Naam:
The saving factor in all the four ages The
Path of the Naam is the most ancient and the most natural. It is in consonance with the Divine
Law. In all the four ages, it has acted
as a saving lifeline for the people.
During the last five hundred years, saints like Kabir Sahib, Guru Nanak
and the other nine Sikh Guru, Dadu Sahib, Paltu Sahib, Tulsi Sahib, Swami Shiv
Dayal Singh, Baba Jaimal Singh and Baba Sawan Singh have been the great
exponents of this Path. The Muslim
divines have been practicing and preaching the Path of Kalma for fourteen
hundred years or more. The Prophet
Mohammed, Shamas Tabrez, Maulana Rumi, Hafiz Sahib, Moinuddin Christi and
others taught this very thing. Again,
two thousand years ago, John the Baptist and Christ laid down the Path of the
Wor4d or Logos. Zoroaster long before
preached of Sraosha or the Sound Current in Persia. Lore Buddha, twenty-five hundred years ago, practiced this very
sadhna. The teachings of Gorakh Nath,
long before Buddha, centered round this cardinal principle. Four thousand years back, we find that in Egypt it
was known as the "Path of Aton" which was preached by King
Ikhnaton. In the Upanishads we find
references to "Udgit" or the "Harmony" of the Beyond. Lord Krishna, long before, was fully conversant
with this science. In the Vedas, the
oldest scriptures of the Word, we read in Wak Devi Sukat of "Naad" or
music and "Sruti" or that which is heard. Kabir Sahib tells us that he
came in all the four Yugas, and every time he preached of Naam or Word. In each Yuga he was known differently as Sat
Sukrat, Munindar, Karunamae and lastly as Kabir. The Sikh scriptures testify
in plain words that during the four Grand Divisions of time people benefited by
the practice of Naam by sitting at the feet of saints: In all the four ages, Naam
occupied a predominant position and people meditated on the Shabd. In this age, Gurmukh (Guru-man) alone is
saved. *96 Whosoever benefited, he did
so through Naam, obtained by the grace and the blessings of some Gurmukh
(Master-soul). *97 Naam alone has been the
Saving Life Line through the ages. *98 GURU
AMAR DAS 2.
Evidence
from Various Religions If we go through the
scriptures of various religions, we find clear references to the basic common
factor, the Divine Light and Sound Current, as the only means for creation and
maintenance of the universe and the regeneration of mankind. HINDUISM According to the Hindu
theological books, the whole creation was made through Naad. They also refer to it as "Akash Bani"
(voice coming down from the Heavens). We have references to it in
the Vedas, the most ancient scriptures in the world. In the Naad Bind Upanishad, for instance, the subject is dealt
with in a very lucid manner. The Hath
Yog Pradipaka also speaks of this Sound Principle. He has taken the support of
the Word (melodious tune). CHANDOGYA
UPANISHAD Let yogi sit on Sidh Asan
and while practicing the Vaisnavi Mudra, should hear the sound through his
right ear. By communion with the Word,
he will become deaf to the external sounds, and will attain the Turya Pad or a
state of equipoise within a fortnight. First the murmuring sounds
resembling those of the waves of the ocean, the fall of rain and the running
rivulets and the Bheri will be heard intermingled with the Sound of bell and
conch. Etc. NAAD
BIND UPANISHAD Though He is beyond speech
and mind, yet one can experience and realize Him by going beyond speech and
mind. BRAHM
UPANISHAD He is the Immutable, the
Supreme and the Self-luminious, And knowing Him one
transcends death; there is no other way to freedom… He is to realized in the
cave that shines. Kaivalya upanishad Meditation on Nad or the
Sound Principle is the royal royal road to salvation. HANSA NAAD
UPANISHAD Tejabind Upanishad conceives the Supreme Atman dwelling in the heart of
man, as the most subtle center of effulgence, revealed only to yogins by
super-sensuous meditation. Now about the effulgent
point: It has its excellent meditation, super-mundane, seated in the heart
(attainable by) the Anava, Shakta and Shambhava (methods); the meditation is
gross, subtle, as well as that which is transcendental. It is the most difficult but
the only process of Supreme Realization: Even to the wise and the thoughtful
this meditation is difficult to perform, and difficult to attain, difficult to
cognize, and difficult to abide in and difficult to cross. The seeker must therefore be
one determined to make that which is inaccessible accessible, and one whose
sole aim is to serve the Guru and His Cause only—the worship of the Supreme
Spirit. TEJABIND
UPANISHAD After studying the Vedas,
the intelligent one solely intent on acquiring knowledge and realization should
discard the Vedas altogether as the man who seeks to obtain rice discards the
husk. Like the butter hidden in
milk, the Pure Consciousness resides in every being. That ought to be constantly churned out by the churning rod of
the mind. AMRITBIND
UPANISHAD There occur, in the
Upanishads, terms like “Trilochan” and “Thyambaka,” referring to the one having
three eyes—the third eye being the Single Eye of Christ of Divya Chakshu or the
eye that is self-luminous. Gosain Tulsi Das Ji, the
famous author of the Hindi Ramayana, speaks of it as follows: The nails of the Master’s
feet are more lustrous than the shining crest jewel. A
Concentration on them opens the inner vision and one becomes all knowing. BUDDHISM Extracts from “The Path of
Sudden Attainment” by Hui Hai (a scripture of Mahayana Buddhism) translated by
John Blofeld: Nature of Perception: The
faculty of perceptionis continuous, so perception takes place whether objects Are present or not. Thus we know it is the object themselves
that come and go and not the faculty of perception. It is the same with all the senses. Nature of Hearing: It is not
the question of whether there is sound or not.
Because the faculty of hearing is continuous, so hearing takes place
whether there is sound or not. It is
the real nature of the “self” as knower, that perceives and hears independently
of the objects and sounds respectively and apart from the sense organs. Method of Enlightenment by
sudden apprehension: Its purpose is to reach a
state where thought is absent. Its
scope lies in not allowing yourself to be moved by any form of allurement. Its nature is still-ness and its activating
agent is wisdom. Wisdom: Four kinds: (i)
The
five kinds of perception produce the “Wisdom of self-perception or self
perfection.” It consists in being able
to use all the forces of perception without being thereby caused to believe in
the plurality of form. (ii)
Apprehension
produces the “Wisdom of profound discernment or observation.” It consists in being able to enter into the
sphere of all forms of perception and to be proficient in making distinctions
between them without allowing disorderly thoughts to arise and thus achieving
freedom form illusion. (iii)
Discrimination
produces “Universal Wisdom.” It consists in being able to regard every single
atom without feeling love and hatred and implies the voidness of distinction. (iv)
Next
comes the basis of all perception which produces the “Perfect All-reflecting
Buddha Wisdom.” It is Absolute Void and
Stillness, Perfect and Unwavering Brilliance. Spiritual Experiences of
Highest Bodhisattvas—Extracts taken from The Surangama Sutra—Form “A Buddhist
Bible” edited by Dwight Goddard (E.P. Dutton & Co.): …Thereupon, the Blessed Lord
revealed to the assembled highest Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and great Arhats free
from all intoxicants, this most sacred teaching. He said: Honored
Bodhisattva—Mahasattvas and great Arhants! You have now been under my
instruction for a long time and have attained to perfect emancipation. As an introduction to what I am about to
say, I want to enquire of each of you as to how you attained Samadhi. When you began to realize in the early
stages of your devotion and practices the falseness of the eighteen spheres of
mentation in contact with objects by the sense organs, * which one of the
spheres first became thoroughly enlightened, by means of which you attained to
Samadhi?” …Then Maha-Kasyapa with the
Bhikshuni Suvarna and other nuns of his spiritual family, rose from their seats
and bowed down to the Lord Buddha saying: Blessed Lord! In previous
Kalpas when Buddha Kandrasuryapradipa was living, I served him faith-fully and
listened to his teaching and practiced it faithfully. After he passed into Nirvana, I continued to make offerings to
his sacred relics and kept his image freshly gilded, so that his teaching, like
a lamp, continued to illumine my life by its brightness. By * The eighteen spheres of
mentation in contact with objects by the sense organs are as follows in the
case of sight. (a)
Organ
of sight. (b)
Object
of sight. (c)
Consciousness
of sight, which results from the contact of the organ of sight with the object. Hence a, b and c in regard
to all the six senses (Cognition—Sight—Hearing—Smell—Taste and Touch) add up to
18. my faithful reverence for
his relics and image, my mind was illumined by a purple-golden brightness that
reflected itself in al my following lives and became a permanent purple-golden
brightness with my body. Then Sariputra rose from his
seat and bowing down before the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! Since many
Kalpas, as many as the sands of the Ganges, my mind has continued its purity
and because of it, there have been many pure rebirths. As soon as my eyes perceived the differences
in the ever-flowing process of changes, both in this world and in the Way of
Emancipation, my mind immediately understood them and, because of it, I
acquired the attainment of perfect freedom.
When I was on the road one day, I met the brother Kasyapa who kindly
explained the principle of the Lord’s teaching that everything rose from cause
and conditions and, therefore, was empty and transitory, and realized the
infinitude of Pure Mind Essence. Form
that time, I followed my Lord and my perception of mental sight became
transcendental and perfectly enlightened, so that I instantly acquired an
attainment of great fearlessness and confidence. Because of it I aattained to the degree of Arhat and became, in
fact, the first Prince of my Lord Buddha, begotten by the Lord’s true words and
nourished and transformed by his intrinsic Dharma. In reply to my Lord’s enquiry as to out first experience of
attainment, I would answer that my first thorough accommodation of the eighteen
spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, was by
reason of the transcendent brightness within my own mind whose shining beams
illuminated my intelligence and reached as far as my insight could penetrate… Then Samantabhadra rose from
his seat and bowing down to the Lord, said: I became a Prince of my
Lord’s Dharma many long Kalpas ago, and ail of the innumerable Tathagatas of
ten quarters of the Universe, taught their disciples, who had the
qualifications for becoming Bodhis-attva-Mahasattvas, to practice the devotion
of Saman-tabhadras’s unceasing compassion for all sentient beings for his
name’s sake. The transcendental and
intrinsic hearing of my Essential Mind became very pure and transparent, so
that I could use it to discriminate the understanding and ideas of all sentient
beings. Should therebe any sentient
beings in whatever quarter of the Universe-past, present of future –to develop
the devotion of Samantabhadra’s unceasing compassion within his mind, I would
become aware of its vibrations through the transcendental sensitiveness of my
hearing and I would thereupon ride to them on the mysterious elephant of six
tusks, in a hundred thousand different manifestations of my likeness, at the
same time, to attend upon them each in his won place. Whatever might be his hindrances, however deep or serious, able
to appreciate my presence or not, I would be near him to lay my hand upon his
head, to give him encouragement and support, peacefulness and comfort, so that
he might accomplish his supreme attainment.
As my Lord has enquired of us as to our first attainment of
accommodating our eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with sense-objects
through our sense organs, I would say that in my case it was through the
intrinsic hearing of my Essential Mind and its spontaneous under-standing and
response. Then Purna Metaluniputra
rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! For an
infinity of Kalpas I have had great freedom in preaching the Dharmas of
emptiness and suffering and because of it have realized my own Essence of
Mind. In the course of my preaching, I
have interpreted profoundly and wonderfully the many Dharma Doors, with great
confidence and with no feeling of fear, everywhere, and before great
as-semblies. Because of my eloquence,
my eloquence, Lord has encouraged me to make use of it is propagating the Dharma
by means of the wheel of my voice. Since
these ancient days, since the Lord has been among us, I have offered my
services in turning the Dharma wheel, and have lately attained to the degree of
Arhat by means of the development of my hearing, by reason of which I am
conscious of the Transcendental Sound of the Dharma reverberating like the roar
of a lion. Consequently, my Lord has
honored me by regarding me as the greatest preacher of his Mysterious Dharma. As my Lord has enquired of
us which was our earliest spheres of mentation in contact accommodation of the
eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through sense organs, I
would answer that my first thorough accommodation of mentation was the
subjugation of my internal attachment and enemies and the extermination of all
intoxicants by means of the Intrinsic Sound of the Mysterious Dharma. Then the great Maudgalyana
rose form his seat and bowed to the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! When I was
begging on the road, I met the three Kasyapa brothers who taught me the Lord
Tathagata's profound principle of causes and conditions. I was greatly influenced by the teaching and
very soon acquired and realized particularly clear intelligence. My Lord was so kind as to bestow on me the
true robe for my true body, my beard and head wee shaved and I became a
follower of my Lord. Since then my
transcendental powers have become wonderfully devloped, I have made visits to
all the ten quarters of the Universe, without hindrance by space, passing
instantly from one Buddha-land to another without being conscious of how it was
done. I thus attained the degree of
Arhat and was accounted by all and by my Lord Tathagata as being highest among
the disciples in perfect enlightenment, great purity of mind, spontaneity and
fearlessness in manifestation of transcendental powers. As my Lord has inquired of
us which was our most perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of
mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I would answer that
my first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was my mind
becoming abstracted in tranquil reflection that mysteriously developed its
enlightening brightness, as if my mind
that had been a muddy stream had suddenly become clear and transparent like a
crystal ball. Then the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva
Akshobya rose from his seat and bowed to the feet of the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! My Lord
Tathagata and I had already acquired a transcendental body of infinitude at the
time, long ago during the advent of the Buddha Camatha-prabasha. At the time, I had in possession four
precious pearls having the transcendental penetrating power of the Element of
Fire, by reason of which everything was luminously clear to my intuitive
insight, even to the farthermost Buddha-lands of the most remote Universe. In the light of these magic pearls
everything became as empty and transparent as Pure Space. Moreover, within my mind, there manifested a
great mirror that was marvelously self illumiinating that radiated ten kinds of
wonderful, glorious, far-reaching rays as the infinitude of all-embracing
space. In this marvelous mirror were
reflected all the royal continents of the Blessed, and like the mingling of
different-colored lights, merged with my body into pure brightness and clarity
of infinite space, there being no hindrance to their entrance or passing. By this magical power, I was able to enter
into all the Buddha-lands and engage in all their Buddha-services of adoration
with great ease and perfect accommodation.
This transcendental power was due to my deep intuitive insight into the
source of the Four Great Elements, by reason of which I was able to see that
they were nothing but the appearing and disappearing of false imaginations,
which were intrinsically as empty as pure space and with no more
differentiation as space. And I
realized that all the innumerable Buddha-lands within and without the mind were
of the of the same inconceivable purity.
Form this intuitive insight I consequently acquired the Samadhi of
perseverance of non-rebirth. As my Lord has enquired of
us which was our most thorough accommodation of the eighteen spheres of
mentationin contact with objects through the sense organs, I would answer that
in my case it was through my perfect intuitive insight into the infinity of
open space as illumined by the Element of Fire, and by that power I attained to
the highest Samadhi and the transcendental power of Samapatti. Then the Prince of the
Lord's Dharma, Vejuria, rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of the
Lord Buddha and said: Blessed Lord! I recall that
many, many Kalpas ago there appeared in the world a Buddha called Amitayus,
teaching all Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas the intuitive and essential nature of the
wonderful Essence of Mind, and urging them to concentrate their minds on the
essential sameness of Samsara World, and all sentient beings in it, that they
were all alike manifestations of the Element of Wind (or Ether) and its
rhythmic-vibrations revealing and manifesting all else. In my practice of Dhyana, I concentrated on
this and reflected on how the great world was upheld in space, on how the great
world was kept in perpetual motion, on how my body was kept in motion, moving
and standing, on the rhythmic vibration of its life established and maintained
by breathing, upon the movement of the mind, thoughts rising and passing. I reflected upon these various things and
marvelled at their great sameness without any difference save in the rate of
vibration. I realized that the nature
of these vibrations had neither any source for their coming nor destination for
their going, and that all sentient beings, as numerous as the infinitesimal
particles of dust in the vast spaces, were each in his won way topsy-turvy
balanced vibrations, and that each and every one was obsessed with the illusion
that he was a unique creation. All
sentient beings, in all the three thousand Great Chillicosms are obsessed with
this hallucination. They are like
innumerable mosquitos shut up in a vessel and buzzing about in wildest
confusion. Sometimes, they are roused
to madness and pandemonium by the narrow limits of their confinement. After meeting my Lord Buddha, I attained to
a state of intuitive realization and non-rebirth perseverance, whereupon my
mind became enlightened and I was able to view the Buddha-land of Immovability
in the Eastern Heavens, which is the Pure Land of Buddha Amitayus. I was acknowledged as a Prince of the
Lords's Dharma and vowed to serve all Buddhas everywhere, and because of my enlightenment
and great vow my body and mind became perfectly rhythmic and alive and
sparking, mingling with all other vibrations without hindrance to its perfect
freedom. As my Lord has enquired of
us as to which was our first thoroughly perfect accommodation of the eighteen
spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, I will
say that in my case it was through my intuitive insight into the nature of the
Element of Ether, and how by its balanced and rhythmic vibrations everything
was embraced in perfect purity in the Enlightening Mind, and how concentrating
my mind upon it I attained Samadhi and in that Samadhi I realized the perfect
oneness of all the Buddhas in the purity of the Wonderful Mind ESSence, that is
the Bliss-body of Buddhahood… Then Bodhisattva-Mahasattva
Maitreya rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! I recall that
many, many Kalpas ago there was a Buddha appeared in this world called
chandra-suryapradipa-prabasha whom I followed as his disciple. At the time I was inclined to the worldly
life and liked to associate with the nobility.
The Lord Buddha, noticing it, instructed me to practice meditation,
concentrating my mind on its consciousness.
I followed his instructions and attained Samadhi. Since then I have served numberless other
Buddhas using this same method, and by it have now discarded all desire for
worldly pleasures. By the time Buddha
Dipankara appeared in the world, gradually I had attained to the supreme,
wonderful, perfect Samadhi or Transcendental Consciousness. By this highest Samadhi I was conscious of
infinite space, and realized that all of the Tathagata-lands whether pure or
impure, existent or non-existent were nothing but the manifestation of my own
mind. My Lord! Because of my perfect
realization that all such skillful devices of the Tathagatas were nothing but
evolvements of my own mental consciousness, the essential nature of my
consciousness flowed out in innumerable manifestations of Tathagatas, and I
came to be selected as the next Coming Buddha, after my Lord Shakyamuni Budda… As my Lord has enquired of
us as to our first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation
in contact with objects through the sense organs, I answer that my first
perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was by my perfect
realization that all the ten quarters of the Universes were nothing but
activities of my own consciousness. It
was by that that my consciouness became perfectly enlightened and that the
limits of my mind dissolved until it embraced all Reality forsaking all
prejudices of conditional and unconditional assertions and denials, I acquired
perfect non-birth perseverance… Then Maha-sthama-prapta,
Prince of the Lords's Dharma, rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of
the Lord Buddha, together with the fifty-two members of his Brotherhood of
Bodhisattva-Maha-sattvas, and said: Blessed Lord! I recall that
in a past Kalpa long ago, as many Kalpas ago as there are grains of sand in the
river Ganges, there appeared in this world a Buddha, called Amitabha-prabhasa
Buddha, whose Buddha-land was in the Eastern Heavens. In that Kalpa there were twelve Tathagatas following each other
in close succession, the last one being called Buddha-Chandra-surya-gomin, who
taught me to practice meditation upon the name of Amitabha, saying: Namo
Amitabha-Buddhaya. The value of this
practice lay in this: so long as one practices his own method and other
practices a different method, they blance of each other and meeting, it is just
the same as not meeting. Whereas, if
two persons practice the same method, their mindfulness would become deeper and
deeper, and they would remember each other and develop affinities for each
other life after life. It is the same
with those who practice concentration on the name of Amitabha-they develop
within their minds Amitabha's spirit of compassion toward all sentient
life. Moreever, whoever recites the
name of Amitabha Buddha, whether in the present time of in the future time,
will surely see the Buddha Amitabha and never become separated form him. By reason of that association, just as one
associating with a make of perfumes became permeated with the same perfumes, so
he will become perfumed by Amitabha's compassion, and will become enlightened
without any other expedient means. Blessed Lord! My devotion to
reciting the name of Amitabha had no other purpose than to return to my
original nature of purity and by it I attained to the state of non-rebirth
perseverance. Now in this life, I have
vowed to teach my disciples to concentrate their minds by means of reciting the
name of Amitabha (Namo-Amitabha-Buddhaya) and also I teach them to wish to be
born in his Land of Purity and to make that their only Refuge. As my Lord has asked us
which is our first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation
in contact with objects through sense organs, I answer that my first perfect
accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was that I recognized no
separationor differences among my six senses, but merged them into one
transcendental sense from which arises the purity of Transcendental Wisdom, by
reason of which I attained highest Samadhi and the graces of Samapatti. Then the
Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Avalokiteshvara rose from his seat and bowing down to
the Lord Buddha said: Blessed Lord! I recall the
ages ago, as numerous as the sands of the river Ganges, that there was present
in the world a Buddha, called Avalokiteshvara, by whose instruction I was
encouraged to begin seeking enlightenment.
I was taught to begin practicing by concentrating my mind on the true
nature of Transcendental Hearing, and by that practice I attained Samadhi. As soon as I had advanced to the stage of
Entering the Stream, I determined to discard all thoughts discriminating as to
where I was or had been. Later I
discarded the conception of advancing altogether, and the thought of either
activity or quietness in this connection did not again arise in my mind. Comtinuing my practice, I gradually advanced
until all discrimination of the hearing nature of my self-hood and of the
Intrinsic Transcendental Hearing was discarded. As there ceased to be any grasping in my mind for the attainment
of Intrinsic Hearing, the conceptionof enlightenment and enlightened nature
were all absent from my mind. When this
state of perfect Emptiness of Mind was attained, all arbitrary conceptions of
attaining to Emptiness of Mind and of enlightened nature, were discarded. As soon as all arbitrary conceptions of
rising and disappearing of thoughts were completely discarded, the state of
Nirvana was clearly realized. Then all
of a sudden, my mind became transcendental to both celestial and terrestrial
world, and there was nothing in all the ten quarters but empty space, and in
that state I acquired two wonderful transcendence. The first was a "Transcendental Consciousness" that my
mind was in perfect conformity with the Essential, Mysterious Enlightening
Mind, of all the Buddhas in all the ten quarters, and also it was in like
perfect conformity with the Great Heart of Compassion of all the Buddhas. The Second transcendency was that my mind
was in perfect conformity with the minds of all sentient beings of the six
Realms and felt with them the same earnestness and longing for deliverance. Blessed Lord! Because of my
adoration for that Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, he taught me how to attain the
Diamond Samadhi by the single method of con-centrating my mind upon
Transcendental Hearing. And, moreover,
he helped me to attain the same compassionate capacity that all the Tathagatas
had, by reason of which I attained the thirty-two kinds of transformations that
are instantaneously available in response to the prayer for deliverance from
any part of the world at any time. These transformations have
all been attained and exercised with perfect freedom and spontaneity in the
mysterious Diamond Samadhi which I attained by concentrating my mind in the
practice of Dhyana on the nature of Transcendental Hearing. Blessed Lord! I have also,
because of the mysterious powers that accompany the Diamond Samadhi, and
because of my being in perfect conformity and with the same earnestness and
longing for deliverance with all sentient beings, in the Six Realms of all the
ten quarters of all the universes, past, present and future, been able to
bestow upon all sentient beings the same Fourteen kinds of Fearlessness, which
animate my own mind… As my attainment to the
original nature of perfect accommodations is wonderfully developed from the
hearing organ to include all the sense-organs and discriminating mind, my body
and mind profoundly and mysteriously embrace all the phenomenal world, so that
if any disciple should recite my name, his blessing and merit would be like and
equal to that of any Prince of the Lord's Dharma, whether he uses the same name
or some other name. Blessed Lord ! the
reason why their merit is like and equal for one to recite my name, and for
another to recite some other name, is because of my practice of Dhyana by which
I acquired the True and Perfect accommodation. Blessed Lord! This is what
is meant by the Fourteen kinds of Fearlessness of Powers of Deliverance which
bring blessing to all sentient beings.
But in addition to the acquirement of perfect accommodation by means of
my attainment of Supreme Enlightenment, I have also acquired another Four Kinds
of inconceivable, wonderful transcendencies of Spontaneity. This First is as it is,
because when I first attained to my Transcendental Hearing, my mind became
abstracted into its essential nature, and all the natural powers of hearing,
seeing, smelling, tasting, touching and understanding attained to a state of
pure, glorious, enlightenment of perfect mutuality and accommodation in one
perfect unity of Awareness. Because of this,
I have acquired this great Transcendental Freedom, so that when I give
deliverance to sentient beings, I can transform myself into wonderful
appearances… Sometimes I appear in a form
of kindness, or in a form of justice, or in a state of concentration, or in a
state of intelligence. But in all I do
it for the sake of deliverance and protecting of sentient beings so that they
might acquire a like Great Freedom. The Second inconceivable,
wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is because of my emancipation
of hearing and thinking from the contaminations of the six sense-objects. It is as if sound were passing through walls
without any hindrance. Thus I cam
skillfully transform into different kinds of appearances and recite different
Dharanis, and can transform these appearances and recitation of Dharanis, to
give the Transcendental Power of Fearlessness to sentient beings. Thus in all the countries of the ten
quarters, I am known as the Giver of Transcendental Power of Fearlessness. The Third inconceivable,
wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is, because of my practice upon
the pure, original Essence of perfect accommodation, so that wherever I go, I
lead sentient beings to willingness to sacrifice their lives and valuable
possessions in order to pray for my compassion and mercy. The Fourth inconceivable,
wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is, because of my acquirement
of the Buddha's Intrinsic Mind and because of my attainment of the supremacy so
that I can give all different kinds of offerings to all of the Tathagatas of
all the ten quarters of the universes. As
my Lord has enquired of us as to what was our first perfect accommodation, of
the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the
sense-organs, I answer that my first perfect accommodation was, when I attained
to the state of perfectly accommodating reflection of Samadhi by means of my
Intrinsic Hearing and Transcendental Mental Freedom from objective
contaminations, so that my mind became abstracted and absorbed into the Divine
Stream, and thus acquired the Diamond Samadhi and attained Enlightenment. Blessed
Lord! In those far off days, my Lord, the Buddha Avalokiteshvara, praised my
for my skillful acquirement of the all-accommodating Door of Dharma, and in one
of his great Assemblies, he announced that I, too, should be called
Avalokiteshvara, "The hearer and answerer of Prayer," the Bodhisattva
of Tenderest Compassion. As such, my
Transcendental Hearing reaches to the ten quarters of all the universes, and
the name of Avalokiteshvara prevails over all the extremes of human suffering
and danger. Manjusri's Summation: Thereupon, the blessed Lord,
sitting upon his throne in the midst of the Tathagatas and highest
Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas from all the Buddha-lands, manifested his Transcendent
Glory surpassing them all. From his
hands and feet and body radiated supernal beams of light that rested upon the
crowns of each Tathagata, Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, and Prince of the Dharma; in
all the ten quarters of the universes, went forth rays of glorious brightness
that converged upon the crown of the Lord Buddha and upon the crowns of all the
Tathagatas, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and Arhats present in the assembly. At the same time all the trees of the Jeta
Park, and all the waves lapping on the shores of its lakes, were singing with
the music of the Dharma, and all the intersecting rays of brightness were like
a net of splendor set with jewels and over-reaching them all. Such a marvelous sight had never been
imagined and held them all in silence and awe.
Unwittingly, they passed into the blissful peace of the Diamond Samadhi
and upon them all, there fell like a gentle rain, the soft petals of many
different colored lotus blossoms--blue and crimson, yellow and white--al
blending together and being reflected into the open space of heaven in all the
tints of the spectrum. Moreover, all
the differentiations of mountains and seas and rivers and forests of the Saha
World blended into one another and faded away leaving only the flower-adorned
unity of the Primal Cosmos, not dead and inert but alive with rhythmic life and
light, vibrant with transcendental sound of songs and rhymes, melodiously
rising and falling and merging and then fading away into silence. Then the Lord Tathagata
addressed Manjusri, Prince of the Dharma, saying: Manjusri! You have now heard
that these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas of greatest and highest attainments have
testified regarding the expedient means that were involved, and the results
seen in spiritual graces and powers of Samapatti, that followed in their devout
lives and practices. Each one stated
that the beginning was seen in the perfect accommodation of all the spheres of
mentation and the attainment of Samadhi, Samapatti and the perfect awareness of
their Intuitive and Essential Mind. So
we see that their devout practices, in spite of their variations, all
eventuated in the same good result irrespective of their attainments and the
times involved. I want Ananda to fully
understand and realize these different attainments of Enlightenment and note
which of them is adapted to him. And I
wish also, that after my Nirvana, as future disciples of this world wish to
attain highest Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, that from these experiences they may
know which door of expedient means appears to each most easily entered. Having listened to the
Blessed Lord, Manjusri, Prince of the Lord's Dharma, rose from his seat, bowed
down to the Lord Buddha, and sobered by the influence of the Lord's profound
dignity uttered the following stanza: The keeping of the Precepts
is a necessary part of the practice of Dhyana, but the novice cannot depend
upon them alone to bring him to the nature of perfect accommodation… Then Manjusri addressed the
Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! Since my Lord
has descended from the Deva Realms to this Saha World, he has helped us most by
his wonderful Enlightening Teaching. At
first we receive this Teaching through our sense of hearing, but when we are
fully able to realize it, it becomes ours through a Transcendental and
Intuitive Hearing. This makes the
awakening and perfecting of a Transcendental Faculty of Hearing of very great
importance to very novice. As the wish
to attain Samadhi deepens in the mind of any disciple, he can most surely
attain it by means of his Transcendental Organ of Hearing. For many a Kalpa--as
numerous as the particles of sand in the river Ganges--Avalokitsehvara Buddha,
the hearer and answerer of prayer, has visited all the Buddha-lands of the ten
quarters of the universe and has acquired Transcendental Power of Bound-less
Freedom and Fearlessness and has vowed to emancipate all sentient beings from
their bondage and suffering. How
sweetly mysterious is the Transcendental Sound of Avalokiteshvara! It is the pure Brahman Sound. It is the subdued murmur of the seatide
setting inward. Its mysterious Sound
brings liberation and peace to all sentient beings who in their distress are
calling for ait; it brings a sense of permanency to those who are truly seeking
the attainment of Nirvana's Peace… While I am addressing My
Lord Tathagata, he is hearing at the same at the same time, the Transcendental
Sound of Avalokiteshvara. It is just as
though, while we are in the quiet selection of our Dhyana practice, there
should come to our ears the sound of the beating of drums. If our minds hearing the sound, are
undisturbed and tranquil, this is the nature of perfect accommodation. The body develops feeling by
coming in contact with something, and the sight of eyes in hindered by the
opaqueness of objects, and similarly with the sense of smell and of taste, but
it is different with the discriminating mind.
Thoughts are arising and mingling and passing. At the same time it is conscious of sounds in the next room and
sounds that have come from far away. The
other senses are not so refined as the sense of hearing: the nature of hearing
is the true reality of passability. The essence of sound is felt
in both motion and silence, it passes from existent to non-existent. When there is no sound, it is said that
there is no hearing, but that does not mean that hearing has lost its
preparedness. In deed, when there is no
sound, hearing is most alert, and when there is sound the hearing nature is
least developed. If any disciple can be
freed from the these two illusions of appearing and disappearing, that is, from
death and rebirth, he has attained the true reality of Permanency. Even in dreams when all
thinking has become quiescent, the hearing nature is still alert. It is like a mirror of enlightenment that is
transcendental of the thinking mind because it is beyond the consciousness
sphere of both body and mind. In this
Saha World, the Doctrine of Intrinsic, Transcendental Sound, may be spread
abroad, but sentient beings as a class remain ignorant and indifferent to their
own Intrinsic Hearing. They respond
only to phenomenal sounds and are disturbed by both musical and discordant
sounds. Nothwithstanding Ananda's
wonderful memory, he was not able to avoid falling into evil ways. He has been adrift on a merciless sea. But if he will only turn his mind away from
the drifting current of thoughts, he may soon recover the sober wiseness of
Essential Mind. Ananda!
Listen to me! I
have ever relied upon the teaching of the Lord Buddha to bring me to the
Indescribable Dharma Sound of the diamond Samadhi. Anahda! You have sought
the secret lore from all the Buddha-lands without first attaining emancipation
from the desires and intoxications of your own contaminations and attachments,
with the result that you have stored in your memory a vast accumulation of
worldly knowledge and built up a tower of faults and mistakes. You have learned the
Teachings by listening to the words of the Lord Buddha and then committing them
to memory. Why do you not learn from
your own self by listening to Sound of the Intrinsic Dharma within your mind
and then practicing reflection upon it?
The perception of Transcendental Hearing is not developed by any natural
process under the control of your own volition. Sometimes when you are
reflecting upon your Transcendental Hearing a chance sound suddenly claims your
attention and your mind sets it apart and discriminates it and is disturbed
thereby. As soon as you can ignore the
phenomenal sound, the notion of Transcendental Sound ceases and you will
realize you Intrinsic Hearing. As soon as this one sense
perception of hearing is returned to its originality and you clearly understand
its falsity, then the mind instantly understands the falsity of all sense
perceptions and is at once emancipated from the bondage of seeing, hearing,
smelling, tasting, touching and thinking, for they are all alike illusive and
delusive visions of unreality and all the three great realms of existence are
seen to be what they truly are, imaginary blossoms in the air. As soon as the deceiving
perception of hearing is emancipyated, then all objective phenomena disappears
and your Intuitive Mind-Essence becomes perfectly pure. As soon as you have attained to this Supreme
Purity of Mind-Essence, its Intrinsic Brightness will shine out spontaneously
and in all directions and, as soon as you are sitting in tranquil Dhyana, the
mind will be in perfect conformity with Pure Space. Ananda! As soon as you
return to the phenomenal world, it will seem like a vision in a dream. And your experience with the maiden Pchiti
will seem like a dream, and your own body will lose its solidity and
permanency. It will seem as though
every human being, male and female, was simply a manifestation by some skillful
magician of a manikin all of whose activities were under his control. Or each human being will seem like an
automatic machine that once started goes on by itself, but as soon as the
automatic machine loses its motive power, all its activities not only cause,
but their very existence disappears. So it is with the six sense
organs, which are fundamentally dependent upon one unifying and enlightening
spirit, but which by ignorance have become divided into six semi-independent
compositions and conformities. Should
one organ become emancipated and return to its originality, so closely are they
united in their fundamental originality, that all the organs would cease their
activities also. And all worldly impurities will be purified by a single
thought and you will attain to the wonderful purity of perfect
Enlightenment. Should there remain some
minute contamination of ignorance, you should practice the more earnestly until
you attain to perfect Enlightenment, that is, to the Enlightenment of the Tathagata. All the Brothers in this
Great Assembly, and you too, Ananda, should reverse your outward perception of
hearing and listen inwardly for the perfectly unified and intrinsic sound of
your own Mind-Essence, for as soon as you have attained perfect accommodation,
you will have attained to Supreme Enlightenment. This is the only way to
Nirvana, and it has been followed by all the Tathagatas of the past. Moreover, it is for all the
Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas of the present and for all in the future if they are to
hope for perfect Enlightenment. Not
only did Avalokiteshavara attain perfect Enlightenment in long ages past by
this Golden Way, but in the present, I also am one of them. My Lord enquired of us as to
which expedient means each one of us had empolyed to follow this Noble Path to
Nirvana. I bear testimony that the
means empolyed by Avalokiteshvara is the most expedient means for all, since
all other means must be supported and guided by the Lord Buddha's
Transcendental Powers. Though one
forsake all his worldly engagements, yet he cannot always be practicing by
these various means; they are especial means suitable for junior and senior
disciples, but for laymen, this common method of concentrating the mind on the
sense of hearing, turning it inward by this Door of Dharma to hear the Transcendental
Sound of this Essential Mind, is most feasible and wise. O Blessed Lord! I am bowing
down before my Lord Tathagata's Intrinsic Womb, which is immaculate and
ineffable in its perfect freedom from all contaminations and taints, and am
praying my Lord to extend his boundless compassion for the sake of all future
disciples, so that I may continue to teach Ananda and all sentient beings of
the present kalpa, to have faith in this wonderful Door of Dharma to the
Intrinsic Hearing of his own Mind-Essence, so surely to be attained by this
most expedient means. If any disciple
should take this Intuitive Means for concentrating his mind in Dhyana Practice
on this organ would soon come into perfect harmony with it and thus by this
single means of Intrinsic Hearing, he would attain perfect accommodation of his
True and Essential Mind. Then Ananda and all the
great assembly were purified in body and mind.
They acquired a profound understanding and a clear insight into the
nature of the Lord Buddha's Enlightenment and experience of Highest
Samadhi. They had confidence like a man
who was about to set forth on a most important business to a far off country,
because they knew the route to go and return.
All the disciples in this great assembly realized their own Essence of
Mind and proposed henceforth to live remote from all worldly entanglements and
taints, and to live continuously in the pure brightness of the Eye of Dharma. Extracts from The Tibetan
Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol), edited by Dr. W. Y. Evans-Wentz (London,
1957): O nobly-born, when thy body
and mind were separating thou must have experienced a glimpse of the Pure
Truth, subtle, speakling, bright, dazzling, glorious, and radiantly awesome, in
appearance like a mirage moving across a landscape in springtime in one
continuous stream of vibrations. Be not
daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor awed.
That is the radiance of thine own true nature. Recognize it. From the midst of that
radiance, the natural sound of Reality, reverberating like a thousand thunders
simultaneously sounding, will come.
That is the natural sound of thine own real self. Be not daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor
awed. Page
104 O nobly-born, five-colored
radiances…vibrating and dazzling like colored threads, flashing, radiant, and
transparent, glorious and awe-inspiring, will… strike against thy heart, so
bright that the eye cannot bear to look upon them. …Be not afraid of that
brilliant radiance of five colors, nor terrified; but know that Wisdom to be
thine own. Within those radiances, the
natural sound of the Truth will reverberate like thousand thunders. The sound will come with a rolling
reverberation…Fear not. Flee not. Be not terrified. Know them (i.e., these sounds) to be (of)…thine own inner light. Page 129 Extracts from "My
Experience in Meditation" by His Holiness The Venerable Tai Hsu (Chinese
Buddhist monk), translated by Bhikku Assaji: …From this time I
discontinued my old routine of meditation; this was from 1908 to 1914. When the European War broke out, I began to
doubt Western theory and my own power to save the world with Buddhist
teaching. I felt it was a sheer waste
of time, if I did any more of what I had done.
So I want to "Po-T0" island, where I secluded myself in a
monastery to develop further spiritual advancement. After two or three months of
seclusion, one night when I was meditating, my mind became calmer, I heard the
sound of a bell from a neighboring temple.
It seems thyt my chain of thoughts was broken by that sound and I sank
into a state of something like a trance, without knowing anything until early
next dawn, when I heard the sound of the matin bell and I regained my sense of
knowing. At first, I only felt that a
light melted into me. There was no
distinction of self and other things and of what was inside and what was
outside. After this experience, I
continued my life of reading sutras, writing books and meditating, for about
one year, and after that one year, I chiefly engaged myself in studying the
books of the Vijnana School. I
especially paid attention to the Records on Wei Shi (Vijnana). Here I once more experienced another
trance-like state. I was reading for
several times repeatedly a certain paragraph of the said Records, explaining
that both conditional things and the Truth are devoid of the substance of
Self. I entered the trance-like
meditation. This time it was different
from the former two; I perceived in it that all things which exist on
conditions had their deep and subtle order, minutely arranged without the
slightest confusion. The kind of comprehension I
can produce now whenever I desire. The third experience showed
me the truth of cause and effect, which appear to be so on account of our
consciousness. It is true, the law of
cause and effect has its natural way without disorder. After each of these three
experiences, there was some change physically and mentally, and I also happened
to have some presage of divyachaksus (clarvoyance), divya-srota (clairaudience)
and parachitta-jnana (thought reading). If the six supernatural
powers are possible, then the the theory of Karma and Rebirth, which is based
on the demonstration of clairvoyance and purvanivasan Usmritijnana (knowledge
of all former existences of self and others) is also believable. JAINISM There are two ways of Vibdy: (i)
Agh
Drishta or Apara Vidya, for the layman who wants physical happiness. (ii)
Yog
Drishta or Para Vidya, which deals with that which is above the senses. Jainism divides Yoga, the
science of knowing yourself and attaining perfection, into eight stages as
follows: 1. Mitra--Visionis very dim.
It can be compared to light of grass particles which is momentary and
extremely dim. The yogi in this stage
adopts vows of non-violence, truth, celibacy, etc. To him all living beings are friends. He bears ill will to none.
He finds great happiness in good thoughts and good deeds; but it is not
possible in this stage to go much higher. 2.
Tara--Vision
here is also dim, compared to the light of cowdung cake, although vision is a
little better, but it is momentary and dim.
One adopts short-term rules for purification. He becomes purer in his relations with outside world also. He busies himself in reading of books of
great seers. He feels great interest in
all that is helpful in raising the soul higher. 3.
Baba--Vision
here is also dim, compared to wood-light.
Asanas are performed. He can
easily do padmasan etc., but is not external Asanas with are aimed at but the
spiritual Asanas. He becomes firm in
external Asanas but he experiences glimpses of spiritual happiness. He rises a little above the body. 4.
Dipra--is
compared to light of Deepak or candle light.
Here he attains Pranayam not only externally but internally also. He has now firm faith that it is the soul
which is to be called for primarily. To
save the soul he may even give up his body.
To attain purification of soul, he is prepared to face any dangers and
difficulties. He leaning is more and
more toward soul. He attains peace not
known before. 5.
Sthira--is
considerably bright and lasting, compared to the light of jewel. He sees the world and worldly things in
proper perspective. Strong likes and
dislikes have disappeared. He becomes
composed and calm and realizes and feels that he is not body but he is some
Divine element residing within. He is
soul and he feels the difference. He
feels his body different from soul. He
gets the Sound from within of variojs wonderful tunes which attunes one with
Samadhi. Desires of body and senses are
not liked by him. He has full faith in
God, in the pure form of the soul, and he is yearning to be pure, absolutely
pure. 6.
Kanta--
can be compared to light of star. Here
there is great control over mind. The
mind finds happiness in devotion to God, in love and meditation of pure soul. Mind becomes steady in these higher things
and finds no pleasure in physical happiness and amenities. Here he becomes so pure that he can get
vision of Siddhas--liberated souls, great souls. His actions also become so pure that he is loved even by great
Saints. 7.
Prabha--can
be compared to light of sun. It is
bright and strong. Here right knowledge
has grown immensely and meditation becomes his second nature and he finds
innermost happiness. He is serene, he
has great control over his senses and mind. 8.
Para--can
be compared to the light of moon, serene, peaceful and cool. Here meditation reaches highest pitch and he
become immersed in it. He attains
Samadhi (Sama) and becomes faultless.
His state can be compared to full Moon in all its Splendor. FROM YOGA DRISHTA SAMUCHAYA
BY SRI HARIBHADRACHARYA Excerpts from Jain
scriptures: From Suttagame Part II, by
Puppha Bhikoo (1954 edition): Tapas itself is the light
and it shines forth in the human body. PAGE
996, GATHA 44 Hearing the Sound resembling
that of the conch and witnessing the Lotus Light like that of a newly blossomed
flower between the two eyebrows, one faces his Ishta, the Satguru. PAGE
1046 When the knowledge finds an
choragein Knowledge, there flashes forth light. SAMAYASSAR The aspirant is enjoined to
sit in solitude and meditate with a single-pointed attention, on the Maha
Mantra of Panch parmesti and to perceive the light. SHRI SUTRA NANDI ZOROASTRIANISM The essence of the Avestic
teachings is to be found in the prayers to the various cults of life as taught
by Zoroaster, the Master of life, who lived several thousand years ago. Edmund Szekely, speaking of these cults,
tells of the last two cults as follows: (i)
The
Cult of the Light of Life: The next
cult in the Avestas is the cult of Humanity or as the Zend text expresses it,
the cult of the "Light of Life."
What does this stand for? This Light, declares Zoroaster, comes to us
continually from the most distant ages, making it possible for us to possess
the total wisdom and experience of previous generations, without the need to
try again for ourselves what they have already tried and proved right in the
course of thousands of years. For
Zoroaster, the greatest fault we can be guilty of, is to neglect this
"Light of Life" and to limit it to only a few rays instead of
absorbing It in its fullness through observance of the cult which bears its
name. Most of the passages concerning
the cult of the "Light of Life" are to be found in the book of the
Avestas entitled Vispered, which is the exact Zend equivalent of our word
"Omniscience". (ii)
The
Cult of Eternal Life: Then ninth and
last cult in the Avestas is the cult of the Stars--the cult of "Eternal
Life." This cult became the one
most widely known in antiquity, and most of the passages mentioning
Zoroastrianism in the works of the classical Greek authors are concerned with
it. According to Zoroaster, life is not
the exclusive privilege of this planet; there are innumerable planets and solar
systerms in infinite cosmic space where life exists in a wide range of
forms. Zoroaster teaches that life is a
form of cosmic energy which will always appear wherever favorable preconditions
exist. Life is a cosmic function, an
inherent quality of the Universe, and there is in boundless space and time a
universal solidarity connecting all forms of life on whatever planet. Certain planets or solar systems may
disappear or appear, and the life of them likewise, but life itself, appearing
and disappearing, on eternally changing planets and solar systems, is as
eternal as the Universe. And man is a
part of this eternal life--of this universal cosmic ocean formed by the sum
total of all forms of life on all the planets.
The most beautiful hymns in the Avestas are to be found in the part
devoted to the cult of "Eternal Life." The Avestic term for the
principle of life is "Sraosha" (the angle of inspiration". In Zend Avesta, we have an invocation to
Mazda praying for the gift of Sraosha for those whom He loves. Mr. M. H. Toot, a great scholar
of comparative religions, inhis book, "practical Metaphysics of
Zoroastrians," tells us that in
"Gatha Ushtavaiti," Ratu Zoroaster proclaimed: Thus I reveal the Word which
the Most Unfolded One has taught me, The Word which is the best
for mortals to listen. Whosoever shall render
obedience and steadfast attention unto Me, will obtain for his own self the
All-embracing Whole Being and Immortality; And through the service of
the Holy Divine Spirit Will realize Mazda Ahura
(i.e., Godhead) HA
45-8 Again the same scholar
quotes elsewhere in an as yet unpublished work, the following passages from
"Ahuravaiti Yasna": Divine Guidance of the
Eternal Master, Accomplishing long life in
the Right Paths leading to The Absolute Kingdom of the
Divine Mind, Wherein the Omniscient,
Self-existent Life-Giver Dwells by His all-pervading
Reality, I cause to invoke that
divine Sraosha (i.e., the Word) Which is the greatest of all
divine gifts for spiritual succour. HA 33-35 The
Creative Verbum: Assimilating one's unfolding
self with His all-pervading Readlity The Omniscient,
Self-existent Life-Giver has framed this mystic Verbum and Its melodious
rhythm, With the Divine Order of
personal self-sacrifice for Universe, unto the self, sublimating souls, Which is what person who
with the Enlightened Superb Mind can give both these (Mystic Verbum and Divine
Order) through His gracious mouth unto the mortals. HA
29-7 JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY The Jewish and Christian
scriptures abound with references to the Word as the creative aspect of God,
and as the means by which He is reached.
In the very beginning of the Bible we read: In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth… And God said, Let there be light, and there was
light. GENSIS
1:1,3 This is elaborated by St.
John as follows: In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him
was not anything made that was made. In
him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended
it not… That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth. JOHN
1:1-5,9,14 Christ further explained the
initiatory aspect of the Word in one of his most famous parables: Behold, there went out a
sower to sow; And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and
the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth: But when the
sun was up, it scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns
grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up
and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a
hundred. And he said unto them, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear… The sower soweth the
Word. And these are thy by the way
side, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh
immediately, and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts. aNd these are they likewise which are sown
on stony ground; who, when thy have heard the Word, immediately receive it with
gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure for a time: afterward,
when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word's sake, immediately they
are offended. And these are they which
are sown among thorns; such as hear the Word, and the cares of this world, and
the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke
the Word, and it become unfruitful. And
these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the Word and receive
it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. MARK
4:4-9,14-20 Following are some of the
many references to the Word or the Audible Life Stream found throughout the Old
and New Testaments: * By the Word of the Lord were
the heavens made… For he spake and it was
done. PSALM
33:6, 9 Forever, O Lord, thy Word is
settled in heaven… Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. PSALM
119:89, 105 The name of the Lord is a
strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe. PROVERBS
18:10 I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me, mightier than I, whose
shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize (immerse) you with the Holy
Ghost, and with fire. MATTHEW
3:11 Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. MATTHEW
4:4 The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. JOHN
3:8 Verily, verily I say unto
you, he that beareth my Word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. JOHN
5:24 Now ye are clean through the
Word which I have spoken unto you. JOHN
15:3 I have manifested thy Name
unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world… I have given them thy Word… JOHN
17:6,14 Sanctify them through thy
truth; thy Word is truth. JOHN
17: 17 Who being the brightness of
his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
Word of his Power… HEBREWS
1:3 For the Word of God is quick
(living), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. HEBREWS 4:12 Wherefore lay apart all
filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. JAMES
1:21 Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and
abideth forever. I
PETER 1:23 And I looked, and lo, a Lamb
stood on the mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having
his Father's name writtenon their forehands.
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many water, and as the
voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their
harps: And they sung as it were a new
song before the throne, and before the four beasts and the elders: and no man
could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were
redeemed from the earth. REVELATION
14:1-3 The testimony of Christian
saints of all traditions (Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox) confirmas and
clarifies the scriptural references: Those in whom the eternal
Word speaks are delivered from uncertainty.
From one Word proceed all things and all things tell of Him. Love the Word better than
the world. THE IMITATION
OF CHRIST The Word of God became man
that you also may learn from a man how a man becomes a God. CLEMENT OF
ALEXANDRIA Absolutely unutterable and
indescribable are the lightning-like splendors of Divine beauty; neither can
speech express nor hearing apprehend.
Shall we name the brilliance of the morning star, the brightness of the
moon, the radiance of the sun--the glory of all these is unworthy of being
compared with the true light, standing farther from it than does the gloomiest
night and the most terrible darkness from midday brightness. This beatty, invisible to bodily eyes,
comprehensible to soul and mind only, if it illumines some of the saints leaves
in them an unbearable wound through their desire that this vision of Divine
beauty should extend over an eternity of life; disturbed by this earthly life,
they loathe it as though it were a prison. ST: BASIL THE GREAT The writings of Jacob
Boehme, the Lutheran cobbler-mystic of seventeenth-century Germany, center
around the Word and offer conclusive evidence that the esoteric teachings of
Christ (Surat Shabd Yoga) had not been completely forgotten. If you should in this world
bring many thousand sorts of musical instruments together, and all should be
tuned in the best manner most artificially, and the most skillful masters of
music should play on themin concert together, all would be no more than the
howling and barkings of dogs in comparison of the Divine Music, which rises
through the Divine Sound and tunes from Eternity to Eternity. THE
AURORA For all whatsoever has life,
liveth in the Speaking Word, the Angels in the Eternal Speaking and the
temporal spirits in the re-expression or echoing forth of the formings of time,
out of the sound or breath of Time and the angels our of the Sound of Eternity,
viz., out of the Voice of the Manifested Word of God. MYSTERIUM
MAGNUM The Disciple said to his
Master; How may I come to the super-sensual life, that I may see God and hear
him speak? His Master said: When thou
canst throw thyself for a moment into that where no creature dwelleth, then
thou hearest what God speaketh. Disciple: Is it in thee. And
if thou canst for a while But cause from all thy
thinking and willing, then thou Shalt hear the unspeakable
words of God. Disciple: How can I hear him
speak, when I stand still from thinking and willing? Master: When thou standest still from the thinking
of self, and the willing of self; "When both thy intellect and will are
quiet, and passive to the impressions of the Eternal Word and Spirit; and when
thy soul is winged up, and above that which is temporal, the outward senses,
and the imagination being locked up by holy abstraction," then the Eternal
hearing, seeing, and speaking, will be revealed in thee; and so God
"heareth and seeth through thee," being now the organ of his spirit:
and so God speaketh in thee, and whispereth to thy spirit, and thy spirit
heareth his voice. Blessed art thou
therefore if that thou canst stand still from self-thinking and self-willing,
and canst stop the wheel of imagination and senses… Since it is naught indeed
but thine own hearing and willing that do wonder thee, so that thou dost not
see and hear God. OF THE
SUPERSENSUAL LIFE The following is the
spiritual experience of Eliphas Levi, a Catholic priest: A particular phenomenon
occurs whenthe brain is overcharged by Astra Light; sight is turned inward
instead of outward; night falls on the external and real world, while fantastic
brilliance shines on the world of dreams; even the physical eyes experience a
slight quivering and turn up inside the lids.
The soul then preceives by means of images the reflection of its
impressions and thoughts. This is to
say that the analogy subsisting between idea and form attracts in the Astral
Light of reflection representing that form, configuration being the essence of
the vital light; it is the universal imagination, of which each of us
appropriates a lesser or greater part according to our grade of sensibility and
memory. Therein is the source of all
apparitions, all extraordinary visions and all the intuitive phenomena peculiar
to ecstasy. The appropriation or
assimilation of the light by clairvoyant sensibility is one of the greatest
phenomena which can be studied by science.
It may be understood in a day to come that seeing is actually speaking
and that, the consciousness of light is a twilight of eternal life in
being. The Word of God Himself, who
creates light, and is uttered by all intelligence that conceives of forms and
seeks to visualize them. "Let
there be light." Light in the mode of brightness exists only for eyes
which look thereon, and a soul enamored with the pageant of universal beauty,
and fixing its attention on that luminous script of the endless book which is
called things manifest, seems to cry on its own part, as God at the dawn of the
first day, the sublime and creative words:
Fiat lux… …To understand the cause of
this force, but never to be obsessed and never overcome thereby, is the trample
on the serpent's head. In such secrets
are contained all mysteries of magnetism, which name can indeed be applied to
the whole part of antique Transcendental Power. Magnetism is the wand of miracles, but it is this for initiates
only; for rash and uninstructed people, who would sport with it or make it
subserve their passions, it is as dangerous as that consuming glory which,
according to the allegorical fable, destroyed the too ambitious Semele in the
embraces of Jupiter. One of the great benefits of
magnetism is that it demonstrates by incontestable facts the spirituality unity
and immortality of the soul; and these things once made certain, God is
manifested to all intelligences and all hearts. Thereafter, from the belief in God and from the harmonies of
creation we are led to that great religious harmony… …It follows from this
revelation of the ancient world that clairvoyand extasis is a voluntary and
im-immediate application of the soul to the universal fire, or rather to that
light--abounding in images--which radiates, which speaks and circulates about
all objects and every sphere of the universe.
This application is operated by the persistence of will liberated from
the senses and fortified by a succession of tests. Herein consisted the beginning in the light, the adept became a
seer or prophet; then having established communi-cations between this light and
his own will, he learned to direct the former, even as the head of an arrow is
set in a certain direction. He
communicated at his pleasure either strife or peace to the soul of other; he
established intercourse at a distance with those fellow-adepts who were his
peers, and, in fine, he availed himself of that force which is represented by
the celestial lion. Herein lies the
meaning of those great Assyrian figures which hole vanquished lions in their
arms. The Astral Light is otherwise
represented by gigantic sphinxes having the bodies of lions and the heads of
Magi. Considered as an instrument, the
Astral Light is that golden sword of Mithra used in his immolation of the bull. And it is the arrow of Phoebus which pierced
the serpent Python… the Astral Light as a whole,
that element of electricity and of lightning, can be placed at the disposition
of human will. What must be done,
however, to acquire this formidable Power? Zoroaster has just told us; we must
know those mysterious laws of equilibrium which subjugate the very powers of
evil by sacred trials, must have conquered the phantoms of hallucination and
taken hold bodily of the light, imitating Jacob in his in his Struggle with the
angle. We must have vanquished those
fantastic dogs which howl in the world of Oracle, we must have heard the light
speak. We are then its masters and can
direct it, as Numa did, against the enemies of the Holy Mysteries. But in the absence of perfect purity, and if
under the government of some animal passion, and if under the government of
some animal passion, by which we are still subjected to the fatailities of
tempestous life, we proceed to this kind of work, the fire which we kindle will
consume ourselves; we shall fall victims to the serent which we unloose and shall perish like Tullus
Hostilius… Pythagoras defined God a
living and Absolute Truth clothed in light; he defined the Word as number
manifested by form; and he derived all things from the Tetractys--that is to
say, the tetrad. He said also the God
is superme music; the nature of which is harmony. It is related furthermore
that beasts were obedient to Pythagoras.
Once in the middle of the Olympic Games, he signaled to an eagle winging
its way through haven; the bird descended, wheeling circlewise, and again took
rapid flight at the master's token of dismissal. There was also a great bear ravaging in Apulia; Pythagoras
brought it to his feet and told it to leave the country. It disappeared accordingly, and when asked
to what knowledge he owed such a marvelous power, he answered: " To the
Science of Light." Animated beings are, in face, incarnations of
light. Out of the darkness of ugliness
forms emerge and move progressively toward the splendors of beauty, instincts
are in correspondence with forms; and man, who is the synthesis of the light
whereof animals may be termed the analysis, is created to command them. It has come about, however, that in place of
ruling as their master, he has become their persecutor and destroyer, so that
they fear andhave rebelled against him.
In the presence of an exceptional will which is at once benevolent and
directing, they are completely magnetized, and a host of modern phenomena both
can and should enable us to understand the possibility of miracles like those of
Pythagoras… The Astral Light is the
living soul of the earth, a material and fatal soul, controlled in its
productions and movements by the eternal laws of equilibrium… This light, which
environs and permeates all bodies, can also suspend their weight and make them
revolve about powerfully absorbent center… ISLAM Among the Muslim Sufis, it
is known as Sultan-ul-Azkar (the king of prayers). Another order of Sufiis call it Sauti-Sarmadi, (the Divine
Song). They also call it Kalam-I-qadim
(the Ancient Sound), and the Kalma or "Word," Nida-e-Asmani (the
Sound coming down from Heaven). The
fourteen Tabaqs (regions) were made by the Kalma--the Word. Khawaja Hafiz, a great
divine, says: From the turret to the
Heaven, a call bids thee Home, But fallen into the snares
thou listeneth not. No one knows where the
Mansion of the Beloved lies, But sure enough, the chiming
of the bells proceeds therefrom. Again: Take the stop-cock from thy
ears, and hear thou the voice of emancipation coming to thee, Attach yourself not to the
material world, The elixir of life is
showering from above. The beat of Love while
sounding in the Heavens, Sends blessings to the souls
of the devotees. Jalaluddin Rumi, in his
Masnavi, says: Grow not skeptical, but
attune thyself to the Sound Coming down from the
Heavens, Thy soul shall have
revelations from after. What are these? The glimpses
of the Unreveable; were I to speak of these sweet
melodies, Even the dead shall rise
from their graves. Again, Rise above the horizon, O
brave soul, and hear the Melodious Song coming from the highest heaven. Prophet Mohammed said that
he heard the "Voice of God" as any other sound. Shah Niaz, another Muslim
devotee, says: Soul is the Will and the
Secret of God. Its meditation is
carried on without the help of tongue and palate. Alas! Thou art stuck fast in the physical bondage and do not hear
the Holy Sound of God. My Beloved is
speaking to thee all the while, but woe to thee for thou heareth not the Voice. Again, The whole universe is
resounding with the Sound, and thou hast only to open the door of thine ears. For opening the ears, it is
sufficient to stop hearing the outer sounds.
If you do this, you will hear the perpetual and unending Sound. It is infinite and has no beginning nor end,
and on account of that, It is called Anhad (i.e., without any limits). Without this Word--the Eternal Sound--an
expression of the Infinite, the world could not have come into existence. Hold communion with the Melodious Sound and
lose yourself in it, O wise man. O God! Show me that place
from where the Kalma (Sound Principle) proceedeth without Words. BAHAISM Here are a few extracts
taken from the "Hidden Words" of Baha-Ullah, a mystic saint of
Persia: O Son of Love! Thou art but one step away
from the glorious heights above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with the next advance
into the Immortal Realm and enter the Pavilion of Eternity. Give ear then to that which hath been
revealed by the pen of glory. O Essence of Negligence! Myriad of mystic tongues
find utterance in one speech, and myriads of mysteries are revealed in a single
melody; yet, alas! There is no ear to hear, nor heart to understand. O Children of Negligence and
Passion! …Open your ears that ye may
hearken unto the Word of God, the help in peril, the Self-Existent. O Son of Dust! …hearken unto the mystic
voice calling from the Ralm of the Invisible. O Son of Being! Thou art My Lamp and My
Light is in thee…. I have created thee rich… and within thee have I placed the
essence of My Light. O Son of Spirit! …Alas! How strange and
pitiful, for a mere cupful, they have turned away from the billowing seas of
the Most High, and remained far from the most effulgent horizon. O Offspring of Dust! …up from thy prison ascend
unto the glorious meads above, and from they mortal cage wing thy flight unto
the paradise of the Placeless. O Son of spirit! Burst thy cage asunder, and
even as the phoenix of love soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit
of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial sanctity. O Son of Man! Ascend into My heaven, that
thou mayest obtain the joy of reunion, and from the chalice of imperishable
glory quaff the peerless wine. O My Servant! …This is the river of
everlasting life that hath flowed from the well-spring of the pen of the
merciful; well is it with them that drink! O Son of Passion! Cleanse thyself from the
defilement of riches and in perfect peace advance into the realm of poverty;
that from the well-spring of detachment thou mayest quaff the wine of immortal
life. O Son of My Handmaid! Quaff from the tongue of the
merciful the stream of divine Mystery… |