Self-Realization: And the Journey Beyond Ego by Benoit Hubert

Author:Benoit, Hubert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Graham Rooth
Published: 2015-01-22T08:00:00+00:00

Part Three - The Agony and Death of Human Egotism

1. A Critique of Systematic Methods

The Self which dwells within us can make the transition from being a potential state to the Realised state. Realization occurs abruptly and instantaneously, but it must be preceded by changes in our conditioning which take place over time. The length of time required will vary from individual to individual.

At the beginning of its existence, the little child is still incapable of metaphysical intuition so it cannot avoid falling into what Buddha called Ignorance. ‘Ignorance’ as used by Buddha does not refer to a lack of knowledge or understanding but to a mass of deceptive convictions which are taken to be obvious truths. How, for instance, can the child not fail to take it for granted that his organism, his body and mind together, constitute his true identity? How could he not believe in his freedom to obey or disobey, to do good or evil in keeping with the moral values of his family circle, and to deserve praise or blame from them accordingly? It is simply not natural to observe in one’s own person the workings of a totally conditioned puppet.

To progress from these early conditioned states to the state which enables Realization to occur requires some very considerable changes.

The first stage in this development occurs if, as an adolescent or adult, the individual obtains a correct initiation into the theoretical understanding of traditional metaphysics. In this, as subsequently, the most favourable conditions are provided by a Master who has already obtained Realization. In practice nowadays the search for such a Master and teaching would be unlikely to succeed because of the lack of true Masters. There are many who pretend to be such in India and Nepal… but taking on this role is all too tempting. A further difficulty is that Realization is not susceptible to proof. Fortunately a great deal of written material has survived which has preserved the Vedantic texts and the teachings of the first Ch’an Masters. Boddhidharma[24] arrived in China during the sixth century A.D. and his teachings were assimilated and adapted by his pupils according to the style of Chinese thinking, which was influenced by the Taoist religion. Between 600 and 800 A.D. the teaching remained pure, based uniquely on the understanding that mankind should abandon its illusory beliefs. It remained faithful to the Buddha’s teaching which affirmed that all human suffering arose from Ignorance and that Realization could therefore only arise when Ignorance had been dispelled.

Unfortunately, and this is an implacable law, all initiatory teachings gradually lose their true meaning, as indeed have those of Jesus Christ and Mohammed. They become debased until they amount to no more than a mass of superstitions. This is what happened to Ch’an Buddhism which arrived in Japan via Korea and fragmented into a number of different sects.

About two centuries after Boddhidharma arrived in China, the Ch’an Masters observed with sadness that their pupils were engaged in endless wrangling over theoretical points.

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