More words on the Absolute: Pure Land is not Heaven

I don't believe in the Heaven of the Christian, Jew and Muslim.

The "soul" I speak of is called the "Self" yet is non-self itself. It is arises from karma's action Buddha-nature, and is not permanent.

Remember the aliens from STNG and DS9 that flowed together in a lake of their fellow beings?

The soul is like that. We return to "God." All the souls join together as one in Oneness. This oneness is called the Absolute. On death, each sentient being's mindstream flows into the Absolute

Thus, the soul is impermanent, because in returning to the Absolute, all souls die and their respective mindstream share their collective memories.

When the mindstream is reborn, it is reborn as a human. I am not fond of the karma where you get reborn as hell being, hungry ghost, human, asura or deva.

For every person wishes he could be reborn as a human being.

My soul is not the soul of my previous incarnation, though its karmic path pointed to me.

For the previous soul is no more at death. What gets reborn in Pure Land?

The result of karma in this life and previous incarnations only affect going to Pure Land if the karmic seed to affect rebirth in Pure Land was planted in previous life.

Ditto for rebirth in this world as human. For Buddha gives each bodhisattva instructions before being incarnated in this world of birth-life-death (samsara) as a human being.

the mind continuum (Poem)

the mind arises and falls;
for birth is merely the mind
arising and death, its fall.

The Panentheistic Meditation (poem)

With each and every breath I believe
with all my heart, mind, body and soul
that God is present right now,
in every cell of my body,
in every beat of my heart,
in every person,
in every living beings on this Earth,
in every star and galaxy,
in every loving act and thought,
delivering every sub-atomic particle
of the entire multiverse into
a never-ending stream of existence,
the invisible Nothing and Nowhere
that brings forth Everything and Everywhere.

Mind Has No Separate and Permanent Existence

Within context of dependent arising and the oneness of the spiritually awakened, the individual mind does not have a separate and permanence existence. Rather, the mind is shared between all living beings. This is the essence of emptiness.

As for the question of the differences between one person and another, they can be explained by the "shattered gem" hypothesis i.e. True Mind, being the Alaya Consciousness, has the ability to deposit in each living being a sliver of itself (Buddha Nature).

Why then are people ignorant of the mind as being one?

Spiritual ignorance leads one to think of the mind as being their own, separate from others. Thus, one of the purposes of meditation is to transform behavioral and mental negativities into their opposite to uncover the pure mind.

In uncovering the pure mind, one develops the siddhi mistakenly called "mind-reading" i.e. telepathy. The actual name for this siddhi is "knowing the mind of others". It is enhanced by careful observation of others.

The use of words (mantra) helps to awaken the mind to the possibility of telepathy.

At the root of telepathy is the siddhi of suggestion, which conditions the mind to being able to hear without ears and to speak without words. The mantra used for this purpose is found in the Flower Sermon.

According to the mundane world and its adherents, this revelation looks like madness.

Thus, it becomes a form of mysticism due to ignorance of the mundane; at the same time, it becomes a revealed truth to the spiritually awakened.

Anyone who is awakened yet chooses to misuse the gift of telepathy is not truly awakened, for such misuse closes one to true awakening.

For clinging to telepathy is at the root of its misuse, and leads the foolish to the delusion that one is truly awakened.

Therefore, the truly awakened will use the siddhi of telepathy to be helpful and of service to others.

Reflection on Beyond the Human Condition

"The human condition is our predicament of having to live with a sense of guilt. Understanding dissolves the guilt: the origin of all human upset was our instinctive self's unjust criticism of our conscious mind's necessary efforts to find understanding." -- http://www.worldtransformation.com/Beyond/StoryOfHomo.html

Although I am Buddhist, this book Beyond the Human Condition, echoes both in Buddhism and in most religions.

The purpose of Buddhist practice is to moderate instinct so that intellect may better integrate itself with that which is moderated. Indeed, what is ego but the cause and condition of human existence. Though the mind itself is the means by which one controls the ego, that which is blown out is the consciousness of ego as permanent.

How does one control the ego? First, through breath meditation, to develop calm insight; and second, through meditation on loving-kindness, to develop compassion for others. Through meditation, ego is appeased, and made tame by mindful practice.

Eventually, as a result of meditation, one lets go of being conscious of a mind which exists after death. In its place arises the spiritual mind, which consists ego and mind as one. As well, the mind develops a compassionate aspect to complement its rational aspect that appeases the ego.

None of this accomplished by meditation alone; it has to be done by practising what one learns, in addition to meditation i.e. through work and play.

Thus, I use Buddhism to understand myself. In understanding myself comes acceptance of the human condition. It is acceptance that represents the mind's ability to live peaceably with a sense of guilt.

IMHO sharing this understanding with others is done to relieve that sense of guilt.

When the Buddha Calls, He Calls Through Me (poem)

When the Buddha calls,
All the Buddhas and sentient beings are as one,
Even the author of this poem.

When the Buddha calls,
All there is is the mindstream,
The continuum of awareness.

When the Buddha calls,
There is no sense of "I, me, mine" or even a physical self.
These are only concepts of the mind we use.

When the Buddha calls,
I remember the Buddha
Who is both mother and father to me.

When the Buddha calls,
It makes no difference which Buddha it is,
As long as I listen deeply.

When the Buddha calls,
It's all about the Name-that-calls.
Thus am I mindful of the Buddha.

When the Buddha calls,
I answer out of gratitude,
And hear Him say through me:
"Homage to Amida, Buddha of Boundless Light of Spiritual Wisdom!"

Your Heart Has Blossomed

If your heart has blossomed
and given birth to a wish
for what can't be expressed,
your mind not enmeshed
in sensual passions:
you're said to be
in the up-flowing stream.

-Dhammapada, 16, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Enlightenment (Meditation)

Enlightenment is when we awake from this dream called life and enter the mindstream, through meditation and mindful practice, all due to the compassion of Amida Nyorai.

Thus am I reminded of an old nursery rhyme:

Row, row, row your boat
gently up the stream
Merrily, merrily
life is but a dream.

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Original post: October 19, 2003 4:19 AM
Update posted: March 9, 2013 1751H