Buddhist Existentialism: Supreme Way of Saijojo Zen
The understanding and the experience of the Buddhist Existentialism can be performed in any place and time, without being conditioned by the past, because it is about an obscure and anti-systemic Way. Thus, the great precursors of Maitriyana were Gautama and Laozi, by elucidating a practical and theoretical Discourse with a structure capable of penetrating the arts, sciences and social movements of the world. This is because it is a Spiritual Path with many possible doors, being based on a vision of coexistence and dialectic union. This indispensable cooperation implies a profound understanding and peak knowledge (satori) of the Real. Therefore, the pioneers of the building forces of humanity advocate in favour of an integration of the peoples, so that knowledge of the Buddhist Existentialism is an important step towards the main project for a lasting peace, providing an invaluable instrument of linkage as universal as the mathematical language. The Maitriyana is legally joined to all authentic and full manifestation of metaphilosophical Spirituality anywhere in the world, which allows intertwining with other similar searches of the Real Self. In this way, the Buddhist Existentialism is an extraordinary link bridge that finally unifies the Truth of East and West by showing its underlying reciprocal identity.[1] While in the academic Discourse the philosophies of East and West are mutually excluded through the Aristotelian logic, in the perennial philosophy of Maitriyana the paradoxical dialectics forms a coherent logical doctrine where everything is interrelated universally, by considering all the possibilities that may happen. Definitely, the ultimate reality of Buddhist Existentialism is a supreme reciprocal identity in which all the opposite poles are overcome,[2] by understanding that each vision of the world is a symbolic reference level that can be attainable as a state of consciousness of the subject.
The Maitriyana teaches to experience the transcendence of the dualistic logic and the materialistic ratiocination by addressing the uncertainty of life with a supraconscious mental state that intertwines matter and energy, space and time, reason and intuition, order and chaos. Thus, the Buddhist Existentialism provides a valuable instrument of dialectical synthesis of East and West, being a practical wisdom of a universal application against imperfection, impermanence and insubstantiality of the Real. In the great spiritual masters, like Gautama and Laozi, the essential ideas of Perennial Spirituality are widely found, which implies the magnificent florescence of Maitriyana as a field of Spiritual Path (Do). However, the teachings of Buddhist Existentialism are full of paradoxes and a deep bewilderment, being accessible only to a consciousness capable of transcending dualism and simultaneously enjoying quietly the flow of every moment and place. Therefore, the ideas and facts of the Maitriyana could not have subsisted without the transmission of the Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) able to care this remarkable renewing and revolutionary thought. However, contemplative doctrines as the concept of no-mind and empty mind have strong reminiscences in the contemporary currents of philosophical thought,[3] demonstrating the validity of the Buddhist Existentialism.
The spiritual masters develop a discipline perfectly appropriate to relativity and uncertainty, making a leap fearlessly into the abyss of Emptiness (Sunyata), while advancing with sure steps on that bridge that is the human being on his way towards the ultrasubject or superhuman. The poetic and spontaneous expression of the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) establishes the fundamental philosophical guidelines of Maitriyana whose metaphilosophical discipline about life has eminently practical effects on the ineffable reality. Effectually, the poetic pathway of the Buddhist Existentialism fully condenses the core of the practice of existential meditation, for which it is essential interacting with the desires and passions of Being.
In accordance with the Master Hui-Neng, the Maitriyana embodies the peak knowledge (satori) and does not let it is covered with the dust of the Ego and dualism, by expressing a rebellious conception of existentialist Spirituality.[4] The Buddhist Existentialism has carried the seal of what is revolutionary, by being predestined to print a dynamic course to the projection of the philosophy of the future, because it rebels against the stagnant and formalistic academic knowledge while rediscovers and revives the contemplative experience of the Nothing-in-Being. The experience of existential meditation is translated into a conduct in daily life that sublimates the passions and desires of the Being through emptiness, thus being an existential experience of Detachment and Liberation from the image of Ego. In this sense, like Master Hui-Neng, the Maitriyana teaches us not to obstruct the Path of the very original nature that is the purity of Being, which has no form or figure, because the Awakening (Bodhi) of the Empty Self does not respect any convention or symbolic bond. The metathought of Buddhist Existentialism then shows the close liaison between the Master Hui-Neng with Heidegger and Sartre.[5]
The contemplative experience of Nothing-in-Being in the Maitriyana does not lead to ideas of a nihilistic nature, but rather to an attitude of Liberation, awareness and responsibility in every daily action. In this way, the apprentice who practices art through existential meditation becomes one with his present work. The Buddhist Existentialism is then a way of Being and a lifestyle of Mindfulness and reconciliation with the repressed unconscious, transfiguring the work of everyday life in art. According to the spiritual master, contemplation (Zen) is the very life, so living for the existential meditation involves becoming aware of this fact.[6]
The Maitriyana seeks a life of serenity, teaching the contemplative experience (zen) as a Path (Do) towards the Cure (Nirvana), so its great lessons are patience, the annihilation of all personal vanity, the generation of inner harmony, producing a lucid and clear perception of life, and healthy and balanced relationships with others. This forms an atmosphere of great refinement and profound insight into the awakened mind (bodhicitta) to the Real, consisting of a wise departure from the neurotic and materialistic concerns. The Spiritual Path (Do) has been propagated through India, China, Japan and the West, concluding with the flowering of existential meditation, which meets and gathers with similar pathways as the psychoanalytical, surrealistic and relativistic.[7] The path of Buddhist Existentialism defies the rational logic and the ordinary consciousness, accepting the revelation of the paradoxical logic and of the unconscious, which overcomes the dualism of Ego that usually dissociates the Being and Nothingness or the subject and object. The ultimate Truth of Vacuity and Interexistence is a metathought that the apprentice must exercise in everyday life through the contemplative practice (zen). The Maitriyana naturally and spontaneously aspires to achieve a balance in life through implementing existential meditation. Thus, the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva), empty of any stereotype and attachment, helps others through the ineffable teaching of a peak knowledge (satori) capable of overcoming the problem of life, although it is awkward to properly define the spiritual.[8] Thanks to the fabulous contemplative instrument, the spiritual master makes this achievement through the dialectical synthesis between Being and Non-Being, reason and irrationality, conscious and unconscious. In this spiritual metaphilosophy, the Awakening (Bodhi) occurs with art and mystical science which finds light in the darkness of existence.
The profound insight of Buddhist Existentialism states that dualism is an illusion that only exists in the neurotic consciousness, so that the peak knowledge (satori) is really a Cure (Nirvana), by being the experience of clearness that perceives the Real as it is. Just like D.T. Suzuki, the Maitriyana defines the peak knowledge (satori) as the revelation of a new mental perspective, a higher and amplified state of consciousness (H-ASC), which intuitively penetrates the Real without resorting to the intellectual understanding, the dualistic logic or neurotic consciousness. The Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) defines the peak knowledge (satori) as an existential learning that occurs suddenly as a lightning strike, completely changing the subject’s life. Therefore, the main method of the spiritual master is his own example, which is his attitude and presence in the world, having a deep empathy with the life of the apprentice while guides him towards the inner transformation, transcendence of dualism and the abandonment of the possessive Ego that constitutes the main barrier in the Path of Awakening (Bodhi). The peak knowledge (satori) is the Purpose (Dharma) of existential meditation, since without this purpose the contemplative practice (zen) is nothing but a mere relaxation. However, the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva) recognizes that the peak knowledge (satori) is not an abnormal state, but a new form of everyday thinking.
In the Buddhist Existentialism the Cure (Nirvana) can be achieved by a special type of learning that has been proven during 2600 years. The central axis of the various systems, methods and exercises of this Spiritual Path (Do) is to use the paradox as an instrument of intuitive understanding, because when disentangling the supra-rational logical significance of the contradictions, the subject understands the ultimate Truth of life. Therefore, the existential meditation of the apprentice must last entire weeks, by incubating the profound concentration and Mindfulness by examining the problems of life from all its multiple possibilities. Evidently, this contemplative practice (zen) leads to the overcoming of the dualistic and discriminatory thinking, by playing a vital role in the transmutation of the individual into a spiritual master. Thus, the abandonment of the Ego and the Duality is a primary task for the existential meditation and its goal of reaching the authentic experience of the Awakening (Bodhi) of a forgotten knowing, which is a new spiritual eye that allows to see things as they really are.[9] This contemplative experience (zen) has an extraordinary intensity, glimpsing a lucid understanding of the illusion of Ego and the opposite poles. When this paradoxical dialectical transcendence happens, the apprentice ceases to be selfish, because he has become a vessel of Truth. In this way, the subject becomes a wise and noble being with a receptive and persevering attitude towards the supraindividual influx of life, which can only be grasped by the existential meditation and its state of higher and amplified consciousness (H-ASC).
The apprentice who practices contemplation (Zen) ceases to be too much concentrated in intellectual reflection that judges the experience of life, so he departs from the Ego and dualism to penetrate into existence, realizing then that reality is an interconnection between subject and object. Therefore, the Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) teach the apprentice to have Mindfulness both towards the internal as well as to the external.[10]
The spiritual master, in his function of bearer of culture (kulturbärer), believes that there cannot be creative manifestation that being genuine lacks the sense of Spirituality, although not necessarily carries that name. This is because the Purpose (Dharma) of Maitriyana is the liberating impulse that dissolves the dualistic antagonisms, such as the inner and outer world, by perceiving the coexistence and complementation of the opposite poles, such as conscious-unconscious, reason-intuition and I-other. In the Buddhist Existentialism predominates the intrinsic value of the open space of Liberty that is the full and living emptiness of the Real where nature and art are interrelated. In this way, for the Free and Enlightened Being (Arhat-Bodhisattva), poetry is everywhere, because the daily life itself is a poetic and beautiful act.
The Maitriyana proposes a lifestyle based on existential meditation, which involves an absence of selfish thoughts but simultaneously also means the presence of ideals that go in keeping with the processes of nature, like leaves falling in autumn.[11] The spiritual master enters into the most intricate labyrinths of the world, by undertaking the search for the impossible at every step, while tries to overcome all obstacles of the Spiritual Path (Do) through the true mystical exercises. In this sense, the Buddhist Existentialism is an artistic Way of self-realization and peak knowledge (satori) which constitutes a bond of union and understanding of the Being with the Real.
In accordance with Vogelman, the Maitriyana affirms that the experience of the authentic peak knowledge (satori), although it is a liberating Cure (Nirvana) of the Self impossible to be defined academically, its ineffable sense can be understood and experienced by every human being, because it is not an achievement of the East, as it also is present in the teachings of Meister Eckhart and other great sages of all the peoples of the world. In fact, post-modern currents of the psychoanalytical, existential, relativistic, quantum and transpersonal thought are related, anticipated and explained by the contemplation (zen).[12]
[1] D. J. Vogelman, El Zen y la crisis del hombre.
[2] Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, El Vedanta y la tradición occidental.
[3] D. J. Vogelman, El Zen y la crisis del hombre.
[4] D. J. Vogelman, El Zen y la crisis del hombre.
[5] D. J. Vogelman, El Zen y la crisis del hombre.
[6] D. T. Suzuki, Living by Zen.
[7] D. J. Vogelman, El Zen y la crisis del hombre.
[8] Guy Lardreau, Discurso filosófico y discurso espiritual.
[9] Eugen Herrigel, El Camino del Zen.
[10] D. T. Suzuki, La doctrina zen de la no-mente.
[11] R. H. Blyth, El zen en la literatura inglesa y en clásicos orientales.
[12] D. J. Vogelman, El Zen y la crisis del hombre.
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