Volusia Pagan Pride Day 2011

The Heart Sutra

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, when deeply practicing prajna-paramita, clearly saw that the five skandas are all empty, and was saved from all suffering and distress.

Sariputra, form is no different to emptiness, emptiness no different to form. That which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness, form.  Sensations, perceptions, impressions, and consciousness are also like this.

Sariputra, all things and phenomena are marked by emptiness; they are neither appearing nor disappearing, neither impure nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing.  Therefore, in emptiness, no forms, no sensations, perceptions, impressions, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind; no sights, sounds, odors, tastes, objects of touch, objects of mind; no realm of sight and so on up to no realm of consciousness; no ignorance and no end of ignorance, and so on up to no aging and death, and no end of aging and death; no suffering, accumulation, cessation, or path; no wisdom and no attainment.

With nothing to attain, bodhisattvas rely on prajna-paramita, and their minds are without hindrance.  They are without hindrance, and therefore without fear.  Far apart from all confused dreams, they dwell in nirvana.  All buddhas of the past, present and future rely on prajna-paramita, and attain full, complete realization.  Therefore, know that prajna-paramita is the great transcendent mantra, the great bright mantra, the supreme mantra, the unequalled balanced mantra, that can eliminate all suffering, and is real, not false.

So proclaim the prajna-paramita mantra, proclaim the mantra that says:  ‘gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi, svaha!’

just a few notes about heart sutra. the idea of emptiness isn’t exactly what we would consider ‘non-existence’ in the conventional sense. after all, its hard to argue that an object has no conventional existence when one can see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and conceptualize the object in question. however, the buddhist doctrine of conditionality, or dependent arising, shows that all phenomena exist as a direct result of certain causes and conditions – absent which, the phenomena cannot exist. because of this, no phenomena has inherent, independent existence… thus, all are inherently empty. the object that can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, or conceptualized (form) is dependent upon the causes and conditions necessary for that object to arise. since it has no inherent, independent existence, it is empty. yet, clearly something empty must have some sort of existence on some level lest we couldn’t interact or describe it – so when we can ‘go beyond’ this practical contradiction it becomes apparent that that which is empty and that which is formed are one and the same.

sariputra is a person. he is the one receiving the teaching (sutra). avalokiteshvara bodhisattva (pictured to the right) is the ‘hero’ of the story who, through the practice of prajnaparamita meditation, realizes that the five skandas (form, sensation, perception, impulse, and consciousness) are inherently empty.

prajnaparamita is roughly ‘the perfection of wisdom’ – the class of mahayana sutras to which the heart sutra and diamond sutra belong. prajnaparamita is also personified as a goddess in her own right. known as ‘the book who became a goddess’, she is the buddha of transcendental wisdom.

the mantra of prajnaparamita – gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha! – is commonly translated as ‘gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, o awakening svaha!. svaha is a ritual phrase used when making offerings into a fire. it has a similar connotation to ‘blessed be’ or ‘it is done’. like all mantra, the gate mantra is a ‘power-phrase’ that helps one connect to universal truth – in this case the perfection of wisdom. the sutra expounds upon what the essence of wisdom is (form [sensation, perception, impulse, and consciousness] is emptiness, emptiness form) and shows its relevance to the human condition (all buddhas attain complete realization through the perfection of wisdom). hence the sutra and the mantra are connected to awakening the buddhanature within.

-justin

so i’ve been thinking about oathbound traditions and the nature of secrecy in craft knowledge.

for those who have taken oaths, what are the boundaries of your tradition’s particular oaths? what is acceptable to speak about and what constitutes ‘oathbound’ material? when dialoguing about your practice, how closely do you find yourself coming to that dividing line, and do you find that level of secrecy to unduly limit your communication? also, how do you react to or handle conversations that begin to wander into oathbound territory?

for the non-oathbound (disclaimer: i fit into this category), what are your thoughts when someone brings up ‘sorry, oathbound’ as part of a conversation? in your practice, do you commonly encounter situations where you are limited by others secrecy? and is your status as non-oathbound ethical in nature (ie, do you object to the whole idea of ‘oathbound’ craft itself) or due to circumstances (ie, you simply have not had the opportunity to be a part of an oathbound sect)?

and finally, for both oathbound and non, what value do you place on craft secrecy in general? do you find it to be useful and appropriate, or do you think it to be an outdated model?

if you answer as an oathbound, please mention what trad you belong to as i’m interested in seeing the differences between traditions as to what constitutes secret knowledge.

as someone who is, for all intents and purposes, completely open about my spirituality and my practice, i think the etiquette of interacting with other pagans concerning oathbound material is not something that is usually brought up or thought about. for example, if someone were to ask me what my specific quarter call for north is, i would tell them… it would never occur to me that someone else might be offended that they were asked to discuss what, to them, is obviously something that should not be talked about.

i would hope that someone who is oathbound would realize that i, as a nontrad, am not being pushy or ‘begging for secrets’ when i bring that sort of stuff up for discussion, but…  people are funny that way – and tend to take offense when none is offered.

for me personally, the matter of oathbound material and craft secrecy is an issue of trust.  depending upon how much trust i have with the group in question, i would be hesitant to start along the path as an initiate without knowing what the basic expectations are for later levels. in the back of my mind i would be wondering ‘well… if you’re unwilling to discuss what you actually do at third degree; who you call upon, what your ritual actions are, what the expected behavior is… could it be that i might find those things inappropriate or have some moral conflict with them?’ there’s a whole aspect of trickery that comes with secrecy. examples would include the use of sex magic in ritual, drug use, and calling upon external forces and god-forms.

in terms of secrecy of practice, i think its important to infuse your words and actions with your own meaning – so i can understand why some would be loathe to share that process, however, i would be the first to admit that i am very much influenced by the practices of others. everything from why i perform ritual in the first place, to the exact placement of objects to specific hand gestures and chants is directly influenced by the words, deeds, and thoughts of others who have taught me directly, or even indirectly through their own example or through books. i don’t think our practices spring forth from a vacuum (if they did, in my case, there would be a lot less emphasis on reverence of nature, and a lot more on killing my boss…)

another consideration is the perceived ‘value’ of teachings and practices that are widely shared, versus those that are closely guarded and kept hidden.  can spiritual truth lose its truthfulness just because its well known? do the properties of energy change or diminish when they become more fully understood? at what point does general awareness begin to decrease the inherent value of the information or validity of the practice? and if there is a decrease in ‘value’, wouldn’t that counteract the augmenting effects of egregore (see my post concerning egregore here)?  for example, ceremonialists try to tap into the communal ambient energy associated with the constant repetition of certain rituals (i’m thinking lbrp and star ruby), so wouldn’t a more widely spread understanding of these specific practices benefit all practitioners by strengthening the communal energy of these rites?

when all is said and done, though, my ire at spiritual secrecy isn’t so much directed at things such as protecting participants’ identities or keeping private journals, rather at those who use secrecy for image enhancement or those who feel that they are the protectors of knowledge that they have deemed others just can’t handle.  i don’t feel that such ego-work is beneficial to the craft as a whole, or to the individual who uses it as a crutch.

-justin