WAKE UP!

An excerpt of Jack Kerouac´s Wake Up! A Life of the Buddha //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// By nightfall he (the Buddha) resposed (under the Bodhi tree) peaceful and quiet. He entered into deep and subtle contemplation. Every kind of holy ecstasy in order passed before his eyes. During the first watch of the night he entered on "right perception" and in recollection all former births passed before his eyes... Knowing full well that the essence of existence is of onesuchness, what birth could not his Bright, Mysterious, Intuitive Essence of Mind recall? As though he had been all things, and only because there had never been a true "he" but all things, and so all things were the same thing, and it was within the purview of the Universal Mind, which was the Only Mind past, present, and future... It had been a long time already finished, the ancient dream of life, the tears of the many-mothered sadness, the myriads of fathers in the dust, eternities of lost afternoons of sisters and brothers, the sleepy cock crow, the insect cave, the pitiful instinct all wasted on emptiness, the great huge drowsy Golden Age sensation that opened in his brain that this knowledge was older than the world... In the ears of the Buddha as he thus sat in brilliant and sparkling craft of intuition, so that light like Transcendental Milk dazzled in the invisible dimness of his closed eyelids, was heard the unvarying pure hush of the sighing sea of hearing, seething, receding, as he more or less recalled the consciousness of the sound, though in itself it was always the same steady sound, only his consciousness of it varied and receded, like low tide flats and the salty water sizzling and sinking in the sand, the sound neither outside nor within the ear but everywhere, the pure sea of hearing, the sound of Nirvana heard by children in cribs and on the moon and in the heart of howling storms, and in which the young Buddha now heard a teaching going on, a ceaseless instruction wise and clear from all the Buddhas of Old that had come before him and all the Buddhas a-coming. Beneath the distant cricket howl occasional noises like the involuntary peep of sleeping dream birds, or scutters of little fieldmice, or a vast breeze in the trees disturbed the peace of this Hearing but the noises were merely accidental, the Hearing received all noises and accidents in its sea but remained as ever undisturbed, truly unpenetrated, and neither replenished nor diminished, as self-pure as empty space. Then in the middle of the night, he reached to knowledge of the pure Angels, and beheld before him every creature, as one sees images upon a mirror; all creatures born and born again to die, noble and mean, the poor and rich, reaping the fruit of right or evil doing, and sharing happiness or misery in consequence... The groundmist of 3 A.M. rose with all the dolors of the world. Birth of bodies is the direct cause of death of bodies. Just as, implantation of its seed was the cause of the cast off rose. Then looking further, Where does death come from? he saw it came from life-deeds done elsewhere; then scannning those deeds, he saw they were not framed by a creator, nor self caused, nor personal existences nor were they either uncaused; he saw they themselves obtained along a further chain of causes, cause upon cause, concatenative links joining the fetters binding all that is form- poor form, mere dust and pain. Then, as one who breaks the first bamboo joint finds all the rest easy to separate, having discerned the cause of death as birth, and the cause of birth as deeds, he gradually came to see the truth; death comes from birth, birth comes from deeds, deeds come from attachment, attachment comes from desire, desire from perception, perception comes from sensation, sensation comes from the six sense organs, the six sense organs come from individuality, individuality comes from consciousness.... In him, thus freed, arose freedom and he knew that rebirth was at an end, and that the goal had been reached...

"Christianity in Crisis"

I don´t actually agree with what Jefferson did to the Bible, but Andrew Sullivan gives an insightful perspective on the current "crisis" of the church and on Jesus´ true nature. I scrolled down to view some of the comments to find people who didn´t find the title too objective, which left me with the sensation of wanting to answer (this person reminded me of someone I know really well)... This crisis is a physical one not a spiritual one, if anything, there is a current spiritual revival. If your faith has deep roots in God/Jesus, the crisis is nonexistent, if this faith is in doubt most likely it is rooted in something other than God, i.e Man. People who feel outraged with such a piece cannot really see what´s unveiling right in front of our eyes, and it´s something I wrote on a couple of posts back... This conscious or unconscious weakness inherent in humanity, those who uphold false truths and those who out of ignorance subscribe to them. The church, a clear example. Even if I intuit an eventual downfall, there is nothing to be afraid of people, didn´t you ever read somewhere you were your own temple (not to be confused with you are your own god, which is sadly how many people might interpret it)..., that you didn´t have to go far to find God, for He being the Creator and breathing life into creation lives in intrinsic communion with everything that is LIVING. So before any hardcore believers panic, I hope you find peace in knowing God cannot be eradicated, the Church is simply a human-made place to find shelter, a building that´ll eventually crumble, everything physical eventually passes, and that´s fine- it´s part of a natural order, the only thing Eternal is the Spirit. I invite you to find shelter in yourself, in the good nature of your heart, in the elevation of your thoughts, in the lightness of the Spirit, to find this Something that created Everything. Photograph by Kwon O. Chul, TWAN

A Postmodern Prayer

Colección Jumex

Jim

Merci Kevin

I only have eyes for you

After having a really bitter taste throughout yesterday night and this afternoon, the palliative.

Jose C.

Eres de mis personas favoritas y todo mundo lo sabe.

One's nature is like a mirror which reflects with complete openness but is not affected by the reflections

Title: Dzogchen Buddhism

ƒIN

@JMEA_

Pictor´s Metamorphoses

Report from Normalia

...We are quite simply inmates of an enormous asylum full of madmen. And the question of whether it is we or the others who are the madmen constitutes the principal subject matter of the philosophies and speculations of our men of genius. We others, we who are older and more detached, are of the opinion that it would be pointless to distress ourselves with questions that cannot be answered, and it matters little to determine whether one is crazy or normal, whether one is the monkey in the cage or the gawking member of the Zoological Gardens who stares through the bars from the outside; rather, it is more proper and fitting to see Existence as a game, one far from problem-free, but genuinely meaningful and charming, and to be glad of the many good and beautiful things we can experience while playing it.

_____________________


In a decaying civilization, one that is diseased with a lack of sense and slowly dying, for individuals as well as for the community as a whole, there is no other medicament and nourishment, no other source of strength that enables one to go on, than the encounter with that which, in spite of everything, gives meaning to our lives and our actions and justifies us. And in the recollection of a whole lifetime of holidays and gatherings, in listening to the sounds and stirrings of the soul-even as far back as the colorful wilderness of childhood, in gazing into beloved eyes long since extinguished, there is demonstrated the existence of an intelligence, a unity, a secret center we have circled around - now consciously, now unconsciously - all our lives. From the pious Christmases of childhood, redolent of wax and honey in a world seemingly sane, safe from destruction, incapable of believing in the possibility of its own destruction, through all the changes, crises, shocks, and reevaluations of our private lives and of our age, there still remains a core, a sense, a grace residing in no dogma of the church or of science, but in the existence of a center around which even an imperiled and troubled life can always find itself anew, from just this innermost core of our being, a belief in the accessibility of God, in the coincidence of this center with the presence of God. For where He is present, yes, even the ugly and apparently meaningless may be borne, because, for Him, seeming and being are one and inseparable, for Him everything is meaning.




Hermann Hesse

Rebirth to Resurrection, Death Overcome

I think enlightened souls are born at crucial moments in human history, for within them lives specific knowledge necessary for that period of human understanding, the world observes and still learns. How does one explain Plato, Bach, Buddha, Einstein, and thousands of others, what gives birth to such people?

In my own studies on religion, I´ve drawn a line observing the spiritual man, - the "enlightened man" - or the chosen man of the scriptures and this man according to his time: from Adam, to Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon,... Jesus. Jesus as evident epitome of this man, and no longer man, nor "enlightened" but simultaneously Son of God and Son of Man. Conditioned to human form and law, yet whose spiritual conciliation goes far beyond anything we´ve ever seen, cause and effect no longer governs.

So what does this mean for every other mortal?

From rebirth to resurrection, the legacy left by two of the "last", and in my eyes, most important spiritual figures that have imprinted their life and soul on this earth.


Siddhārtha Gautama and Jesus Christ.


What both achieved is done in defeat of the shadow of our imminent physical death and the suffering it implies.


Saṃsāra
The endless cylce of birth and death.

Samsara is governed by cause and effect, by karma and dharma. Karma is simply a lesson imparted by life that has not been learned hence leaves one in a state of ignorance, and dharma being a lesson already learned - produces knowledge. When one has the fruit of knowledge one may act firmly and with an extended parameter, when one has the fruit of ignorance one is left to wander limited terrain... Life will continue to try and teach us certain lessons over and over again until we uncover significance. Though both ignorance and knowledge produce suffering.

Nirvana
Freedom from suffering.

Buddha attained Nirvana freeing the physical body from physical bondage, cleansing the soul and liberating the body through this transparent self-soul.

Christ made free the spirit through the Spirit, in spiritual chronology the body by way of Buddha was already free, was no longer bound to Samsara. (Buddha lived about 500 years before Christ.) What this implies, "making the spirit free by the Spirit" is this: the law of spiritual cause and effect is undone. Humans may no longer assume to be superior to others by their actions, karma and dharma are tools instead of burden. The preamble is that man felt superior to others for practicing apparent exterior "holiness", "cleanliness", "impeccability" but was everything but- inwardly, this movement became automatic and shallow without honest intent and had only cultivated grounds for segregation. The body may live by physical cause and effect, but the Spirit becomes integrated to its true and simpler nature: Grace, Love. Through Grace man is made equal in the eyes of God and in the eyes of man.

Through Jesus´s example we may come to understand one of its pillars: Resurrection. How man passes from wandering and incessant rebirth, cessation of suffering, into resurrection. Christ died a mortal death to defeat Death, this "Death" with a capital D is the shadow I mentioned earlier. It is the illusion of Death while man is still alive, it is his proclivity to something he is not, it is his escape from life because his suffering is too great and he has not yet understood and been made free from suffering. Christ is said to have died "for our sins", the cross being the symbol of suffering, of human betrayal to the gift of life, to me an atrocious mirror of the worst we´re capable of doing to any other man or to ourselves. Even though we crucified a man who professed Love and goodness, he never wavered this Love, He gave it freely and equitably, thus exemplifying the first human reference to PERFECT Love, unconditioned Love, a Love only before known by God. Humanity had not been ready until this moment. This resurrection means to be born of God, and in God, and us to find this same life in Him and through Him.

This isn´t an invite to die for Love, that´s already been done, just a picture of the little or a lot we´re able to give towards Love or hate. In an extreme but subtle way one requires life the other death.

If one gets the depth, (s)/he may understand why Christians believe Christ is the way unto God. There are many many others, but none direct, others will require you overcoming your physical self which is physically impossible. When people are still fighting over ridiculous religious truth, I believe in freedom to learn and unity, everything works hand in hand with the other, to pave a path that may be solid from a personal and faithful conviction- where roots grow in a profound yet organic manner, to question and challenge human doctrine because it is full of error, to be empathic with this same doctrine for we are everything but perfect.

"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."
Matthew 22:21

If our heart is true, we will not only find Truth, but live by it.

The Lost Son

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Luke 15: 11-32

_______________________________________


If you read the previous post, "Everything has always been", this passage may take on a new perspective. In knowing that all is necessary for us to see life in the light or darkness we choose to give it.

There are three characters in this parable: the father which symbolizes God, the elder son which represents the pharisee*...

* The pharisees for those who do not know, was the group who saw to the crucifixion of Jesus with the support of Roman Rule and the misinformed/ignorant crowd. The pharisee was the holiest and highest ranking official in the Jewish order, the most pure, the ones who upheld the law word for word instead of opting for consciousness and action, enveloped by love; in other words they had knowledge, they had the word, they lived by the word, but this word was bidimensional, flat, they let themselves be led by a decidious ego, an outdated self, one no longer congruent with the time- this being what Christ challenged.

All too familiar right?

... and the younger son, which represents man.

Man in search of freedom may at first believe God takes this freedom away or conditions it. Man then alienates himself from He who created him because he has not yet understood the Love of his Father, and for man -without understanding- this same love has become a burden. The Father gives his Son his share and lets him go. After sacrificing his inheritance, which value he does not know, he then enslaves himself to his mind, to others, to other things.

The son begins to think of his return, after acquiring consciousness of his slavery, knowing he´s become exactly what he thought he was running from, that he himself made himself a slave. He realizes his Father may have better grounds for his being, he goes back. When the son returns he sees his Father is different than the idea he had of him, that his Father welcomes him back with open arms and prepares a feast, his Father doesn´t even mention that the son has wasted what he was given, for this is in the past.

The elder son, the "irreproachable" man, does not understand and questions his Fathers love, he serves only because he is looking to be rewarded, or be recognized superior to others. What he does not know is that his ambition has made him blind to the Love and learning he´s always had.

We then realize that God is Father, and we his sons and daughters, one of the main messages of Christ, that the Love of the Father is free, that there is nothing we can do to be separated from this Love. The only thing man suffers from is the distance from this truth, the illusion of distance, and we ourselves are made slaves to the physical cause and effect of our thinking and our actions. If we wish to be part of the wilderness we will live according to the law of the wilderness.

The sky at intersection with earth, holds other "laws".

Everything has always been

Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it. I suspected this when I was still a youth and it was this that drove me away from teachers. There is one thought I have had Govinda, which you will again think is a jest or folly: that is, in every truth the opposite is equally true. For example, a truth can only be expressed and enveloped in words if it is one-sided. Everything that is thought and expressed in words is one-sided, only half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity. When the Illustrious Buddha taught about the world, he had to divide it into Samsara (cycle of suffering) and Nirvana (illumination), into illusion and truth, into suffering and salvation. One cannot do otherwise, there is no other method for those who teach. But the world itself, being in and around us, is never one-sided. Never is a man or a deed wholly Samsara or wholly Nirvana; never is a man wholly saint or a sinner. This only seems so because we suffer the illusion that time is something real. Time is not real, Govinda. I have realized this repeatedly. And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion."


"How is that?" asked Govinda puzzled.


"Listen, my friend! I am a sinner and you are a sinner, but someday the sinner will be Brahma again, will someday attain Nirvana, will someday become a Buddha. Now this "someday" is illusion; it is only a comparison. The sinner is not on the way to a Buddha-like state; he is not evolving, although our thinking cannot conceive things otherwise. No, the potential Buddha already exists in the sinner; his future is already there. The potential hidden Buddha must be recognized in him, in you, in everybody. The world Govinda, is not imperfect or slowly evolving along the path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment; every sin carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people- eternal life. It is not possible for one person to see how far another is on the way; the Buddha exists in the robber and dice player; the robber exists in the Brahmin. During deep meditation it is possible to dispel time, to see simultaneously all the past, present and future, and then everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman. Therefore, it seems to me that everything that exists is good - death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly. Everything is necessary, everything needs only my agreement, my assent, my loving understanding; then all is well with me and nothing can harm me. I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary for me to sin, that I needed lust, that I had to strive for property and experience the nausea and the depths of despair in order to learn not resist them, in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary world, some imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave it as it is, to love it and be glad to belong to it. These, Govinda, are some of the thoughts that are in my mind."
Siddhartha bent down, lifted a stone from the ground and held it in his hand.

"This," he said, handling it, "is a stone, and within a certain length of time it will perhaps be soil and from the soil it will become plant, animal or man. Previously I should have said: This stone is just a stone; it has no value, it belongs to the world of Maya, but perhaps because within the cycle of change it can also become man and spirit, it is also of importance. That is what I have thought. But now I think: This stone is stone; it is also animal, God, and Buddha. I do not respect and love it because it was one thing and will become something else, but because it has already long been everything and always is everything....


Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse.