Saturday, February 07, 2009

SARVA MANGALAM

Just as the reflection of the moon in the sky can be observed in several different bowls of water simultaneously, so too the beatific identity of the divine Absolute may well occur in not one but various human Incarnations, either simultaneously or stretched throughout time. It is thus that the Highest Most Saintly Individuals of the Universe can actualize within terrestrial existence, the conception of a sacred Incarnation, in order to act on behalf of the all-loving Divine in guiding the spiritual evolution of humanity. Such special sacred Incarnations are known in Tibetan as Tulkus (Skt: nirmanakaya, manifest embodiments of divine Buddhahood). The number of actual Tulkus, or Avatars, who take birth on this planet are naturally very rare, but when they do appear, they act as instruments of special grace for the world. Unlike ordinary beings, who are swept along by the consequences of their deeds (karma) from life to life—this is the Buddhist theory—the enlightened Tulku consciously chooses to be born in the dark confines of the material world, so as to fulfill some authentic divine purpose. The majority of recognized Tulkus, according to the Tibetan tradition, tend to be men or women who have previously, in an earlier life, attained some degree of sainthood. The saintly Tulku accepts the sacrifice of returning to this finite world, out of compassion for the sake of the teeming multitudes of sentient beings who remain unenlightened. However a human Tulku may be looked upon as a direct emanation of the Divine itself, or an emanation of some unique aspect of the Divine. The way that this is described in Buddhist religious writings, is to refer to a certain being as an emanation of Vajrasattva, the Absolute When Akasavajra first appeared amongst these scholars (pandits) and monks (bhikshus) during a royal audience, Prince Uparaja was affronted by the youth's presence, thinking, "Who is this child?" The scholars and monks were likewise upset to find a seven year old presenting himself as one of their equals. But when the boy began to speak words of purest wisdom, the King's mood changed to awe. "Who is this child?" the King asked his counselors. "Is he a special emanation of the Divine or what?" Then, when summoned by royal command to speak before the whole academy of pandits, Akasavajra made respectful salutation and quickly demonstrated his innate wisdom and profound understanding of the Buddha's doctrine. Overwhelmed by the child's brilliance, all the wise men of the land proclaimed him a prodigy. They gave him the ordination of a novice and bestowed on him the name of Prajnabhava, meaning the one who is a source (bhava) of peerless Wisdom (prajna). Later, when his studies were complete, the young man received the full ordination of a Buddhist medicant monk and was given the title of Master (acarya) from the King. Thus he was known as Acarya Pramodavajra. As a monk, Acarya Pramodavajra lived a purely monastic, disciplined life for many years. His discipline as a monk prepared him for the contemplative life. With time he more and more turned away from scholastic studies, to sit in quiet meditation. He meditated in his monastery cell and in the caves and forests of the Kingdom of Uddiyana. At some point in the maturation of his spiritual evolution he received teachings from the renowned personal guru of the King of Uddiyana, the great white-robed saint Mahasiddha Kukkuraja. After that he retired into retreat Kukkuraja's instruction had been very direct. "Everything without exception is the Divine Body-Speech-Mind," he had said. "The Divine Body-Speech-Mind is all-encompassing. Thus know your ultimate identity to be Vajrasattva, the Divine Body-Speech-Mind, "When everything is seen as the Great Self-identity (bdag.nyid.chen.po), it is known as Atiyoga." Therefore Acarya Pramodavajra's spiritual practice (sadhana) consisted of meditating on the core of his being as ultimately the Absolute itself. For many years the meditation and mantra practice of the one divine Vajrasattva became his sole activity. In his thirty-second year, Acarya Pramodavajra came face to face with Vajrasattva, the Divine: he attained complete Enlightenment. Simultaneously the earth quaked and the sky was filled with celestial sound. Pleasure and pain lost their sway over him. The emotional strings of desire and fear fell away, and he found himself complete, in need of nothing. Utterly transformed by pure vision, his whole being was flooded with the grace of great bliss, and his mind awoke through the cosmic empowerment of primordial Awareness.9 Thus, in one instant, he grasped full insight into Absolute Totality, the omniscient state of Dzogchen. From that moment on, Pramodavajra belonged to that stage which, in Buddhist mysticism, is referred to as "no more seeking". He saw from the perspective of the vast timeless totality of self-existing Awareness, like a joyous undulation on the surface of the ever emerging ocean of universal consciousness, the numberless waves of phenomena appearing as millions of beings and worlds, arising and subsiding since beginningless time. Identifying with consciousness, he knew every varied and finite experience of being as himself, while remaining immutably the Absolute (buddha), indivisibly no-thing (shunyam), indivisibly all-aware, and indivisibly all-love. The ordinary human mind cannot comprehend the nature of such a Great Enlightenment until it is experienced for oneself. Now, the holy enlightened sage Sri Pramodavajra held within his intellect all of the wisdom, all of the insightful understanding, all of the unique knowledge of what later became known as the Dzogchen Doctrine, and which, when finally written down, consisted of six million, four hundred thousand lines of Sanskrit verse. This Doctrine concerns the nature of Ultimate Reality (dharmata) and the means of acquiring Enlightenment by cutting through to a clear view of that Reality. This Doctrine, or optimal View, has been rightly called the innermost essence of Buddhism. In a nutshell, the Dzogchen Doctrine points to our ultimate identity as nothing less than the Absolute itself. Since the Absolute, or Divine Being, is that which includes or encompasses all, for which there can be no "other", the absolute view must by definition be nondual. Although the phenomenal world appears relative, finite; and determinate—and, although human conscious experience arises in a manner always divisible, and hence bounded by subject and object—nevertheless the world and consciousness cannot ultimately be separate or "other", than the Absolute itself. This truth, i.e., the truth of nonduality, must finally be the only acceptable ONE This excerpt was humbly taken as it is...from the Website of Dharma Fellowship Of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa Sarva Mangalam is a Sanskrit mantra, meaning "happiness to everyone" and is meant to be chanted in six directions: north, south, east, west, nadir and zenith