Theos-Talk Archives (December 2006 Message tt00595)

Friends,


I would like to add something which relates to the inner side
of the "exclusion clause" present in the Shin Buddhist tradition
(see text below).

It is the loss of memory.

It is said that once the candidate to the
mysteries gets outside the royal road, so to say, he loses
memory of his knowledge.

What does this idea mean? It refers to the karmic self-exclusion.

It means that there are memories in each different level of
consciousness;  and that they belong to each level, not to the
one who has the memory. If the candidate to the mysteries 
disrupts his own access to that level -- say some level of
Buddhi-Manas -- he will retain perhaps the outer aspect of the memory
of events, the lower and physical aspect of events; but he will lose its
real meaning.

Then he can turn against the very hand which gave him spiritual food.

This might have happened with Mabel Collins, for instance. 

It seems that some time after getting out of the theosophical
movement she came to believe and to say that shehad been the real
author of "Light on the Path". This illustrates this possible mechanism.
She forgot the inner flavour and meaning of what had happened.


It is like losing the access to a certain rate of vibration where "memories"
and perceptions are.

Then everything looks like false,"bizarre", etc.



This is part of the reason why expanding consciousness of any candidate
is something which real teachers consider with great caution. Better to go
slowly and avoid such problems later.

The 'exclusion clause', or rather the 'self-exclusion clause' can't be erased or
cancelled; but caution along the way can and must be promoted,in order to
protect the candidates to inner wisdom.

It is out of compassion, and not out of selfishness, that Masters use that
caution.

See below.

Best regards, Carlos.






---------- Cabeçalho original -----------

De: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Para: "theos-talk" theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Cópia:
Data: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 08:05:41 -0300
Assunto: Theos-World THE PRIMAL VOW

> Dear Friends,
>
> This is about the "Primal Vow" in Pure Land or Shin Buddhism, and on its exclusion clause.
>
> One of the two primary scriptures of Shin Buddhism is called the “Larger Sukhavati-vyuha”. Author
Taitetsu Unno writes:
>
> “It describes the career of a bodhisatva, a potential Buddha-to-be, by the name of Dharmakara, who makes
forty-eight vows before another Buddha (...).” (1)
>
> According to Unno, the most important among these pledges is the Eigthtenth Vow, better known as the Primal
Vow. It is a vow of sacrifice for all beings.
>
> It says:
>
> “If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters, with sincere mind, entrusting
themselves, aspiring to be born in my land, and saying my Name perhaps even ten times, should not be born
there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment. Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and
those who slander the dharma.” (2)
>
> Some students could say the last sentence in this vow is judgemental. Yet, it is not. From a theosophical
viewpoint, such an ‘exclusion clause’ does not actually provoke the exclusion of anyone at the occult level.
It only acknowledges and accepts the fact of an exclusion which has taken place already, and of free will.
>
> Those who slander the teachers, or harm the Teachings, decide to exclude themselves from a certain magnetic
field. It occurs at the inner and subtle level. It is an action at the occult, or non-visible dimensions
of life. Therefore the exclusion clause is not a motor-cause in itself for exclusion or separation, and
much less a punishment. It is a consequence. It is but a decision not to pretend that a broken vessel is still
intact. And, of course, it is done in abstrat, at the level of philosophical principles. Accepting unpleasant 
facts is useful because if one does know that something is broken, then one can fix it ; whereas if one
pretends it is still intact, one lives in denial and self-delusion.
>
> In a smaller scale, it has also to do with our everyday lives. By each one of their small daily actions,
students help ( or hinder ) their own gradual inclusion in the higher and inner levels of the so-called "three
refuges", which are:
>
> 1) The Dharma (or the Law and Teachings);
> 2) The Buddha (or the teachers) and,
> 3) The Sangha (or the community of students).
>
> There are a few useful lessons we can take from that concept of self-inclusion / self-exclusion. One of them
is that we are responsible for our future destiny. We can observe our daily actions and see whether they are
excluding us from, or including us within the wider spirit of the Teaching, in the atmosphere of the teachers
and in the subtle community of earnest students.
>
> We can see, then, up to what extent our daily actions tend to help our access to the higher realms of reality
where our true selves live after all. Thus we can discover better means to enhance our learning process.
>
> Best regards, Carlos.
>
> NOTES:
>
> (1) “Shin Buddhism”, Taitetsu Unno, Doubleday/Random House, New York, 2002, 266 pp., see p. 03.
>
> (2) “Shin Buddhism”, Taitetsu Unno, Doubleday/Random House, see p. 50.
>