Gnostic Pointing-Out Instructions on Pure Light

Imperial Passport, Universal Seal "mahāmudrā"

The Secret Book of John/The Apocryphon of John  (BG, 2 ; NH III, 1) is an early Christian (Gnostic) dialogue between Jesus and his “favorite disciple” John. John’s vision of Jesus will introduce John into the knowledge needed to escape the limitations of the material world and to reunite with the higher realm from which he came. That is, the most essential and pure part of “John”, his part of the divine, his soul or higher Self we could say.

Jesus appears as a young man and an old man “in whom Light was present”). Jesus says to John:

“I am with you (plural) always.
I am the Father
The Mother
The Son
I am the incorruptible
Purity[1].”

Jesus then goes on to introduce John into the knowledge (gnosis) of the origination of all things, and explains the “Monade” or “the One”, “that rules all” and over which “nothing has authority”, a “monarchy” (BB).

“It is uncontaminated
Pure light no eye can bear to look within.
The One is the Invisible Spirit [Esprit].
It is not right to think of it as a God or as like God.
It is more than just God.
Nothing is above it.
Nothing rules it.
Since everything exists within it
It does not exist within anything.
Since it is not dependent on anything
It is eternal.

It is absolutely complete and so needs nothing.
It is utterly perfect
Light.”

The authors of the Secret Book of John were early Christians (Gnostics), with Sethian elements, and who identified with “the immovable race and the seed of Seth[2]”. They believed in what could be called a soul and in the survival of a soul after death. The “souls” can be "given over to the powers created by the rulers (archons), bound in chains, and cast into prison again". Until the liberating spiritual knowledge (gnosis) is found. The archons try to trap the divine spark within humans and keep them from gnosis.

The One, the Monad, the Invisible Spirit, “the Light” is “more than God”. “God” is a lower reality of “the Light”. Our own created or emanated “reality” is a lower and impure, “contaminated reality”, including causality and all the natural laws. Everything is like sealed by the One, carrying the Seal of the One. When a divine spark leaves its temporal lower prison at the moment of death, it can be reunited with higher realms (the Kingdom, the Monarchy,...), nearer to the One, and the Light. Jesus tells John how this is possible and gives him the required gnosis. (25,3-14)

“The One is without boundaries
Nothing exists outside of it to border it
The One cannot be investigated
Nothing exists apart from it to investigate it
The One cannot be measured
Nothing exists external to it to measure it

The One cannot be seen
For no one can envision it
The One is eternal
For it exists forever
The One is inconceivable
For no one can comprehend it
The One is indescribable
For no one can put any words to it.

The One is infinite light
Purity
Holiness
Stainless, (23,15-24,9)

The One is incomprehensible
Perfectly free from corruption.
Not “perfect”
Not “blessed”
Not “divine”
But superior to such concepts.
Neither physical nor unphysical
Neither immense nor infinitesimal
It is impossible to specify in quantity or quality
For it is beyond knowledge.

The One is not a being among other beings
It is vastly superior
But it is not “superior.”

It is outside of realms of being and time
For whatever is within realms of being was created
And whatever is within time had time allotted to it
The One receives nothing from anything.
It simply apprehends itself in its own perfect light” (24,9-25,9)

In the fullness (“plénitude”) of its Light, the Invisible Spirit apprehends itself. Its Light produces more Light ("saṃbhogakāya"). All its respective qualities produce images of its qualities: life, blessedness, knowledge, goodness, mercy, generosity. (25,9-22)

“[The Invisible Spirit] is conscious of his image everywhere around him,
Perceiving his image in this spring of Spirit
Pouring forth from himself.
He is enamored of the image he sees in the light-water [s. amṛta, t. bdud rtsi]
The spring of pure light-water enveloping him.

His self-aware thought (g. ennoia) came into being.
Appearing to him in the effulgence of his light.
She stood before him.” (26,15-27,10)

She, the Mother, the Father’s “self-aware thought (g. ennoia)”, stood before him, “in the effulgence of his light” through Providence (g. pronoia), Barbelo, the Virgin Spirit, the perfect power, the initial power [s. śaktī, t. nus pa] and “she is from His image in His light” (g. protennoia). (27,10-19)

“She is the universal womb
She is before everything
She is:
Mother-Father
First Man
Holy Spirit

Thrice Male
Thrice Powerful
Thrice Named

Androgynous eternal realm
First to arise among the invisible realms.” (27,19-28,4)

Barbelo becomes the androgynous Primordial Man, to whom five gifts/qualities by the Invisible Spirit, such as Eternal Life, are associated. Five eons (s. kalpa) of the father taking form in Barbelo the Image of the Invisible. Barbelo turns to the Pure Light (of the Father), looks into it and gives birth to a spark of Light (29,19-30,9).

The universal womb of the pure invisible realms. Image of the Invisible Spirit endowed with all its qualities. The “Father”, the One, liked his own Image, the “Mother”. In the translation of Stevan Davies “The Father looked into Barbelo [into the pure light surrounding the Invisible Spirit]” and “Barbelo conceived and bore a spark of light”. In the French translation of Bernard Barc (La Pléiade, p. 225), it is “Barbelo who looks intensely towards the pure light”, the Father, and “bore a spark of light”[3] 28,5-29,18). A spark of light...

“Who had blessedness similar to, but not equal to, her blessedness,
Who was the only child of that mother–father
The only offspring ["Monogenes"],
The only begotten child of the pure light, the Father.

The Invisible Virgin Spirit celebrated the light that had been produced
Coming forth from the first power who is
The Providence
Barbelo” (29,19-30,9)

The Father anoints the Only Child, and the Child “glorifies” the Father and the Mother, thus recognizing their authority over him (30,9-31,4). The Child is invested with qualities and intellect (g. nous), and obtains a mission through the Word and the“Will” of the Father/Invisible Spirit, the Source of Light (31,12-32,3). He is the Christ, the divine Autogenes, who created everything through the Word.

The pure emanations/creations of eons (s. kalpa) start, and the Perfect true Man, Adamas, the (Autogenes) “proceeds” from the divine Autogenes, the Christ, as his image, in the first perfect eon (s. kalpa), with the first of the four “Lights” (“luminaires”), the first angel, Harmozel (“Armozel”) of “the realm of the Light”. We are still at the level of pure creation (s. śuddha, t. dag pa). The fourth “Light” is Eleleth, with whom stand Perfection, Peace and Wisdom (Sophia) (33,5-34,18). The Perfect true Man, Adamas, “glorifies” and blesses the Invisible Spirit. Adamas’ son Seth was appointed over the second realm with the second Light Oriel, and “the seed of Seth” over the the third realm, containing “the souls of saints”.

“In the fourth realm were placed the souls of those ignorant of the fullness [“plénitude”]
Those who did not repent at once
But who, after some time, eventually repented,
They are with the fourth Light Eleleth.”

This would be the realm with Sophia and the universal disaster of creation that followed… They all “glorified” the Invisible Spirit (35,20-36,15), the Source of Light. This early Gnostic Sethian Christian text bears multiple influences (Egyptian, Judaic, Hellenist, Platonist, …), but the Pure Light, beyond God, is central, and runs through everything like a lifeline, like the sole truly real thing. Recognizing and knowing it is salvation. Those who recognize, but “don’t repent at once”, will do so after some time, but their multi-existential career won’t be a picnic. One expects that “the souls of saints” in the third realm, are those that recognized the Light at once, repented at once and “glorified” the Invisible Spirit at once.

It seems to me that the concept of “Pure Light” (“Sheer Luminosity” t. gsal ba tsam s. prakāśamātra), in esoteric Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism in particular, and their associated doctrines and practices bear similarities with these Gnostic doctrines. Why is deity practice necessary in Buddhism, that sometimes claims to be atheistic, non-theistic or at least “nāstika”? Why is the Luminous Self or Buddha-essence (s. buddhadhātu) the truly real element? It survives death, and for those who are lucky it will recognize “the natural clear light” and be reunited with it, thus "gain[ing] the accomplishment of the Great Seal”

“The teacher previously stated: what is called co-emergent union is an extremely profound special instruction that Atiśa bestowed upon Gönpawa, to the effect that the co-emergent mind itself is the dharmakāya and co-emergent appearance is the light of the dharmakāya[4].” (James B. Apple, Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa (Jo bo rjes dgon pa ba la gnang ba’i phyag chen)

“Mahamudra in Tibetan is chak-gya chenpo--chak-gya meaning mudra or symbol and chenpo meaning great. A mudra is a symbol of a characteristic, like the seal of a powerful king, for example. When a powerful king makes a rule and puts his seal on the rule, everyone is subject to follow that rule; no one can escape the rule, because the king has put his seal on it. Similarly, no sentient being is beyond Dharmata, or the nature of mind; all sentient beings are subject to it. Therefore, it is like the seal of a great king in that sentient beings cannot escape from the nature of mind, Dharmata.

What I'm really trying to convey here with this example is that not only all beings but all phenomena are within the scope of clarity, emptiness, and luminosity, not beyond them. So, having explained the idea of "mudra," why is there then the word "maha," meaning "great"? In general language, the word implies that a person or thing is greater than someone or something else that is inferior. Similarly, this very nature of the mind being supreme, being the highest or ultimate, it is hence called the "mahamudra" or "great symbol."
(from a traditional explanation given by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche)[5]

***

[1] Online Translation Stevan Davies merely for practical reasons. I also follow the French translation by Bernard Barc (BB), La Pléiade, pp. 219-222, that seems more complete and precise.

A similar statement, except the triple reference to Father, Mother and Son, was also made by Śavaripa when he appeared to Maitrīpa/Advayavarja in Tibetan hagiographies.

[2] Dr. M. David Litwa, Secret Book of John: A Christian Text Youtube, 15:46).,

[3] "Barbélô regarda intensément vers la lumière pure. Elle entoura celle-ci (et) enfanta une étincelle de lumière qui ressemble à la lumière bienheureuse, mais qui ne lui était pas égale en grandeur.
« C’est le Monogène manifesté par le Père, le Dieu autogène, le Fils premier engendré de tous ceux (qui appartiennent) au Père, la lumière pure.” 

[4] "slob dpon pa’i zhal snga nas/ lhan cig skyes sbyor bya ba jo bos dgon pa ba la gnang ba’i gdam ngag shin tu zab pa yin gsungs/ de yang sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa chos kyi sku dang/ snang ba lhan cig skyes pa chos kyi sku’i ’od gnyis po de/"

[5] Also see Paul Demiéville, Entretiens de Lin-tsi, p. 51-52

"Il y eut alors un moine qui demanda : “Qu'est-ce que supprimer l'homme sans supprimer l'objet ?”
Le maître dit :
a. “La chaleur du soleil fait naître sur le sol tapis de brocart ; Les cheveux pendants de l'enfant sont blancs comme fils de soie.””

“Le moine : “Qu'est-ce que supprimer l'objet sans supprimer l'homme ?”
Le maître :
b. “Les ordres du roi sont en vigueur dans l'univers entier ; Pour le général aux frontières, point de fumée ni de poussière.”

Le moine : “Qu'est-ce que supprimer à la fois l'homme et l'objet ?”
Le maître :
c. “Les préfectures de Ping et de Fen sont coupées de toutes nouvelles ; Elles restent à part, isolées dans leur coin.

Le moine : “Qu'est-ce que ne supprimer ni l'homme ni l'objet ?”
Le maître :
d. « Le roi monte sur son palais fait de matières précieuses; Dans la campagne les vieillards se livrent aux chansons.”

All you need is Light, Luminous monism

All you need is light (DALL·E)

In this blog I want to show through some quotes how what started as a lamp or light metaphor ended up in a doctrine of proudly assumed Luminous monism. The doctrine of Buddha nature, passing from non-self to a “Great Self” or “Luminous Self”, and the doctrine of non-duality (devoid of subject and object) served as bridge. The doctrine of non-duality initially led to the union of emptiness and clarity (yuganaddha, etc.), and in the end “emptiness” (a metaphor itself) was outshone by sheer Luminosity or "Light" and the "unity" became Luminous monism.

In Luminous monism, Light (“pure Awareness” for the more philosophically inclined) is devoid of subject and object and therefore “non-dual”. The strawman “Emptiness” became a simple lower reality of Light in order to rule over the domain (gocara) of reason, logic and causality. Whatever experience is produced in mind, “mundane or sublime”, “is and can only be an expression of this light of awareness”. Why deal with such a limited level of reality and not settle for the ultimate authority, plugging one's luminous nucleus directly into Light itself, or into its earthly nexuses and outlets (so above, so below), and getting the full whack of spiritual awakening, energy, power, immortality etc., with a rainbow body as a bonus (see below).

The “Luminous Self” present/immanent in every human body, translated in yoga (reintegration) language, is an immortal “luminous nucleus”, that essentially remains unchanged in all its “intermediate processes”, participating in the great Divine Light (Nous). Its “ luminous manifestations” (Logos) are both those of the “luminous nucleus” and the great Divine Light, directly connected. Whatever may seem like separations in the Light is due to residual distorted appearances (t. ’khrul snang) that prevent one from accessing the “final holistic vision” (Dowman). One's terminal needs further cleaning.

“In the Secret Cycle, The Totally Radiant Seminal Nucleus (Thig le kun gsal) has another fourfold typology that substitutes meditation for dying: (i) natural intermediate process (rang bzhin bar do), (ii) intermediate process of contemplation (ting nge ’dzin gyi bar do), (iii) intermediate process of reality’s radiant light (chos nyid ’od gsal bar do), and (iv) intermediate process of rebirth (srid pa bar do).

The discussion clearly points to a Seminal Heart-like scheme: the intermediate process of reality is defined as the cessation of distorted appearances (’khrul snang) followed by luminous manifestation of one’s own primordial gnosis for up to five days. It also has a discussion of light channels in the body, a characteristic of Seminal Heart texts that is bound up with the internal illumination of buddha-nature that shines externally in the postmortem visions.” The Funerary Transformation of the Great Perfection (Rdzogs chen) (2005), David Germano

Whatever the axiomatic Buddhist claims (four seals, non-self, emptiness) and the justification thereof Tibetan esoteric Buddhism advances to invoke the Buddhist pedigree of their doctrines, the fact remains that a post-mortem Self (or “Totally Radiant Seminal Nucleus”) and a post-mortem “luminous manifestation of [its] own primordial gnosis” point into another and conventional religious direction. Especially in the case of a post-mortem Luminous body with “light channels” and “light seeds” (t. thig le, Dowman). The “Totally Radiant Seminal Nucleus” is what used to be dharmadhātu in Trekcho language, here in Keith Dowman’s book (see below) 'the sole all-inclusive megapixel' (t. thig le nyag gcig).

The author of the above mentioned article, David Germano, was very enthusiastic about the “luminous” English translation of the “Thig le kun gsal” by Keith Dowman.

“This evocative translation for the first time brings into luminous English one of the most important and influential of Great Perfection tantras. We owe a great debt to Keith Dowman for his painstaking and yet creative rendering to bring this text and its world across great distances into intimate reach of a contemporary international readership.” -David Germano, U. of Virginia

The title of Dowman’s English translation is “Everything is light : the great explanatory Dzogchen tantra Thig le kun gsal chen po'i rgyud : the circle of total illumination”, English translation published by Keith Dowman in 2017, Dzogchen Now! Books. Keith Dowman explains the choice of the title in his introduction. Some excerpts.

“The meaning of this book's title implies that everything we know directly is awareness in the now and, in that sense, awareness is 'light' - the very cognizant light that is conscious experience, and constitutes inseparable knowing and the knowable. All phenomena in sensory perception are 'light'. The entire pantheon of buddha being is composed of light. Dzogchen is the vehicle of light - light is both the source and the manifestation. Such is the Dzogchen view, which provides recognition of present awareness in the now and recognition of nondual initiatory experience at the beginning, and constitutes the final achievement of the rainbow body at the end. The existential realization of this truth is not immediately accessible in the first and second turnings of the wheel of the buddha-dharma; it is only in the final turning, and particularly in the Nyingma tantras, that it is overtly expressed.”

“The belief in Buddha and the Bodhisattvas taught by the lamas, like that in Jesus Christ and the Saints taught by the priests, belongs to the little ones, karmically deleted from the list of players in the cosmic lottery that has rainbow body as the prize.”

“With that understanding, the rudimentary spiritual practice of buddhist cultural training consisting of provisional views and practices that mimic human growth from infant to adult may be severed from the radically different full-bodied mystical insight of Dzogchen. With such insight, the definitive revelation of Dzogchen, a final holistic vision, becomes identical to the universal human experience of nonduality. Since all our experience is comprehended as light, light is the only reality and 'Everything is Light' is, therefore, the seminal message.”

Luminous monism

“This entire tantra can be effectively described as a series of visions, and visionary experience can only be composed of light. We understand, here, first and foremost, that 'light' is the light of awareness of both source and manifestation nondual - regardless of whether what is manifested is mundane or sublime, regardless of whether it appears 'inside' or 'outside', regardless of whether the experience is of this bardo of life or any other bardo. As such, all experience in the immediate now is and can only be an expression of this light of awareness. In that nondual sense is everything light. Consequently, all experience is 'nondual' insofar as the light of awareness has rendered experience conscious and knowledge knowable. It has always been nondual and cannot be anything else. No union of separate 'light of awareness' on the one hand and 'experience' on the other can occur.

Everything is light and everything is a sublime vision of Vairochana's buddha-mandala.”

Without the last reminder, one could think that “All you need is Light”. It is all we need and already allegedly have. Yet, in spite of lovely peak experiences and visionary experiences of “light seeds”, etc., gradually evolving into full-fledged buddha-mandalas and pure lands, one could still regress... And even after one’s Light, no longer a nucleus, irreversibly reached the “final holistic vision” of the Great Light, “knowing and the knowable” will still be required to communicate with the “players in the cosmic lottery” left out in the dark, still entrapped in their distorted appearances. How can we distinguish those with a “final holistic vision” from those who are still entrapped in “knowing and the knowable”? I am afraid we can not. Those with holistic vision sometimes treat dismissively those who don't have it. That could possibly be a clue.

Jean-Luc Achard also reminds overly enthusiastic Luminististas: 

“As Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche has said numerous times in his teachings: «The natural state is itself perfect but the practitioner is not.» This means that the practitioner has to improve his own condition in order to reach a threshold of authentic realization from which he will not regress.” (Jean-Luc Achard, The View of sPyi ti Yoga).