Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCXLVI
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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Do not live in the world, In distraction and false dreams. Outside the dharma. Arise and watch. Follow the way joyfully through this world and beyond. Follow the way of virtue. Follow the way joyfully Through this world and on beyond! For consider the world – A bubble, a mirage. See the world as it is, And death shall overlook you. Come, consider the world, A painted chariot for kings, A trap for fools. But he who sees goes free. As the moon slips from behind a cloud And shines, So the master comes out from behind his ignorance And shines. The world is in darkness. How few have eyes to see! How few the birds who escape the net and fly to heaven! 5
The saying above is from the Buddha and in this can be seen His view of our understanding of illusion and glamour as they beset the world of men and His admonition that to live with one’s focus upon the world is, from the perspective of one’s spiritual Life, folly. This word, folly is representative of the actions of the fool who IS the man that IS focused upon the things of the flesh, to use Paul’s word as it is rendered words from the Greek and which should be taken to mean those things that are of and for the self in the world. We should remember here that the Buddha IS speaking to disciples as are much of the Master’s words and the words of His apostles and in this view we should see the that the fool and his folly are ALL others who are not so focused on what the Buddha calls the Dharma. Now this word is understood doctrinally to mean the law and the body of religious doctrines* but we should see the more spiritual side of this of which the result IS the understanding of the Four Nobel Truths and the following of the Eightfold Path. Again we relate our words to the Master’s teaching on treasure and the idea of the heart or the consciousness of the man in the world. When the heart is filled with thoughts and ideas of and for the self in the world a man is so focused and this is opposed to the man whose thoughts and ideas are on God, the God Within and the Plan. Now while the words of the Buddha do not express things in this way, the message of focus is the same as that which we take from the Master’s teaching. Again we should try to understand the reality of the biblical sense of sin and evil, that this IS the same as the Buddha’s sense of the fool and his folly and perhaps we can look here at the combination of sin and evil in this same light; that sin is man’s focus upon the things of the self and the self in the world while evil IS the activity of this sin. We should at the same time recognize that neither being in sin nor being the fool is limited to the gross forms that these may take in the mind of the doctrines as IS the common assumption; we should rather understand the Truth, that sin and evil and the fool and his folly are the ways of the man whose focus us upon the things of and for the self in the world. Here we should understand that reality and that Truth that one is either awakened or not or, from the words of the Master that one has chosen God over mammon; we should see at the same time that the idea of focus upon God must necessarily be complete, a must if if one is to be counted among the awakened as there IS a contrary nature to trying to do both. This the Master tells us clearly saying that “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). From the perspective of the Buddha we can see the same reality in words such as these below from the Gospel of Buddha by Paul Carus that we have been discussing and where we find dialogue such as this:
THE Blessed One thus addressed the bhikkhus: “It is through not understanding the four noble truths, O bhikkhus, that we had to wander so long in the weary path of samsara, both you and I.
“Through contact thought is born from sensation, and is reborn by a reproduction of its form. Starting from the simplest forms, the mind rises and falls according to deeds, but the aspirations of a Bodhisattva pursue the straight path of wisdom and righteousness, until they reach perfect enlightenment in the Buddha.
“All creatures are what they are through the karma of their deeds done in former and in present existences.
“The rational nature of man is a spark of the true light; it is the first step on the upward road. But new births are required to insure an ascent to the summit of existence, the enlightenment of mind and heart, where the immeasurable light of moral comprehension is gained which is the source of all righteousness. Having attained this higher birth, I have found the truth and have taught you the noble path that leads to the city of peace. I have shown you the way to the lake of ambrosia, which washes away all evil desire. I have given you the refreshing drink called the perception of truth, and he who drinks of it becomes free from excitement, passion, and wrong-doing.
“The very gods envy the bliss of him who has escaped from the floods of passion and has climbed the shores of Nirvana. His heart is cleansed from all defilement and free from all illusion. He is like unto the lotus which grows in the water, yet not a drop of water adheres to its petals. The man who walks in the noble path lives in the world, and yet his heart is not defiled by worldly desires.
“He who does not see the four noble truths, he who does not understand the three characteristics and has not grounded himself in the uncreate, has still a long path to traverse by repeated births through the desert of ignorance with its mirages of illusion and through the morass of wrong. But now that you have gained comprehension, the cause of further migrations and aberrations is removed. The goal is reached. The craving of selfishness is destroyed, and the truth is attained. This is true deliverance; this is salvation; this is heaven and the bliss of a life immortal.”
Here is the reality of the Buddha’s teaching on the focus of the Life upon what is noted above as the uncreate and which we should understand as the Soul, the master and, as He also says above, The rational nature of man which IS a spark of the true light. We should try to see here that the Buddha is speaking to the man in the world who is the aspirant and the disciple and from the perspective of being that man in the world who is awakening; He is instructing them on the nature of this awakening. This IS not unlike the Master speaking to His apostles and disciples about their own realization or awakening and while the Buddha takes a logical and straightforward approach as it effects the man in the world today in Wisdom and then bliss, the Christ takes the more spiritual approach of Love as He instructs us on the use of that Light and that Love in service to one’s brothers. As we have said in previous essays, within this Wisdom that the Buddha teaches is that Love which is realized in the fullness of Enlightenment or awakening while within the Love that the Master teaches there is that Wisdom from Above which is realized in the fullness of one’s focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True. Both paths do lead to the same place which IS the Kingdom and which IS Nirvana.
In the Buddha’s words above at the head of today’s essay His message is largely the same as we highlight in our daily messages, that to see the world as the reality of Life is to realize first hand that the world IS A painted chariot for kings, A trap for fools, and it is in this reality that those whose focus IS upon the self live. We should ever understand the dynamics of this IS such that when a man is trapped in this folly, when he IS living in the world, In distraction and false dreams, he DOES NOT see the reality…he does not follow the Way and regardless of what he may make himself to believe IS true, it IS NOT. We should see here that the Buddha is instructing His disciples in the folly of the ways of the world and admonishes them to not live in the world, In distraction and false dreams. Outside the dharma and of this same idea the Master tells us saying that we should “take no thought” (Luke 12:22). The effect of both these approaches IS the same and while the Buddha is more direct in His words, the Master offers these same ideas in His parables which can be seen to be more directly related to the reality of the need to realize the spiritual Way.
In our previous look at the words from the Buddha at the top, we have focused on the end and here we say again that this right seeing IS, as the Master and the Buddha both tell us, a difficult accomplishment and this right seeing IS as well the first step in one’s journey out of the clutches of Life in form and the illusion and the glamour, the vanity, of the Life of one whose focus is on the self and the things of and for the self. The Master tells us in this regard that we should: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14) and in this same context as we see it above as the Buddha tells us The world is in darkness. How few have eyes to see! How few the birds who escape the net and fly to heaven! 5. These words from the Christ and the Buddha are the reality of Life, that one must escape from the world of illusion and glamour and this IS a difficult task.
We have spent several days now on the words of the Buddha and we have related many of His sayings to the sayings of the Master and there is a reality here that IS missed by the many in the Christian faith that do not take the time to understand the Buddha’s message but rather choose to use the words of others who are likewise ignorant of His truths to establish opinions regarding this Great Brother of the Christ. These views are of course grounded more in the glamour than in the illusion as in glamour we find the understanding of the Apostle James regarding that greater sin of “bitter envying and strife“ and we KNOW that it is in these ideas that we find the focus upon the self where self-absorbed, self-interest and self-devotion can be seen as keywords. And we should note here that this idea of self expands to those things that like selves hold True and dear collectively. James tells us of this saying “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth” (James 3:14) and in these words is a great reality with respect to our discussion here of glamour. Not only from the perspective that this attitude is diametrically opposed to James’ teaching on the Wisdom from above but also in the reality that this is the emotional response of the man in the world against what he considers a threat to what he has come to believe. In this we can see the way of the Pharisee that the Master rails against as they practice this very same “bitter envying and strife” in their struggle against the Master and His teachings and we KNOW that in the end, the result of this was that hatred and defilement of Jesus and what He represented. This IS glamour in the world of men, that ardent feeling that they alone have the right to be right and this is not restricted to the common Christian view of other religions but IS a universal effect of the vanity in which the whole of the race of men lives and it effects most ALL things that a man conceive of as important. We should understand that this IS an emotional response and that it is overcome by the rational mind and away from the illusions that feed such glamour, the rational mind that IS influenced by the Soul and of which the Buddha speaks above saying that The rational nature of man is a spark of the true light.
Our point here is clear and it is one that is detested by the Christians of the world who firmly believe that the ONLY way to God, to the Kingdom, is through Jesus and this they take from selected passages in the gospels and the epistles and, for the most part, out of context. When we read the True message of Jesus in its entirety and when we can see doctrinal Christianity as being in many ways the antithesis of that True message, we can finally make some progress as Christians in the world today. And this dilemma IS NOT limited to Christianity but involves ALL religions where doctrine based on parts and passages reigns over the Truth of the entirety of the teaching. The Christian practices baptism and other sacraments as though these are ordained by the Christ when the reality is that they are mostly invented by man based upon isolated readings from the Master’s words and the words of His apostles and in these rituals and affirmations of doctrine a man comes to believe that he IS saved and this despite his failure to fulfill ALL of the Master’s words. This too is highlighted for us by the Apostle James who rather clearly states that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10) but this too is largely ignored in man’s search for salvation. It IS in this search that mankind has cleverly covered the more stringent requirements for salvation and attaining the Kingdom and the root cause of this IS the illusion and the glamour in which we live. We have covered these ideas in a variety of ways over the life of this blog and, regardless of the perspective that one may take, the Truth IS the same: we are as men in the world either ALL IN as regards the spiritual Way, the keeping of the words of the Master who asks us rhetorically “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) or, we ARE NOT ALL IN which leaves us in the world, perhaps at some degree of Repentance and Transformation but not in that completed state that is required to make that claim of being born again, or being righteous or perfect and we should here understand that these three do represent the same thing.
This will conclude for now our look at the words of the Buddha and our comparison of these to the words of the Christ and we end here for today with our own conviction that based upon the teachings of the Master, the Christ Jesus, that ALL begins with Love and ALL ends with Love; there IS NO other way for us who KNOW to proceed. Should we choose to follow the way of the Buddha we will find Wisdom and in that Wisdom we will find Love and in finding Love we must per force find Christ and the Christ Within and this regardless of what one may outwardly believe; finding Nirvana IS finding the Christ Within, the Soul and the master and these too are all the same. We use the Name of Christ because we are Christians but this IS NOT a requirement and it does not matter what Name that Aspect and Potency of God is called by, the reality IS that this IS LOVE….God is Love, the Christ IS Love, the Soul of man IS Love and it IS into Love that we must awaken, it IS Love that we must realize in our lives. The expression of LOVE by the man in the world IS the way par excellence to that True salvation, that deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
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 quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Staying on the theme of Love we repeat again the sayings of the Apostle Paul that put this Love into perspective.
But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13,13 (New King James Version)Regardless of our daily theme, the underlying theme of our posts and of this entire blog is Love. In these words from Paul we should be able to see the overriding importance of Love in the Life of each of us. This is a common theme throughout the gospels and the other writings of the apostles and a theme that is not nearly understood. In our theme today regarding Paul’s writings to the Romans and in the previous discussions on them we seek to impart the better understanding of the reality of Life, the Life of the True man as the Christ Within, the Soul, as it is from this perspective that we can gain that revelation of Truth and, as Paul says above, be free from the condemnation and the vanity of Life in form, free from the illusion and the glamour. We repeat here what we said about these verses in a prior post:
Today’s Quote of the Day from the Apostle Paul is his testimony to the power of Love. After speaking at length about the gifts of the Spirit that one should desire in order to be of service to the Lord, he says plainly that Love is a more excellent way. Love in the context of these verses is not the sentimental or affectionate kind that we ordinarily think of but rather benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. This defining of Love is covered in some depth in a previous post; In the Words of Jesus part 47.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
- * Buddha: His Life and Teachings; Peter Pauper Press, Mount Vernon, New York 1 1 r v
