Is this even Buddhism?
A Stripped Back Description of Buddhism
Our natural state is outside of space and time
I am not enlightened. The following article is a series of ideas that have spewed forth from my crazy mind. They should not be taken as spiritual advice but only as food for contemplation. If you seek a spiritual path, please look for the guidance of a fully-realised master — not a sharp-tongued lizard-like myself.
Captivity is so damn normal to those born into it.
When you have spent your whole life in one place, you think it is normal life. Any suggestion of something different is assumed to be supernatural.
Beings are trapped in space-time by their karma (habit) and clinging to specific phenomena (assumed identification). As a result, they are forced to view the universe dualistically from the perspective of the object to which they can’t let go— typically body-mind.
The grasped phenomena becomes inside and all else becomes outside.
- Space needs a central point to be measurable.
- Time needs a reference point to be measurable.
This reference point is ego-clinging, the assumed identification with phenomena or the ‘I’.
A Buddha is someone who resides outside of space-time, dwelling in naturalness.
Buddhas are neither superior to beings nor different from them.
The difference between Buddhas and beings is simply a matter of clinging or not clinging. A Buddha is a being that has become free of dualistic clinging.
Buddhas can also dwell within phenomena, and they do this in order to train beings. But Buddhas reside in phenomena by choice, whereas beings are trapped there by the habit of clinging.
Sometimes Buddhists can believe that Buddhas dwell somewhere geographically different from themselves — that the world of the Buddhas is some club that they can join if only they can get their credentials together.
This is a false assumption.
The situation is more like a Buddha falling in love with their reflection. As in the story of Narcissus, a being identifies with dualistic reflection as the whole self and thus fails to see the reflection as the play of a totally free Buddha.
Anything can be a method in Buddhism.
Buddhists often argue over what is Buddhist teaching and what isn’t.
But, ultimately, anything that unties the knot of delusion is Buddhism— also known as dharma practice.
The potency of teaching does not depend on the power or charisma of the teachers whose mouth it came out of. Nor does it depend on the ‘School’ which it originated. It depends solely on how closely it aligns with the delusion of the particular individual involved.
Since the particular delusion maps of beings are diverse, the methods are also diverse.
Tourists that have wandered to different places in a city will need different directions to get back to their tour bus. It is useless for a tourist at City Hall to use the directions for a tourist at the Botanical Gardens.
The various locations of the lost tourists could be incredibly diverse based on where they have been, and each tourist needs specific directions back to the bus.
That is why a teacher is essential.
A genuine teacher is a Buddha who dwells outside of space and time but simultaneously resides in space and time for our benefit.
So they can see our situation clearly.
A good teacher will not just give us the teachings that make us happy.
A highly realised being is capable of delivering perfect teaching to a student — a mirror-like direct opposite to their delusion.
Happiness is not the goal of dharma practice. A good teacher will provide us with specific methods that lead us back to authenticity — our natural state. Those methods may be painful or pleasant, but which side of moral relativity they fall on is utterly irrelevant.
Due to our theistic habits, we put Buddhas on pedestals.
We create them as something supernatural, and as a result, people find it difficult to believe in the concept of awakened beings, tagging them as gods or deities.
We should understand that the process is normal.
To a tiger born in captivity, the idea of a jungle might be outrageous, but to a wild tiger, it is home.
We should not think that it is supernatural that many Buddhas are trying to wake us up. Nor should we think that that the result of Buddhism is rebirth in some blissful heaven somewhere.
The nature of delusion is an assumed identity, and the purpose of dharma is the clear comprehension of such delusion.
The historical Buddha known as Shakyamuni began by teaching the four truths of noble beings:
- That life inherently has the nature of suffering.
- That suffering has a cause.
- That the cause can be uprooted.
- That there is a path to uprooting that cause.
The fourth point — the path— is what has come to be known as Buddhism.
Buddhism is the path of undoing the knot of clinging that traps us in space-time.
Buddhists believe in the three jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
The Buddha is both the result of practice — the awakened state free from dualistic captivity — and the name of a being that has achieved this result and now dwells outside of space-time.
The Dharma is the variety of methods used to achieve the result above.
The Sangha refers to the community of beings involved in this entire process.
- First, there are those ‘young’ beings who have commenced training but are yet to realise any fruit.
- Next, there are beings dwelling on the various ‘Bhumis’ or spiritual levels. These can either be Buddhas manifesting on the Bhumis to teach or highly realised beings who are partially free.
- Then there are the fully awakened Buddhas who are dwelling outside of space-time.
Sangha refers to those beings at all levels that offer support to others in order to free them from space-time entanglement.
These three jewels flow in and out of each other.
Acknowledgement of this framework through a refuge ceremony is what ‘officially’ separates Buddhists from non-Buddhists. In taking refuge, a practitioner ideally commits to the framework and agrees to rely on the three jewels.
Throughout the recent history of human Buddhism, there have been many forms and ‘schools’, each intended for a specific audience at a particular time and designed to do the same thing — to untangle a being from the web of duality.
It is the responsibility of the student to find an authentic teacher. In doing so, the student should realise that in order to practice, all they need is an authentic teacher, a place to practice and a strong desire to understand reality.
Shaved heads, robes, institutions, incense, beards, deep voices, statues, beads, talismans and celibacy are all used within various methods, but none are crucial to practice.
Many teachers say that the best way to practice Buddhism is in secret, without signs or names. That way, Buddhism won't become a further cause for the student to get caught up in the sticky web of space-time captivity.
Sign up for my free newsletter. That’s where I put all the really good stuff.
