Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha - An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book

It has become almost taboo to mention actual attainment or mastery of this stuff among many meditation communities, and this is grossly unfortunate, which is to say it is completely ridiculous and frighteningly ironic. Some reasons for this will be touched on occasionally, as well as some of what might be able to be done about this. However, if we are to have a clear standard for whether or not these techniques and teachings are working for us, it is vital that we have a thorough knowledge of what is possible and even expected of those who really practice well. That is the primary reason for Part III. Remember, you are reading a book called Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. It has been written on the assumption that its readers actually want to do this.

That said, there will probably be readers who will think that most of what is written in Part III, which details the stages of enlightenment, the high concentration attainments, and even more unusual territory, is pure fantasy, myth, dogma and nonsense. I have little to say to these readers except that this book is obviously not written for them.

I hope that you will realize the difficulties inherent in language, concepts, doctrines, and maps of spiritual terrain. They are particularly clumsy tools even when used to their fullest potential, and this is unlikely to have happened here. Despite the fact that I will often use a tone implying certainty, it should be said that nothing whatsoever that I have written here is absolutely true. Language at its best is a useful tool, though by its very nature it artificially divides, reduces and over-simplifies. Hopefully, one will concern oneself with what is pragmatic rather than what is absolutely correct from some arbitrary point of view.

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Introduction to Parts II & III

The crucial thing is practice and direct experience for one’s self. Once you understand for yourself, you will be able to laugh knowingly at my efforts.

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13.BUDDHISM VS. THE BUDDHA *

One of my teachers once commented, “Buddhism and the

teachings of the Buddha have been at odds for 2,500 years!” These are cynical but appropriate words. What the Buddha taught was really extremely simple and, as a practice, particularly unglamorous and generally quite difficult though manageable. If one has a chance to read the original texts, one sees again and again that what the Buddha taught was generally practical and as non-dogmatic as could be expected. He basically said, “Do these very specific things, and these specific results will happen.” He had little use for ritual, ceremony or philosophy that was not for some practical purpose.

Now, it is true that things did get a bit more complex and religious in the later years of his teaching as The Vinaya, or code of conduct for monks, was established. The Buddha said that the added rules and regulations were a response to the increased quantity of low-quality students with whom he had to work in the later years of his life and the problems inherent in running a large organization. After the Buddha died, however, the process of turning the teachings of the Buddha from a practical path for awakening into a number of ritualistic religions reached new extremes of dogma and division. It is also true, however, that many worthwhile and practical variations on the fundamental teachings and techniques have been added that have provided great benefit to many of those who actually followed them rather than just talked about them.

In general, as mystical teachings become religions, all sorts of things get added on to them depending on the prevailing cultural norms, the current government’s attitude towards the teachings, how well or poorly the teachings are understood by those teaching them, and economic pressures. Christianity as a dogma (rather than as a mystical tradition or set of spiritual practices, e.g. sitting in the desert for 40 days, facing one’s demons, and finding God) is a just one scary example of this, but perhaps no scarier than the religions of Buddhism. Just as Christianity often seems to have little to do with what Jesus was talking about (and practically nothing to do with doing the practices he did or living the kind of life he did) just so Buddhism often seems to have largely forgotten about the core teachings of the Buddha. As Buddhism enters

Buddhism vs. The Buddha

America, a whole new layer of cultural dust is being added to it, most of which is related to the shadow sides of Western psychology and those of the New Age movement. However, there are also signs that fresh new life and health is being breathed into aspects of Buddhism that had become somewhat moldy and calcified in their countries of origin.