The Seven Paramitas or
Transcendental Virtues
1. DANA, the key of
charity and love immortal.
2. SHILA, the key
of Harmony in word and act, the key that counterbalances the cause and the
effect, and leaves no further room for Karmic action.
3. KSHANTI, patience sweet, that
nought can ruffle.
4. VIRAGA, indifference to
pleasure and to pain, illusion conquered, truth alone perceived.
5. VIRYA, the dauntless energy
that fights its way to the supernal TRUTH, out of the mire of lies
terrestrial.
6. DHYANA, whose golden gate once
opened leads the Narjol* toward the realm of Sat eternal and its
ceaseless contemplation.
*A saint, an
adept.
7. PRAJNA, the key to which makes
of a man a god, creating him a Bodhisattva, son of the Dhyanis.
Such to the Portals are the golden keys.
Before thou canst approach the last, O weaver of thy freedom, thou hast to
master these Paramitas of perfection--the virtues transcendental six and ten
in number-along the weary Path.
For, O Disciple! Before thou wert made fit to meet thy Teacher face to
face, thy MASTER light to light, what wert thou told?
Before thou canst approach the foremost gate thou hast to learn to part
thy body from thy mind, to dissipate the shadow, and to live in the eternal.
For this, thou hast to live and breathe in all, as all that thou perceivest
breathes in thee; to feel thyself abiding in all things, all things in SELF.
Thou shalt not let thy senses make a playground of thy mind.
Thou shalt not separate thy being from BEING, and the rest, but merge the
Ocean in the drop, the drop within the Ocean.
So shalt thou be in full accord with all that lives; bear love to men as
though they were thy brother-pupils, disciples of one Teacher, the sons of one
sweet mother.
Of teachers there are many: the MASTER- SOUL is one (8), Alaya, the
Universal Soul. Live in that MASTER as ITS ray in thee. Live in thy fellows as
they live in IT.
Before thou standest on the threshold of the Path; before thou crossest
the foremost Gate, thou hast to merge the two into the One and sacrifice the
personal to SELF impersonal, and thus destroy the "path" between the
two--Antaskarana (9).
Thou hast to be prepared to answer Dharma, the stern law, whose voice will
ask thee at thy first, at thy initial step:
"Hast thou complied with all the rules, O thou of lofty hopes?"
"Hast thou attuned thy heart and mind to the great mind and heart of all
mankind? For as the sacred River's roaring voice whereby all Naturesounds are
echoed back (10), so must the heart of him 'who in the stream would
enter,' thrill in response to every sigh and thought of all that lives and
breathes."
Disciples may be likened to the strings of the soul-echoing Vina;
mankind, unto its sounding board; the hand that sweeps it to the tuneful
breath of the GREAT WORLD-SOUL. The string that fails to answer 'neath the
Master's touch in dulcet harmony with all the others, breaks--and is cast
away. So the collective minds of Lanoo-Sravakas. They have to be
attuned to the Upadya's mind--one with the Over-Soul--or, break away.
Thus do the "Brothers of the Shadow"--the murderers of their Souls, the
dread Dad-Dugpa clan (11).
Hast thou attuned thy being to Humanity's great pain, O candidate for
light?
Thou hast? . . . Thou mayest enter. Yet, ere thou settest foot upon the
dreary Path of sorrow, 'tis well thou should'st first learn the pitfalls on
thy way.
* * * * * * *
Armed with the key of Charity, of love and tender mercy, thou art secure
before the gate of Dana, the gate that standeth at the entrance of the PATH.
Behold, O happy Pilgrim! The portal that faceth thee is high and wide,
seems easy of access. The road that leads therethrough is straight and smooth
and green. 'Tis like a sunny glade in the dark forest depths, a spot on earth
mirrored from Amitabha's paradise. There, nightingales of hope and birds of
radiant plumage sing perched in green bowers, chanting success to fearless
Pilgrims. They sing of Bodhisattvas' virtues five, the fivefold source of
Bodhi power, and of the seven steps in Knowledge.
Pass on! For thou hast brought the key; thou art secure.
And to the second gate the way is verdant too. But it is steep and winds
up hill; yea, to its rocky top. Gray mists will over-hang its rough and stony
height and all be dark beyond. As on he goes, the song of hope soundeth more
feeble in the pilgrim's heart. The thrill of doubt is now upon him; his step
less steady grows.
Beware of this, O candidate! Beware of fear that spreadeth, like the black
and soundless wings of midnight bat, between the moonlight of thy Soul and thy
great goal that loometh in the distance far away.
Fear, O disciple, kills the will and stays all action. If lacking in the
Shila virtue,--the pilgrim trips, and Karmic pebbles bruise his feet along the
rocky path.
Be of sure foot, O candidate. In Kshanti's* essence bathe thy Soul;
for now thou dost approach the portal of that name, the gate of fortitude and
patience.
Close not shine eyes, nor lose thy sight of Dorje (12); Mara's
arrows ever smite the man who has not reached Viraga,** (13).
*Kshanti,
"patience," vide supra the enumeration of the golden keys.
**Ibid.
Beware of trembling. 'Neath the breath of fear the key of Kshanti rusty
grows: the rusty key refuseth to unlock.
The more thou dost advance, the more thy feet pitfalls will meet. The path
that leadeth on, is lighted by one fire--the light of daring, burning in the
heart. The more one dares, the more he shall obtain. The more he fears, the
more that light shall pale--and that alone can guide. For as the lingering
sunbeam, that on the top of some tall mountain shines, is followed by black
night when out it fades, so is heart-light. When out it goes, a dark and
threatening shade will fall from shine own heart upon the path, and root thy
feet in terror to the spot.
Beware, disciple, of that lethal shade. No light that shines from Spirit
can dispel the darkness of the nether Soul, unless all selfish thought has
fled therefrom, and that the pilgrim saith: "I have renounced this passing
frame; I have destroyed the cause: the shadows cast can, as effects, no longer
be." For now the last great fight, the final war between the Higher and
the Lower Self, hath taken place. Behold, the very battlefield is now
engulfed in the great war, and is no more.
But once that thou hast passed the gate of Kshanti, step the third is
taken. Thy body is thy slave. Now, for the fourth prepare, the Portal of
temptations which do ensnare the inner man.
Ere thou canst near that goal, before thine hand is lifted to upraise the
fourth gate's latch, thou must have mustered all the mental changes in thy
Self and slain the army of the thought sensations that, subtle and insidious,
creep unasked within the Soul's bright shrine.
If thou would'st not be slain by them, then must thou harmless make thy
own creations, the children of thy thoughts, unseen, impalpable, that swarm
round humankind, the progeny and heirs to man and his terrestrial spoils. Thou
hast to study the voidness of the seeming full, the fullness of the seeming
void. O fearless Aspirant, look deep within the well of thine own heart, and
answer. Knowest thou of Self the powers, O thou perceiver of external shadows?
If thou dost not--then art thou lost.
For, on Path fourth, the lightest breeze of passion or desire will stir
the steady light upon the pure white walls of Soul. The smallest wave of
longing or regret for Maya's gifts illusive, along Antaskarana--the
path that lies between thy Spirit and thy self, the highway of sensations, the
rude arousers of Ahankara (14)--a thought as fleeting as the
lightning flash will make thee thy three prizes forfeit--the prizes thou hast
won.
For know, that the ETERNAL knows no change.
"The eight dire miseries forsake for evermore. If not, to wisdom, sure,
thou can'st not come, nor yet to liberation," saith the great Lord, the
Tathagata of perfection, "he who has followed in the footsteps of his
predecessors." (15).
Stern and exacting is the virtue of Viraga. If thou its path would'st
master, thou must keep thy mind and thy perceptions far freer than before from
killing action.
Thou hast to saturate thyself with pure Alaya, become as one with Nature's
Soul-Thought. At one with it thou art invincible; in separation, thou becomest
the playground of Samvriti (16), origin of all the world's delusions.
All is impermanent in man except the pure bright essence of Alaya. Man is
its crystal ray; a beam of light immaculate within, a form of clay material
upon the lower surface. That beam is thy life-guide and thy true Self, the
Watcher and the silent Thinker, the victim of thy lower Self. Thy Soul cannot
be hurt but through thy erring body; control and master both, and thou art
safe when crossing to the nearing "Gate of Balance."
Be of good cheer, O daring pilgrim "to the other shore." Heed not the
whisperings of Mara's hosts; wave off the tempters, those ill-natured Sprites,
the jealous Lhamayin (17) in endless space.
Hold firm! Thou nearest now the middle portal, the gate of Woe, with its
ten thousand snares.
Have mastery o'er thy thoughts, O striver for perfection, if thou would'st
cross its threshold.
Have mastery o'er thy Soul, O seeker after truths undying, if thou
would'st reach the goal.
Thy Soul-gaze center on the One Pure Light, the Light that is free from
affection, and use thy golden Key. . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The dreary task is done, thy labor well-nigh o'er. The wide abyss that
gaped to swallow thee is almost spanned.
Thou hast now crossed the moat that circles round the gate of human
passions. Thou hast now conquered Mara and his furious host.
Thou hast removed pollution from thine heart and bled it from impure
desire. But, O thou glorious combatant, thy task is not yet done. Build high,
Lanoo, the wall that shall hedge in the Holy Isle,* the dam that will
protect thy mind from pride and satisfaction at thoughts of the great feat
achieved.
*The Higher Ego, or
Thinking Self.
A sense of pride would mar the work. Aye, build it strong, lest the fierce
rush of battling waves, that mount and beat its shore from out the great World
Maya's Ocean, swallow up the pilgrim and the isle --yea, even when the
victory's achieved.
Thine "Isle" is the deer, thy thoughts the hounds that weary and pursue
his progress to the stream of Life. Woe to the deer that is o'ertaken by the
barking fiends before he reach the Vale of Refuge--Dnyan Marga, "path of pure
knowledge" named.
Ere thou canst settle in Dnyan Marga [the Path of pure knowledge]
(18) and call it thine, thy Soul has to become as the ripe mango fruit:
as soft and sweet as its bright golden pulp for others' woes, as hard as that
fruit's stone for shine own throes and sorrows, O Conqueror of Weal and Woe.
Make hard thy Soul against the snares of Self; deserve for it the
name of "Diamond-Soul." (19).
For, as the diamond buried deep within the throbbing heart of earth can
never mirror back the earthly lights; so are thy mind and Soul; plunged in
Dnyan Marga, these must mirror nought of Maya's realm illusive.
When thou hast reached that state, the Portals that thou hast to conquer
on the Path fling open wide their gates to let thee pass, and Nature's
strongest mights possess no power to stay thy course. Thou wilt be master of
the sevenfold Path: but not till then, O candidate for trials passing speech.
Till then, a task far harder still awaits thee: thou hast to feel thyself
ALL-THOUGHT, and yet exile all thoughts from out thy Soul.
Thou hast to reach that fixity of mind in which no breeze, however strong,
can waft an earthly thought within. Thus purified, the shrine must of all
action, sound, or earthly light be void; e'en as the butterfly, o'ertaken by
the frost, falls lifeless at the threshold--so must all earthly thoughts fall
dead before the fane.
Behold it written:
"Ere the gold flame can burn with steady light, the lamp must stand well
guarded in a spot free from all wind."* Exposed to shifting breeze, the
jet will flicker and the quivering flame cast shades deceptive, dark and
ever-changing, on the Soul's white shrine.
*Bhagavad
Gita.
And then, O thou pursuer of the truth, thy Mind-Soul will become as a mad
elephant, that rages in the jungle. Mistaking forest trees for living foes, he
perishes in his attempts to kill the ever-shifting shadows dancing on the wall
of sunlit rocks.
Beware, lest in the care of Self thy Soul should lose her foothold on the
soil of Deva-knowledge.
Beware, lest in forgetting SELF, thy Soul lose o'er its trembling mind
control, and forfeit thus the due fruition of its conquests.
Beware of change! For change is thy great foe. This change will fight thee
off, and throw thee back, out of the Path thou treadest, deep into viscous
swamps of doubt.
Prepare, and be forewarned in time. If thou hast tried and failed, O
dauntless fighter, yet lose not courage: fight on and to the charge return
again, and yet again.
The fearless warrior, his precious life-blood oozing from his wide and
gaping wounds, will still attack the foe, drive him from out his stronghold,
vanquish him, ere he himself expires. Act then, all ye who fail and suffer,
act like him; and from the stronghold of your Soul, chase all your foes
away--ambition, anger, hatred, e'en to the shadow of desire--when even you
have failed. . . .
Remember, thou that fightest for man's liberation (20), each
failure is success, and each sincere attempt wins its reward in time. The holy
germs that sprout and grow unseen in the disciple's soul, their stalks wax
strong at each new trial, they bend like reeds but never break, nor can they
e'er be lost. But when the hour has struck they blossom forth (21). . .
. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
But if thou cam'st prepared, then have no fear.
Henceforth thy way is clear right through the Virya gate, the fifth
one of the Seven Portals. Thou art now on the way that leadeth to the Dhyana
haven, the sixth, the Bodhi Portal.
The Dhyana gate is like an alabaster vase, white and transparent; within
there burns a steady golden fire, the flame of Prajna that radiates from
Atman.
Thou art that vase.
Thou hast estranged thyself from objects of the senses, traveled on the
"Path of seeing," on the "Path of hearing," and standest in the light of
Knowledge. Thou hast now reached Titiksha state (22).
O Narjol thou art safe.
* * * * * * *
Know, Conqueror of Sins, once that a Sowanee (23) hath cross'd the
seventh Path, all Nature thrills with joyous awe and feels subdued. The silver
star now twinkles out the news to the night-blossoms, the streamlet to the
pebbles ripples out the tale; dark ocean-waves will roar it to the rocks
surf-bound, scent-laden breezes sing it to the vales, and stately pines
mysteriously whisper: "A Master has arisen, a MASTER OF THE DAY" (24).
He standeth now like a white pillar to the west, upon whose face the
rising Sun of thought eternal poureth forth its first most glorious waves. His
mind, like a becalmed and boundless ocean, spreadeth out in shoreless space.
He holdeth life and death in his strong hand.
Yea, He is mighty. The living power made free in him, that power which is
HIMSELF, can raise the tabernacle of illusion high above the gods, above great
Brahm and Indra. Now he shall surely reach his great reward!
Shall he not use the gifts which it confers for his own rest and bliss,
his well-earn'd weal and glory--he, the subduer of the great Delusion?
Nay, O thou candidate for Nature's hidden lore! If one would follow in the
steps of holy Tathagata, those gifts and powers are not for Self.
Would'st thou thus dam the waters born on Sumeru? (25) Shalt thou
divert the stream for thine own sake, or send it back to its prime source
along the crests of cycles?
If thou would'st have that stream of hard-earn'd knowledge, of Wisdom
heaven-born, remain sweet running waters, thou should'st not leave it to
become a stagnant pond.
Know, if of Amitabha, the "Boundless Age," thou would'st become co-worker,
then must thou shed the light acquired, like to the Bodhisattvas twain
(26), upon the span of all three worlds (27).
Know that the stream of superhuman knowledge and the Deva-Wisdom thou hast
won, must, from thyself, the channel of Alaya, be poured forth into another
bed.
Know, O Narjol, thou of the Secret Path, its pure fresh waters must be
used to sweeter make the Ocean's bitter waves--that mighty sea of sorrow
formed of the tears of men.
Alas! when once thou hast become like the fix'd star in highest heaven,
that bright celestial orb must shine from out the spatial depths for all--save
for itself; give light to all, but take from none.
Alas! when once thou hast become like the pure snow in mountain vales,
cold and unfeeling to the touch, warm and protective to the seed that sleepeth
deep beneath its bosom--'tis now that snow which must receive the biting
frost, the northern blasts, thus shielding from their sharp and cruel tooth
the earth that holds the promised harvest, the harvest that will feed the
hungry.
Self-doomed to live through future Kalpas,* unthanked and
unperceived by man; wedged as a stone with countless other stones which form
the "Guardian Wall" (28), such is thy future if the seventh gate thou
passes". Built by the hands of many Masters of Compassion, raised by their
tortures, by their blood cemented, it shields mankind, since man is man,
protecting it from further and far greater misery and sorrow.
*Cycles of
ages.
Withal man sees it not, will not perceive it, nor will he heed the word of
Wisdom . . . for he knows it not.
But thou hast heard it, thou knowest all, O thou of eager guileless Soul .
. . . . . . and thou must choose. Then hearken yet again.
On Sowan's Path, O Srotapatti,** thou art secure. Aye, on that
Marga,*** where nought but darkness meets the weary pilgrim, where torn
by thorns the hands drip blood, the feet are cut by sharp unyielding flints,
and Mara wields his strongest arms--there lies a great reward
immediately beyond.
**Sowan and Srotapatti are
synonymous terms. ***Marga--"Path."
Calm and unmoved the Pilgrim glideth up the stream that to Nirvana leads.
He knoweth that the more his feet will bleed, the whiter will himself be
washed. He knoweth well that after seven short and fleeting births Nirvana
will be his. . . .
Such is the Dhyana Path, the haven of the Yogi, the blessed goal that
Srotapattis crave.
Not so when he hath crossed and won the Aryahata Path.*
*From the
Sanskrit Arhat or Arhan.
There Klesha (29) is destroyed for ever, Tanha's (30) roots
torn out. But stay, Disciple . . . Yet, one word. Canst thou destroy divine
COMPASSION? Compassion is no attribute. It is the LAW of LAWS--eternal
Harmony, Alaya's SELF; a shoreless universal essence, the light of everlasting
Right, and fitness of all things, the law of love eternal.
The more thou cost become at one with it, thy being melted in its BEING,
the more thy Soul unites with that which IS, the more thou wilt become
COMPASSION ABSOLUTE (31).
Such is the Arya Path, Path of the Buddhas of perfection.
Withal, what mean the sacred scrolls which make thee say?
"OM! I believe it is not all the Arhats that get of the Nirvanic Path the
sweet fruition."
"OM! I believe that the Nirvana-Dharma is entered not by all the
Buddhas"* (32) .
*Thegpa Chenpoido, "Mahayana Sutra," Invocations to the Buddhas of Confession,"
Part I., iv.
"Yea; on the Arya Path thou art no more Srotapatti, thou art a Bodhisattva
(33). The stream is cross'd. 'Tis true thou hast a right to Dharmakaya
vesture; but Sambhogakaya is greater than a Nirvanee, and greater still is a
Nirmanakaya--the Buddha of Compassion (34).
Now bend thy head and listen well, O Bodhisattva--Compassion speaks and
saith: "Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt thou be
saved and hear the whole world cry?"
Now thou hast heard that which was said.
Thou shalt attain the seventh step and cross the gate of final knowledge
but only to wed woe--if thou would'st be Tathagata, follow upon thy
predecessor's steps, remain unselfish till the endless end.
Thou art enlightened--Choose thy way.
* * * * * * *
Behold, the mellow light that floods the Eastern sky. In signs of praise
both heaven and earth unite. And from the four-fold manifested Powers a chant
of love ariseth, both from the flaming Fire and flowing Water, and from
sweet-smelling Earth and rushing Wind.
Hark! . . . from the deep unfathomable vortex of that golden light in
which the Victor bathes, ALL NATURE'S wordless voice in thousand tones ariseth
to proclaim:
JOY UNTO YE, O MEN OF MYALBA (35).
A PILGRIM HATH RETURNED BACK ``FROM THE OTHER SHORE."
A NEW ARHAN (36) IS BORN. . . .