Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCXLIV
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
If you are awake in the presence of a master One moment will show you the way. The fool is his own enemy. The mischief is his undoing. How bitterly he suffers! Why do what you will regret? Why bring tears upon yourself? Do only what you do not regret, And fill yourself with joy. For a while the fool’s mischief Tastes sweet, sweet as honey. Bit in the end it turns bitter. And how bitterly he suffers! For months the fool may fast, Eating from the tip of a grass blade. Still he is not worth a penny Beside the master whose food is the way. Fresh milk takes time to sour. So a fool’s mischief Takes time to catch up with him. Like the embers of a fire It smolders within him. Whatever a fool learns, It only makes him duller. Knowledge cleaves his head. For then he wants recognition. A place before other people, A place over other people. “Let them know my work, Let everyone look to me for direction.” Such are his desires, Such is his swelling pride. One way leads to wealth and fame, The other to the end of the way. Look not for recognition But follow the awakened And set yourself free 5.
Today is the celebration of the Wesak Festival which is regarded by many as the birth day of the Buddha and s a public holiday in some countries in the East. We see this day as the center point of the Three Spiritual Festivals that begin with Easter and end with the Festival of the Christ, or World Invocation Day as it is called by some. The alternate name is likely due to the reality that many will not recognize this rather new festival day because it contains the word Christ and it is for similar reasons that even the Great Invocation, which we post again as our Quote of the Day, has been rewritten in an alternate version that frames Him as ‘The Coming One’. There is a large disconnect in the world understanding of the term Christ and this is likely because of the Christian view that Jesus IS the Christ and that they speak of Jesus and the Christ as inseparable; there are many Christians that worship Jesus as the Lord and Savior as this IS how He is seemingly depicted by the apostles in their early teachings. We should try to understand that Jesus IS NOT the Christ per se any more that Jehovah is God in the Old Testament; Jesus IS the Anointed of God, He IS the Christ in fact and action in His Life in this world as “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) and if we were to read His teachings properly we would come to understand that He DOES tell us that this IS our own destiny as well. This idea IS an underlying theme of this blog and the subject of many of our essays and we will leave this here for today in saying that ALL Great Sons of God who have come among us as teachers, as Avatars if you will, have come to externalize some Aspect of the Godhead; In Christ, through Jesus, we have “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” and in the Buddha we have the Wisdom and the underlying Love which ARE Aspects of the Christ of God as well as is depicted in our chart below.
Our point above is that the world gets bound up in its misunderstanding of the reality of the terms used and take possession of them as attributes of their vision of God and His incarnated messengers and, while the Names used for some may not have been rightly discerned, the Names of the Buddha and the Christ can be. The Christ IS the Anointed, the manifestation of God in the heavenly realms and it is in this reality that ALL Avatars come among us; the Christ IS Love as God IS Love and the Christ IS Wisdom as God IS Wisdom. As the Christ, the Divine Soul that came among us in the physical form that we call Jesus, exists in the heavenly realms, it IS to Him that we give this Name but, as a principal of the Eternal God, there is yet a Greater Christ whose potency has been achieved by that Great Being that we call Christ. Similarly with the Buddha; in His day He had become Enlightened or Awakened which ARE the translated meanings of the word Buddha, a Name that He took after His Enlightenment. Looking at this from our worldly perspective we should see that the Christ is Anointed with the Love and the Wisdom of God while the Buddha is Enlightened with the Wisdom of God and these Aspects of the ONE God are what were revealed to the world through their lives as Jesus and as Gautama Buddha. And, we can see in our reading of the Wesak story that we posted yesterday, the Buddha, that Divine Soul that came among us and took this Name and Title through His Enlightenment, continues in His spiritual progression in ways that we CAN NOT even imagine while the Christ has stayed with us here in this Earth Scheme as He told us that He would saying: “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end” (Matthew 28:20). We should try to see here that as the historical Christ brings to us the fullness of the Potency of the Second Aspect of the Trinity, the Christ, so the Buddha brings to us the fullness of the Wisdom of that SAME Second Aspect of the Trinity, the Christ and, just as there can be other Buddhas, Enlightened Ones, there can also be other Christs, Anointed Ones. This IS one of the Great Mysteries of the Kingdom and the True and Full realization of this is LIMITED to those who are True disciples, those who HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.
This IS as the Master tells His disciples saying “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) and it the totality of this saying we should be able to see the Master’s teaching that “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). We should read into this first saying the reality of the second but we MUST do so in the rightly discerned meaning of “He that believeth on me” which we have taken from Vincent’s words saying: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4 which we of course understand as keeping His words. We should see as well that from the perspective of the man in the world this reality IS a part of the objective and the goal of Life in form and IS at the same time the result; ALL must come to say with the Master that “I have overcome the world“. We should see as well that this idea, overcoming the world, is also the basis of most all of the Buddha’s teaching. Quoting from the works of Paul Carus, a Nineteenth Century author who was a professor of philosophy and a student of comparative religion we take this brief statement spoken as if it were from a disciple of the Buddha much like we read the first person words of the apostles in the gospels:
REJOICE at the glad tidings! The Buddha our Lord has found the root of all evil; he has shown us the way of salvation. The Buddha dispels the illusions of our mind and redeems us from the terror of death. The Buddha, our Lord, brings comfort to the weary and sorrow-laden; he restores peace to those who are broken down under the burden of life. He gives courage to the weak when they would fain give up self-reliance and hope. You who suffer from the tribulations of life, you who have to struggle and endure, you who yearn for a life of truth, rejoice at the glad tidings ! There is balm for the wounded, and there is bread for the hungry. There is water for the thirsty, and there is hope for the despairing. There is light for those in darkness, and there is inexhaustible blessing for the upright. Heal your wounds, you wounded, and eat your fill, you hungry. Rest, you weary, and you who are thirsty quench your thirst. Look up to the light, you who sit in darkness; be full of good cheer, you who are forlorn. Trust in truth, you who love the truth, for the kingdom of righteousness is founded upon earth. The darkness of error is dispelled by the light of truth. We can see our way and take firm and certain steps. The Buddha, our Lord, has revealed the truth. The truth cures our diseases and redeems us from perdition; the truth strengthens us in life and in death; the truth alone can conquer the evils of error. Rejoice at the glad tidings! *
In the preface to the book Buddha: His Life and Teachings from which we take these excerpts, the editor gives us his own learned understanding of the person of the Buddha saying:
The picture of Buddha that comes down to us from these sources is that of a sage, who in his understanding wisdom is able to open up in other men s minds a revelation of the nature of life. He is not a god or a man carrying from Heaven a supernatural revelation, to be accepted on faith. He does not speak of a God, a Creator. He does not tell why we live, but how to live. He teaches a way of life, a way to rise above the troubles of life, and finally a way to achieve the ultimate happiness of Nirvana, in which state untroubled peace is combined with the complete opening-up of understanding.*
And any intelligent reading of the Buddha’s words from the Dhammapada or other sources will reveal Mr. Carus understanding and more as based upon His Life and the devotion of His followers who have recorded the Enlightenment of the Buddha for us. The greater part of our normal understanding of the Buddha’s teachings are found in what we call the Four Nobel Truths and the Eightfold Path with the reality of the Eightfold Path being contained within the Fourth Truth. From our book, Buddha: His Life and Teachings *, we find this understanding of these ideas:
- The Four Nobel Truths:
- FIRST TRUTH: The Nobel Truth of Suffering
- SECOND TRUTH: The Nobel Truth of the Origin of Suffering
- THIRD TRUTH: The Nobel Truth of the Extinction of Suffering
- FOURTH TRUTH: The Nobel Truth of the Path That Leads to the Extinction of Suffering
- The Eightfold Path:
- FIRST STEP: Right Understanding
- SECOND STEP: Right Mindedness
- THIRD STEP: Right Speech
- FOURTH STEP: Right Action
- FIFTH STEP: Right Living
- SIXTH STEP: Right Effort
- SEVENTH STEP: Right Attentiveness
- EIGHTH STEP: Right Concentration
Now there are many words by the Buddha that reflect upon each of these Truths and Steps to be taken by the man in the world who IS seeking Nirvana, the Kingdom of God and there are likely countless volumes written in interpretation of just what the words of the Buddha mean. This is not unlike what we have in Christianity and we should see here the parallel course of the development of doctrines based upon what one believes that the Buddha and the Christ have said. The Buddha give us worldly actions to follow as does the Christ as we can see clearly in the Sermon on the Mount and an honest view of these together will reveal that the ARE saying the same things albeit from a different perspective and to different cultures. In our reference book (*) there are many pages devoted to these Truths and Steps and we summarize this ALL in one word, ENLIGHTENMENT; and this IS from the perspective that suffering IS living in this world and being captive of the illusion and the glamour, the vanity as the Apostle Paul tell us, doing those things that as the True man, the Soul, we KNOW that we should not. The Buddha’s teachings are practical and straightforward and DO lead to the same result as following in the Path of the Master and keeping His words.
Many in the Buddhist Tradition believe that the Way to Salvation, the way to Nirvana, is found in the ascetic Life of the monk but this IS not necessarily a Truth any more than living such a Christian Life in as destitute by forsaking ALL is THE Truth. These are perhaps ways but not necessarily complete ways and we find this reality in the Way of the Christ who stood among us as our teacher and, if we look at this correctly, the Way of the Buddha who does the same. We are told that early in His Life the Buddha chose the ascetic Life but gave up on the harshness of self-mortification in His Enlightenment and that following this He continues in the culture of the ascetic as this IS who and what His disciples are as a product of that culture. However, there is little in His writings that say anything about this as the way of Life of the aspirant or the disciple and it IS, and has been, our premise, based upon our view of the teachings of each, that even in forsaking ALL, one MUST live in the world as it IS ONLY in doing so that one can overcome the world. The art of forsaking is to be found in the Truth of the Eightfold Path and not from removing oneself from the world as the source of ALL that is wrong. This is clarified by these words attributed to the Buddha in our text (*):
This is the Dharma. This is the truth. This is religion. And the Enlightened One uttered this stanza:
“Through many births I sought in vain
The Builder of this House of Pain.
Now, Builder, You are plain to see,
And from this House at last I’m free;
I burst the rafters, roof and wall,
And dwell in the Peace beyond them all.”
There is self and there is truth. Where self is, truth is not. Where truth is, self is not. Self is the fleeting error of samsara; it is individual separateness and that egotism which begets envy and hatred. Self is the yearning for pleasure and the lust after vanity. Truth is the correct comprehension of things; it is the permanent and everlasting, the real in all existence, the bliss of righteousness.
The existence of self is an illusion, and here is no wrong in this world, no vice, no evil, except what flows from the assertion of self. The attainment of truth is possible only when self is recognized as an illusion. Righteousness can be practiced only when we have freed our mind from passions of egotism. Perfect peace can dwell only where all vanity has disappeared.
Blessed is he who has understood the Dharma. Blessed is he who does no harm to his fellow-beings. Blessed is he who overcomes wrong and is free from passion. To the highest bliss has he attained who has conquered all selfishness and vanity. He has become the Buddha, the Perfect One.*
For our purposes here the word samsara is defined as worldliness and the ways of the world and in the overall of these words above we should be able to see the teaching of the Master and His apostles as well as our understanding of these things. We should see in the verses above that the builder IS the Soul and that the end of the journey is found in the clarity of seeing the Soul as the True man and we can see this same reality in the the Apostle Paul’s words that tell us of our destiny which IS that we “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
The text (*) that we have been referencing is divided into two parts; the first by Mr. Carus whose words we see above and the second by a German convert who adopted the name Nyanatiloka. This second part is the source of our listing of the Four Nobel Truths and the Eightfold Path as well as the words on the Dharma above. All of Nyanatiloka’s words are compiled by from Buddhist source books but the compilation is uniquely his and we close today with this compilation of his thoughts titled ‘Development of the Eightfold Path in the Disciple‘:
Confidence And Right-Mindedness (2nd Step)
SUPPOSE a householder, or his son, or someone reborn in any family, hears the law; and after hearing the law he is filled with confidence in the Perfect One. And filled with this confidence, he thinks: “Full of hindrances is household life, a refuse heap; but pilgrim life is like the open air. Not easy is it, when one lives at home, to fulfill in all points the rules of the holy life. How, if now I were to cut off hair and beard, put on the yellow robe and go forth from home to the homeless life?” And in a short time, having given up his more or less extensive possessions, having forsaken a smaller or larger circle of relations, he cuts off hair and beard, puts on the yellow robe, and goes forth from home to the homeless life.
Morality (3rd, 4th, 5th Step)
Having thus left the world, he fulfills the rules of the monks. He avoids the killing of living beings and abstains from it. Without stick or sword, conscientious, full of sympathy, he is anxious for the welfare of all living beings.- He avoids stealing, and abstains from taking what is not given to him. Only what is given to him he takes, waiting till it is given; and he lives with a heart honest and pure.- He avoids unchastity, living chaste, resigned, and keeping aloof from sexual intercourse, the vulgar way.- He avoids lying and abstains from it. He speaks the truth, is devoted to the truth, reliable, worthy of confidence, is not a deceiver of men.- He avoids tale-bearing and abstains from it. What he has heard here, he does not repeat there, so as to cause dissension there; and what he has heard there, he does not repeat here, so as to cause dissension here. Thus he unites those that are divided, and those that are united he encourages; concord gladdens him, he delights and rejoices in concord, and it is concord that he spreads by his words.- He avoids harsh language and abstains from it. He speaks such words as are gentle, soothing to the ear, loving, going to the heart, courteous and dear, and agreeable to many.- He avoids vain talk and abstains from it. He speaks at the right time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is useful, speaks about the law and the disciple; his speech is like a treasure, at the right moment accompanied by arguments, moderate, and full of sense.
He keeps aloof from dance, song, music and the visiting of shows; rejects flowers, perfumes, ointments, as well as every kind of adornment and embellishment. High and gorgeous beds he does not use. Gold and silver he does not accept. Raw corn and meat he does not accept. Women and girls he does not accept. He owns no male and female slaves, owns no goats, sheep, fowls, pigs, elephants, cows or horses, no land and goods. He does not go on errands and do the duties of a messenger. He keeps aloof from buying and selling things. He has nothing to do with false measures, metals and weights. He avoids the crooked ways of bribery, deception and fraud. He keeps aloof from stabbing, beating, chaining, attacking, plundering and oppressing.
He contents himself with the robe that protects his body, and with the alms with which he keeps himself alive. Wherever he goes, he is provided with these two things; just as a winged bird, in flying, carries his wings along with him. By fulfilling this noble Domain of Morality he feels in his heart an irreproachable happiness.
Control Of The Senses (6th Step)
Now, in perceiving a form with the eye- a sound with the ear- an odor with the nose- a taste with the tongue- a touch with the body- an object with his mind, he sticks neither to the whole, nor to its details. And he tries to ward off that which, by being unguarded in his senses, might give rise to evil and unwholesome states, to greed and sorrow; he watches over his senses, keep his senses under control. By practicing this noble “Control of the Senses” he feels in his heart an unblemished happiness.
Attentiveness And Clear Consciousness (7th Step)
Clearly conscious is he in his going and coming; clearly conscious in looking forward and backward; clearly conscious in bending and stretching his body; clearly conscious in eating, drinking, chewing and tasting; clearly conscious in discharging excrement and urine; clearly conscious in walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep and awakening; clearly conscious in speaking and keeping silent.
Now, being equipped with this lofty Morality, equipped with this noble Control of the Senses, and filled with this noble “Attentiveness and Clear Consciousness,” he chooses a secluded dwelling in the forest, at the foot of a tree, on a mountain, in a cleft, in a rock cave, on a burial ground, on a woody table-land, in the open air, or on a heap of straw. Having returned from his alms-round, after the meal, he sits himself down with legs crossed, body erect, with attentiveness fixed before him.
Absence Of The Five Hindrances
He has cast away Lust; he dwells with a heart free from lust; from lust he cleanses his heart.
He has cast away Ill-will; he dwells with a heart free from ill-will; cherishing love and compassion toward all living beings, he cleanses his heart from ill-will.
He has cast away Torpor and Dullness; he dwells free from torpor and dullness; loving the light, with watchful mind, with clear consciousness, he cleanses his mind from torpor and dullness.
He has cast away Restlessness and Mental Worry; dwelling with mind undisturbed, with heart full of peace, he cleanses his mind from restlessness and mental worry.
He has cast away Doubt; dwelling free from doubt, full of confidence in the good, he cleanses his heart from doubt.
The Trances (8th Step)
He has put aside these five Hindrances and come to know the paralyzing corruptions of the mind. And far from sensual impressions, far from unwholesome things, he enters into the Four Trances.
Insight (1st Step)
But whatsoever there is of feeling, perception, mental formation, or consciousness- all these phenomena he regards as “impermanent,” “subject to pain,” as infirm, as an ulcer, a thorn, a misery, a burden, an enemy, a disturbance, as empty and “void of an Ego”; and turning away from these things, he directs his mind towards the abiding, thus: “This, verily, is the Peace, this is the Highest, namely the end of all formations, the forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the fading away of craving; detachment, extinction: Nirvana.” And in this state he reaches the “Cessation of Passions.”
Nirvana
And his heart becomes free from sensual passion, free from the passion for existence, free from the passion of ignorance. “Freed am I!”: this knowledge arises in the liberated one; and he knows: “Exhausted is rebirth, fulfilled the Holy Life; what was to be done, has been done; naught remains more for this world to do.”
Forever am I liberated,
This is the last time that I’m born,
No new existence waits for me.
This, verily, is the highest, holiest wisdom: to know that all suffering has passed away.
This, verily, is the highest, holiest peace: appeasement of greed, hatred and delusion.
The Silent Thinker
“I am” is a vain thought; “I am not” is a vain thought; “I shall be” is a vain thought; “I shall not be” is a vain thought. Vain thoughts are a sickness, an ulcer, a thorn. But after overcoming all vain thoughts, one is called “a silent thinker.” And the thinker, the Silent One, does no more arise, no more pass away, no more tremble, no more desire. For there is nothing in him that he should arise again. And as he arises no more, how should he grow old again? And as he grows no more old, how should he die again? And as he dies no more, how should he tremble? And as he trembles no more, how should he have desire?
The True Goal
Hence, the purpose of the Holy Life does not consist in acquiring alms, honor, or fame, nor in gaining morality, concentration, or the eye of knowledge. That unshakable deliverance of the heart: that, verily, is the object of the Holy Life, that is its essence, that is its goal.
And those, who formerly, in the past, were Holy and Enlightened Ones, those Blessed Ones also have pointed out to their disciples this self-same goal, as has been pointed out by me to my disciples. And those, who afterwards, in the future, will be Holy and Enlightened Ones, those Blessed Ones also will point out to their disciples this self-same goal, as has been pointed out by me to my disciples.
However, Disciples, it may be that (after my passing away) you might think: “Gone is the doctrine of our Master. We have no Master more.” But you should not think; for the Law and the Discipline, which I have taught you, will, after my death, be your master.
The Law be your light,
The Law be your refuge!
Do not look for any other refuge!
Therefore, Disciples, the doctrines, which I advised you to penetrate, you should well preserve, well guard, so that this Holy Life may take its course and continue for ages, for the weal and welfare of the many, as a consolation to the world, for the happiness, weal and welfare of heavenly beings and men.*
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect of God |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the uote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
THE GREAT INVOCATION
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
- * Buddha: His Life and Teachings; Peter Pauper Press, Mount Vernon, New York 1 1 r v
