Luminous Buddhism after a bad start

Death of the Historical Buddha, detail (Nehan-zu, 14th century, Met Museum)

From the point of view of later Buddhists the beginnings were a bit of a mess and a bummer, because the Buddha had to stoop down to the lower capacities of his first disciples (hearers, śrāvakas). This led to the Buddha having to behave like a friend (kalyāṇa-mittatā), to teach the “contemplation of the foul” (aśubha-bhāvanā), selflessness (anatta) and emptiness (śūnyatā), and to show the hearers how to perform parinirvāṇa. Obviously, the Buddha’s first disciples were very distraught when they thought they lost their precious teacher forever.

Fortunately, and unbeknownst to many hearers, bodhisattvas and devas had been receiving secret teachings of a much higher level from the Buddha, at the same time and in the same places, but so to speak in another dimension. They knew that not only the dharmakāya, but also the Buddha’s eternal rūpakāyas would always be accessible, and that they themselves would one day become a permament Buddha too, because they carried “the seed of the Buddha”. They were not sad, because this was only the beginning of a great adventure with a happy end for all in perspective.

Sure there is the narrative of the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa seen through the eyes of hearers, but thanks to the above mentioned bodhisattvas we also have the wonderful news of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Don’t we all prefer to see the glass rather half full than half empty?

Before turning to the good news, I want to mention my recent discovery of the two main sects of Pythagoreanism. An inner circle (mathēmatikoi) that received the more esoteric teachings of Pythagoras and lived with their teacher, and a lower class of disciples, the “hearers” (akousmatikoi) that lived as mendicants following a set of rules, and --living from mendacity-- were allowed to eat meat and to have some personal belongings. The hearers “were superseded in the 4th century BC as a significant mendicant school of philosophy by the Cynics", and the “mathēmatikoi” were absorbed into the Platonic school in the 4th century BC.  This happened due to the split (schism), that followed the murder of Pythagoras.

“The akousmatikoi recognised the mathematikoi as real Pythagoreans, but not vice versa.”

 “After the murder of Pythagoras and a number of the mathematikoi by the followers of Cylon of Athens, a resentful disciple, the two groups split from each other entirely, with Pythagoras's wife Theano and their two daughters leading the mathematikoi.” (Knowino)

Let’s turn now to the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, that was written after the Lotus sūtra and translated into Chinese in the early 5th century, and that presents “a fully transcendent notion of “Buddha”,  metaphysics, and the rich philosophical language of emptiness”[1].

“After a long, dramatic discussion of all the many beings that bring their last offerings to the Buddha, followed by the appearance of the blacksmith Cunda, there is a series of impassioned pleas for the Buddha not to die.

In response, however, the Buddha launches into a long discussion on the nature of buddhas in general, and himself in particular. He makes it clear that while he will disappear from their sight he is not going to die, because in fact he was never born in the first place. In other words, buddhas are not created phenomena and therefore have no beginning and no end. This leads into the core theme of the sūtra—tathāgatagarbha.” (Blum 2013)

The Buddha is not going to die… Wonderful news. And all of us, except the miserable icchantikas, will not really die, and moreover because we have a Buddha-essence, which is “eternal, blissful, characterized by a personal self, and pure” (some would say Luminous), we will become Buddhas ourselves. Quite a change from the disheartening version of Buddhism of the hearers (śrāvaka). No wonder they were distraught. 

Mourning animals, Death of the Historical Buddha, (Nehan-zu, 14th century, Met Museum), but where are the cats?!

Even the proud cats must have somehow known, because they allegedly didn’t pay tribute to the Buddha and cry at his death[2]…

“The Lotus intimates that all buddhas are eternal but in fact only states that their lives are very, very long. In the Nirvana Sutra the buddha is and always has been eternal and unchanging. He appears on earth as he did, going through the motions of being born as prince and renouncing the household life, only to “correspond to the ways of the world” (Skt. lokānuvartana; Ch. suishun shijian 隨順世間). In other words, if he had not taken these elaborate steps, the people of Jambudvīpa (i.e., India) would not have trusted him as a genuine saint. He took on this human form so that people would pay attention to his message.”

Buddhas and bodhisattvas have to “go through the motions” because of the conditions of the world and of the human beings that need to be saved. Yet they are considered as the “straight ones” (t. drang srong) in the famous verses of Patrul Rinpoche.

"The great Straight one [ṛiṣhi], the Munīndra, god of gods,
Attained the straight level through a straight path,
And in a straight way showed this straight and excellent path to others.
Isn’t that why he’s known as the Great Straight one [mahāṛiṣhi]?”[3]

The next verse goes:

“Alas for people in this age of residues!
The mind’s wholesome core of truth has withered, and people live deceitfully,
So their thoughts are warped, their speech is twisted,
They cunningly mislead others—who can trust them?[4]”

 Since the people of “this age of residues” are “crooked”, the straight bodhisattvas have to use warped yet skillful means and “crazy wisdom”, because crooked + crooked = straight. Since this could lead to great confusion, the bodhisattvas classified the Buddha’s teachings in “straight” (nitartha) and “crooked” or provisional (neyartha). The first teachings of the Buddha (selflessness and emptiness) were provisional, and the ones about Buddha-essence (buddhadhātu) are definite, and can be trusted as being “straight”.

“Self” is what “buddha” means. “Permanence” is what “dharma body” means. “Bliss” is what “nirvāṇa” means. “Purity” is what “dharma” means. Bhikṣus, why do you say, “To have any perception of self reflects arrogance and pride, and leads to transmigration in saṃsāra”? [With that attitude] when any of you declare, “I cultivate my perception of impermanence, suffering, and nonself,” these three types of practice will have no real meaning.” (Blum 2013)

One can sense the Concentration of Heroic Progress is already in motion, the third wheel is in full spin and A Few Good Men take control of the Saṅgha.

The bodhisattva (sic) Kāśyapa asked the dying Buddha “If, as you say, a tathāgata is a permanent dharma, then why is the Tathāgata’s presence [here] impermanent?” The Buddha answers through a parable about sarpirmaṇḍa (the scum of melted butter), potentially present in raw milk when it is properly churned. But the “thieves”/śrāvakas who stole the Buddha’s cows/dharma were incapable of getting the best out of it. The skills they developed in their improper (=impermanent) vessels were as impermanent as themselves. 

“After the World-honored Tathāgata enters nirvāṇa, they will steal the remaining good dharma he leaves behind—be they teachings on morality, meditation, or wisdom [triśikṣa] —just like the thieves who looted the herd of cows [from the farm]. But although ordinary people have obtained [the Buddha’s teachings on] morality, meditation, and wisdom, they lack the skills that would enable them to attain liberation by means of these teachings. With their attitude they simply cannot obtain the permanent morality, the permanent meditation, or the permanent wisdom that is liberation, just like that group of thieves who did not know the means by which to acquire sarpirmaṇḍa and so lost [that opportunity].”

“Therefore I want you to know that after the Tathāgata passes from this world, at that time there will be such people who lecture on the topic of permanence, bliss, self, and purity.”

“When a dharma wheel-turning king appears in the world, ordinary people [=śrāvakas] will no longer be able to preach about morality, meditation, or wisdom; they will retreat from such activities, just as the cattle thieves retreated.”

“Were a tathāgata to appear in the world and thoroughly explain to living beings the ordinary, worldly teaching as well as the extraordinary, transcendent teaching, it would enable bodhisattvas to follow him and preach these things on their own. Once those bodhisattva-mahāsattvas obtain that most excellent sarpirmaṇḍa, they would go on to bring an incalculable number of other living beings to where they, too, obtained the unsurpassed, timeless ambrosia of the dharma: that is, the permanence, bliss, self, and purity of a tathāgata.” (Blum 2013)

The Luminous Self with its intrinsic qualities, “the seed of the Buddha”, contained in an ordinary human body allows for developing permanent skills (triśikṣa) and qualities in a permanent Luminous vessel (not an impermanent “leather bag”!), and thus to become a Luminous “permanent and immutable Tathāgata”, undifferentiated from the Divine Light (Nous) and Logos. That is the Luminous project of Luminous Buddhism. Not nirvāṇa, unless nirvāṇa is Bliss, and not a dying Buddha. Pretty good news for an Easter Sunday don't you think? 

*** 

[1] BDK English Tripiṭaka Series, THE NIRVANA SŪTRA (MAHĀPARINIRVĀṆA-SŪTRA) VOLUME I (Taishō Volume 12, Number 374) Translated from the Chinese by Mark L. Blum, BDK America, Inc. 2013.

[2] This seems to be the reason why Trungpa tortured cats.

Leslie Hays, a former official concubine of Trungpa, wrote on her Facebook page:

“We returned to Prajna late one night after a talk and there was this beautiful tabby cat sitting on the porch. I said, “here kitty kitty” and he came right over to me, purring and rubbing against my legs. I picked him up and said: “Here sweetie, here’s the cat you’ve been wanting.” I can’t remember exactly who was on duty but i think it was Marty Janowitz and of course Mitchell. Someone took the cat from me and Rinpche ordered them to tie him to the table on the porch. He instructed them to make a tight noose out of a rope so the cat didn’t get away. He stood over his guards to examine the knots and make sure they were secure. I was curious at this point, wondering what this enlightened master had in mind for the cat-i knew there were serious rodent problems on the land and i assumed he wanted to use the cat for this problem.

Then, he instructed the kasung to bring him some logs from the fire pit that was in front of the porch down a slight slope.

We took our seats-CTR was seated to my right and there was a table between us for his drinks. He ordered a sake. The logs were on his right side, so he could use his good arm. Anyway, the cat was still tied by a noose to the table. Rinpoche picked up a log and hurled it at the cat, who jumped off the table and hung from the noose. He was making a terrible gurgling sound-and he finally got some footing on the edge of the deck and made it back onto the porch. Rinpoche hurled another log-making contact and the cat let out a horrible scream as the air was knocked out of him. I said: “Sweetie-stop! What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” He said something about hating cats because they played with their food and didn’t cry at the buddha’s funeral. He continued to torture the poor animal and I was crying and begging him to stop. I said: “I gave you the cat, please…stop it!” And I’ll never forget his response-he looked at me and said: “You are responsible to for this karma.” and he giggled. I got up to try and stop him and he firmly told me to sit down. One of the guards stepped closer to me and stood in a threatening manner to keep me in my place.

The torture went on for what seemed like hours, until finally the poor cat made a run for his life with the patio table bouncing after him. It was clear he had a broken back leg. I’m sure that cat died. I looked for him or the table for the rest of Seminary and never found either. I imagined him fleeing up the mountain and the table catching on something and strangling him. I was completely traumatized by the event, but it was never spoken of again. Rinpoche told me the “karma” from this event was good. I was dumbfounded. A common feeling i had when around CTR was that there were things going on that i simply could not understand, while it seemed other people, with a knowing nod of their heads, understood things on a deeper level than I. I was in fear of exposing my ignorance, so i learned not to question and to go with the crowd around him. They didn’t appear to have any problems with what he did-such was the depth of their devotion. I just needed to generate more devotion to Rinpoche and one day i might understand.

I kept this secret for 30 years.”

[3] Drang srong chen po thub dbang lha'i yang lhas//
drang po'i lam nas drang po'i go 'phang brnyes//
drang po'i lam bzang 'gro la drang por ston//
de slad drang srong che zhes grags min nam//

From : thog mtha’ bar gsum du dge ba’i gtam lta sgom spyod gsum nyams len dam pa’i snying nor


[4] kye ma snyigs ma'i du 'dir 'gro ba'i rgyud//
drang po'i gzhung bzang nyams nas gyo sgyu spyod//
de slad 'khyog po'i blo dang 'khyog po'i ngag/
gya gyus gzhan sems bslu la su yid gtod//

English translation by Padmakara Translation Group, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones, The Practice of View, Meditation, and Action, Shambhala Publications (2012)