The Truth of Suffering II / Guru Lineage
Last night we talked further about the nature of a guru lineage. Several posts back, I listed the spiritual teachers I've studied over the past six decades; it called to memory the events of my life at the time each was an influence, like a reverie of non-contradiction. Very nice. I offered this up at Jewel Heart as an application of the first extraordinary quality of Lamrim; the way in which it reveals the non-contradictory nature of all spiritual teachers. To which Susie K. added, "all true spiritual teachers."
So one wonders, what is a true spiritual teacher? The easy answer would require a teacher with a direct lineage connection to the Buddha, to achieve the human to human transmission of authenticity. But western Buddhists are usually coming from other traditions where they've had some difficulty feeling at home, for whatever reason. So for them, the expectation of a teaching relationship with a guru directly linked to a lineage of the Buddha, doesn't accommodate the links in the chain of experience that get you there.
The important teachers of my life have a few common qualities that distinguish them. Each has a bond with humanity based in love and compassion; each feels worthy of trust without conditions, and so inspires devotion. Each offers refuge to humanity from the dangers and dark forces unleashed by fear and ignorance.
To live in a world of peace is a dream for many. But human beings don't live in a world of dreams; they live in a world of predators where violence and cunning are the tools of survival. It's not that we invent the heavenly protectors we come to depend on, as cynics and scientists believe. It's that in our suffering we cry out for help, and from a realm we don't live in and don't understand comes a quality of grace, providing a pathway of learning that leads the way forward. In grief we cry out to old gods, and in their name a response is forthcoming. We never part from our path of free choice, but we benefit immensely from guidance out of the fog of confusion.
Knowing the way of this, depends on the certain knowledge of certain people. Without them, connections are broken or lost and once lost, hard to find again. Native Americans use old stories and trusted knowledge carried by honored people as the way to keep the relationship with the Holy People sacred and alive. The invading west did all that could be done to destroy forever the connection of the people to the strength of the Great Spirit. Schools were set up to remove Indian children from their families and send them away to learn western ways. these schools had the goal o f destroying all traces of language and culture, punishing severely the practice of religion. The most infamous of the Indian schools was the Carlisle School, in Carlisle Pennsylvania.
But the non-contradictory nature of the Great Spirit is no respecter of conquering armies or the missionaries who follow in their wake, so the crusade of the preachers to stamp out the "devil religion" failed, and the seeds of Black Elk's vision are held in the earth, waiting for spring.
The experience has been similar in this century, for the people of Tibet. A balance of power between China and Tibet had ebbed and flowed for centuries. In the twentieth century, the rising military power of modern China became an overwhelming circumstance for Tibet, and when Mao Tse-Tung invaded, Tibet was virtually defenseless. Since then, colonization by ethnic Han Chinese has overwhelmed Tibet in numbers. The recent completion of the Beijing - Lhasa passenger line has accelerated colonization to the point that numbers of Han Chinese in Tibet may exceed that of native Tibetans, especially in Lhasa, where the Tibetan people are a marginalized and disrespected minority. Harvesting of mineral resources, has caused extreme environmental damage, reminiscent of the devastation of Navajo tribal lands by Peabody Coal. Devastation of its native culture has centered on the monasteries and the system of reincarnate Lamas; physical and sexual assaults against Buddhist clergy were commonplace during the Cultural Revolution, and most of the monasteries and temples were destroyed, along with invaluable portions of the written Dharma, dating back to antiquity. Some monasteries have since been rebuilt, and their use resumed under the supervision of the party. Chinese authority that now holds sway over Lhasa and "old Tibet," regards the sacred lineage emanating from the Buddha as the stuff of pagan superstition, good only as a tourist attraction. A role familiar to native Americans; Black Elk himself traveled briefly with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In the same way that Tibetan Buddhism has been demeaned in Tibet, so the Christian conquerors of the Lakota People demeaned the vision given to Black Elk by the six Grandfathers.
Black Elk, known to some as Nicholas Black Elk, was a Lakota, born in South Dakota in 1863, at a time when the iron horse built by the Wasichus had cut the bison herd in two. He was the fourth generation of his people to bear the name Black Elk, and his name has been carried forward by his descendants. His father was a medicine man, and several of his uncles. He began hearing the voices of holy spirits when he was four, although he kept this to himself. His recognition by his people as a medicine man was confirmed after they learned of his transformative vision, and sought to understand its' meaning. This happened when he was nine years old, while lying in a fever during a severe illness. His parents told him when he woke up that he had been lying like dead for twelve days, until brought back by Whirlwind Chaser, a medicine man who was the uncle of his friend Standing Bear.
In his vision, Black Elk was carried away by an escort of horses, each rank a different color, representing the four sacred directions, to a council of ancient relatives, who were waiting for him. Two warriors armed with spears escorted him through a cloudy landscape to a tipi made of clouds with a doorway made of a rainbow. Within, Black Elk was welcomed by the council of six Grandfathers. The oldest spoke:
"Your Grandfathers all over the world are having a council, and they have called you here to teach you." "His voice was very kind," said Black Elk, "but I shook all over with fear now, for I knew that these were not old men, but the Powers of the World."
A vision was given to Black Elk of the future of the Lakota people. This vision still guides many Indian people today even though Black Elk believed he had lived to see it fail. The vision made a gift to the people of the Sacred Pipe, and told of a future in which the Sacred Hoop of the people would come together with the Tree of Life at their center. Black Elk saw the flowering of the sacred tree.
The link below is from the internet, and I've checked it for accuracy. I recommend going to the source; "Black Elk Speaks" by John G. Neihardt. My copy was published by Bison Press, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska - 1993 - originally published in 1932.
Black Elk's Vision
Black Elk survived the massacre of Wounded Knee in 1890. The memories of overwhelming death and suffering represented to him the annihilation of the people and the ending of the path on which his vision had taken him. It shattered Black Elk, who lost faith in his vision - he saw that the circle of the people was forever broken and the tree of life withered and dead.
Later in his life Black Elk became a Christian minister, influential in bringing the spirit of the so-called white man's religion to the Indian people, along with the material support of missionaries. Many survivors of the sixties like myself had romanticized the vision of Black Elk, and when it was learned that he had "sold out" to the white man, he fell out of fashion, though never with his own people.
But his conversion to Christianity was not a case of "Stockholm syndrome." It was the choice of one living in the spirit, recognizing the truth of that same spirit in Jesus despite the package of white conquest in which it arrived. He saw what I can now see thanks to his vision, to which I pay respect. His "accommodation with the white man's religion" is in truth a step to a higher truth about the common destiny of all human beings. Of the resurrection of a people under the pressure of conquest to a new life in a transformed world. The Lakota definition of human being includes a description of the connection between the human beings and all other living things on the earth who form the web of life in which human beings live. Black Elk's vision forecasts the destiny of all people on earth, to be awakened to the truth about the place of man on earth and within the circle of life.
The peril in which we have put the earth makes the outcome of this aspect of human destiny, uncertain to say the least.
The personal importance of Black Elk's vision was the introduction to me, in powerful and persuasive fashion, of the existence of a realm whose reported existence I had repudiated long ago, as the abode of the magical Christ, crucified icon of conniving priests.
To bear witness to the vision of Black Elk, is to see for the first time the realm of a spirit world, for lack of a better term, inhabited by beings no less powerful and influential in human life, for their insubstantial form. A scientist of great repute has referred to this "place" as "the subtle realm." Because of the vision of Black Elk, I am able to appreciate that authentic spiritual systems offer a connection to this world. The elitist arrogance of western scientific thinking has closed all access to this place, now known to us only through folklore and religion, yet "real" in a way that science can't measure and reason can't describe. It is the place where the Six Grandfathers gathered to guide the Lakota people and prepare them for a time of cleansing. Where the enlightened beings navigate the bardo, and offer guidance and help to the Dalai Lamas, Karmapas and other living Bodhisattvas. Where Jesus talks to his children.
Last night we talked further about the nature of a guru lineage. Several posts back, I listed the spiritual teachers I've studied over the past six decades; it called to memory the events of my life at the time each was an influence, like a reverie of non-contradiction. Very nice. I offered this up at Jewel Heart as an application of the first extraordinary quality of Lamrim; the way in which it reveals the non-contradictory nature of all spiritual teachers. To which Susie K. added, "all true spiritual teachers."
So one wonders, what is a true spiritual teacher? The easy answer would require a teacher with a direct lineage connection to the Buddha, to achieve the human to human transmission of authenticity. But western Buddhists are usually coming from other traditions where they've had some difficulty feeling at home, for whatever reason. So for them, the expectation of a teaching relationship with a guru directly linked to a lineage of the Buddha, doesn't accommodate the links in the chain of experience that get you there.
The important teachers of my life have a few common qualities that distinguish them. Each has a bond with humanity based in love and compassion; each feels worthy of trust without conditions, and so inspires devotion. Each offers refuge to humanity from the dangers and dark forces unleashed by fear and ignorance.
To live in a world of peace is a dream for many. But human beings don't live in a world of dreams; they live in a world of predators where violence and cunning are the tools of survival. It's not that we invent the heavenly protectors we come to depend on, as cynics and scientists believe. It's that in our suffering we cry out for help, and from a realm we don't live in and don't understand comes a quality of grace, providing a pathway of learning that leads the way forward. In grief we cry out to old gods, and in their name a response is forthcoming. We never part from our path of free choice, but we benefit immensely from guidance out of the fog of confusion.
Knowing the way of this, depends on the certain knowledge of certain people. Without them, connections are broken or lost and once lost, hard to find again. Native Americans use old stories and trusted knowledge carried by honored people as the way to keep the relationship with the Holy People sacred and alive. The invading west did all that could be done to destroy forever the connection of the people to the strength of the Great Spirit. Schools were set up to remove Indian children from their families and send them away to learn western ways. these schools had the goal o f destroying all traces of language and culture, punishing severely the practice of religion. The most infamous of the Indian schools was the Carlisle School, in Carlisle Pennsylvania.
But the non-contradictory nature of the Great Spirit is no respecter of conquering armies or the missionaries who follow in their wake, so the crusade of the preachers to stamp out the "devil religion" failed, and the seeds of Black Elk's vision are held in the earth, waiting for spring.
The experience has been similar in this century, for the people of Tibet. A balance of power between China and Tibet had ebbed and flowed for centuries. In the twentieth century, the rising military power of modern China became an overwhelming circumstance for Tibet, and when Mao Tse-Tung invaded, Tibet was virtually defenseless. Since then, colonization by ethnic Han Chinese has overwhelmed Tibet in numbers. The recent completion of the Beijing - Lhasa passenger line has accelerated colonization to the point that numbers of Han Chinese in Tibet may exceed that of native Tibetans, especially in Lhasa, where the Tibetan people are a marginalized and disrespected minority. Harvesting of mineral resources, has caused extreme environmental damage, reminiscent of the devastation of Navajo tribal lands by Peabody Coal. Devastation of its native culture has centered on the monasteries and the system of reincarnate Lamas; physical and sexual assaults against Buddhist clergy were commonplace during the Cultural Revolution, and most of the monasteries and temples were destroyed, along with invaluable portions of the written Dharma, dating back to antiquity. Some monasteries have since been rebuilt, and their use resumed under the supervision of the party. Chinese authority that now holds sway over Lhasa and "old Tibet," regards the sacred lineage emanating from the Buddha as the stuff of pagan superstition, good only as a tourist attraction. A role familiar to native Americans; Black Elk himself traveled briefly with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In the same way that Tibetan Buddhism has been demeaned in Tibet, so the Christian conquerors of the Lakota People demeaned the vision given to Black Elk by the six Grandfathers.
Black Elk, known to some as Nicholas Black Elk, was a Lakota, born in South Dakota in 1863, at a time when the iron horse built by the Wasichus had cut the bison herd in two. He was the fourth generation of his people to bear the name Black Elk, and his name has been carried forward by his descendants. His father was a medicine man, and several of his uncles. He began hearing the voices of holy spirits when he was four, although he kept this to himself. His recognition by his people as a medicine man was confirmed after they learned of his transformative vision, and sought to understand its' meaning. This happened when he was nine years old, while lying in a fever during a severe illness. His parents told him when he woke up that he had been lying like dead for twelve days, until brought back by Whirlwind Chaser, a medicine man who was the uncle of his friend Standing Bear.
In his vision, Black Elk was carried away by an escort of horses, each rank a different color, representing the four sacred directions, to a council of ancient relatives, who were waiting for him. Two warriors armed with spears escorted him through a cloudy landscape to a tipi made of clouds with a doorway made of a rainbow. Within, Black Elk was welcomed by the council of six Grandfathers. The oldest spoke:
"Your Grandfathers all over the world are having a council, and they have called you here to teach you." "His voice was very kind," said Black Elk, "but I shook all over with fear now, for I knew that these were not old men, but the Powers of the World."
A vision was given to Black Elk of the future of the Lakota people. This vision still guides many Indian people today even though Black Elk believed he had lived to see it fail. The vision made a gift to the people of the Sacred Pipe, and told of a future in which the Sacred Hoop of the people would come together with the Tree of Life at their center. Black Elk saw the flowering of the sacred tree.
The link below is from the internet, and I've checked it for accuracy. I recommend going to the source; "Black Elk Speaks" by John G. Neihardt. My copy was published by Bison Press, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska - 1993 - originally published in 1932.
Black Elk's Vision
Black Elk survived the massacre of Wounded Knee in 1890. The memories of overwhelming death and suffering represented to him the annihilation of the people and the ending of the path on which his vision had taken him. It shattered Black Elk, who lost faith in his vision - he saw that the circle of the people was forever broken and the tree of life withered and dead.
Later in his life Black Elk became a Christian minister, influential in bringing the spirit of the so-called white man's religion to the Indian people, along with the material support of missionaries. Many survivors of the sixties like myself had romanticized the vision of Black Elk, and when it was learned that he had "sold out" to the white man, he fell out of fashion, though never with his own people.
But his conversion to Christianity was not a case of "Stockholm syndrome." It was the choice of one living in the spirit, recognizing the truth of that same spirit in Jesus despite the package of white conquest in which it arrived. He saw what I can now see thanks to his vision, to which I pay respect. His "accommodation with the white man's religion" is in truth a step to a higher truth about the common destiny of all human beings. Of the resurrection of a people under the pressure of conquest to a new life in a transformed world. The Lakota definition of human being includes a description of the connection between the human beings and all other living things on the earth who form the web of life in which human beings live. Black Elk's vision forecasts the destiny of all people on earth, to be awakened to the truth about the place of man on earth and within the circle of life.
The peril in which we have put the earth makes the outcome of this aspect of human destiny, uncertain to say the least.
The personal importance of Black Elk's vision was the introduction to me, in powerful and persuasive fashion, of the existence of a realm whose reported existence I had repudiated long ago, as the abode of the magical Christ, crucified icon of conniving priests.
To bear witness to the vision of Black Elk, is to see for the first time the realm of a spirit world, for lack of a better term, inhabited by beings no less powerful and influential in human life, for their insubstantial form. A scientist of great repute has referred to this "place" as "the subtle realm." Because of the vision of Black Elk, I am able to appreciate that authentic spiritual systems offer a connection to this world. The elitist arrogance of western scientific thinking has closed all access to this place, now known to us only through folklore and religion, yet "real" in a way that science can't measure and reason can't describe. It is the place where the Six Grandfathers gathered to guide the Lakota people and prepare them for a time of cleansing. Where the enlightened beings navigate the bardo, and offer guidance and help to the Dalai Lamas, Karmapas and other living Bodhisattvas. Where Jesus talks to his children.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, spoke of this realm indirectly while talking about the Buddhist basis for belief in reincarnation. He said consciousness does not create matter, and matter does not create consciousness. It is a truth that requires, in order to understand it, the awareness of a previously unrecognized universe.
Both Jesus and Buddha recognize the human capacity for realization, and devote themselves to assisting humanity toward this goal, at great cost to themselves. Buddha relinquished the life of indulgent luxury only known by monarchs, to first learn, and then teach the way of liberation. Jesus, in urging humanity to seek realization through divine inspiration over earth-bound authority, paid with his life's blood, betrayed by the religious powers of the old order.
The great gift which Krishnamurti offered was a caution against following leaders, isms, philosophies, systems of education, systems of religion, politics etc., in pursuit of the goal of truth. He advocated freedom and a reliance on individual intelligence and experience as the antidote to blind acceptance of external authority. Krishnamurti said "truth is a pathless land." Meaning there are no guides, no Gurus, no one with the ability to reliably take you from uncertainty to knowledge. It is odd that I would insist that one who argues against all gurus be included in my personal guru lineage, but I have trusted implicitly in this guidance for over forty years. The human capacity for realization was recognized by Krishnamurti as it was by Buddha. K's service to humanity was his trust in this capacity, to which he added his warning not to be influenced by those with a vested interest in controlling the direction of human thought.
Nothing in this path to freedom contradicts or is contradicted by anything in the Dharma as I have learned it so far. On the contrary, it is in perfect harmony with the Buddhist path of transformation from ignorance to awareness and realization, achieved on the strength of freely made choices.
In our discussion at Jewel Heart, it came to this. Although Gelek Rimpoche is generously inclusive in his interpretation of the Guru lineage, some of our group members felt that this is actually a much bigger deal than his approach implies. Coming down to this. Do you trust your spiritual teacher with your life? And truely with more than your life; your soul itself is at stake. You receive and abide by the teaching you receive through your Guru, when the relationship is one of complete trust, or shall we say discerning trust. It will guide you through this life , accompany you in the bardo, and either out of the cyclic existence of samsara and into a path toward union with the ever present, or into the new life, with all of the fears engendered by this wild ride.
In that vein, do I recognize in Jesus a true enlightened being, emanating directly from the divine mystery? Yes. Do I trust Buddha in the same vein. Also, yes. Do I trust trust them both to offer guidance for the life ahead and the life beyond death. Also yes.
So then how is it that Jesus is for me the penultimate guru? It is the personal nature of the relationship. The comfort over time of knowing someone as though they were a family member. An older brother, or an uncle; albeit, one who understands the true nature of the universe and the true meaning of human existence. There is a compelling mystery surrounding the appearance of Jesus on the earth at the time he did and in the way he did. It has to do with the destiny of human existence, and despite exhaustive human analysis over the past 20 centuries, it remains at its heart, a mystery. So that is something that is unique to Jesus; his true full nature is still a mystery. It is a powerful emotional experience for a person to feel a direct and intimate personal connection with an individual who is at the same time a person of the highest spiritual authority, the son of the Lord of Creation.
The relationship between humanity and Buddha, and between myself and Buddha is similar, but not the same. Buddha represents the highest of human achievements; the realization of the true nature of human existence, and the inspiration and teaching offered to make this realization available to all human beings. The unique quality of Buddhism, offering the greatest service to humanity, is its' absence of mystery. By revealing that the miseries of life are traps of our own devising, and offering meditation as the antidote, the living spirit of the Buddha penetrates to the heart of the ignorance that keeps humanity enslaved to the wheel of samsara.
Thinking about the non-contradictory nature of the worship life inspired by Jesus and by Buddha has lead me to a realization about the connection both have with the destiny of human existence. Both teachers have inspired vast numbers of human beings to realize their true nature, and devote their lives to reflect this realization and live it in daily existence. Without the benefit of these great teachers would humanity, of its own accord, have made this discovery?
But the discovery has been made, and the inspiration of humanity by these great teachers, motivated by their great love and compassion, predicts a human future in which these qualities become transcendent.
Having said all of this, I must make one last but critical point, inspired by Susie K. She related tales of Rimpoche, as quick to confront western students taking on the trappings of Tibetan Buddhism, such as prostration and so forth, but expecting that they fully appreciate, and take advantage of the opportunity they have been given to develop a relationship with a Guru from an authentic lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is a very good point. Even though I'm involved in Jewel Heart, and the Jewel Heart-Cleveland Dharma Coordinators and Instructors are excellent, I am sure I have missed opportunities to be with Rimpoche, were I willing to drive up to Ann Arbor more often. Maybe I should think of organizing a car pool?
DHL
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