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The great light of Mahayana – a short guide into the Mind of Tathagata Zen

“Master, why is Mara unable to reach us on vulture’s peak, yet is able to cause us great distress to our body and minds here among the mortals?”

“Only stream enterers and arhats, can reach the vulture’s peak. Evil, however powerful it might seem here, cannot reach beyond the thin barrier of the five aggregates. Because this barrier shields the mortals from the Light of Mahayana found on the peak, they know nothing of it and are thus subject to Mara’s daily trickery down below. ”

“What about Bodhisattvas?”

“They awake, or more correctly, are mystically born, as spiritual children, directly on the peak with a good view of the peak’s absolute reality, that shines clearly as such, and not as seen through the eyes of the mortals. As they mature in this light of Mahayana, which by the way is solely found on vulture’s peak, their vision becomes greatly enhanced and no point in this universe, or any other, is beyond their reach once they grow beyond the 8th bhumi. Even the mighty devas and brahmas envy these awesomely powerful spiritual beings.”

“What about the Buddhas then? Where are they on that peak?”

“They are the pure light of Mahayana, which is skillfully used by the bodhisattvas since their spiritual birth on the peak. Becoming one with this light, they are in compassionate service to all suffering beings. Without this light of Mahayana, they are nothing. With it, they are everything.”

“How can I verify all this?”

“As I have said many times before, there are two ways up to the top: You either climb the mountain by means of the lesser vehicles, a cumbersome path taking many, many life times; or you awake directly on the top and start familiarizing yourself with the marvelous light of the One Mind found up there. The latter is called the superior path of Tathagatha Zen, not to be confused with the Zen of the evil one, which has nothing resembling the power and clarity of the former.”

“But how?”

“Simple. First we get a right view of this vulture’s peak. If it is not found here or there in this body and its brain or even somewhere in a thing or some place in this world, then where is it? Skillful and proper contemplation and meditation on this will certainly one day cause an instantaneous change of perspective. When that change happens, you suddenly and instantly find yourself looking down from the peak, immensely astonished that you had this most subtle power to change from a consciousness conceived by the aggregates of the evil one, to this true unstained spiritual consciousness ,that by the way ,always remains the same. In many koans this latter happening is amusingly presented by the great Dragons as “upon hearing this, so and so became instantly enlightened!”. Not many of today’s zennists understand what this really means. To them Zen is dead sitting for decades staring at a wall or the floor boards, struggling against pain and other forms of discomfort. For those entering the superior vehicle of Tathagata Zen, the Zen of Black Dragons, this change of vantage point from the mortal to the immortal offers a superior advantage for anyone seeking the clear vision and Mind of a Mahabodhisattva or even a Buddha. ”

“It must be wonderful?”

“Yes, truly. The first time it happens is really something not easily forgotten. Like the wise old Greeks tell us, “Gnosi eaphtón prin na milate jiá tin sofia” which basically means, “know thyself before you speak of wisdom.” – At such a superior vantage point the “awakened”, now filled with the pure light (bodhicitta) from this mystical awakening on the vulture’s peak, is said to suddenly possess right view (kensho). From this he or she can extrapolate and actualize the remaining nine virtues of the tenfold path, as to become perfectly One (annutara samhyak sambodhi) with the light of Mahayana (Buddhahood). This is by the way where Omega meets Alpha and the illusion of two or more as a self sustaining reality is completely destroyed, with no more outflows which is the highest siddhi and immaculate mark of a true Buddha.”