Dear friends of the true Dharma in Estonia and in all world, the true religion, is universal. Understand that at the base every religion is really one religion. When we find sectarianism, where we find doctrinal dispute, we find misunderstandings of the teaching itself, because in truth, religion is one. Buddha and Christ, in their base, are complements of one another. And yet, they are distinct. Path of the Bodhisattva,The Nativity of Buddha There are many varieties of Buddhism, many threads of that teaching, which emerged after the appearance of the historical figure that is known in these times as “the Buddha.” This series is not about any of those schools, movements, or religions popularly recognized as “Buddhist.” Instead, this series is about the source from which Buddhism actually emerged. Buddhism ,like many other “-isms” in the world—first appeared to humanity in the form of advice from a highly developed human being, advice intended as practical instruction for those who want to likewise become highly developed. The man who gave this advice was a human being like any other, yet with a critical difference: he awakened his Consciousness. The awakening of the Consciousness is the very purpose of life. It is for this cause that every prophet, avatar, angel, buddha, or master ever appeared to humankind. From their lips emerged all of the world’s religions, and all with the purpose of indicating to those who sleep (such as you and me) that we need to awaken. Reality is elusive, incomprehensible, and imperceptible to those who remain at the stage of the embryo. How can the seed understand the sun, moon and stars, if it remains enclosed in its shell, dreaming the dreams of a seed? To awaken is not a matter of heritage, race, inheritence or belief. Any seed can break free from the shell and become that which it was made to become - but to break free requires specific steps, exact science, and an unswerving will. Thus, to address the variety of needs of humankind (the embryos of real human beings), a series of compassionate caretakers—who awakened their Consciousness and became real, fully developed human beings—appear from time to time to remind us of the purpose of life. The man called “the Buddha” was one, as was Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Krishna, Quetzalcoatl, and many, many others. From this perspective, we can begin to grasp that the similarities among religions indicate their common source, which is accessible relative to to the degree we have awakened Consciousness. (To understand their many differences, we only need to look to the greed, ignorance, and foolishness in our own minds, and recall that it is men who have corrupted their religions, turning them into vehicles of profit and power.) Every religion contains great beauty and power. Yet, at this time none are perfect. Buddhism - in all its forms - represents a teaching of tremendous insight and transformative potential. Yet, it is not complete. What we know as “Buddhism” is but a small stream that emerged from a vast ocean. buddha-bowlThose who are scholars of Buddhism or who are well versed in one school of Buddhism or another will discover much in this series of lectures that will be unfamiliar to them. It is important to remember one of the central facets of the Buddha’s original teaching, which is that the student should always keep his bowl turned upright and empty. In other words, the mind should remain receptive, empty, with the ability to receive new information and new understanding. Those who have their bowl - their mind - full of information are like those who suffer from constipation. And those who have their bowl upside down - with the mind closed - are starving themselves to death. Therefore, it is for our own benefit to empty our mind of preconceived notions, and remain in the present moment, ready to gratefully receive that which is new. There is much that Buddhists can teach to the world - and there is also much that Buddhists can learn from other traditions. Unquestionably, the two greatest leaders of all time are Buddha Shakyamuni and Jesus Christ. These two men founded two of the world’s greatest religions: Buddhism and Christianity, respectively. It is important to recognize that both of these phrases—“Jesus Christ” and “Buddha Shakyamuni”—are titles: they are not personal names. These are not names given at birth; these are titles that are earned. These titles reflect degrees of conscious development: degrees that correspond to aspects of our own inner psychology. On a certain occasion, I had to present myself in a Buddhist monastery in Japan; I had the occasion of speaking on behalf of Christ. Since it was a Buddhist and not a Christian temple, and due to my approach, a certain scandal arose amongst the Buddhist brethren, and therefore a complaint was presented to the Master, who approached me and interrogated me as follows: Q. “Why did you speak on behalf of Christ, knowing that this is a Buddhist monastery?” A. “With the most profound respect to this sacred institution, I have to emphatically affirm that Buddha and Christ complement each other.” I was expecting a response from the Master’s point of view, yet with great amazement, I witnessed his agreement; he said: “Indeed, Buddha and Christ complement each other; this is how it is…” Then, he asked for a thread or cord, and when they brought it to him, he told me: “Show me your right hand.” When I showed him my right hand, he tied the thread on my thumb. Thereafter, he tied the same thread on the thumb on my left hand, and ended by saying in a Zen way: “Buddha and Christ complement each other…” Then, I left that monastery, having perfectly understood the Koan. In the name of the truth, we have to recognize that this is a very wise Koan: Buddha and Christ are joined within us, because the right thumb represents the Christ and the left represents the Buddha: the two of them are two factors within us. Clearly, this is a kind of Koan, a kind of esoteric riddle. The meaning is that we have many parts, we have many aspects, each of which has its function and its place, and when united they harmonize and form a whole. And in that sense, Buddha and Christ are two parts of one perfected thing, and which is our own Consciousness. The abbot of that temple understood. He understood that the true Dharma, the true religion, is universal. He understood that at the base every religion is really one religion. When we find sectarianism, where we find doctrinal dispute, we find misunderstandings of the teaching itself, because in truth, religion is one. Buddha and Christ, in their base, are complements of one another. And yet, they are distinct. Buddhism and Christianity are both streams of wisdom that emerged from the same ocean of knowledge. We call this ocean Gnosis. Gnosis is a Greek word that means “knowledge.” Gnosis is the root wisdom of all the world’s religions. Gnosis is objective, pure, universal, absolute, conscious wisdom. Gnosis is beyond time and space, beyond culture, beyond history. Once the Buddha was walking with some monks in the Simsapa forest. The Buddha took up a few simsapa leaves in his hand and asked the monks, “Which is more: the few leaves in my hand or those in the forest?” The bhikkhus replied, “The leaves in your hand are few, but those in the forest are more and numerous.” Then the Buddha said, “So too, monks, the things I have directly known but have not taught you are numerous, while the things I have taught you are few, like these leaves in my hand.” Gnosis encompasses all the leaves of the forest,the Dharmainstructor Estonia.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:16:23 +0000
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