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Buddhism
Buddhism
With a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world. - Buddha Shakyamuni
The man commonly referred to as "the Buddha" practiced and taught Gnosticism: the science of self-knowledge. Here are some articles that illustrate the universal practical wisdom in relation to the many schools of Buddhism.
04: Bodhichitta
This is a transcription of the audio lecture Path of the Bodhisattva 04: Bodhichitta, which you can download for free. The teachings that we will be discussing in this course are very ancient and find their roots in times that are long forgotten by this humanity. The term "Bodhisattva" is a Sanskrit word, which describes a certain kind of person, or a certain kind of psychology, which is far more ancient than even the Sanskrit language. So when we enter into the reception of this kind of teaching, it is good for us to keep in mind that the principles, the psychology, and the science that we are discussing is far more ancient than the terms, the words, and the traditions that we have in these days. In this series of lectures, you will encounter a wide variety of terms, concepts, and ways of looking at things that you could relate to traditions...
16: Prajna, the Wisdom of Emptiness
Prajna is the sixth paramita. The term Prajna is from the Sanskrit and is composed of two Sanskrit terms: "Pra" which refers to "that which is before," and "jna" which refers to knowledge. The compound of these terms then means "before knowledge," "root knowledge," "profound knowledge." It is often translated as "perfect knowledge, intuitive wisdom, understanding, intelligence, discrimination or judgment." When we compare this with the Initiatic Kabbalah, we see that Prajna refers to both Binah, which is Hebrew for "intelligence," and Chokmah, which is Hebrew for "wisdom." Prajna is the intelligence of the Logos, a kind of knowledge or understanding that is beyond the mind, beyond the intellect. One of the ancient schools of Buddhism had a teacher named Chandrakirti who was a great explainer of the doctrine of the Buddha, and he wrote a text that is called the Madhyamakavatara. In this...
6: Tantra - The Continuum
This is a transcription of the audio lecture 6: Tantra - The Continuum, which you can download for free. In Gnosis, we study nature as a comprehensive whole. We do this in order to be very complete and very synthetic in our understanding of the laws that manage our very existence. Gnosis is very vast and comprehensive in its scope; broad understanding is very important in order to understand ourselves and our place in the universe. Life is not as simple as it appears to the five senses. Materialistic science has made some progress towards understanding that, particularly those who have been investigating the mechanics of the very small, such as the quanta and the mechanics of atoms. These investigators have been discovering laws and functions of energy and matter, which decidedly transcend the understandings of science of even 10, 20, or 50...
Awaken
Oh, wretched intellectual humanoids! Wake up from your dreadful dream of Ajnana (ignorance)! Open your eyes and attain the complete and absolute knowledge of Atman (the Being)! Crown yourselves with the blessed laurel of poetry. It is important that from the golden amphora of wisdom we pour the sweet wine… In the name of Iod-Heve, the Father who is in secret, and the Divine Mother Kundalini, you and I, beloved reader, must talk… Ah! If you could comprehend what it is to be awakened… Listen to me, I tell you, about the Dhammapada, the sacred work of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama… “For the awakened one, forbearing patience is the highest austerity. Nirvana is supreme,” says the Buddha. He, verily, is not an anchorite who harms another. Nor is he an ascetic who oppresses others. The awakened ones who are intent on meditation, who delight in the peace of renunciation, such mindful perfect Buddhas even the gods hold (most)...
Bodhisattva's Jewel Garland
A central pillar in the ancient lineage of Tibetan Buddhist mind training (lo jong), this scripture is atttributed to the Indian Buddhist master Atisha (982-1054). For one thousand years, serious meditators have contemplated and actualized the teachings offered in this short but penetrating text. We invite you to continue the tradition: do not take this as light reading. It is meant for deep reflection and daily analysis over many years. Only in this way can its true benefit be experience and realized. Bodhisattva's Jewel Garland Sanskrit title: Bodhisattvamanevali Homage to great compassion. Homage to the teachers. Homage to the faith divinities. 1Discard all lingering doubts, And strive with dedication in your practice. Thoroughly relinquish sloth, mental dul...
Bodhisattva's Song
Even a cow knows howTo take care of himself,To eat a few clumps of grassHe easily comes across; Even the beast can merrily drinkFrom a pool of water he findsAs bitter thirst Torments him. But think now what it isTo put your whole heartInto taking care of others; This is glory,This is a park of pleasure,This is the ultimate. The SunClimbs abord his fantastic chariot,Flies across the sky,Lights up all the world. The EarthRaises up his might arms,Bears the load,Holds up all mankind. And so is the wayOf those great beingsWho wish nothingFor themselves, Their lives devotedTo a single song:The well-being and happinessOf every living thing. Excerpted from Letter to a Student (10th century) by Chandragomi. This passage has been famously quoted by the Fifth Dalai Lama and the first Panchen Lama,...
How to Know the I (Part One)
The purpose of the Gnostic science is to awaken our consciousness. The awakening of consciousness is a very exact methodology that has to be performed with precision. In order to do that - to perform that science and acquire the results that we long for - we need to know our tools. Not only to know them and understand them, but how they function and their limitations. The purpose, ultimately, of awakening consciousness, of learning Gnosis, is to come to the direct realization of the true nature of our self. In this tradition that we call Gnosis, we generally call this "the realization of the Inner Being" - and we make this important distinction. Many schools, particularly Hindu schools, utilize the phrase "self-realization." While this phrase in itself, etymologically, is accurate, it has led to a misconception in the minds of many students, particularly in the West, that the realization or enlightenment is of this self that we believe we know now. This is a misconception. Self-r...
How to Know the I (Part Two)
In our previous lecture, we discussed the purpose of these studies of Gnosticism or Gnosis. This is precisely the necessity to come to know ourselves. The self-knowledge that we seek to acquire is not theoretical or based in beliefs but is instead something experiential, something we have to know from our experience, directly. In the same way that we experience anything in life, the nature of the investigation that we conduct in ourselves, or what we call the "I", has to be approached in a very scientific manner. It cannot be approached effectively based merely on theories or dogma. A theory or belief always remains simply as that; a mere theory cannot change anything. We seek to know ourselves in order to create a better life, in order to change our experience and become better people and to help others become better. We seek true knowledge; we seek to know reality in order to uncover the causes of suffering and to change those causes for causes that produce happiness,...
Introduction to Awareness
For the lecture today I want to read from a scripture and make a few small comments about the text. Normally when we give a lecture in Gnosis, we pick a particular topic and explain that topic or discuss it at some length, but given the context of this retreat there is a particular text that is very powerful and I thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce it to you. It is a scripture that you will be able to study throughout your life because it is so profound. However, being an ordinary person my own insight into it will be very limited. The text comes from Tibetan Buddhism-or at least the version that I am going to read to you-but its actual age is unknown. It is very ancient. The text is most known as one of the scriptures in what Westerners call "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" but that is not the actual name of the scripture; it is much older than that particular title (which was given to it by the first to translate it into English). I will explain the actual title...
Method of Gnostic Dharma
The methodology of the Gnostic Dharma is based in practical science. To understand what the Gnostic Dharma is we have to understand the meaning of the words. Dharma is from Sanskrit and carries many meanings. It can be interpreted as law or truth. The word Dharma can be used to describe the way something works in its fundamental basis. Dharma is an essential truth, the essential nature of how phenomena occurs. This is the root meaning that we are most interested in. It is the use of the word Dharma in relationship with truth, or how reality actually comes to be, is sustained, and is understood. Of course, we also use the word Dharma to talk about the nature of the teachings. So you will often hear about "the Dharma" in reference to any teaching that is grounded in the practical use of the consciousness. That leads us to arrive at our own personal experience, our own direct conscious knowledge of the way reality truly is. And this is where we arrive to this word...
Right Mindfulness
This is a transcription of the audio lecture Right Mindfulness, which you can download for free. Mindfulness is taught in every great religion, for mindfulness is the very basis of spiritual understanding. Without mindfulness, there can be no "religion" - re-union with the divine. Mindfulness is the activity of our very essence. When we understand what mindfulness is, then we understand what it is we are trying to awaken. What is right mindfulness? Here a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent ... He abides contemplating consciousness as consciousness, ardent ... He abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief...
Seeking the Master: Teachers and Students
In today’s lecture we will discuss some practical aspects of spirituality and religion that affect all of us, at whatever level or with whatever interest in approaching these kinds of studies. We are going to be looking at an aspect of yoga known in the east as Guru Yoga. The word "yoga" does not refer to stretching exercises, postures or work with the physical body. The word yoga really means “to unite, to yoke, to harness.” And it comes from Sanskrit, from the traditions of India. Yoga in its root is the same as our western word "religion," which comes from the Latin "religare," which also means “to unite or to bind, to yoke, to harness.” But the implication in both terms is a reunion. To unite again - to reestablish - to reform something that has been lost or broken. When we hear the term yoga these days, of course most people are referring to...
Stages of Meditative Concentration
The Nine Stages of Calm Abiding Nowhere does it say anything else but this: if you hope to develop Insight (vipashyana: comprehension), the training of wisdom, you must find Quietude (shamatha / dhyana), that of concentration. - Tsong Khapa The following information is intended to provide a very practical and simplified outline of an ancient and essential teaching on the development of meditative concentration, also called Dhyana or Shamatha. This teaching outlines nine basic states of consciousness which equate to nine qualities of concentrated attention. Anyone can learn how to improve their own meditation practice by comparing their own experience with the states described here. Moving from one state to a superior one is achieved by overcoming the obstacles present at each stage. This is precisely the value of this teaching: it allows us to immediately discover how our practice is developing and what we need to do to advance it. We ...
Suffering and Right View
This is a transcription of the audio lecture Suffering and Right View, which you can download for free. Many students struggle when they begin to study the Gnostic teachings, because the scope of this wisdom is vast and very deep. This is because the presentation of Gnosis, such as is given in the series of lectures that we have been delivering to you, always comes from the point of view of the Absolute. So when we give a lecture here, we begin by discussing the Absolute or that profound Unknowable. We see that symbolized in the Tree of Life, at the very top of...
The Apocryphon of John
Apocryphon Ioannis: Secret Writings on the Generosity of God This important scripture was lost to public knowledge for many centuries and only discovered very recently. It is currently known by many names, given the variety of ways the original title can be understood. The Secret Book of John, The Apocryphon of John, or The Secret Revelation of John all have accuracy, but knowing the roots of the name leads to a clearer understanding. The title of this scripture in Greek is Apocryphon Ioannis. Apocryphon comes from απόκρυφος, apokryphos, "hidden, obscure," from apo- "away" and kryptein "to hide." This is important because at the time of its writing, the knowledge of Kabbalah was jealously protected by a powerful elite (their power was demonstrated in the torture and killing of Jesus, Paul, Stephen, and many, many others). Those who were outside of that elite (whether called Jews, Christians, Gnostics, or by many other...
The Esoteric Path
Pay utmost attention, since, obviously, the time has arrived for the esoteric path to be truly comprehended. First of all, it is not irrelevant to state that, indeed, what we Gnostics are looking for is nothing other than to be transformed into true, Self-realized, perfect beings. What we are asseverating here might seem a little exaggerated, but indeed, I do not see any basic objective for these Gnostic teachings other than to study the esoteric path. Indeed, the path is what is fundamental: the path that distinct messengers came to explain in their messages to this humanity.
The Heart of Wisdom Sutra
It is said there are eighty-four thousand collections of discourses, which the Buddha taught to accord with the diverse mental dispositions and spiritual inclinations of sentient beings. The Perfection of Wisdom literature, the Prajnaparamita, is the principal genre among them. It is part of the Sanskrit Buddhist tradition and includes the Heart Sutra, also called the Heart of Wisdom Sutra... Emphasizing the Mahayana ideal of the bodhisattva who aspires to liberate all beings, these Perfection of Wisdom sutras flourished in many countries, including China - from where they were brought to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam - and Tibet, from where they were transmitted to Mongolia, to the vast expanse of the trans-Himalayan region, and to areas within the Russian federation. In the...
The Three Jewels (1)
In the tradition of Buddhism, the students who enter into the study and practice of the teachings of the Buddha always perform a certain kind of ceremony, which varies among the different schools, but which is universally called "taking refuge." They take refuge in the Three Jewels or the Three Treasures or the Triple Gem. In Sanskrit this is called Triratna, which means Three Jewels or Three Treasures. When a person takes refuge they make a vow or repeat a prayer which says, in its essence, "I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha." These are the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. And that is the order in which they are stated. Usually, the person who takes refuge, who takes this vow, or repeats this prayer is doing so because they have received some instruction or guidance or they have become...
The Three Jewels (3)
As we have been studying in recent lectures, you will recall that the Three Jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. These Three Jewels have levels of application in relation to our study of Dharma, or that wisdom which leads us to the realization of Dharma itself. We explained previously that the word Dharma has these two implications or two meanings. The first is that state of existence or consciousness within which suffering has ceased, and this is a state of cessation; a state within which the primordial nature of the mind is manifest and clear. The second application or meaning of Dharma is the path that leads to cessation or that experiential state. These Three Jewels are of the utmost importance to any being who seeks to escape from suffering, to transcend suffering, to remove themselves from all manner of suffering. In Buddhism, reliance upon the Three Jewels is called taking refuge. This comes from the notion that when we are in th...
Thirty-seven Verses on the Practices of Bodhisattvas
This core scripture from Tibetan Buddhism has been relied upon for six centuries as a synthesis of the Mahayana teachings, and more specifically as a condensation of the famous (but longer) text called Bodhicharyavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva) by Shantideva. The Thirty-seven Verses is memorized and studied in all Tibetan Buddhist schools. The Mahayana teachings outine the path of the Bodhisattva, which is a unique and deeply psychological revolution. To understand this path, its details, and specifics requires many long years of intense work on oneself accompanied by meditation on important scriptures like this one. In other words, understanding it intellectually is totally different from experiencing it. The Gnostic tradition is based on experience, not intellectualism. Therefore, we provide this scripture to you as food for meditation and daily practice. Only in this way can you eventually understand what it means. In the...
