by Harvey Kraft
In his days in Babylon, Siddhartha Gautama had become a world-honored proponent of Philosophical Naturalism, but rather than condoning the do-whatever-feels-right approach, he called on the public and its civil leaders to align their behavior with natural and cosmic laws. He consistently subscribed to moderation, the need for tempered behavior, self-regulated accountability, and the valuing of psychological balance for a healthy and happy society.
Well versed and skilled as he was in both religion and philosophy, Sakamuni Buddha avoided strictly conceptual arguments absent their practical application. Aware of the profound ethical consequences of beliefs and outlooks about individuals and their social behaviors, the Buddha staked out a rare position. He rejected as a “false choice” the argument between Eternalism and Naturalism: “live-only-for-libera-tion-in-the-next-world” versus “live-for-now-as-you-only-live-once.” Contesting the assumption that one of these two notions was the only possible Truth, and there was no other, he crafted a third choice. This a doctrine aimed at balancing people’s desire for satisfaction in the present and future, a middle way found in between the “extreme” views of Eter-nalism and Naturalism.
As a Magi philosopher his initial Doctrine of the Middle Path had been a work in progress for achieving a satisfying life and social stability. He recommended balancing one’s thoughts and desires as essential for psychological and emotional wellness.
Upon his arrival in the Indus region, Sakamuni continued to upgrade the scope and use of his Middle Path principle by applying it to the achievement of liberation from sorrow. The Middle Path, he proposed, would free people from moral dilemmas, inner conflicts, and self-cen-teredness. To enter it seekers should use such consciousness-raising practices as the Eightfold Path and the Seven Skills for Achieving Consciousness of Enlightenment. Once inside their mind they would need to look for a gate of liberation in between the extremes of spiritual detachment and carnal appetites.
The true aspect of all dichotomies could be found only in the middle—between spirit and substance, between detachment and attachments, between past and future, between synchronicity and disharmony—between this and that. Instead of being forced to choose between opposing views, the Middle Path would lead one into a syner-gistic realization that emerged as if something invisible instantly became visible, as follows:
Imagine a road divided into two lanes. Travelers on it are headed in opposite directions. On one side of the path are those headed towards becoming a pure spiritual entity in the hereafter, and on the other are travelers who seek material fulfillment in the here-and-now. To an outside observer, the two lanes touch at the median, but the median itself does not appear to exist, as there is no apparent space between the two sides. However, the Buddha insisted that if the observer possessed a perfectly balanced mind, he suddenly would be able to discern the reality of the Middle Path hidden in the center of the road. Upon entering the Paradox of the Middle Path, the observer would find that both sides of the road existed inside a seemingly non-existent middle.
The Upanisads had introduced the concept of “neither this nor that” (Skt. neti-neti), a method of negation they used for arguing against Hedonism. The Brahmins applied this logic to prove that the world of cognitive perception was neither substantive nor spiritual. Hence, they argued, pleasure in this world was an illusion. They concluded that the only real bliss was to be found in the eternal union with the absolute, divine self, a transcendent reality beyond the faculties of sense or perception.
In his next edition of the Middle Path, Sakamuni defined reality as neither physical nor transcendent, neither cognitive nor absolute, neither mortal nor eternal, neither substantive nor spiritual.
The Buddha’s Reality of All Existence was a paradox. It was to be found neither on this or that side, but when seen from the Middle Path it always encompassed both sides. For example, should a seeker consciously enter the Middle Path of space to his amazement he will discover its realm to be simultaneously infinitesimal and boundless. Should he enter the Middle Path of Time, he will find that past and future existed in the present moment.
The present existed in the median of time, and yet it was not an increment of time. Its length could not be ascertained, no less measured. The present moment defied computation, but paradoxically it contained both the past and future. Because it included memories of former present moments, and the potential of present moments yet to be, the incalculable Middle Path of the present moment encompassed both the past and future.
The Middle Path of time revealed that while Existence only happened in the present, it could only be detected relative to the past and future. Ironically, although the present moment could not be defined as a specific increment of time, when observed through the Middle Path it revealed an all-encompassing reality, inclusive of past and future.
“From the vantage of the Middle Path the Cosmos of Relativity was neither this nor that, yet it existed between this and that while it encompassed both this and that,” Sakamuni explained.
Wary of religious preachers promising immortal bliss in the eternal beyond or existential philosophers encouraging self-indulgent pleasure in the temporary present, the Buddha held that the prospect for a rewarding life required a balanced approach encompassing both cosmic and immediate ethics, both transience and inseparability.
Seemingly contradictory to his cosmological-metaphysical revelation of the Doctrine of Impermanence, in expounding the Cosmos of Relativity the Buddha proposed the Doctrine of Inseparability. Seeing that many disciples struggled with the notion that their spiritual self could not be separated from objective reality, the Buddha expounded the principle that mind and body, person and environment, and all composite formations in Existence were inseparable relationships. In philosophical terms, he proposed that if two components essential to a relationship came apart, rather than separating, neither of the two could exist on their own.
By accepting the paradox of impermanence and inseparability, many practitioners of Learning and Realization were able to achieve a state of Nirvana in the Cosmos or Relativity.
Through it they understood the intimate relationship the Universe had with all of humanity. In a codependent cosmos, when relative elements were in perfect balance, they produced longevity and harmonious order. Harmony was the natural power of bonding, while disharmony was the force of transience and change. Both forces were at work in the Buddha’s Middle Path revealing that the relationship between one’s state of being and the world around them refected a temporary harmony. Reality, like the image of an observer looking at a mirror, would last only for as long as the observer is present to observe it.
EYES AND LANDS
The Buddha’s Cosmos of Relativity was a boundless system that projected manifestations into Existence. Beings, forces, elements, and environments were constantly reshaping the Existence and everything in it. It operated as easily across an inconceivably large scale, as it did within a small locality. Like a vast communications network it employed various energies, wave frequencies, force fields, and interactive programs to facilitate a matrix of relationships whereby innumerable entities engaged for a limited time.
From the vantage of the Buddha’s Perfect Enlightenment, the orchestration of this grand, ever-changing, universal concert of temporary Relativity emanated from the ongoing flow of changing information, Karma, produced by the Law of Cause and Effect. The Cosmos of Relativity encompassed multiple dimensional folds with all works in progress expressing numerous related composites and activities. Throughout this unimaginable beehive of activity countless Buddhas taught the ways of advancement.
Before the end of the current Major Cosmic Eon of Wisdom, Saka-muni said, three thousand Buddhas180 such as himself will appear, a reference to the Enlightenment of the “Great Three-Thousand-Fold-Universe.” In other words, the Cosmos of Relativity was embedded with Buddhahood in every fold of Existence.
Enlightenment was embedded within all conditions of Existence, but in the Cosmos of Relat
ivity one’s state of consciousness limited the observer’s view of the world. For example, when a person climbed a tower, the higher their level of sight, the farther they could see. The relative view of reality was just like that. To illustrate how the Cosmos of Relativity appeared at various heights of perception, the Buddha introduced the Doctrine of Five Eyes and Four Lands.
The Five Eyes represented five strata of cognition. The lowest level, the Eye of Common Mortals, belonged to the general population. These were unenlightened people limited to cognition through the five instinctual senses: touch, smell, hearing, eyesight, and taste. The highest strata of this Cosmos refected enlightened sight, described as the Eye of the Buddha. Only one who had ascended to this limitless view, as Sakamuni had, could see the Truth of the Reality of All Existence.
The five kinds of “eyes” refected one’s reality in relative terms. The higher the view the greater the clarity with which one could view Universal Truth, as follows:
1. The Mortal (Common) eye – the first eye provided mortal beings with the cognition of differentiation by using the five sensory organs, but due to this eye, a human being misperceived the self as a separate entity from his surroundings.
2. The Divine (Heavenly) eye – the second eye employed the sixth sense, the Mind of Nature, the perspective from Heaven. This lucid intuitive sense could be used to see the unseen, see in the dark, use farsight to see long distances, share in the thoughts and feelings of others, or see with the unconscious mind. It defined the vision and scope of a divine being’s perspective.
3. The Wisdom (Arhat) Eye – the third eye was the vision of excellent discernment. It gave one the ability to judge right from wrong and to properly decide what to do. Using this eye allowed one to learn and realize that all things were both impermanent and inseparable. This eye represented the view of one who was Worthy of Enlightenment (Skt. Arhat).
4. The Eye of Universal Law (Dharma Eye) – with the fourth eye one could view phenomena from the standpoint of boundless compassion. One who developed this vision had transcended the self. This was the Selfless vision that clearly revealed the Laws of the Universe at work, and made it possible to see anywhere in the Universe. With this eye the celestial Enlightening Beings (Skt. Bodhisattva-Mahasattva) were able to see and hear wherever Buddhas preached, wherever the Dharma was propagated, and wherever mortals needed their help.
5. The Eye of the Buddha – the fifth eye was the enlightened-eye through which a Buddha sees all, as it really is, without any illusions. This eye shared by all Buddhas revealed all the lands where the Buddhas declared the Truth of the Reality of All Existence. With this eye all the Buddhas everywhere were able to facilitate, inspire, and aid beings in their self-advancement toward becoming Buddhas themselves.
Relative to the Five Eyes, Sakamuni identified Four Lands181 associated with one’s capacity to see. These Lands evoked the Buddha’s four cosmologies182 relative to the observer, each an apparent Reality correlating with one’s level of consciousness, as follows:
1. The Land of Mortality (aka, the Golden Mountain Cosmology and Samsara). This land encompassed the “Six Worlds” from Hell through Humanity (as seen with the Mortal Eye), as well as the view from Heaven (as seen with the Divine Eye). This was the cosmos which mortal beings navigated using their senses and intuitive powers.
2. The Land of Wisdom (aka, Cosmos of Relativity and Land of Transition). This “land” extended into the dimension of the unconscious and the underlying Laws of the cosmos. This was the residence of those using learning and realization to achieve a state Worthy of Enlightenment. In the Land of Wisdom, these sages were able to recognize the relative and transient nature of everything in Existence and discern between what was wise or foolish, important, or irrelevant, stable or extreme, illusory, or real (as seen with the Wisdom Eye).
3. The Land of Universal Compassion (aka, Cosmology of Infinite Wisdom, and Land of Actual Reward). In this land innumerable celestial Bodhisattvas had overcome the limitations of relativity. They were alive in blissful Reward-Bodies illuminated by the virtue of Selflessness. Unencumbered by the barriers of space, time, scale or dimension, they could appear anywhere in the Universe in any condition of Existence. Dedicated to nurturing beings with the Buddha’s Law, they helped them progress toward Enlightenment. Selfless humans who emulated the celestial Enlightening Beings would start to develop subtle bodies with which they may enter this land by teaching the Dharma (as seen with the Eye of Universal Law).
4. The Land of Perfect Enlightenment (aka, Lotus Cosmology and Buddha-land). This was the boundless land that only Buddhas could see. Through their Teachings they sought to open its gate to beings of lesser sight. This land could be viewed in the Middle Path, where “The Truth of the Reality of All Existence” abided forever in enlightened splendor (as seen with the Buddha Eye).
Through the Doctrine of the Five Eyes and Four Lands, Sakamuni showed that reality in the Cosmos of Relativity existed on multiple levels. As a result, one’s reality depended on the relationship between one’s consciousness and the perceived environment. But embedded in the Cosmos of Relativity was also the notion that everywhere Buddhas worked to transform the three lands into Buddha-lands by guiding people to achieve a higher visionary perspective.
To illustrate, he pointed to two cosmic Buddha-lands in the direction where the sun rises and sets. He told of a pure paradise called Blissful Heaven (Skt. Sukhavati) located in the western quadrant of the Universe. It was the Buddha-land of Infinite Light Buddha (Skt. Amita), who represented the triumph of mercy and wisdom. The eastern Buddha-land was named the Pure Emerald Paradise. This was the domain of the Sovereign-Teacher of Healers Buddha (Skt. Bhaishajya-guru buddha). This Buddha perfected the ability to heal mortal bodies and minds.
The two paradises were echoes of the divine wonderlands in Meso-potamian mythologies. The Sumerians looked to the east for Dilmun. The Bible called it the Garden of Eden. The Greeks saw it as the afterlife paradise Elysium in the west. These polar-ended locations of paradise related to the sun as it entered and departed the world from east to west. In the Buddhist view, any mortal realm, anywhere in the Universe, can be trans -formed into a paradise, a Buddha-land, when it is seen with the Buddha-eye. Those who did not possess the Eye of the Buddha simply could not recognize it even though the enlightened paradise was always present.
Through the illustration of Five Eyes and Four Lands the Buddha showed how mortals could climb to higher consciousness and in doing so transform their land. As awakening beyond sensory mortal cognition was a great challenge, Sakamuni Buddha offered his disciples Three Vehicles for achieving the enlightenment of the third and fourth eye with which they could ascend to the second and third land.
THE THREE VEHICLES
Across the vast terrain of Greater Aryana, he spread a message of hope and peace inspiring his disciples to seek Enlightenment and encouraging people to aspire for a life of goodness. The devoted disciples who accompanied or joined him along the way were able to embrace these teachings successfully using his Three Vehicles of Liberation: Learning, Realization, and SelfLessness.
Most were men of Learning (Skt. Sravaka; Pali Savaka), called this because they were able to progress simply by listening to the Buddha’s words and learning to put his methods into practice. Like the ancient Spirit-Listeners, their receptive ears were channels for liberation characterized by a stable, clear mind—pure of thought, speech, and action. They saw little use for analysis or probing questions. They trusted Saka-muni implicitly; they did as he guided, purely receiving and internalizing the Buddha’s wisdom.
Disciples skilled in creativity and exploration were dubbed the practitioners of Realization (Skt. Prateykabuddha), and were practically Buddhas. This group of followers contemplated the Buddha’s Teachings in pursuit of breakthroughs. Their cosmic visions and deep meditations would pierce the Buddha-wisdom to achieve higher visionary scope, peace of mind, and liberation from suffering. In experiencing an inseparable cosmic c
onnection with the Buddha, many realized that they were fellow travelers with him across Transmigration.
Devotees could apply either or both of these two vehicles to erase the illusion of ego-self and replace it with an awareness of intercon-nectedness. The Buddha cited those disciples who had fathomed their inseparable connection with the Buddha and the rest of humanity as Worthy of Enlightenment (Skt. Arhat; Pali Arhant):
The mind, the Buddha and all living beings—these three things are without distinction.183
Putting this principle into practice a structured organization grew around the Buddha over the years. This community was characterized by freedom of mobility and expression, sharing, equality, and the rejection of habitual ritualism, refecting the open-ended Sramana tradition. It provided seekers with shelter and sustenance, while supporting each individual’s aspiration for personal growth.
Congregations of open-air devotees lived in the forests and followed the travels of the Buddha. Always prepared to be near when he or his major disciples spoke, they hovered in his general vicinity. Sometimes these followers moved like a herd of deer, gently gathering food or entering towns with begging bowls. The male disciples (Skt. Bhiksu; Pali Bhikkhu) congregated separately from female disciples (Skt. Bhiksuni; Pali Bhikkhuni) for the sake of privacy and to guard against potential distractions. During rainy seasons, they relied on the generosity of wealthy or royal supporters of the Buddha to provide roofed locations for the Sangha community.
Two other groups of devotees, composed of male householders (Pali Upasaka) and female householders (Pali Upasika), lived in permanent homes with families and spouses. Although they could not keep up with all of the Buddha’s movements, villagers took turns to travel to the camps of followers, often sending one representative to collect and report back on any new Teachings. Householders would volunteer to provide care and services to the followers and in return received news of the Buddha’s most recent sermons.
