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From Anarchy to degeneration- Imposing External Law.Buddha. Extract Two. Part Four: The Path Of The Masters
by Katherine Frisk, The Phaser.com:
[ Editor’s note: It is a great pity that India did not fully embrace the teachings of Buddha. In the same manner that the Jews did not fully embrace the teachings of Jesus. Instead India clung and still clings to a priesthood that enslaves them in the various forms of Brahmanism and the Hindu religion. The wheel of karma lies so heavily upon them without any internalisation of truth and escape from their perceived debts over many lifetimes, that the society has fallen into extreme poverty, forced marriages, abuse of women, overpopulation and the caste system which has divided people into various classes, no matter their abilities or talents, into low and high social status from which they can never escape.
The concept of karma as an accounting system and the rules of cause and effect are all very masculine. They do not hold the balance needed between Justice and his bride Mercy, Knowledge and his bride Wisdom, but instead lash out in a manner where people are taught to carry guilt from “past lives”that they cannot remember and become prisoners of this system and in turn the current lives that they live.
Then there is also the added burden of having arranged marriages as well as not being allowed to marry outside of the class into which they were born. The system is seen as the result of karma in a past life.And the person must therefore pay the debt and carry the guilt with no possibility of escape from circumstance.
Girls are not seen as a blessing but as a curse due to the social demand that the parents provide a dowry for her on marriage, which puts a strain and an economic burden on the parents. A good dowry ensures a good marriage. Whether the partners are suited or even love each other is of no relevance. Bride killings are common. Once the bridegroom has married his prospective bride and now has the dowry in hand, these women are often abused and even killed. All the result of karma of course. Maybe it is, maybe this is why India keeps impoverishing herself?
If India as a whole had embraced their own teacher, Buddha, and let go of the corrupt priesthood that even today enslaves them in ritual, ceremony and monetary obligations, they could have taken these teachings in a contemporary lifetime, looked at the issues honestly, realized their own karmic debt and guilt, and then moved on. As Jesus said:
“Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more.”
Once we understand our thoughts and actions, there is no excuse to claim ignorance. The next step is to control them instead of them controlling us. But more importantly and certainly one of the hardest things to do is to forgive ourselves and then move on from guilt which is a prison of our own making. “Go and sin no more.” Leave the cage. And according to Buddhism this is where the real work begins. Understanding how the mind works, controlling it, taking responsibility for our thoughts and our actions and knowing the consequences. With such knowledge, we are equipped to “Go and sin no more.” Therefore there is no more guilt, or suffering and we are no longer burdened by karmic patterns.
Karma has become a prison of guilt for India. Instead of teaching the laws of cause and effect and that each and every one of our thoughts and actions have consequences, as well as simultaneously embracing Buddhism and freedom from this vicious cycle, India has remained stuck in its past history. India could have freed herself from the prison of karmic guilt centuries ago and along with it moved onto a more equitable, fair and sexually balanced society. They were given the keys to the kingdom, but even today they still sit in Plato’s cave watching shadows on the wall. The guru’s in turn, only a handful are real teachers, are mostly charlatans, selling mind control and magic ticks. The Chinese and the Tibetans on the other hand, embraced Buddha and have benefitted ever since. What goes up, must come down, but if you know it is going to come down you will get out of the way for heaven’s sake so that it does not hit you on the head. Perhaps this is the reason for the Indian “turban,” all that karma raining down on their heads! The turban cushions the blow.
Compare the Indian social consequences of belief in re-incarnation and karma to the Christian Cathars in the middle ages in the Languedoc. Although the Cathars believed in both concepts, they treated everyone, no matter their social status with respect and dignity. There was no “caste”system or the abuses that accompany it and the Christian concept of forgiveness was a given, which alleviates the prison of guilt that can petrify any person, society or nation.
One person who in their current lifetime was a peasant milkmaid, might have been a Count and a very rich man in a previous life.If anything, the milkmaid was treated with admiration for her calling and the job she was doing for the society with as much admiration as the Count in his castle. Who knows, maybe next time around they will exchange roles.
No such respect or dignity is afforded the lower castes in India and women are treated as things to be possessed and controlled. Due to the more evolved view on karma and re-incarnation in the Languedoc, the religious outcome was one where the Parfait, their “priests,” the “Perfect Ones,” were both men and women from all social status, women were treated with equal standing alongside their male counterparts. It was also the great age of the Troubadours, chivalry and courtly love. Even today in India, little girls are sold into the Temple, dressed up as “Goddesses,” used as sexual slaves, and when they become older, worn out and used up, thrown into the gutters where they attempt to survive. This is their “karma.” Maybe it is, maybe this is why India keeps impoverishing herself?
There is another misconception that needs to be cleared up about Buddha. He has always been regarded as a human being along with everyone else. He has never been worshipped or seen as a “God,” in the same light as Krishna. In fact he is most often not even seen in the light of a Master or even a Guru. He is admired and respected and seen in the light of a man who found a path to alleviate suffering and it is always his teachings that are the focus. These teachings in turn are not an external socially imposed ethic, but rather an internal guideline to inner harmony, peace and happiness, never more so than with depictions of him as the “Laughing Buddha! ” As Yoda said: Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.
I am of the belief that Jesus too, was a human being along with everyone else. The later view that he was the “Son of God,” has been misconstrued and corrupted due to two reasons:
1. A lack of understanding of the Hebrew texts. In the Abrahamic tradition the blessing of the firstborn son carried the weight of responsibility for the whole tribe. This tradition is still practiced in many parts of Africa. Abraham blessed Isaac, Isaac blessed Jacob and Jacob now known as Israel, instead of blessing one of the twelve, chose a thirteenth, he blessed his grandson Ephraim. It is from the line of Ephraim that the torch is passed on. To Nun and then in turn to Joshua who established Israel in the promised land. The name Jesus is a rendition of the name Joshua, and following tradition Joseph was the father of Jesus, implying that he was from the Joseph family. see Jeremiah 31.
2. In 1 A.D., in order to get the Christian message out to the world, there was great competition with all the Greek Gods and Goddesses, earthly renditions of the constellations and the planets. In order for Christianity to find any place in this world, Jesus had to be presented as a “son of God,” not only equal to but superior. And in order for the Christian message to gain political traction, he also had to be presented as a king. Hence the Judaic interpolation in his genealogy to king David, which I believe was false plagiarism. If we read 1 Samuel 8, it is clear that the establishment of any kind of monarchy is contrary to the system as established by Moses and Joshua, and in effect, breaks the Covenant. As a son of Joesph, also referred to as the “firstborn”of the Lord, being Ephraim as quoting from Jeremiah 31, and named after his ancestor Joshua, Jesus would also not have supported the social system of monarchy, or any kind of hegemonic dictatorship. ]
Gautama Buddha appeared almost simultaneously with Zarathustra in Persia and Confucius in China. Lao Tse also belonged to the same period. It was a time of awakening in world history. Always when the time is ripe for the sages to get a hearing, they come.What impression do you think an Emerson could have made upon uncivilized people? Saints always come when there is a fair chance of their getting a hearing, and today there are more saints manifesting than ever before. When more people are ready for them, more will come. We are sometimes asked why no saints come to the big European centers or to America. The answer is that when those people are ready for the saints, they will go there.
At the time Buddha appeared, India was suffering from a stagnant Brahmanism. Life in that country had been fairly secure ever since the great Aryan invasion. This is the blessing of a strong government. Even if it is a foreign government, it gives the country security against foreign invasion and safety from internecine strife. So India, under the early Aryan regime, had peace and security. But when people have periods of rest that are too long, they grow fat and lazy. The people of India became measurably prosperous, peaceful, happy, dreamy and lazy. The priesthood grew in numbers and powers, speculated and, of course, collected their revenues. Many of them became quite rich. Rajas endowed them with great wealth. Then the rajas turned over to the priests their own sins and worries and went hunting for big game in the jungles. The common people told love stories, ate their sweetmeats, and lay down to sleep. They awoke the next day to spin more fine theories, make love and eat. Into this sort of life came the noble prince of the Sakya clan, Siddhartha by name. He became known later as Gautama Buddha.
He was born about 650 B.C. From his father’s gardens he could look up to the snow-covered summits of the Himalayas while the rest of India, hot and dusty, stretched away toward Ceylon at that time called the Golden Lanka. As the boy grew up, he was carefully guarded even from the sight of any evil or disagreeable thing. But later, when old age, suffering and death came to his notice, he resolved to seek release from these sorrows, not only for himself but for all mankind. It was an ambitious but noble adventure. He left his father’s palace and his beautiful young wife and son. Mounting his white horse in the stillness of the night while all in the palace slept, he rode forth ‘in search of the way’-the Way, the Tao of liberation. After six years of rigid asceticism, painful struggle and deep meditation, light came to his inner sight, and he became the great apostle of the Enlightenment. He had found the Way and was overjoyed, fairly singing his triumph. Thus the enlightened prince began to teach. The Deer Park in Banares rang with his inspired voice, revealing to all comers the Four Great Truths and the Eightfold Path.
Four Great Truths:
Dukkha ( Suffering)
1. The truth of suffering
2. The truth of the cause of suffering
3. The truth of the end of suffering
4.The truth of the path leading to the end of suffering.
The Eightfold Path
1. Right understanding
2. Right thought
3. Right speech
4. Right conduct
5. Right means of making a living
6. Right mental attitude or effort
7. Right mindfulness.
8. Right concentration
NEXT:
Anarchists and The Golden Age- Extract One: The Path of The Masters
