cosmology | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

The Experiential Domain of the Lords of the Tenth Stage of Awakening

March 10, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is respectfully quoted from “The Treasury of Knowledge: Myriad Worlds” by Jamgön Kongtrul

Namah śrimām-sad-guru-pādāya

[Embodiment] of complete purity and ethics, you stand firm like the golden foundation.
Your beauty reflects your countless contemplations, like the distinct features of the mountains and continents.
Like the sun and moon, your brilliant wisdom illuminates all phenomena.
Supreme sage and achiever of all goals, I revere you.

With the heart of a great hero who protects beings for as long as they exist,
You suffused the universe with your excellent conduct.
Though father to the victorious ones, you manifest as the victorious ones’ son.
Lion of Speech, grant me flawless intelligence.

You nurture the seed — the potential or nature of beings — by imparting instructions that mature and liberate them.
You cause others to purify incidental defilements through the twofold path,
And bestow the fruition, the four dimensions of awakening distinguished by great bliss.
To you, my mentor, and to the masters of the lineages, I bow.

Although I lack the intellectual capacity to compile knowledge correctly,
I shall compose a short, clear, comprehensive work.
In order to ensure that those with insufficient knowledge or interest to understand the texts will not lose their opportunity on this isle of treasures.

***

This treatise [The Infinite Ocean of Knowledge] as a whole has [ten] divisions, equal in number to the ten perfections:
The realms that appear during the age of illumination;
Buddha, the Teacher; the doctrine, both scriptural and experiential;
Its continuation and spread in the Land of Jambu;
Maintaining ethical conduct; learning; reflection; meditation;
Through successively engaging in these, progression through the paths; and realization of the ultimate result.

***

There are general and specific causes and conditions that initiate [the creation of realms]:
For as long as infinite space and sentient beings exist,
The compassion of the victorious ones and the actions of sentient beings continue without end.
Those to be guided and enlightened guides
Manifest through inconceivable interconnections.
When the characters and dispositions of those to be guided are activated,
[The compassion of] the guides [arises], and the configurations of the realms and dimensions of awakening appear;
The miraculous methods of guiding others manifest beyond all bounds.
The sphere of reality never changes into something else;
Yet blessings, vows, actions and natural laws
Cause oceans of realms to appear.
The realm Unsurpassed is free from incidental defilement
And transcends the experience of the three realms: it is indivisible primordial wisdom.
In this self-manifesting, spontaneously appearing [realm,]
Richly Adorned,
Dwells Illuminator, Great Glacial Lake of Wisdom;
A billion realms in his every pore.
Their locations, shapes, sizes, durations, and arrangements are inconceivable.
Within the central minute particle in the palm of his hand lies the Oceanic World-System.
That itself contains many world-systems, in the center of which
Lies the realm called Flower-Filled World.
Furthermore, [between the wind] and Unsurpassed lie one billion four-continent world-systems,
A great third-order thousand [world-system].
Multiplying that by factors of one billion
[Yields] Infinite Links, Continuums, Oceans,
And Flower-Filled World.
Each rests on an ocean and [is encircled by] and outer rim.
This is the sphere of influence of one supreme manifest dimension of awakening.
Inside the great outer rim, in a sea of scented water,
Four jewelled lotuses support
A tiered arrangement of twenty-five world-systems;
The thirteenth is known as Endurance. This third-order thousand-world system
Is completely encircled by realms — Covered, Surpassing,
Stainless, Variously Emerged, etc. —
Equal in number to the particles of this thirteenth world-system.
[Endurance] is spherical, has a four-vajra demarcation,
And rests on a multicolored configuration of wind and a network of lotuses.
Illuminator, the teacher in this [world-system],
Appears throughout the Unsurpassed realms of the pure domains.
This four-continent [world-system] called Destructible
Is surrounded by ten other four-continent [world-systems].
It is taught that these [world-systems] are formed and destroyed together;
This is the experiential domain solely of lords of the tenth stage of awakening.

Logic and Relative View

January 11, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Perception”

The Buddha never really bothered to address cosmological questions. It is true that in the Vajrayana tradition there is a cosmological history that is given, but to my understanding that history does not teach us how the original assumption came about. This cosmology speaks of the absolute void, and it says that from the void came movement. In the way that it is spoken of, one understands that the void is the totality of form and formless as one. They are the same. They must both be contained in the void because form came from the void. Emptiness and fullness are the same taste, the same essence, and the nature is pregnant with all potential. In the state that is called the void there is non-distinction. Form and formless are not distinguishable from one another; they are the same. They are the same taste.

However, we do not perceive form and formless to be the same. Neither do we experience the clear luminous nature that is our own true nature and is also the nature of all phenomena. Why don’t we experience that?

We don’t experience that because we are involved in consciousness. We are involved in taste; we are involved in feeling; we are involved in subtle and gross perception. And this process, this entire process of elaboration and exaggeration that extends from every single perception that we have, is so elaborate it extends, seemingly, forever. We are so involved and so tremendously tripped up by and so compelled to compute instantly, because consciousness deals with relativity and specific perception and specific computation. We are compelled to be involved in that. We do not, then, perceive the true nature.

When you compute in the way that I have described, as quickly and as compulsively as you do, while you are utilizing these experiences which are a function of the assumption of self, there is no space to perceive that nature.The nature hasn’t gone away, nor has the void disappeared. The void isn’t something that used to be back there in time out of mind and now it’s not here anymore because everything developed. This is how we think, isn’t it? We think in terms of relativity. That space, that emptiness, that voidness is the same. It remains. It is steadfast. It is unchanging. It is as close as it has ever been and as far as it can ever be. Close because voidness is the nature. Far away because we cannot see it, not even for an instant, due to the functions which are based on an assumption of self-nature.

What conclusions can we draw from this? Perhaps we can think that there is a tremendous amount of intelligence and logic in the Buddha’s teaching when he taught that the relative view, the relative world view, does, in fact, exist. You, in fact, exist. The world exists. Relative view exists. Yet, the nature that is your nature, that is the nature of all phenomena, that is the nature of the world, that is the same nature of both form and formless, that nature is the true nature. One cannot say that because you perceive yourself to be real and your experiences to be real that one can then deny the truth of your primordial wisdom nature, the nature that is really you.

The Celestial Sphere and Time-Conjunctions

February 8, 2013February 7, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is respectfully quoted from “Treasury of Knowledge” by Jamgön Kongtrul:

The celestial sphere pervades space between Mount Meru and the mountain of fire.
It is a belt of wind, within which the twelve houses
And the twenty-eight constellations formed first.

The celestial sphere pervades the space between the outer circumference at which the [outermost impenetrable] enclosure of Mount Meru meets Cool Mountain Range and the inner circumference of the mountains [ring] of fire [i.e., Horse-faced Fire]. The celestial sphere is a circular belt possessing the nature of wind that supports [all] the celestial palaces of the gods. Since it is slightly higher near Mount Meru, it has the bent shape of a bow. Near the mountainous [ring] of fire, it is slightly lower, resembling a lotus petal. It forms a complete circle [around Mount Meru].

Concerning the meaning of the word,

The [Sanskrit] term gola (celestial sphere) may be translated
As hollow, concave and convex, circular, heavy and light, and so forth.
Translated precisely, it denotes “that which holds up the heavens.”

The form [of the celestial sphere] is described differently by different scholars–as resembling the spokes of a wheel; rising up or spreading out; as resembling a stack of helmets, a chain or shield. [These descriptions] are based on reason and scriptural reference. The view that the celestial sphere is shaped like a cluster of boats eventually became the most prevalent. The eight lord [Karmapa] Mikyö Dorjé, with some amusement, provided a clear description of this in the Ocean of Mind.

The term “house,” from the [Sanskrit} raśi, denotes a gathering or cluster. The Fundamental Tantra of Manjuśri states that there are thirty-six houses; other sources present different enumerations. Regardless of how many houses have formed on the celestial sphere, twelve houses exert the most pronounced influence–both positive and negative–on [the affairs of] this world. They are:

Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.

Infinite numbers of stars are contained within the houses, which are the area of their rotation. The sage Delight in Stars (Jyotiráma) has stated:

Know that the number of stars
Is two hundered and eighty-five million.

Further,

In some discussions related to phenomenology, it is said
That in the sky of six empty spheres,
Ngāga eyes see the number of stars.

Thus, there are [many viewpoints] such as [this one that asserts] there are 28,000,000 [stars]. In the center of all stars is the pole-star and Canopus, which are shaped like a top ornament and its surrounding canopy. In addition, twenty-seven constellations are considered in astrological calculations to predict the outcomes of specific actions:

Beta Arietis
Thirty-five Arietis
Eta Tauri
Aldebaran
Lambda Orionis
Alpha Orionis
Beta Geminorum
Delta Cancri
Alpha Hydroe
Regulus
Delta Leonis
Beta Leonis
Delta Corvi
Spica Virgis
Arcturus
Alpha Libroe
Delta Scorpio
Antares
Lambda Scorpi
Delta Sagittari
Sigma Sagittari
Alpha Aquiloe
Beta Delphinum
Lambda Aquarius
Alpha Pegasi
Gama Pegasi
Zeta Piscum

The constellations called Lyra and Alpha Aquiloe are both situated in one star cluster; however, they may be counted separately to make twenty-eight. Concisely expressed, the houses, the twenty-eight constellations, and so on formed [before the planets].

[The houses] are situated in a clockwise arrangement.
Planets such as the sun and moon rise above them.
[Eight] move counter-clockwise; Eclipser [moves] clockwise.

Each constellation is divided into four quarters nine such quarters situated in each house. Thus, Beta Arietis, Thirty-five Arietis, and one quarter of Eta Tauri are situated in Aries House and so on. [The houses and constellations] are situated in a clockwise arrangement. The first of these houses is Aries, and the first constellation is Beta Aries, since this is where the movement of the sun begins [at the beginning of the year].

The planets rise above the stars that are positioned within their respective houses. These include the Sun in the last quarter of Beta Geminorum and the moon in the first [quarter] of Beta Arietis, and so forth. These planets govern the houses and constellations like lords.

The ten planets are Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Long Tail of [Smoke], Eclipser, and Fire of Time.

The eight from the Sun to Long Tail begin their natural movement counterclockwise around Mount Meru, and Eclipser and Fire of Time clockwise. Four of these–Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn–are called malelfic planets because they are right branches; and the four–Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Long Tail–are called benefic planets because they are left branches.