The Zennist

The reincarnation trap

Perceiving and perceiver are necessary for rebirth.  Both make up consciousness or in Sanskrit vijñāna (perceiver-perceiving consciousness) which is the means by which this life becomes another life and so on. 

Even dying is part of consciousness and cannot escape it.  We perceive our living and just as much our dying or passing away.  Above all, when we die consciousness along with the mind (the constructor of illusory existences) continues. 

Karma (the force of previous memories) is eventually transferred to a suitable womb were memories become transferred into the cellular life which, for us, is the emptying of memories or so it seems. This is what is called reincarnation.  A new life is always the cellular or biological manifestation of memories of the previous life, especially sexuality. 

A new life then amounts to a working out of the previous karma which can interfere with our ability to transcend the many cycles of reincarnation.  This then becomes a kind of living hell or in other words a trap that we cannot escape from well unless we learn transcendence which is the passage from dyadic consciousness to absolute Spirit which is ever one (ekāyana).

What is it that comes through mother's birth canal?

We generally refer to our bodies which came through our mother’s birth canal has our true self.  In Buddhism this would be a temporal self or the concept of "I" (asmimāna). 

The Ātman or spirit is a different subject altogether (which is a difficult subject for modern day Buddhist to grasp).  It’s somewhat like the difference between a computer that I have on my desktop and the electricity that runs it all.  In this regard, Ātman is like the electromagnetic force.

If the power goes out in my house it's usually because some tree fell on the powerlines that bring the electricity to my house.  But if the computer malfunctions it's not the fault of the electricity.

When the body that went through the mother’s birth canal finally dies showing a flat line on the monitor, this is saying that the monitor cannot detect any subtle signals from the body.  It doesn't mean we are not present or in some other state.

What animates our temporal body cannot be the body that is animated anymore than the electricity that runs our computer is the computer! 

For the sake of discussion, let's say that Siddhartha's enlightenment consisted of identifying with this animative spirit (ātman) which is not some measurable amount or quantum.  It can be likened to a boundless field but nevertheless real.  This is what the Mahāyānaśraddhotpāda-śastra (Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna) is telling us when it says:

“All objects are originally of One Mind and are beyond thought determination. Because unenlightened people perceive objects in their illusion, they impose limitations in their mind. Since they erroneously develop these thought determinations, which do not correspond to Reality (dharmata), they are unable to reach any inclusive comprehension.”

Said another way, all phenomena originate from the One Mind or primary spirit.  Such spirit is beyond the perceiver and perceiving.  Spirit is also Buddha nature, Mind (G., Geist) and Ātman all of which are immeasurable yet real.

In search of what transcends the searcher

Looking for our glasses when they are perched on our nose is something akin to a fool's journey as is riding an ox in search of an ox.

"What is Zen?" asked a novice monk.
Master Hyakuja replied, "It̍s like riding an ox, and seeking to find it."
Said the student, "After we understand; then what is it?"
The master replied, "It̍s like riding an ox, and going home on it."
Asked the student, "Then, what do we do with it?"
"It̍s like an ox-herd who keeps it out of other peoples rice fields."

Zen understands that the beginner is such a stubborn fool.  While the fool searches for the mysterious awakening (the ox) he or she has no idea what moves this mysterious search.  The beginner, also, has no idea what puts on the robes and bears the body’s pains and delights.

The madman whips the ox furiously trying to reach the goal that he imagines in his imagination.

The cultures or institutions of Zen Buddhism have little to do with Zen which is a Japanese word meaning in Sanskrit dhyāna.  This, by the way, is the methodology/investigation Siddhartha used to attain enlightenment.  In English, dhyāna would be intuition or gnosis.  Both of these terms cover transcendental knowledge.

As long as we project our ideas and our values on what Siddhartha sought we will never arrive.  Zen tries to take away all of our assumptions and presuppositions of what Siddhartha attained.  Siddhartha's attainment will only begin to resonate with us when we start to give up trying to be the knower of this mysterious state.

The decision to quit the game

Perhaps Nietzsche’s will-to-power is just another way of saying humans want control over nature and other humans.  In this picture there are many attempts for power all of which eventually fail because true power is absolute spirit which comes prior to creatures, which exceeds their creaturely grasp. 

But Nietzsche’s will-to-power is really the cry of those who have little or no power and wish more power.  They envision more power and with it more control yet they have little power and control even over themselves.  In the final analysis, they are truly powerless.

Here before us is the real problem with Nietzsche’s will-to-power.  Power is never achieved because we are an illusion chasing illusions wanting power over them.  In this mess, we have not yet awakened from our own sleep of illusion which we are deeply attached to.  We are dream chasers—players in a dream-like game.

In other words, as I have mentioned before, our actual human existence is like that of avatars in role-playing games in which our present life is the sum of knowledge of previous lives.  But we will never escape this game so long as we delight in the game.  The game itself does not allow avatars to escape the game.

The advice from those whom we believe have escaped the game, like the Buddha, is all that we have—and that can become very confusing.  Especially when we choose to play the game on its own ironclad terms:  we must not discard consciousness (vijñāna), i.e., duality.  The game needs its avatar, perceiving needs its perceiver, and knowledge needs its knower.

Ultimately, we must come to the conclusion that life is suffering in virtue of the fact that we've chosen to participate in the game as one of its players.  After many games, hopefully, we come to the conclusion that it is possible to leave the game.

Thus, Ananda, for beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, kamma [karma] is the field, consciousness the seed, and craving the moisture for their consciousness to be established in an inferior realm.  In this way there is the production of renewed existence [punabbhava] in the future (AN III 76).

Sexual pleasure and rebirth

From Buddhism, as strange as it sounds, I have come to the conclusion that the meaningfulness of human life seems to rest upon the bedrock of the repetition of sexual pleasure and reproduction through repeated births and deaths. 

Sexuality is a bait that never grows old even though it brings sorrow with it and delusion.  Whatever cultural restraint is placed upon it there's no stopping it.  It can only be limited to a certain extent.

With each new birth not only is the framework of delusion passed on but also sexuality which even includes the newborn’s sexuality which extends nonspecifically over the entire infant.  While sexuality specific to reproduction has not manifested itself, it soon will.  In the infant it is there in all its potential and natural capriciousness/perversity.

The sexual drive is an every human being.  It is inserted in the very biological architecture of the human being.  Neither human culture nor human religions can contend with this power and hope to win in the end. This is why we see the birth of new cultures and new religions because the old ones have been defeated by innate sexuality that lives and thrives in biology.

Present day technology will do nothing in the long run to stop the eventual triumph of sexuality with the life of delusion that comes with it.  Soon the Dharma gives way to practical psychology and how to cope with the vicissitudes of daily life.  Most religions today minister to the flesh and the worldly imagination for both control and profit.

The initial or beginning enlightenment

We must be careful not to fall into the trap that Zen and Buddhism are somehow different.  They are not.  They are exactly the same from the side of Siddhartha’s enlightenment.  The enlightenment itself is unchanging. 

I think that old Shakyamuni was smart enough to know that what he taught would be modified by inferior minds that did not fully comprehend his teaching and what he had intuited.  So much of Zen is really beginner Buddhism.  By this I mean Zen gets us to facing in the right direction where the individual must transcend the perturbations produced by the human being.  These perturbations keep the person in darkness, that is, in a state of non-enlightenment.  

Even the first sudden glimpse of enlightenment, whereby the unconditioned is directly intuited, is still not the fullest development of this awakening.  The Bodhisattva path is far more subtle.  However, this path can only begin after we have had this initial awakening.  The light of Mahayana is still far away from the initial awakening which Zen provides.

“Then, Mahamati, sustained by the power of the Buddhas, the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas at their first stage will attain the Bodhisattva-Samadhi, known as the Light of Mahayana [mahāyana-prabhāsa], which belongs to the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas. They will immediately see the Tathagatas, Arhats, Fully-Enlightened Ones appearing before them personally, who come from all the different abodes in the ten quarters of the world and who now facing the Bodhisattvas will impart to them their sustaining power displayed with the body, mouth, and words”(Lankavatara Sutra, Suzuki’s translation).

I have yet to go into any depth on this subject. Suffice it to say, however, that it is like the difference between a an acorn and a great oak tree.  I agree with the few scholars who view the terms "hinayana" and "mahayana" much differently than the majority.  The first is an initial/hina gnosis (jñāna) while the second is a great/maha gnosis.  The important point to grasp is that we cannot go to the second without passing through the first, it is impossible.

Buddha and Christ are not mere names

Both terms "Buddha" and "Christ" are not mere names but represent actual spiritual states.  Buddha refers to one who has awakened to the unconditioned, i.e., Spirit, whereas Christ means being anointed by Spirit which is the same as God (it's very clear in Christianity that God is only Spirit, they are one and the same, Jn 4:24).

Both religions are not in their original form.  Buddhism has changed into nihilism while Christianity worships the flesh which is antithetical to Spirit (prosperity theology is the new Christianity). It gets darker the more we dig down into each religion.

Whether it's learning sitting meditation, or believing that God hands out financial success to those who love him and support his ministry, both religions have fallen into the worst kind of error.  If you haven't thought about it this is the price of materialism.  It even extends to science which cannot get beyond materialism.

Mankind has been traveling down the perilous road of materialism for a long time which is tantamount to relying too much on the left hemisphere of his brain while totally neglecting the right hemisphere.  This road moves more and more into the realm of fantasy and emotion where the dark triad of personality rules (machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy).

Not only have we lost the higher vision of the right hemisphere of the brain but we have lost our bearings as well.  We don't have a compass anymore which is given to us by the spiritual nature of religion.  We have inadvertently constructed a trap which always catches us with new traps, which are more ingenious than the previous ones.  And we call it progress!

Does this mean that all is lost? No, of course not.  It only means that we have to bring back the the part of our brain that has been misused, abused, and ignored.  The Buddha and Christ never died but the materialist thinks they are dead and maybe one day may return!  But with true realization of the Spirit comes the real truth that reaches far beyond the confines of materialism with its maddening paradoxes.