Genuine ? — or tampered Scripture

On the end of previous post, I rather casually wrote

“Now look around and check so-called books about the Buddhism.

How many this kind of absurdities you can find ?” —– though,

I realized that it was not so easy job for the most of Buddhists in

the town.  Often, they were given only few booklet to read by the leader

or the instructing monk and not used to look for any other scripture.

For the monks, the followers are the cash-cow, of course, they don’t

want the followers to know anything other than “What he is teaching”.

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In the net, there are enormous number of the Scriptures available (in different translation).

Here is a sample of website, kindly providing comprehensive collection of the scriptures.

On their list, by scrolling down, soon after the Agama series, you may find a sutra called

[ Compassionate Lotus Sutra ] , click an English version and — you may start reading. —–

though, if you like a shortcut, go to V-6 (0157 / 0158) and scrolling down to somewhere

paragraph 13 =

“‘For the 1004 persons including Fire-Wreath Manavaka, who reads and recites Veda — the

Exterior-Path scriptures, the Tathagata has already awarded them the distinctive marks

of future Buddhahood, which predicts that they will become Buddhas in the Good-kalpa

(Bhadra-kalpa: the present kalpa), and will, by using the three vehicles (yana), enlighten

all the living beings who often commit greed, lechery, anger, ignorance, and arrogance.”

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A kind of Buddhists, more often called New-age group of the people, who is believing such 

as a mythical power of crystal etc too, also speaking the buzz-words, Veda, Upanishads etc

may not necessarily know the significance of the word Veda —– and this is the most

Un-Buddhists like word.   

Veda is the scriptures of Brahmanism, Hinduism but never with the Buddhism as

Lord Buddha took a stance against the existence of perpetual soul (Self = Atoman), 

hence against the idea of reincarnation. (When the Self isn’t existing, who reincarnate ?)

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As the [Compassionate Lotus Sutra] referred to Veda, obviously this wasn’t a genuine

Buddhist scripture.    Likewise, neither the scripture which got many names of Vedic, 

Hindu Deities such as Brahma God was not.  

As a matter of fact, all the Mahayana scriptures are quite remote from the original

Lord Buddha’s teachings. —– other than some resemblance in the idea of Void.

Mahayana Buddhism might be better understood as a carnival party staff with a lots of

costumed Hindu dancers. It was a party entertainment, choreographed by Nagarujuna.

And in fact, it was an extravaganza of sales ploy!    Nagarjuna was quite talented in this

kind as he used to be a performing magician.

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Still, the most important core of the Buddhist teachings were kept, not in the scriptures

but in their practice. (Of course, who believe a magical figure from another universe kind,

but through the practice the psychological, physiological change actually occur and it was

noticed by the followers.)   This was the reason why Zen teachings says 不立文字 (Never

rely on the lexical teachings) 以心伝心 (Heart to heart transmission).

And why all the Buddhist’s teachings consists endless repeated act as their practice.

(Chanting the name thousands of times, banging the drum, walking round and round so on

—– counting the breath or special way of breathing is literally endless practice.)

—– I’ll talk about this in the coming post.

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Selfless = Anatman = Sunyata = Voidness

As I wrote in the previous post “No Teaching ??? ”, what

Lord Buddha was teaching was no other than the state of the brain “Selflessness”

such as when a person was completely absorbed into an action or practice.

(Though his approach to put emphasis on meditation may not be the best way.

==> So that many different methods was invented later).

But unfortunately, this neurological phenomenon and his Teachings has not been

correctly understood and kept by his followers.    The reason was, as I wrote, it was

not clearly explained even to the immediate disciples and not all the disciples

necessary understood, let alone actually reached to a state of Selflessness. 

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This history has been reflected to some tradition, such as that the Theravada sect

who is keeping rather ancient form of Buddhism define the “Voidness” = Sunnata is

pertaining to the Selflessness / Non-Self = Annatta, and this Annatta is in fact, no other

than the Sanskrit, Anatman.

Lord Buddha’s teachings had the fundamental stance against the Vadic Atman.

Therefore, it was NO-Atoman = Anatman. —– It showed, in the original teachings, there

was no separate notion of Voidness, because the feeling of Voidness = Detached view to

the world was a part of the Selflessness or Selflessness itself.

(The one who really possess the Selfless-eyes knows this.)

Because, when the Emotion was disconnected, and feel everything were detached, the

stimuli to any 5 senses doesn’t have significance —– it exists though makes no difference

as if it was not existed.   Hence, didn’t need to specially talk about so-called Voidness.

(People who naturally acquired to speak English, as born in England, doesn’t excite or

talk about it.  But foreigner who newly became bilingual tend to show-off that he can

speak English. = A person acquired Selflessness through long practice, doesn’t feel of

the Voidness anything special, since they gradually came together and feel nothing

that they are the separate phenomenon —– in fact the person doesn’t even noticed

such a phenomenon, either Selflessness or Voidness ever existed in the mind.) 

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The history of Buddhism was the masquerade of sham Guru who pretended to know the

Lord Buddha’s teachings = Selflessness. —– As, there was a hear-say, the attribution of

the Enlightenment (Selflessness) is such as “Middle way” or a “Detached view = Perception

of Void” —– Those Guru pretended that they know the subject, and deployed the argument

while writing yet another script about “Middle-way” or “Voidness” simply they saw the

opportunities to become famous and rich.     But in fact, some of them were Tantra, or

mixture of Hindu and as they were using their more familiar knowledge to describe

Selflessness and Buddhism, = Buddhism deviated so much.   In fact some of them became

beyond the recognition from the original teachings and end-up almost like the Hinduism.

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Fundamentally, there couldn’t be any argument or needs to discuss the matter of

Middle way or Voidness, even the Panya Paramita as a separate phenomenon, since

they are naturally attributed to the same state of Mushin or Selflessness

= Psychological Phenomenon is Just one.

(A man in ill for caught cold shows the symptoms such as “High temperature”

“Headache” “Coughing” etc. so that to deal with “High temperature” alone and

dip him into a cold water wouldn’t help him. :-D)

People who doesn’t know the whole, in its totality, picking-up a superficial distinctive

feature, and talking in loud voice, pretending that he is The expert. Is exactly like a Theory

of Economics = use one monetary index, and try to describe whole economical trend.

Or mimicking the fashion of a star, and buy the same handbag, use the same buzz-word.

All those are the sign of “This person doesn’t know what he is talking about”.

Still, the trouble was that to the eyes and the ears of people standing by, who knows

even less, think those sham Guru looks, sound, great. —– The sensational new fashion

trend with buzzword of Voidness and the thousand of new-Buddha etc.etc. those new

concepts in Mahayana scriptures were made-up in this way.   (But don’t get me wrong

I’m not against everything of Mahayana, as it opened the more flexibility and the

way of free thinking which is the essential to the Zen mind.)  

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The worst was Nagarjuna who boasted that he brought back the scriptures from the

Dragon’s cave in the sea bottom. = What a shameless braggart. —– If you see it in

cool head, you may realize that he was a kind of sham doctor, a salesman selling dubious

beauty portion.   And selling new buzzword of Voidness, exploiting the ignorance of the

Buddhists who doesn’t know what was the

Lord Buddha’s original teachings.    (What Nagarjuna said, such as in the Panya Paramita

Sutra was not necessary wrong, and the funny paradoxical phrase was the attempt to

express the complexity of the human mind (co-existent Conscious and Unconscious mind)

though, to put such emphasis to Voidness alone was an indication of that he didn’t have an

own experience of the Selflessness (cut-off  Emotional Region / Hypothalamus in the Brain,

hence the things and the matters were seen remote from Self-interest) = he didn’t know

that the Selflessness and the voidness was not separate phenomenon.

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To describe what’s going on inside of our body is not easy,

not mention inside of the mind, even to

Lord Buddha, especially, subconscious is invisible. —– Hence he was very reluctant

on the beginning (so, the scriptures says). That was why

Lord Buddha invented the way to teach direct, without resorting the verbal explanation.

—- though, some were worked, but not everything. So that, many different understanding,

interpretations were bore out, not mention convenient use of the term or notion even the

Divine figures from other religion.

When the person was in Selflessness, there is no need to have a Divine figure to worship.

Selfless hence with Dharma IS its state.  Dharma is there together with

its mechanism of Karma. = It is not for worship but to live with.

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—– Of cause, the situation is more or less the same to me, I never seen how a

visual signal running from my eyes to the brain, = only guessing it must be like a

PET Scanner’s screen showed us.    Still, as we know now, how the brain works on the

process of thinking, feeling etc. and we are able to shed the light

to the matter “What is the Selflessness” of which

Lord Buddha pointed out as the way to deal with Life’s problematic situation.

Now is the time to elucidate and Re-construct the teachings of

Lord Buddha to its original form. —– using today’s term = talking in a style and the

words, matched to the occasion and to the audience was the tradition started by

Lord Buddha.    😉

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