by Harvey Kraft
The four cardinal points produced two horizontal lines (East-West and North-South) that intersected through the Sun, along with the vertical line made of the Moon, Sun, and Venus. Therefore, all three axes crossed through the Sun.
In a geometric illustration, the three intersecting lines formed the world-system sphere. The Sun-centric Seven Planets configured the harmonic sphere of the solar system with the seven points of light forming the four (4) quadrants of the sphere, and the three-point (3) visionary communications channel at its center.
This Sun-centric seven-jeweled sphere system also contained the twin-peaked Golden Mountain, and Saha, the Earth disc. Together the entire solar system was tuned to the universal 4-3-2 plus 1 harmonic pattern—4 cardinal points, 3 mundi axis points, 2 peaks, and 1 Earth— producing a vibrating force field of light, motion, time and resonance.
According to Pythagoras, the motion of the luminous celestial bodies, which he identified as "Spheres of Harmony,"241 produced musical sounds. Babylonian seers earlier decreed that the "seven planets" emitted sacred harmonic frequencies in concert with nature and life. They advanced the idea that alignment of thoughts, social activities, and the cycles of nature produced cosmic "musical vibrations" experienced on Earth as harmony, joy, diversity and growth.
The Buddha also invoked this paradigm of harmonic resonance as the basis for life-supporting world-systems throughout the Universe. In his view, the seven-jeweled Buddha-centric star-systems represented the harmonic frequency of life evolving to enlightenment.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh the jewel-bearing trees were the Land of Celestial Lights. In Buddhist mythology the Cosmic Mountain illuminated the "Sphere of Harmony," the Sacred Tree connected with the stars, and the "seven jewels" were hanging from the Tree of Illumination or decorating the towers in the Buddha-lands. The jewels denoted places where Buddhas were transforming inhabited world-systems into Buddha-lands.
REAL NIRVANA
Across the Universe resonating spheres orchestrated light and motion to facilitate the phenomenal frequencies needed for beings to exist and develop. Similarly, when living beings synchronized with Buddhas, they grew and advanced through an evolutionary process. In Buddhist cosmology, the harmonic frequencies of the Dharma extended over Cosmic Time and numerous lifetimes.
The Buddha illustrated the harmonic bond he had with his followers as they crossed Transmigration headed for the Buddha-land. In the Parable of the Phantom City he told the story of a spiritual guide, echoing the role of shamans during the Arya migrations, leading his tribe on a long and arduous journey to a land resplendent with treasures, a paradise called the "Sacred Place of Jewels."
A guide led his tribe on a quest for the Sacred Place of Jewels. After a long, long time, traveling along a treacherous and deserted road that appeared to have no end to it, the tribe grew weary and fearful. Some of the travelers started to grumble, wanting to turn back. To relieve them of exhaustion, their guide used magic to conjure up a Phantom City, an oasis where they rested for the night. They awoke in the morning to find the city gone. Refreshed, their courage and enthusiasm restored, they left the illusion behind to continue on the final leg of their Great Crossing.
In the biblical Exodus, Moses guided the Hebrews on a journey through the dangerous desert. Carrying God's commandments, when he descended from Mount Sinai (i.e., Sin-ai), the Cosmic Mountain of the Moon Worshippers, he found that discontented elements among the tribe had crafted and worshipped a bull-calf, the symbol of the Moon- God, Sin. As punishment, the Hebrews had to spend forty years, two generations, in the desert learning to have faith in Elohim before they could complete their Great Crossing and enter paradise, the Promised Land of Milk and Honey.
The Buddha's Phantom City story also addressed the issue of faith through a cosmic Great Crossing. In both tales the guides faced the challenge of dealing with the doubts of the tribe. But in the Buddha's parable the guide looked for a way to motivate the travelers to "make it all the way." The Buddhist Great Crossing represented the long journey of Transmigration, and its destination, the Sacred Place of Jewels, was the Buddha-land. The Phantom City illustrated that Nirvana was a temporary respite he espoused to give his disciples much needed relief during their journey across the "desert of suffering" to the Buddha-land.
In the early days of the Buddha's movement his followers pursued Nirvana as their final destination, the reward for overcoming the conditioned cycle of the Six Worlds (Skt. Samsara). This goal held true until now. Through this parable he differentiated between Heavenly Nirvana, an ephemeral midway rest stop, and Real Nirvana, which Sakamuni Buddha would define as the ultimate destination, the Place of Jewels:
The Nirvana that you have accomplished is not the real one!
The Buddhas, as guides, teach Nirvana to provide rest
Seeing that you are rested, they lead you on to Buddha-wisdom.242
The tactful Buddha had employed Heavenly Nirvana as an expedient incentive with which to motivate them to persevere through the decades-long journey that brought them to the Lotus Sutra. His Real Nirvana referred to the Sacred Place of Jewels, a metaphor for the Buddhaland where he stored the ultimate treasure, the wisdom of Perfect Enlightenment.
As soon as the sages (Skt. Arhats) heard the Phantom City Parable, they instantly realized that the Declarer of Truth had been leading them through the Great Crossing of Transmigration to deliver them to a state equal to his own. They cheered his compassion for taking them further than they ever could have imagined on their own. They thanked him for his patience with them for they had been so willing to settle for less. In concert they acknowledged their mistaken view of Nirvana and apologized to the Buddha for their shortsightedness:
Gaining but a little of Nirvana, contented, we sought no more. Now the Buddha has awakened us, saying this is not Real Nirvana, [Only] on attaining the highest Buddha-wisdom is there Real Nirvana.243
Acknowledging their error, they admitted to foolishly seeking refuge in the mirage of the afterlife:
We have constantly been thinking that we had attained final Nirvana. Now we know that we were just like the haughty Intransigents.244
Accepting their apology for failing to conceive of their enlightened destiny, Sakamuni continued to predict Buddhahood for many other disciples of men and women. He bestowed the achievement on another five hundred Arhats, followed by seven hundred more. These twelve hundred Buddhas-to-be, he declared, will all become Buddhas named Bright Universe, and each will create a Buddha-land. Furthermore, he said, this prediction would encompass all who had or ever would attend the Lotus Cosmology, past, present, and future.
To show their acceptance of the unexpected gift the Buddha bequeathed on them, these followers responded with the Parable of the Hidden Gem through which they acknowledged their understanding of the principle that Buddhahood was perfectly endowed within all mortal beings.
A poor man came calling on an old friend known for his charitable work. Enjoying too much of his host's delicious wine, the visitor became intoxicated and passed out. Scheduled to leave on a trip, the generous man decided to give his poor friend a gift that would free him from a life of poverty. For safekeeping, he sewed a precious gem into a seam near the heart of the sleeping guest's robe. He then departed. When the indigent man awoke alone, he proceeded on his way, knowing nothing of his parting gift.
As before, the poor man worked at odd jobs requiring hard labor. After years of distress, frustration and exhaustion, he happened to run into his old friend again. Surprised to see his disheveled demeanor, still wearing the now worn out robe, the generous one asked:
"Why do you suffer so for the sake of subsistence? Wishing you to be in comfort and to satisfy all the desires of your five senses, I recall that in the past, in the year, month and day [whence you fell asleep in my house], I secured a precious gem inside your garment. It has been there all this time, while you slaved and worried to stay alive. Go right now to exchange that jewel for what you need, and heretofore do
whatever you will, free from all poverty and shortage." 245
The Parable of the Hidden Gem introduced the Doctrine of the Perfectly Endowed Reality. Through the metaphor of the fabulously brilliant gem hidden within the fabric of mortality, the Buddha's followers expressed their discovery of the endowment of Buddhahood. While the story spoke of fulfilling practical needs, it triumphantly reflected psychological transformation, a metaphor for turning a poor man's mind into one of abundance endowed with Perfect Enlightenment.
The robe, wherein the gem was sewn, represented a person's mortal destiny (i.e., Karma). The gem itself symbolized potential deliverance through One Vehicle of Buddhahood. That it was hidden from sight indicated that Perfect Enlightenment was immanent in mortal life. To exchange the hidden gem for complete fulfillment meant that the Perfectly Endowed Reality of Perfect Enlightenment had the power to produce a life of joyful fulfillment, not only in a spiritual context but also in other ways, including one's instinctual and substantive needs.
In connecting Perfect Enlightenment with fulfillment of the senses the Parable showed why to obliterate the senses of all desires was unwise and self-defeating. The hidden gem of Perfect Enlightenment had the power to illuminate all desires, including one's senses, thoughts, emotions, and material needs, and to align one's desires and virtues with the harmonic resonance of Universal Order.
Realizing that they possessed the hidden gem, the disciples discovered that they were actually Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, with access to the Perfectly Endowed Reality, and capable of establishing a Buddha- land that would last for an eon. Finally, in terms of Cosmic Time, it meant that all mortal humans possessed the Perfectly Endowed Reality within, but were not conscious of it. It suggested that if they knew that they possessed this valuable treasure, they would use it to transform the quality of their lives and the acuity of their senses.
The grand, hidden message in the Hidden Gem Parable was this:
All mortals had received the gift of Perfect Enlightenment long before their present Existence, but due to the mortal veil they had forgotten it, and, ignorant that it was there, unwittingly they stumbled through lifetimes like one in an intoxicated stupor.
CHAPTER NINE
Lotus Cosmology
During his successful invasion of the Indus region, Darius I acquired one the world's largest gold fields. Indus gold gave him the metal he needed to mint new coins—the Daric featured an image of the Emperor with crown, longbow and spear.
Before the Arya tribes arrived in the Indus Valley with their tales of the Rig Veda, an older civilization had occupied the area. In its hay day, before the Epic Drought and prior to the rise of Babylon, the peaceful cities of Harrapa and Mohenjo-Daro were evidence of the most advanced and creative region in the world. At its height the Indus Valley Civilization was contemporary with Egyptian and Mesopotamia cultures (3000–2000 BCE). The Sumerians referred to it as the paradise Dilmun, and may have recruited their priestesses from Harrapa's strong female-centric culture. The Indus appeared to have supported a population of up to 80,000, although some estimates put it in the millions. But when the Epic Drought drained the Saraswati River dry, the ensuing hunger and violence over food scarcity forced people to scatter. To the Arya this was sacred ground.
Learning first hand that the area had a long history of artistry and peacefulness, Darius chose a diplomatic route designed to hold on to this valuable property rich in gold and other precious metals. He refrained from his usual use of oppressive taxes to dominate local populations.
When Darius captured Greater Aryana he learned just how much Siddhartha Gautama was held in high esteem. From this point forward, he seemed to have lost interest in the pursuit of his royal predecessor. He did not appear to be surprised to learn of the transformation of Siddhartha Gautama into the Buddha. The former Chief Magus and supposed "imposter King" was dead in political terms. Certainly, he and his mendicant supporters did not present a threat to his throne. Darius felt safe to focus his attention elsewhere.
During his visit to Egypt he was impressed with the spectacular ancient constructions glorifying the pharaohs. With great fanfare he accepted the title of Pharaoh for himself. Returning to Persia from campaigns to consolidate the empire, Darius decided that he, the most successful emperor in history, the King of Kings of the vast Persian Empire, should put his stamp on history. Keenly aware of the historical legacy left behind by earlier conquerors, he decided not only to build a new palace, or a great monument, but a whole new city, dedicated to celebrate his everlasting fame. Although the administrative capital for his empire was in Susa, in the region of Elam, he wanted his glorified capital to be located in his homeland of Parsa.
Persepolis embodied his dream of world-dominating grandeur. Dedicated completely to the power and glory of the throne, it reflected his wealth and power, and celebrated his accomplishments.
Sitting on a golden throne at the Appanda, the main open-air audience hall of Persepolis, where hundreds or more congregated, Darius the Great held court usually commencing with the customary exchange of gifts as visiting dignitaries arrived. Next to it, a large Treasury building housed gold, silver, and bejeweled artifacts, either newly made, plundered, or extorted. All around hundreds of giant statutes, military guard formations, banners, and streamers, created an atmosphere of triumph. Every word Darius uttered was attended to by dozens of advisors and servants, usually eunuchs castrated to insure that they would be free of familial ambitions, devoted only to their master. Visiting kings bowed deeply before the Emperor and made offerings to him, and in exchange would receive his gifts for their loyalty. Some of these vassal rulers had been rewarded with sovereignty after a previous rebel king was brutally and savagely tortured and killed. They were all properly intimidated.
His faith in Assura Mazda had grown with each victory, although Zoroaster remained in the background. One ruled the empire, and the other ruled the Magi Order of the "cleansing religion." But the politics of the vast empire steeped in many religions and local idols required Darius to keep Persian religious fervor under control. The Zoroastrian Magi had a well-defined role to play, namely to conduct the rituals, teach the righteous word of God as given to Zoroaster, pray to God for victory, and chase away demons. But they did not use the force of the empire to compel anyone to convert to their religion.
Zoroaster, the chosen Servant of God, was equally comfortable with his role outside of the political limelight. His dream, to spread his "Good Religion" throughout the world, focused on the defeat of the Devil God. In due course, Zarathustra Spitamas believed, once Persia conquered the civilized world all sinners would abandon Angra Manyu in favor of Assura Mazda.
Darius imagined that God wanted him to conquer the whole world. Since his youth, his mentor Zoroaster had encouraged him to become the embodiment of the forces of light. In conquering the whole world he would defeat the forces of darkness and set the stage for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Once the Achaemenid Dynasty achieved domination of the world, all the deceased worshippers of Assura Mazda waiting in his afterlife 'House of Heavenly Song' will descend back to Earth, regain their original bodies, and live forever in physical immortality. This was the dream both men shared and both understood their roles in it as divinely ordained.
But beyond the close range of the Persian homeland, the spread of Zoroastrianism progressed more slowly than the mighty Persian sword. Most cultures regarded its puritanical dogma with some suspicion. People in vassal states associated it with the brutal actions of Darius who was infamous for punishing his rebellious enemies by mutilations, crucifixions, and impaling.
His appetite for conquest never subsided. As the empire grew, so did his forces, as he conscripted his vassal militaries and resources to fight in his battles. Having conquered Asia from the Indus to the eastern coast of the Aegean, he eyed the Greek city-states across the sea from Anatolia. Initially he dispatched the Phoenicians and the Egyptian-borne navy across the Mediterranean Sea to take severa
l islands off the eastern coast of the Aegean. Darius united his empire with an international force.
As a shrewd strategist he admired the way Cyrus had used political means to take Babylon without a major battle. Whenever possible, he believed the conqueror should try to achieve his goal by undermining or intimidating his opponent. He thought most cities would capitulate once they understood that resistance would mean their utter destruction.
As the Assyrians had established and understood in earlier times, the threat of ruination motivated resignation and capitulation. But Darius also used incentives. He assured vassal kings that if they cooperated they would benefit economically from becoming part of his empire. Darius had big plans for trade. He was launching major infrastructure initiatives— building roads, canals, and harbors—to facilitate trade across the empire. Everyone would benefit, but first their treasuries would be levied large sums to facilitate the emperor's vision.
Although Darius painted himself as a simple soldier doing his duty on behalf of God, he was born an aristocrat and was politically astute. He understood the challenge of managing diverse ethnicities, religions, and languages ranging from the Indus to Mediterranean. Tested again and again, he was determined to win at any cost. If opponents resisted he would destroy them, and then when governing them he would rebuild.
For the rest of his reign he would focus on extending his empire into Europe. First he crossed the Bosporus to attack the Euro-Scythians in the Ukraine. After taking every part of Anatolia, he marched across the northern side of the Black Sea into Thrace and onward to the Danube River. But the prize he wanted most was Athens and other Greek citystates on the western coast of the Aegean Sea.
