02 05 2012 WEDNESDAY LESSON 597FREE
ONLINE eNālāndā Research And Practice
UNIVERSITY And THE BUDDHISTONLINE GOOD NEWS LETTER by ABHIDHAMMA RAKKHITA through http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
IT IS THE
WISH OF THE PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD THAT USA CELEBRATE 2556TH
BUDDHA JAYANTI AT WHITE HOUSE, AS IT WAS MAGNANIMOUS TO CELEBRATE DEEPAVALI.
153. Seeing The Builder of The House
I hasten seeking, finding not
the builder of this house:
pain is birth again, again.
numerous births without encountering, the builder, the creator of the world and
self. For repeated birth is painful.
Dhammapada: Verses and
Stories
Dhammapada
Verse 154
Verse
154. Thy Building Material Is Broken
O builder of this house you’re seen,
you shall not build a house again,
all your beams have given away,
rafters of the ridge decayed,
mind to the unconditioned gone,
exhaustion of craving has it reached.
Explanation: Verses 153 and 154 were spoken by the Buddha
immediately after his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, and at a later time
was recited to Venerable Ananda in an answer to a question).
VI.
DEMON
LINEAGE
with
Level I: Introduction to Buddhism
Level II: Buddhist Studies
TO ATTAIN
Level III:
Stream-Enterer
Level IV: Once - Returner
Level V: Non-Returner
Level VI: Arhat
Jambudvipa,
i.e, PraBuddha Bharath scientific thought in
mathematics,
astronomy,
alchemy,
and
anatomy
Philosophy and Comparative
Religions;
Historical Studies;
International Relations and Peace
Studies;
Business Management in relation to
Public Policy and Development Studies;
Languages and Literature;
LINEAGE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineage_%28Buddhism%29
Lineage (Buddhism)
An authentic lineage
in Buddhism is the
uninterrupted transmission of the Buddha’s Dharma from teacher to disciple. The transmission
itself can be for example oral, scriptural, through signs, or directly from one
mind to another. Several branches of Buddhism, including Zen and Tibetan
Buddhism maintain records of their historical teachers. These records
serve as a validation for the living exponents of the tradition.
In the lineage of the vinaya, the requirements for ordination as a monk or a nun include the
presence of at least five other monks, one of whom must be a fully ordained
preceptor, and another an acharya (teacher). This lineage for ordaining nuns
became extinct in many Buddhist countries. When Ani Tenzin Palmo wanted full
ordination for example, she had to travel to Hong Kong to receive it. Lineages
in the Mahasiddha tradition do not necessarily originate from the historical Gautama Buddha, but are
ultimately grounded, like all Buddhist lineages, in the primordial Dharmakaya
Buddha.
Wallace, et al. (Chagmé et al., 1998: p. 22) render
into English a citation of Chagmé (Wylie:
karma-chags-med, fl. 17th century) that contains an embedded quotation
attributed to Nāropā (956-1041 CE), thus:
The crucial, primary qualification of a spiritual mentor is
stated by Naropa, “The qualification of a spiritual mentor is that
[t]he[y][(s/he)] possesses the lineage.” The Single Meaning of the
Vajra Speech [Wylie: rDo rje’i gsungs dgongs pa gcig pa] states,
“There is great profundity in the connection within the lineage of the
holy Dharma.” The real lineage of the realization of this Dharma, which
transfer blessings,[1] is the unbroken rosary of
Buddhas…”.[2]
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Preservation of lineages
Gyatrul (b.1924),[3] in a purport to Chagmé (Wylie: karma-chags-med, fl. 17th century), conveys Khyentse’s ‘samaya‘ (Sanskrit),
diligence and humility in receiving ‘wang‘ (Tibetan), lineal transmission and ‘rlung‘ (Wylie) as rendered into English by Wallace (Chagmé et al., 1998: p. 21):
With respect to oral transmission, even if
the lineage is impure, it is not a problem. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche often
sought out and received any oral transmission he thought was on the verge of
disappearing. It made no difference who was giving it. He would receive it and,
in turn, pass it on to make sure that the lineage remained unbroken.[4]
Chan and Zen lineages
The principle teachers of the Chan and Zen traditions are
commonly known in English translations as Patriarchs, however the more precise terminology would be
“Ancestors” or “Founders” (祖, zu3) and “Ancestral Masters” or
“Founding Masters” (祖師, zu3shi1) as the commonly used Chinese terms are gender
neutral.
For these traditions the first Patriarch in
the lineage after the Buddha was Mahakasyapa. Thereafter there were another 26 teachers in India
before Bodhidharma, travelled to China in the 5th century CE, becoming the first Ch’an
patriarch.[5][6][7]
Five generations later in the 7th century
CE, Huineng assumed the position of the 6th Chinese Patriarch (33rd
in line from the Buddha). Although some people supported Yuquan Shenxiu.[8][9][10] There is no generally accepted 7th Chinese Patriarch.[11][12] As Chan subsequently flourished in China there were
many branches in the lineage, some of which later died out and some of which
continue unbroken to the present.
Some of these lines were transmitted to
Japan, establishing the Zen tradition. Perhaps the most famous of these
transmissions to Japan was that of Dogen who travelled to China for Chan training in the 13th century CE, and after
receiving Dharma transmission in the Caodong line he returned to Japan and established the Sōtō line. The Linji line was also transmitted to Japan where it became
known as the Rinzai line.
In Jodo Shinshu the term patriarch refers to seven Indian,
Chinese and Japanese masters before its founder Shinran. Some of the links in the Chan/Zen
transmission-chain have been challenged by historians such as Philip Yampolsky. In particular, there is little or no other evidence
linking any of the Indian teachers before Bodhidharma to the Zen sect specifically.
Chöd lineage
Chöd is an advanced spiritual practice known as “Cutting
Through the Ego.”[13] This practice, based on the Prajnaparamita sutra, uses specific meditations and tantric ritual.
There are several hagiographic accounts of how chöd came to Tibet.[14] One namthar, or spiritual biography, asserts that shortly after Kamalashila won his famous debate with Moheyan as to whether Tibet should adopt the “sudden”
route to enlightenment or his own “gradual” route, Kamalashila
enacted phowa, transferring his mindstream to animate a corpse polluted with contagion in order to
safely move the hazard it presented. As the mindstream of Kamalashila was
otherwise engaged, a Mahasiddha by the name of Padampa Sangye came across the vacant kuten or “physical
basis” of Kamalashila. Padampa Sangye was not karmically blessed with an
aesthetic corporeal form, and upon finding the very handsome and healthy empty
body of Kamalashila, which he assumed to be a newly dead fresh corpse, used
phowa to transfer his own mindstream into Kamalashila’s body. Padampa Sangye’s
mindstream in Kamalashila’s body continued the ascent to the Himalaya and
thereby transmitted the Pacification of Suffering teachings and the Indian form
of Chöd which contributed to the Mahamudra Chöd of Machig Labdrön. The mindstream of Kamalashila was unable to return to
his own kuten and so was forced to enter the vacant body of Padampa
Sangye.[15][16]
See also