Lately, my earthly [samsaric] friend Pun2 used the ZEN metaphor of the mountains and rivers during several of his conversation. For the benefits of those who have not heard of it, it is as follows:
Beginning mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers [a]
Then mountain are not mountains and rivers are not rivers [b]
Finally mountains are again mountains and rivers are rivers [c]
Without the wisdom of the sutra, it can sound quite confusing and meaningless
a] This refer to the general view of common people. This view assume that I AM is a person having
consciousness and is Separate from the world [mountains and rivers] around him/her
[ I Am identify with a wave in the ocean of consciousness]
b] At this stage there is realization that the Self [I AM] is Awareness and all objects of awareness are
illusionary and have void as its nature [hence no mountains and river]
c] Finally the Objects of awareness are reconciled as the myriad expressions of awareness. The
Mountains and rivers are accepted as in [a], but with a new understanding that both the person and
the world around him Appear within the ONE borderless Consciousness, as a WHOLE, WITHOUT any separation.
I Am is Awareness [void] and also the Totality of the world.[every things and the void in between.]
[ I Am is correctly Identified with Ocean and recognize the totality of the waves AS the
expression of Itself and share the same essence of water.
The world of separation of many is now seen as unity with all objects held together by the FORM
of void. [ in contradistinction with an infinite solid fill with myriad holes of various sizes]
In conclusion, I AM NOthing and Everything. The unconditioned containing the conditioned, like the reflections in the mirror inseparable from the mirror [an immutable whole]
For clarity, let us revisit the three views and see their significance.
a] The world consist of countless things which are separated and different from one another, giving
rise to concepts of individuality and generality.
b] The world does not exist and All are Void.
c] The world IS ONE Whole without any division within the Whole and is of one essence. All
concepts that arise from [a] is totally misplaced and form the seeds of delusion that turn the
wheel of samsara
A further illustration will be :
a] This shore [samsara]
b] The other shore [nirvana]
c] Neither this or the other, the unification of both.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Living Buddha
The word 'Living Buddha' is the imperfection of language to capture Perfection and often lead to deviant view that assume a person have attained IT [perfection]. Buddha being unborn is the ONLY living there is and ever so. The world of sentient and insentient are illusionary images that appear and disappear within it from moment to moment .
To assume an image to be living is Delusion, as how is it possible for something that never truly exist to have a life. All the so call secular lives are only Apparent in the dream
Jesus say, the living [Awareness] never die, and the dead sentient beings never live. And the 'I' [Awareness] is in the world, but NOT of the world.
In the Diamond Sutra, Lord Sakyumuni say The Thatagata can not be seen in forms or heard in sound. Whosoever have this view that Buddha have form that speak is on the deviant path and will never realize the Truth.
Also in the same sutra, it is mentioned that Buddha is already perfect and being Unborn is stranger to any stage of attainment and NO further addition or deduction can make it more perfect. Awareness is already aware [enlighten] and need nothing more to make it aware or more aware [to enlighten it]
To assume an image to be living is Delusion, as how is it possible for something that never truly exist to have a life. All the so call secular lives are only Apparent in the dream
Jesus say, the living [Awareness] never die, and the dead sentient beings never live. And the 'I' [Awareness] is in the world, but NOT of the world.
In the Diamond Sutra, Lord Sakyumuni say The Thatagata can not be seen in forms or heard in sound. Whosoever have this view that Buddha have form that speak is on the deviant path and will never realize the Truth.
Also in the same sutra, it is mentioned that Buddha is already perfect and being Unborn is stranger to any stage of attainment and NO further addition or deduction can make it more perfect. Awareness is already aware [enlighten] and need nothing more to make it aware or more aware [to enlighten it]
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Non Believer
Many societies including religious groups consider Non Believers as evil and must be treated as enemies. This discrimination demonstrate a gross lack of wisdom which I will demonstrate with a story [parable]
Imagine, someone have invented a time machine and you are selected to go on a mission into the past to meet up with one of your great, great grandfather during a period when everyone believe the earth was flat. Your mission is to inform your ancestor that the world is a sphere. As to the truth of the mission, your ancestor is a Non believer and your task is to remove his ignorance and guide him to the Truth. You have a year to turn a non believer to accept the truth that the earth he stood on is like a ball. At the end of the one year, if your ancestor still disbelieve the Truth, you are to kill him.
With the knowledge of present day, you set up props to represent the sun, earth and the moon and demonstrate that the shadow of earth cast onto the moon is circular. That is to say you have to first convince your ancestor that the moonlight is the reflected light of the sun. With one week to go, you noticed the gleam of acceptance in your ancestor's eye and you are relieved that you need not kill him. As you prepare to return to mission control, your ancestor rush to the time machine and say 'Young man, the earth cannot be round. If it is, people on the side and the lower half will fall off the sphere.!' Well the time is up and you have no time to dwell on the phenomena of gravity. But to kill your ancestor will also mean his descendants including you will be wipe out in the time line that follows.
Time stood still and you ponder, is the non-believer, evil and deserve to die or he is just a victim of Ignorance?? That he still disbelieve, was because those[YOU] who knows the Truth Failed to enlighten him.
In this timeless moments of NOW, our present day religious bigots should realize the non believers are victims and the faults lies with those who hold the Truth, lacking skillful way to convey the wisdom.
Now, what is the Truth that was revealed in the holy texts of every religion ?. The Truth is ONE and Absolute. In Islam it is the teaching of Tawhid . Lord Jesus preached on the rebirth into the spirit of ONEness and Moses famous Quote on the nature of God as I AM that I AM. The Hindus and Buddhists have Advaita [non duality] and the oneness of Brahman [Father, Thatagata, Allah, Tao or simply The Light of ordinary Awareness]. The Chinese Taoist have the Eternal TAO
In my earlier posts I have dwell on various pointers to the Truth that is INNATE in all of us. Unlike physical laws which are conceptual, the Absolute Truth expounded in all religion is NON conceptual [beyond all speculations and cannot be conceptualized]. The concept God is NOT God. Saint Francis of Assisi put is nicely as that[Truth] which we look for is that which IS Looking !!!!
Imagine, someone have invented a time machine and you are selected to go on a mission into the past to meet up with one of your great, great grandfather during a period when everyone believe the earth was flat. Your mission is to inform your ancestor that the world is a sphere. As to the truth of the mission, your ancestor is a Non believer and your task is to remove his ignorance and guide him to the Truth. You have a year to turn a non believer to accept the truth that the earth he stood on is like a ball. At the end of the one year, if your ancestor still disbelieve the Truth, you are to kill him.
With the knowledge of present day, you set up props to represent the sun, earth and the moon and demonstrate that the shadow of earth cast onto the moon is circular. That is to say you have to first convince your ancestor that the moonlight is the reflected light of the sun. With one week to go, you noticed the gleam of acceptance in your ancestor's eye and you are relieved that you need not kill him. As you prepare to return to mission control, your ancestor rush to the time machine and say 'Young man, the earth cannot be round. If it is, people on the side and the lower half will fall off the sphere.!' Well the time is up and you have no time to dwell on the phenomena of gravity. But to kill your ancestor will also mean his descendants including you will be wipe out in the time line that follows.
Time stood still and you ponder, is the non-believer, evil and deserve to die or he is just a victim of Ignorance?? That he still disbelieve, was because those[YOU] who knows the Truth Failed to enlighten him.
In this timeless moments of NOW, our present day religious bigots should realize the non believers are victims and the faults lies with those who hold the Truth, lacking skillful way to convey the wisdom.
Now, what is the Truth that was revealed in the holy texts of every religion ?. The Truth is ONE and Absolute. In Islam it is the teaching of Tawhid . Lord Jesus preached on the rebirth into the spirit of ONEness and Moses famous Quote on the nature of God as I AM that I AM. The Hindus and Buddhists have Advaita [non duality] and the oneness of Brahman [Father, Thatagata, Allah, Tao or simply The Light of ordinary Awareness]. The Chinese Taoist have the Eternal TAO
In my earlier posts I have dwell on various pointers to the Truth that is INNATE in all of us. Unlike physical laws which are conceptual, the Absolute Truth expounded in all religion is NON conceptual [beyond all speculations and cannot be conceptualized]. The concept God is NOT God. Saint Francis of Assisi put is nicely as that[Truth] which we look for is that which IS Looking !!!!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Images
Many will be familiar with the statement 'Thou should have no other images before ME' The most common interpretation is, one should not be involved with Idol worship, as images are often associated with figurines of deities. Well a miss is as good as a mile. In the context of Truth the Images in the holy texts refer to our self-image. What are the self Images ??? The common one is I am a man or a woman [gender], a nationality [Malaysian, Thai, etc.], a profession [lawyer, doctor, etc.] an age group [child, adults, senior citizen ], a personality [friendly, reserved, open minded, etc.] an association [ Buddhist, socialist, democrats, etc.], a disposition [Clever, stupid, lazy etc.].a status [Rich, poor, famous, respected, etc.]
By accepting this identification [out of Ignorance], we have inadvertently given "I Am" a form while its True nature is I Am the Light, the Way and the Truth. "I Am" cannot be objectified [given an image] and the best that words can point is 'I Am that I Am'. 'The Tao that can be practiced or describe is not the eternal Tao'. It can simply be a non descriptive word such as 'That' or 'Thus' [The Buddhist sutra refer to such words as finger pointing to the moon]
The concept of an Ego give birth to all other concepts and the dualities that arises results in the multiplicity of names and forms [ I and Others] and turn the wheel of Samsara
By accepting this identification [out of Ignorance], we have inadvertently given "I Am" a form while its True nature is I Am the Light, the Way and the Truth. "I Am" cannot be objectified [given an image] and the best that words can point is 'I Am that I Am'. 'The Tao that can be practiced or describe is not the eternal Tao'. It can simply be a non descriptive word such as 'That' or 'Thus' [The Buddhist sutra refer to such words as finger pointing to the moon]
The concept of an Ego give birth to all other concepts and the dualities that arises results in the multiplicity of names and forms [ I and Others] and turn the wheel of Samsara
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Misperception of Religions
When it comes to religions, the most common remarks are, all religions are the same and it teaches us to be good.
This statement is only partially correct in that All religions are the same, but the assertion that it teaches us to be good is misconceived. In which case what make all religions the same? There are all the same in that every religions irrespective of its origin serve to reveal the Absolute Truth that is beyond good and bad, as well as All concepts of Duality
This Truth is not a special knowledge to be gained, but is already fully present, very much like the emptiness all around us and containing us. In accumulating worldly knowledge [forbidden fruit] since we are infants, we lost sight of our basic nature as Omnipresent Awareness and dwell in a hallucination called Life, ignoring the very Truth that sustain All beings and the Universe.
All religious texts are skillful way to wake us up from the dream of Samsara and weaned us off from the wrong views that arises from ingesting the forbidden fruit.[All worldly knowledge]
This statement is only partially correct in that All religions are the same, but the assertion that it teaches us to be good is misconceived. In which case what make all religions the same? There are all the same in that every religions irrespective of its origin serve to reveal the Absolute Truth that is beyond good and bad, as well as All concepts of Duality
This Truth is not a special knowledge to be gained, but is already fully present, very much like the emptiness all around us and containing us. In accumulating worldly knowledge [forbidden fruit] since we are infants, we lost sight of our basic nature as Omnipresent Awareness and dwell in a hallucination called Life, ignoring the very Truth that sustain All beings and the Universe.
All religious texts are skillful way to wake us up from the dream of Samsara and weaned us off from the wrong views that arises from ingesting the forbidden fruit.[All worldly knowledge]
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Is there Judgment waiting ?
For the many who embrace the Truth of 'Thy will be done', how are these people to accept the concept of a future judgment. Assuming God to be the judge, then God will be judging God's own action as all events that unfold are in accord with His will.
Going by the teaching of karma in Buddhism and Hinduism, our coming into this world is the Judgment itself.
With this lead, we seek confirmation from other part of the scripture and I came up with this one sentence that say it all. The scripture say ' For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of the Father' Now things start to clear up if one use the original meaning of the word 'sin' which is simply 'mistake'
I will further pad up the sentence for better clarity. It will now read as 'For All Have Mistaken Their Bodies As Them selves and Fall Short Of Their True Identity as The Omnipresent Awareness' If in this lifetime we commit the same mistake of identifying with the flesh, we miss the salvation of being reborn into the Spirit. {refer to the conversation Lord Jesus have with Nicodemus ]. That is we no longer overlook our True identity as Awareness [ Christ consciousness or 8th consciousness in Yogachara Buddhism]
Going by the teaching of karma in Buddhism and Hinduism, our coming into this world is the Judgment itself.
With this lead, we seek confirmation from other part of the scripture and I came up with this one sentence that say it all. The scripture say ' For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of the Father' Now things start to clear up if one use the original meaning of the word 'sin' which is simply 'mistake'
I will further pad up the sentence for better clarity. It will now read as 'For All Have Mistaken Their Bodies As Them selves and Fall Short Of Their True Identity as The Omnipresent Awareness' If in this lifetime we commit the same mistake of identifying with the flesh, we miss the salvation of being reborn into the Spirit. {refer to the conversation Lord Jesus have with Nicodemus ]. That is we no longer overlook our True identity as Awareness [ Christ consciousness or 8th consciousness in Yogachara Buddhism]
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Buddhism and Particle Physic
Physicist especially those that dwell in Quantum mechanics are continually amazed by the discovery of more and more sub-atomic particles as they increase their magnification. Will they ever come to the tiniest of them all???. Buddhism simply tell us, no matter where Consciousness rest, objects of awareness will appear and have consciousness as it essence.
To illustrate, it is mentioned in certain sutra 'on the tip of the buddha hair are countless buddha lands'
Sound incredible until we read what mainstream astro physics have to say. Our borderless universe come from the big bang out of a particle no bigger than a pea. We can both zoom in or out ,but one can never reach Infinity.
On record Albert Einstein is not the first to offer the concept of space-time continum as the ancient sutra already refer to our universe as Time-Space [ Shih- Cheh in chinese]
To illustrate, it is mentioned in certain sutra 'on the tip of the buddha hair are countless buddha lands'
Sound incredible until we read what mainstream astro physics have to say. Our borderless universe come from the big bang out of a particle no bigger than a pea. We can both zoom in or out ,but one can never reach Infinity.
On record Albert Einstein is not the first to offer the concept of space-time continum as the ancient sutra already refer to our universe as Time-Space [ Shih- Cheh in chinese]
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