I am the dynamic fluid dancer receiving temporal manifestations from an Infinite and Eternal Source.
The Middle Way - Buddhism
Is =
God, Not God – Sufism
The Middle Way states that the reality is between Absolute Existence and Non – Existence. Sufi’s say that every object in reality is God-Not God…..Not God Properties are properties of Non-Existence. And the God properties are properties of Existence.
Buddha: “O monks, to view things as existent is one extreme, and to view them as nothing is another extreme.”
On Self Development and Self Expression
So far we have reached the understanding that there are two aspects to the cohesive total self. The first aspect is what the Buddhists call emptiness, the pure receiving being. The second aspect is the manifestation of self in reaction to what the pure being is receiving.
The pure being, or pregnant emptiness is the womb out of which the manifested self (in a dynamic interplay with reality) is being manifested. The manifested self out of the pure being of emptiness is what we analyze. So, we forget the other half that is the pure receiving being, the womb, and in emptiness contemplation we return to the source, the womb of this emptiness and in this meditation one can begin to manifest more natural reactions and create a new manifest self. This new manifestation after returning to the source, or the womb, is a new manifested self or rebirth of a new self.
According to Thomas Cleary in "The Ecstasy of Enlightenment" In Buddhism the two greatest meditations are emptiness contemplation and the contemplation of impermanence.
I think that the reason these two meditative contemplations are so great, is because in emptiness contemplation you return to the source as stated previously. And in impermanence contemplation you realize that the manifest self can be analyzed, deconstructed, reformulated, broken down, and manifested in ever fresher and newer more refined natural expressions.
Out of the pure being of emptiness, the manifest self is born and reborn
Ever anew, in constant change and development
Self images that no longer serve the current present reality
Are annihilated, In contemplation of their impermanence
The self that we are constantly manifesting out of the pure being of emptiness serves a purpose
In that self we see all our defects, errors, lack, needs for development, sufferings, desires
We are constantly constructing this self for the purpose of deconstruction
In that deconstruction we are learning about our self
We return to the womb of the pure being, emptiness
To manifest a new self, with the knowledge of the previous deconstructions
This constant construction and deconstruction is essential to human development
Sufi Saint Hallaj's An-Al Haqq Spiritual Statement equivalent in the Flower Ornament Scripture
The Flower Ornament Scripture says, “There is no creator or created; they only arise from habitual conceptions. How can we know it is so? Because other than this, naught is. All things have no abode; no definite locus can be found. The Buddhas abide in this, ultimately unwavering.”
This is a high spiritual station in which the person subjectively feels at one with everything i.e. Duality is shattered. In this state it is felt as if there is no creation or creator since this would imply differentiation. This is the actual reality behind the illusion, since the only truly Existing, is God, everything else derives a dependent secondary illusory existence.
Anything that depends on another source for it’s existence can not be said to be truly existent and subsisting by itself.
The Attribute or Name of God, Ana, or I am, is most likely what is being unveiled to the person, or Buddha.
This is also the attribute of Al-Wahid or The One, being unveiled to the person, or Buddha.
Sufi Saint Hallaj uttered "I AM the Truth" and was killed for doing so.
Why Some People Who End Up Analyzing Consciousness (Mind) Eventually Come To Think That There Is No Creator or That They Are the Creator
The Manifested Attribute of Consciousness (Mind) is Eternal and Uncreated and Holy transcendent. When people analyze it they reach the conclusion that there is no Creator, because Consciousness (Mind) has these God properties.
What they are experiencing is a manifested attribute of God.
The manifested attributes of God are Eternal and Uncreated since two of God's manifested attributes are the Eternal and Uncreated. And since God is One, all of the manifested attributes are actually only "apparently" separate.
Consciousness is a manifested attribute of God that has been bestowed on sentient beings in a limited form.
Human beings analyzing Consciousness (Mind) eventually reach the conclusion that Consciousness is Eternal and Uncreated.
From this perspective arises the assumption that there is no Creator.
What a human being in this spiritual state fails to overstand is that they are analyzing a manifested attribute of the One.
All of the manifested attributes of the Creator are Eternal and Uncreated but being manifested through Temporality.
Since God, is also the All-Encompassing God then God can not be said to be only Eternal but also has to be able to manifest through Temporality.
This is a great mystery having to do with the Inconceivable Reconciliation of God's Oneness through Apparently Perceived Opposites.
So from the perspective of their experience of this manifested attribute, they are correct. There is no creator from the perspective of the attribute of Consiousness (Mind) (Al-Khabeer). God manifests to people through attributes.
When they exclaim "There is no creator", they are reciting "La Illaha" "There Is No God". Which is approximately 25% of the shahada.
Thus it is partial Truth because they have not realized complete realization.
Allah or God is Al-Khabir (Khabeer) The Knower of reality, The One who's knowledge is comprehensive knowing the qualities and meanings of all things.
When people analyze Consciousness they say things like “There is no Creator” “I am the Creator”.
This is the same thing that the Creator says. They are analyzing an eternal and uncreated attribute and so they say the same thing that the source of this attribute says.
In the Shahada we witness and say the same thing. “There is no God, but God.”
They also say things like "I am the creator" since it is through their consciousness that their reality is being relatively created.
On How The Twelve Links Of Interdependent Cause & Condition in Tibetan Buddhism Might Connect to Ibn Arabi’s Metaphysical Realizations
From the Mahamudra : The Moonlight -- Quintessence of Mind and Meditation translation by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal
The twelve links (Tib. tendrel chunyi, spelled: rten-’brel bcu-gnyis; Skt.: dvādaśapratītyasamutpāda) are the following:(1) Ignorance (Tib. marigpa, spelled ma rig-pa; Skt. avijñāna) about one’s own identity gives rise to:(2) Karma formation or psychic generation (Tib. dhuje, spelled ’du-byed; Skt. saṃskāra), which activates:(3) Consciousness (Tib. namshe, spelled rnam-shes; Skt. vijñāna), which brings forth:(4) Psychosomatic form or embryo of life (Tib. mingzuk, spelled minggzugs; Skt. nāmarūpa), which in turn leads to:(5) Six sense fields or impressions (Tib. kyeche druk, spelled skyemched drug; Skt. ṣaḍāyatana), which arouse:(6) Feeling or contact with sense impressions (Tib. rekpa, spelled regpa; Skt.sparśa),causing:(7) Sensory stimuli (Tib. tsorwa, spelled ’tshor-ba; Skt. vedanā) to arise, resulting in:(8) Craving for sensory or sensual enjoyments (Tib. sepa, spelled
sred-pa; Skt. tṛṣṇā), which inevitably turns into:(9) Clinging to life (Tib. lenpa, spelled lenpa; Skt. upādāna), completing the process of:(10) Coming into being (Tib. sipa, spelled srid-pa; Skt. bhava), which is:(11) Rebirth (Tib. kyewa; spelled skyeba; Skt. jāti) of the psychophysical form, which inevitably 8 9leads to:(12) Decay and death, maturity and destruction (Tib. gawa chiwa, spelled rga-ba chi-ba; Skt. jarāmaraṇa).
Excerpt From: "Mahamudra: The Moonlight -- Quintessence of Mind and Meditation" by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal. Scribd.
This material may be protected by copyright.
How Ibn Arabi's Metaphysics Might Connect with The Twelve Links of Cause & Condition
When we were a potentially existing entity in the realm of what we call “the darkness of not yet existing things in God’s mind” we were in
1) IGNORANCE.
This IGNORANCE of our self causes
2) Karmic formation or Psychic Generation
in that God looks to the non-existing thing seeking to be potentiated and out of Mercy and Compassion responds in a yearning to potentiate the thing.
3) The Divine Consciousness potentiates the thing. Which causes
4) The Psychosomatic form or embryo of life.
5 through 12 follow just as the 12 links specify
However the 10th and 11th link called
10) Coming into Being
and then
11) Rebirth
Are kind of confusing to me because we do not know if this is referring to reincarnation or the construction of a new self.
We need more information on these links.
The 12th link seems to be the natural process as one’s life is ending and coming to be finished in the current physical organism.
The 12th link is what makes me think that the 10th and 11th link are not alluding to reincarnation.
What is important to note here is that we were ignorant of our selves when we were in the state of a potentially existing entity. It is through the divine consciousness bestowing soul, form, and life that we get to exist. It is through this existence that we learn about our self.
The self ends up being the limit of our knowledge since everything we learn is through our self. Since this self is the limit of our knowledge, it is also the necessary veil to our concept of God. Our Essential self is the veil that is closest to God. The nearest veil to God for everyone is their Essential Self since that is what we use to form our concept of God.
A higher level of realization above this level is the realization that the Essential Self is God. Since God is the One and Only Truly Existent. In Sufi terms this is the complete effacement of the self in God. Fana or Annihilation in God where only the essesential self or God Being remains. The path to this great achievement is the peak of human spiritual experience.
And God Knows Best.
Human Connection to the Pregnant Emptiness
We have a connection to the pregnant emptiness or what is called the womb out of which all things are manifested through consciousness (Mind).
We cannot see beyond this womb or pregnant emptiness. This is in accordance with the Mono Theistic teachings that God’s form can not be witnessed in Space-Time as well as being in accord with the Buddhist teaching that the Ultimate Reality is beyond Intellectual Observation.
God, or the Ultimate Reality which is manifesting is doing it out of this pregnant emptiness.
And thus it is outside of our intellectual grasp.
2 Veils God Is Beautifully Covered By
All human beings are necessarily and mercifully covered by the following 2 veils at the moment.
The veil of the pregnant emptiness and the veil of the self.
All things, objects and ideas arise out of the same pregnant emptiness.
It is divine consciousness (mind) manifesting.
We are under the delusion that the objects outside of ourselves are being manifested from something other than consciousness (mind).
The objects are manifested out of the pregnant emptiness in the same way that ideas are manifested out of the pregnant emptiness.
If the pregnant emptiness is both manifesting “outside” and “inside” both “objects” and “ideas”.
Is not the pregnant emptiness the same thing?
We label what is manifested outside of ourselves as objects but what is manifested inside of our minds as ideas.
However, they both have the same source.
Is this not what the Buddha meant, that Mind is all there is?
Through human beings partaking in consciousness (Mind) through our existence God is showing us how God works. But we have human limits. We can not manifest seemingly other physical objects out of the pregnant emptiness. It is through having ideas that we form the meta idea of how God creates.
Out of Consciousness (Mind) come ideas and then those ideas are potentiated into a physical form.
This is how God creates.
In this way we come to know about God's attribute of Al-Khabir or All-Aware or Consciousness (Mind).
“This is in accordance with the Hadith Qudsi that God was a hidden treasure and he created the creation so that he could be known.” (Paraphrased by Me)
Human beings through their existence share in the attributes of God (in a limited human form obviously) and it is through their selves that they learn about God.
Surah At-Tin’s Ayahs 1 Through 4 Connection to the Buddha
Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem
1) By the Fig and the Olive,
2) And the Mount of Sinai,
3) And this City of security,
4) We have indeed created man in the best of moulds
— English Translation (Yusuf Ali)
By the Fig - The Fig tree is the location of Buddha’s enlightenment.
And the Olive - Beneath the Olive Tree (Mount of Olives) is where Jesus (P.B.U.H.) gospel or Injeel was finished. For Muslims, the gospel was finished at the Mount of Olives because it was revealed to us that Jesus did not undergo crucifixion.
And the Mount of Sinai – Place where Moses (Musa) (P.B.U.H) received the Torah (Tawrat)
And this City of security – Place where Muhammad’s (S.A.W.) revelation (Quran) and physical life (Sunnah) began
We have indeed created man in the best of moulds – For me, this ayah is the key to connecting the Fig, the Olive, Mount Sinai, and the City of Security to Mankind. It brings up mankind after mentioning 2 fruits, a mount, and a city…..It is like it is asking the reader “What is the connection of mankind to these objects and places?” The question is posed
Question? - What do the fig, the olive, mount Sinai and the City of Security have in common with mankind?
Answer - Revelations or teachings were revealed beneath the fig tree, at the olive tree, Mount Sinai, and the City of Security (Mecca).
The Buddha is the only teacher that is associated UNIVERSALLY
to this day with a fig tree.
Therefore, we think that the Buddha was probably a prophet or at the very least a teacher for mankind.
Image taken from Pinterest through the following TUMBLR
Addendum
Key to Reconciling Hinduism & Sufism
Namaste – I see the God in you…..I see the good in you
Connection to Sufism is seeing the God properties of the object being addressed. This statement also manifests compassion and wisdom, because the person stating this is not focusing on the illusory shadow of the object, represented by the apparently evil, bad, or Not God properties in Sufism.
2nd Addendum
Interesting Connection between Sufism & Zen
Zen master Fai-Chang said, “Space is symbolized by the bubble; the ocean represents essence. The essence of inherent radiant awareness is greater than space, and so it is said that space is born within great awareness like a bubble from the ocean
Surah 18 Ayah 109
Say; "If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid."
Hadith Qudsi
“Neither My Earth nor My Heavens could contain Me, whilst the heart of My believing servant does contain Me…”
The connection has to do with The Essence of Inherent Radiant Awareness being greater than Space.
Al-Khabir is the All Aware.
The Knower of reality, The One who's knowledge is comprehensive knowing the qualities and meanings of all things. He knows and understands the most hidden secrets.
Al Khabeer is The One who knows truth in every situation. He is all aware and nothing goes unnoticed.
The essence of Inherent Radiant Awareness of Zen is God in Islam.
The Inherent radiant awareness in human beings is the attribute of the All Aware or Al-Khabir being reflected in the human being on a human level. The heart is the location in which this attribute is manifested and it includes the first form of consciousness in human manifestation. Which is the feeling or the seeing of the heart into reality.
And God Knows Best.
This blog is obviously subject to apparent imperfections arising from My Own apparent imperfections and will most likely undergo various transformations throughout time as I also increase in Corrections through Realizations.