If the teacher has actually intuited the One Mind it is far easier for the student to also resonate with it, although it is still not easy. In the example of the Buddha, there were far more who entered the stream than now. If the teacher has not intuited, or the same, converged with the One Mind or Buddha-nature he or she is little more than a student farther up the path. Making matters worse, the average person has no way of telling which teacher has and which teacher hasn’t actually realized the One Mind. It is simply impossible. The statistical odds of finding an awakened teacher to study with is remote.
Trying to make up for this, an institution of Buddhism is still very much limited. It can teach the scripture and can encourage us to follow the monastic regula to the letter. It can even teach meditation. Yet, this will not open the treasure chest of Dharma. Until the ocean-like waves of mind stop, all at once for a split second, we remain bound to the body of the five skandhas mistaking what is not the ātman for the ātman.
Suppose, bhikkhus, a dog tied up on a leash was bond to a strong post or pillar: it would just keep on running around and revolving around that same post or pillar. So too, the uninstructed worlding [assutavā puthujjano] ... regards form as ātman ... feeling as ātman ... perception as ātman ... volitional formations as ātman ... consciousness as ātman .... He just keeps running and revolving around form, around feeling, around perception, around volitional formations, around consciousness. As he keeps on running and revolving around them, he is not freed from form, not freed from feeling, not freed from perception, not freed from volitional formations, not freed from consciousness. He is not freed from birth, aging, and death; not freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; nor freed from suffering I say” (S. iii. 150).
The message is clear enough: we are fettered by the conditioned world beginning with our conditioned thoughts which have never once subsided. The world we are looking at is the One Mind phenomenalized, turned into a fantastic appearance which includes our corporeal body which is constantly subject to suffering. Those of us who want to study the teachings of the Buddha to see beyond the illusion often, carelessly, run to the first teacher or institution we find (as I did). Over time, they find out that they haven’t really advanced—the longer they stay the worse it gets. They haven’t even got to first base understanding the basic goal of Buddhism which is to awaken to the unconditioned (i.e., One Mind, Buddha-nature, ātman etc.). In one respect Buddhism is so simple and profound. In another, its simplicity hides it.
thezennist: I have not read Gauḍapāda but I have read works of Shankara (i'm from India). Personally, I'm influenced by Buddha's Dhamma and Ramana Maharishi's concept of Advaita philosophy. At the outset, both may seem to be propounding conflicting truths. But to me, the essence, finding deliverance from rebirth and attaining eternal peace, if it is by nirvana (I note the, possibly intentional, lack of clarity of what exactly constitutes nirvana - divinity or shunyata) or realizing Self does not matter. The path is same, through my own efforts I strive to be free from body, gross mind, and the ego. Somehow at a practical level, for me the experience of truth (however limited or basic) leads me to not lay excessive emphasis on finer details of ultimate end and just focus on the path (Vipassana method in my case). Further, the Dhamma and its methods makes it comparatively easier to pursue the path as there is no "seeking" at a level of meditation.
My point is these contemplation on origins or relationship between Advaita / Buddhism may be interesting but not really relevant.
Posted by: Seeking_truth0 | April 05, 2016 at 10:17 AM
It is like walking a razor's edge. How to experience mind without falling into idolatry? Here is the truth as I have experienced it: the enlightened beings don't need our praise, or anything at all, from us. They have truth, are truth. What does Buddha need from us? What is Buddha?
Posted by: 100percentprole | April 01, 2016 at 08:50 PM
Seeking_truth0 : The question is how far was Gauḍapāda influenced by Buddhist thought? This further rests on the question, what is the Buddha’s message? The typical westerner wrongly believes, without basis, that the Buddha denied the ātman.
Posted by: thezennist | April 01, 2016 at 02:57 PM
thezennist: "Advaita owes its birth and development to Buddhism.", Can you explain further? As per my understanding Upanishads which have glimpses of non-duality predates Buddhism. Further Advaita and Buddhism are poles apart in the ultimate truths despite the seemingly similar path.
Not here to argue, but to really understand.
Posted by: Seeking_truth0 | April 01, 2016 at 10:19 AM
Thanks. I find this very sad in one way because I read the Lankavatara Sutra and I think that this is the tradition, the penetrating truth. And clearly e.g. Hui-Neng understood it. But somewhere in the muck things were lost. It's like Advaita Vedanta is the backup plan, "Zen with a safety net" as I've come to think of it. After all, who was the more realized being in terms of seeing the Mind, Sri Ramana Maharshi or Shunryu Suzuki Roshi?
Posted by: 100percentprole | April 01, 2016 at 09:35 AM