Since I am working on my first spiritual “Teaching CD” (to
include various artices), I will share some words concerning Buddhist
Cosmology. This is part of what I will be reading for the CD. Depending on the
unfolding of time, I will have short 10 minute video segments on some of the
readings (yes for a DVD).
Before getting into the meat of topic (or should I say
sunrays for green life if your vegetarian), let this blog begin with a flow of
poetic words.
A single breath
full of complex simplicity,
Dreams of jaded justice
rife with blood stained tears,
Crooked crowns of crosses
melting diamonds with brimstone,
Unholy ashes from baked books,
Yeast braiding our shaven scalps,
Skulls with dark and light reflections
that balance proton electrons
as we struggle to feast
upon strings of our new day.
Buddhism… Cosmology Cycles of time
are prominent in the major eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Eastern
religions recognize the importance of energies in association to divine powers.
Essentially, Hindus and Buddhists concepts see life on Earth as ‘empty’ of any
‘real’ substance. Life is Maya, an “illusion” with pain and suffering,
completed as an exercise in divine power. Life is lila, the “play” of
consciousness.
For a Hindu, the “true self” (the Atman) is all of
existence. For a Buddhist, existence in itself, is empty, only Buddha
consciousness exists, translated as “clear light” by some Buddhists. Energy or
consciousness has no separate self, and is realized as all of
existence/nonexistence. Life eternally turns like a wheel. Energies shuffle
from place to place, from realm to realm, caught in jaw-like spokes of
mortality … until realizing or not realizing the axis, the center of the Self,
also considered as the non-self.
The Buddha wrote nothing. After the Buddha’s death,
viewpoints diverged until becoming the State religion of India with King Asoka
(about 200 bc). Similar to Constantine (hundreds of years later with
Christianity and the Bible), Asoka forced compliance from disagreeing monks to
forge a primary Buddhist viewpoint. The Theravada “teachings of the elders, of
the order,” emerged with their canon of scripture. About 300-400 years later, a
foundational Mahayana interpretation of the Buddha and Buddhism developed,
based on the experience of Buddha consciousness, rather than membership
in a group. (See Nagarjuna.) The spreading of Buddhism to China mixed with
elements of Confucian ethics and Taoism. Tibetan Buddhism developed from their
indigenous shamanism. Although Buddhists might say that they pay less attention
to cosmology than Hindus, their cosmologies are well developed.
For Buddhists, the Buddha is the supreme divine power. The
traditional Buddha (Gotama) is considered “God” for our Buddha-field. (Note
similarities with Christianity where Jesus is considered God for the beginning
and end of our Earth.) Proud Buddhists might calmly admit that they do not
believe in God. Based on their scriptures, they mean that they do not believe
in anybody else’s God, but rather an all-encompassing consciousness… with divine-like
attributes. With Buddhist compassion, intelligence, and spiritual practices,
consciousness exists to save all sentient beings. Although the Buddha was said
to announce that cosmological speculation was not necessary for enlightenment,
Buddhist cosmology forms the framework of their beliefs. This includes all
Buddhists, Theravada and Mayahana.
Buddhists have spiritually explored and detailed numerous
realms of consciousness. Their Wheel of Life provides a cosmological foundation
for understanding Buddhism. Life/consciousness first extends through 6 primary
realms: the abode of Animals, Humans, Hells, Hungry Ghosts, Jealous Gods, and Gods.
The Wheel turns because of ignorance, greed, and hatred. Conscious individuals
may exist for various periods of time in these realms. Although the realm of
Gods can extend through numerous abodes and for lengthy periods of time, Buddha
consciousness/non-consciousness is conceived in the axis of the Wheel of Life
where jaws of death trap the 6 abodes.
Theravada
Buddhists have their Mount Meru cosmology, a single-world-system conceived as
concentric rings around Mount Meru, the center of the “world disk,” the center
of the universe. Mahayanist have their
Pure Land and Celestial Buddhas. For example the “Cosmology of Thousands”
multiplies what is unified and unifies what is multiplied. Combinations of
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (the “Enlightenment-Beings”)
all related to a single Buddha and a single “Buddha-field” where Gods can rule
over from 1000 to 1000 to the power of 100. Beliefs are clearly seen within
Mahayana Buddhist scripture like the “Flower Garland” sutra, also known as
the”Sutra of the Garland of Buddhas.” Feel free to comment and I can add more.
(note this section is actually from Appendix III “Cycles of
Time in Hinduism and Buddhism” in my 2003 book, God’s Science)
3 Monks at Night (by Scot Aaron)
"Buddha Peace" by Scot Aaron
Note these are my photos as photo art
(see 2scot.com for some
galleries)