On Reincarnation…

Earlier, there was a wonderful piece published on a Buddhist discussion board, about reincarnation, and I felt that the subject was worth commenting on, but did not want to post a painfully long response, which was better reserved for a separate post. So here it is...

Reincarnation is one of those things that is somewhat of a paradox. It is further complicated by the fact that it is also not exclusively a Buddhist concept, as it is shared among many of the Indo-Asian cultures. Therefore, there are certain concepts around reincarnation that would surely fall under the category of "religious beliefs", and those I personally reject, since I prefer to follow a path based on reasoning and rational thought, rather than religious superstition.

In the Kalama Sutta, Buddha Sakyamuni is reputed to have said:

“If there is a world after death... if there is the fruit of actions rightly & wrongly done, then this is the basis by which, with the decomposition of the body after death, I will reappear in a good destination, the heavenly world. But if there is no world after death, if there is no fruit of actions rightly & wrongly done, then here in the present life I look after myself with ease — free from hostility, free from ill will, free from trouble.”

This is an example in which Buddha frames his teaching in the context of the beliefs of the people to whom he is speaking. Apparently, these listeners believed in a "heavenly world" or "other side"... not reincarnation. And so his teaching was framed in a way that neither agreed with, not denied their religious superstitions. In other texts, his teaching was framed in the more popular concept (including the superstitions surrounding it) of reincarnation.

These concepts can be tricky in the West, because we (almost as much as the Southeast Asian Theravadans) tend to "make" Buddhism into a religion, because we imagine a void, when we walk away from our personal religious traditions. I've been fortunate not to experience such a void, because I view the spiritual and religious traditions of my personal history to be an integrated part of who I am today.

When I was in the Franciscans, I was often teased about being the most Benedictine Franciscan in the bunch. (For non-Catholics, this was their way of teasing me about embracing seemingly disparate traditions, since a Franciscan is a mendicant -- that is, a beggar, living in the world -- while my spirituality was deeply inspired by the more monastic paths of the Camaldolese [Benedictine hermits] and Carmelite monastics.)

Today, I am "part" of neither group. And according to some of my detractors, I am somehow magically no longer in the unbroken succession of the apostles. One troubled young man even wrote me last night to tell me how "offensive" my piece was on the Pathways to Wisdom.

So we have this tradition of believing in reincarnation... or not. For some of us, reincarnation is a reference to the non-dualistic nature of the numenal world.

From a scientific perspective, we know that the universe is held in place by gravitational pull. Another word for "gravitation" is "attraction". Isn't it interesting that in the present day, there is so much buzz about the "law of attraction" -- an ancient principle, which has been the foundation of the New Thought tradition, and at the core of Buddhism and esoteric Catholicism and Judaism for generations? What is another word for "attraction"? Love. Right?

Buddha called love the "Eternal Principle". In the Persian mythos, we read about the quvat-i-jazibah -- the Primal Force of Attraction from which the universe was created. All of this coincides with our scientific understanding of gravity and the Big Bang Theory.

This is also how the mythos surrounding Rabbi Jesus as the "Son" (Sun) of God came to be, through the manipulation of Emperor Constantine, who worshipped the Sun God (Sol Invictus), and modified his superstitions to fit into the Christian narrative.

So for those who embrace a non-dualistic philosophy, such as the Buddhists, Advaita adherents in Hinduism, Religious Scientists in the West, and such visionary Catholic monastics as Thomas Merton, Swami Abishektananda and Anthony de Mello, there is not "us" or "me" -- these are simply the labels we place on transient phenomena -- there is only Love (or God, or energy, or Emptiness, etc.). And therefore, "you" and "I" are part of the same "stuff" that has been born thousands of lifetimes before, and will be part of the same "stuff" that exists in future lifetimes.

I don't personally invest any time or energy contemplating the idea of reincarnation, because it doesn't matter. The only thing that is "reincarnated", in my opinion, are our habits and thoughts. The personality dies when we die. Reincarnation, it seems to me, was the ancients' way to further their explanation of the effects of karma. Ultimately, it was a primitive attempt. And like most primitive ideas, it was corrupted by superstition, legend, and fear.

I have no ego-need to imagine that I will be reincarnated. If, when I die, that's it for Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda, that's fine. On the other hand, if reincarnation is real, then it is my desire, like that of Theresa Lisieux and other Bodhisattvas, to return to this world over-and-over until suffering exists no more. In Theresa's words, she wanted to "spend her heaven doing good on earth". For me, the ideal is captured in the words of the Rule of Life for the Contemplative Monks of the Eightfold Path, which I read and offer each day as I awaken:

THE BRIEF RULE

Sit in your cell as in paradise;

put the whole world behind you and forget it;

like a skilled angler on the lookout for a catch

keep a careful eye on your thoughts.

The path you follow is the Dharma of Compassion --

never abandon that path.

If you've come with a novice's enthusiasm and can't

accomplish what you want, take every chance you can find

to chant the sacred Mantra of Chenrezi:

OM MANI PADME HUM

in your heart; if your mind wanders as you chant

don't give up but hurry back and try again.

Above all realise that above all else, you are

in the presence of Divine Perfection;

you hold your heart there in wonder

as if before your sovereign.

You are that Sovereign, for it is written,

"The sovereign domain of the Enlightened One

is within you."

Empty yourself completely;

sit waiting, content with the gift of Silence,

like a little chick tasting and eating nothing

but what its mother brings.

With all your heart,

as the sun rises and sets each day:

Vow to do all you can to end the suffering of all beings;

Vow to uproot endless blind passions and attachments;

Vow to penetrate the Dharma Gates beyond measure;

Vow to realise your birthright as an Awakened and Anointed One

for the good of all sentient beings, and as a caretaker of all Creation.
Namasté!
-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda
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When grief comes… Moving beyond mythos to Love

As I write this, my aunt is actively dying, peacefully at rest in the care of hospice nurses in a Philadelphia hospital.  She was one of the relatively few people to genuinely inspire and influence me as a child, and later as an adult.

Aunt Irene was one of those people who moved through hardships, possessed an incredible entrepreneurial spirit, took ownership in her circumstances and then did something about them.

She achieved a personal level of success that has always made her one of my heroes, along with my father, my partner Craig, Blessed Mychal Judge and His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

Several folks, with well-intentioned hearts, offered their words of consolation last night, when we were told by the doctors that Aunt Irene would be dead within an hour of their removing her from life-support. In their sincere wishes, they often said things like, "You'll see her again one day..." and "She'll be in a better place in heaven...", etc.

But while the sentiments and sincerity behind such wishes are very comforting and much appreciated, such superstitious concepts themselves are without merit or comfort for me, since I consider such ideas primitive, baseless and delusional.

"But how can you believe such a thing as a monk and priest?" some inquired. Don't you believe that Jesus died so that we could have eternal life?

No. I believe that if the stories of Jesus' crucifixion actually occurred, which I am not convinced is the case at all, then Jesus' died because the authorities murdered him. Period.

There was no magical plan for "eternal life". No zombie-tricks on the third day. Simply a brutal and horrific murder, much like the murders being carried out by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and in the False Flag Operation Bush ordered against the World Trade Centre on September 11th, 2001.

As a Successor to the Apostles, I believe the mythos of Rav Yeshua (Jesus the Nazarene) has significance, but also believe most organised religions have missed that significance by a longshot.

The Jesus Metaphor is a story about Incarnate Love.

Love, they say is stronger than death, for it is the Eternal Principle. Although love cannot stop death from happening, no matter how hard death might seem to try, it cannot separate people from that Universal Love. Neither can it separate us from the loving memories we hold of the departed.

When someone we love reaches the end of their lives, they die. Period.

There is no magic playground like the the religious and superstitious would hope. But that doesn't mean love has not triumphed in the end over death. This is the message of the great spiritual masters... Jesus didn't do the alleged zombie trick, it was his memory that lived on beyond his death, in the hearts of his Beloved. Love conquered death.

Love Incarnate, represented metaphorically in the person of Rav Yeshua, could not be killed when the physical body was beaten and killed. The body died, but Love lived on... and continues to live on today.

That is the message of the Eucharist... that the Divine Love, which became incarnate in the person of Yeshua, is accessible every time we come together to break bread. That because Jesus was not the Christ alone, the Living Body of Christ is manifest in and as each of us, because the "Body of Christ" is Incarnate Love.

Of course, the desire to manipulate, distort the truth and control the masses, by the original institutional churches (the Roman and Orthodox Catholic sects), and later by the further distortions that occurred in Protestant spin-off sects, only served to further obfuscate this celebration of truth that occurred within the context of a sacred meal... something which occurred every time bread was broken between friends.

The result was that instead of learning the Way to end suffering, we perpetuate that suffering, with absurd and primitive tales of imaginary places, such as "heaven", where the "good people" are rewarded. The concept is actually vulgar in my opinion, for anyone to have the hubris to suggest that we should worship their imaginary god, who is a big enough asshole to only allow a limited number of beings (and worse yet, that all of those beings must be "people") into their childish notion of "paradise" or "heaven".

I would never consider worshipping, let alone smiling at any deity who was such a spiteful, judgmental prick.

But of course, that story exists because, despite their claims to have been created in their god's image, we know that these unsophisticated, irrational and superstitious primitives actually created their gods in their own images. So a petty people ended up with a petty god.

As for me, I remain unconflicted about living my vows faithfully as a Buddhist monk and lama, along with my responsibility and vows to uphold the Way of the Apostles. I am a disciple of Buddha and of Rav Yeshua. I am a disciple of the Ways of the Ancient Peoples, who embraced all of life as sacred, but who had not yet codified the concepts of this groundlessness and eternal principle into the metaphoric representations of gods and goddesses.

And inspired by my Aunt Irene, it is my intention to continue to speak the truth I embrace, and share it with those who truly desire peace.

In fact, it is my intention to find a means of relocating back to the Greater Washington, D.C. area, securing the funding to create a truly post-denominational, post-religious, post-sectarian intentional community of people dedicated to CHANGE... dedicated to bringing about TRANSFORMATION and PEACE.

We'll call this "The PEACE Project" -- with PEACE being an acronym for our principal focus:

• Partnering with Communities
• Educating the Next Generation
• Assisting the Poor and Marginalised
• Caring for the Sick and Dying
• Empowering Servant-Leaders

My gratitude goes out to the people of Christ's Home Retirement Centre, where Aunt Irene made her home for the past couple years, and to my cousin Jeannie and Aunt Martha, for their being there so often for Aunt Irene.

Yes, our hearts are heavy with selfish sadness over the hour when Aunt Irene will leave her body and return to Love. We will grieve for ourselves, not for her, because she will cease to exist. All phenomena are impermanent, and that realisation still stings, when those to whom we still hold attachments are taken from our grasp.

But the only way to prevent suffering is to move toward that grief and sit in it mindfully for a time... allowing it to wash over us, as we gently acknowledge it, and move through it. Grief, like all phenomena, is impermanent too. And as it passes, we will emerge a little stronger, a little clearer, and a little lighter than before.

And there will be work to be done.

Namasté!

-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda

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What’s troubling you?

Any time we learn something, it changes, if only imperceivably, everything. We'll never look at anything in life the same, as a result of whatever it is that we've learned. And since we are always learning, that means that every breath brings with it an entirely new perspective.

Resentment and anger also change everything, especially ourselves. Yet you and I can only be as upset as we are willing to allow our perceptions to control us.

Consider this... right now, think of one thing that you are presently angry about or hurt about. Now ask yourself, do you prefer agitation, hurt, anger or fear to peacefulness? Of course not. The good news is that once you've decided... really decided... to let go of those ideas that give rise to fear in all its manifestations (anger, resentment, hurt, sadness, depression, anxiety, jealousy, etc.), once again, everything changes.

We often think that being open-minded or tolerant means accepting those who have differing opinions, views or ideas from us. But we limit that definition to include those who are presently engaged in disagreement with our own views, perceptions and ideas. We seldom consider that open-mindedness naturally includes open-heartedness, if it is authentic. Therefore, an open mind is a forgiving heart.

Every time we judge someone else, we are interiorly judging ourselves -- either for something we've done or something we believe we have the capacity to do. Interiorly, we recognise the delusion of dualistic thought, and so we know that if something or someone angers us, then it is a reflection of something within us to which we are reacting. That's a difficult concept for many of us to really grasp. Blame is always easier, when placed on someone else.

But there is no "someone else".

There's only us... no "them". Only this... no "that".

When a memory or thought is filled with pain, we might find it difficult to let go of. But when we realise that it's our attachment to the thought or memory, and not the event itself, which is causing us to suffer, our road to recovery is certain and clear.

Now I know there are some, whose delusion of being "realists" is now telling them that what I am suggesting is absurd. (It's always rather interesting that quite often, these are the same people who don't find it absurd at all to imagine that the story of a virgin birth, walking on water or raising from the dead after being brutally murdered. And they wonder why I consider them delusional!)

Those people are likely saying that no one in their "right mind" would ever bring suffering upon themselves. The fact is, those people are right... no one in their right mind would do such a thing.

The problem is that we are often inexperienced at being in our Right Mind. Instead, we function from the "monkey mind" -- the delusional realm of ego, which usurps the Right Mind, and substitutes itself.

Living in the Right Mind is the only way to resolve those things which trouble us. Living in the Right Mind comes from sitting in silence and observing without judgment, all the thoughts that travel through our minds, as we try to slow down, relax and empty ourselves of the constant chatter of the monkey mind.

Now consider this... if you allow these words to inform you... everything changes from this moment forward!

That is an exciting proposition, and an opportunity for you to achieve something greater. Embrace that potential and have a great week!

I will be away for my usual summer break, at the South Jersey shore. I am uncertain whether I will have Internet access while I am there.

Be gentle with yourselves, and know that you are appreciated and loved.

Namasté!

-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda
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