not even really rejection -- I feel like it's exercising the right option.  And when in doubt as to what to do?  The first thing to consider is doing nothing.  All that comes along is then handled with love.

 

When in doubt, sing  

[C T]

 

Enlightening vision sees from every conceivable angle.

 

~ Paramito ~ 

 

[manitou]

11 hours ago, C T said:

 

For me, enlightenment's sweet spot lies right smack in between acceptance or rejection  

 

 

I woke up from a nap and I saw what you mean here.  When there is no drama involved it is completely a matter of preference.  

[C T]

AJAHN SUCITTO - THE WISDOM OF THE BODY: A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE

 

We asked the Ajahn a most simple, and straightforward question; why meditate? And you can sense his equally straightforward, clear, warm and joyful reply in this post.

 

Elaborating on the mechanism in his book ‘Samadhi is Pure Enjoyment’ he writes -

"The body is something that can be trusted much more than the mind. And as one learns to trust the body, one learns to receive the blessings of what is good and conducive to the heart’s welfare. This brings joy.

 

The enjoyment of embodied presence - of opening and settling in the body, rather than thinking about it - causes the mind to stop creating injunctions, controls and distractions, just because the underlying agitations that cause the mind to do all that get soothed by the direct experience of the body. And as the body begins to feel settled, the mind also settles - it doesn’t have conflicting interests and doubts. In this way, release in terms of the body - release from tension and staleness - supports release of mind.

 

Overall, practicing meditation entails introducing awareness to body, thought and mood in a mindful way. This requires a clear commitment of intention: to being here, being with the body and the feeling. You use bodily sense, especially the breathing sense, to get grounded in the here and now. Then when you are settled into this embodied awareness, you can stand at the door of the heart and be with what arises in the mind without holding, favouring or resisting. You let things pass. This dispassion is also a ‘sign’ that calms the heart; it loses interest in what passes, it doesn’t get involved. Pretty soon, the distracting inner visitors stop coming."

[C T]

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

Sounds pass through silence, and the silence is undisturbed. 

 

Appearances pass through awareness, and the awareness is undisturbed. 

 

Manifestations play through Mind, and Mind is undisturbed.

 

The immutability of the non-dual is displayed effortlessly.... 

[C T]

~ The Mandala ~ 

 

The origin of the mandala is the center, a dot. It is a symbol apparently free of dimensions. It means a 'seed', 'sperm', 'drop', the salient starting point. It is the gathering center in which the outside energies are drawn, and in the act of drawing the forces, the devotee's own energies unfold and are also drawn. Thus it represents the outer and inner spaces. Its purpose is to remove the object-subject dichotomy. In the process, the mandala is consecrated to a deity.

 

In its creation, a line materializes out of a dot. Other lines are drawn until they intersect, creating triangular geometrical patterns. The circle drawn around stands for the dynamic consciousness of the initiated. The outlying square symbolizes the physical world bound in four directions, represented by the four gates; and the midmost or central area is the residence of the deity. Thus the center is visualized as the essence and the circumference as grasping, thus in its complete picture a mandala means grasping the essence.

 

[C T]

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by C T

[manitou]

He's really good, CT.  thanks!

[C T]

~ Patrul Rinpoche ~ 

 

To an experienced practitioner, still mind is mind and moving mind is mind.

Once the empty nature of mind has been recognised,

Moving mind and still mind are not two different things.

No matter what thought arises, no matter what appears,

it is empty of nature;

it it the play of primordial wisdom;

it is the profound understanding of the Victorious Ones.

 

[manitou]

The Victorious Ones.

 

Perfectly said, Patrul.

 

[doc benway]

A beautiful poem of realization!

https://fpmt.app.box.com/s/o651pwy54z15mwwqpy0n4sx1qbigs2vw

 

The Dalai Lama will give a teaching on this on 8/2/21 at 0330 UTC  -

https://fpmt.org/fpmt-community-news/save-the-date-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-offering-teaching-at-the-request-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche-and-fpmt/?fbclid=IwAR33zvJiQLPnrhSPIOiM8nrHdPHmoehBurB-_IhOrPVQj6GaWhK_79KQLGM

[manitou]

31 minutes ago, steve said:

A beautiful poem of realization!

https://fpmt.app.box.com/s/o651pwy54z15mwwqpy0n4sx1qbigs2vw

 

 

 

I don't think I've seen anything better than this as to describing the human condition after realization.  He writes from a position of love.  This has to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  It struck me the same way I was struck by The Rubiyat struck me when I first read it as a teener.  It took my breath away for a few seconds.  This one did too.

 

I'm going to somehow print this out and frame it.  Maybe lots of frames.  On pretty parchment type paper.

 

Steve - thank you, thank you, thank you!

[doc benway]

50 minutes ago, manitou said:

 

 

I don't think I've seen anything better than this as to describing the human condition after realization.  He writes from a position of love.  This has to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  It struck me the same way I was struck by The Rubiyat struck me when I first read it as a teener.  It took my breath away for a few seconds.  This one did too.

 

I'm going to somehow print this out and frame it.  Maybe lots of frames.  On pretty parchment type paper.

 

Steve - thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

Along those lines, there is a wonderful collection that includes this song and many others -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/828458.Songs_of_Spiritual_Experience

[C T]

~ Paramito ~ 

 

The grasping mind is one which is closed to, or has closed around, an experience. It is a cold, contracted,

claustrophobic state of being, which is dukkha (unsatisfactory and unpleasant).

[manitou]

On 2/8/2021 at 8:21 AM, C T said:

~ Paramito ~ 

 

The grasping mind is one which is closed to, or has closed around, an experience. It is a cold, contracted,

claustrophobic state of being, which is dukkha (unsatisfactory and unpleasant).

 

 

Definition of paramita. : one of the perfect virtues (as morality, charity, patience, wisdom) that must be practiced by one who undertakes the path to Buddhahood. You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

 

Is that connected to Paramito?  

[doc benway]

Signs of proper meditation. The sign of correct meditation is that our attachment decreases and our consciousness increases. There is no separate recipe for understanding light and emptiness. Let's just stay cool and not get attached to anything. However, our alert consciousness (rigpa) is clearly present and we remain in this state. Fewer and fewer thoughts appear in our minds, while our vigilance becomes more solid and clearer. When the feeling of immediate presence shines brightly, it is called ′′ vipasjana." All the signs listed so far indicate that we are doing meditation properly. In addition, another sign of correct meditation is that one cannot put his experience into words. It is also a good sign if our drowsiness dissipates due to meditation and if we suddenly think during practice, ′′ My master is very kind, I am doing my exercise successfully, I am completely satisfied ". If we meditate during the day and continue this in our dreams at night, it is also a positive sign. . More favorable signs may be the following: our appearance remains young, our thoughts become quiet, we don't get heated emotions when visiting our relatives, and we don't have any influence on the words praising and belittling. We don't feed expectations even when we receive teachings from a Buddha himself. We don't get discouraged if the results are late. We look into our bodies, we notice signs, we become capable of telepathy, we see the six worlds and the suffering of the creatures living there. Even in the darkness of the night we see clearly. All of these are excellent signs, which manifest spontaneously, without effort, due to the effect of meditation. We feel comfortable and free from scattering. We are always balanced and neither happiness nor sorrow can disturb us.

~Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche