THE LIFE FORCE AND THE VIRTUE OF A BODHISATTVA

THE LIFE FORCE

In most living creatures there is no consciousness of the Life Force, but it is continually in operation. The simple life forms search for sustenance with movement and the absorption of nutriment and reproduce. That is Dharma. Those that cannot touch and understand that Dharma are missing a magnificent experience. That Dharma of the Life Force is everywhere about you every waking minute, integrated in one great force of life, the Natural Dharma.

The first attribute that we see related to that Life Force in all living creatures is apparent self survival, and make no mistake, it is a complex and competitive world in which all sentient organisms live. There is conflict, chaos and impermanence. Yet all, in their own way, seek to survive and the human creature is no exception. Evolution has provided more sophisticated systems both in the specific mode of survival and the level of that survival. We must add to the apparent self survival and reproduction, the defence and protection of offspring on the part of female parents and the protection of the caring mother and offspring in some male parents.

In further advances in the evolution of the Life Force, some animals exhibit the survival of the tribe and all offspring. But here we see a  marvellous attribute of the Life Force at work, for the individual life is sometimes sacrificed, or rather put in danger, for the benefit of the tribe. You can see that the apparent individual survival is relevant to the whole tribe.

Now when we look at the human creature, where do we stand on the evolutionary Life Force scale? At the bottom, along with the most apparently insignificant organisms. In fact, we must place ourselves as we are in this world in the very last spot, for we are theoretically intelligent creatures who should have advanced.

The truth is that we did advance. Not only did we advance with our marvellous brain, but in terms of the quality of the Life Force we were ahead of every other living form by a large margin. Why was that? It was because with our abstract intelligence we were able to see the importance of self survival, the survival of tribe, the survival of one’s own and all children, and the survival of the complete environment consisting of all life that supports these objectives.

But alas, some ten to twelve thousand years ago the virus of duality entered our fertile brains and we became the self-centred ignorant creatures that we are today. We may speak wonderful words of virtue, honour, integrity, understanding and knowledge of the spiritual, but they are all empty of content if we are egotistically the centre of the universe looking after our own survival.

The situation is far worse than this, for the Identity has its own plans and the objective is not natural survival but the pursuit of false happiness, which is grasping. The result is precisely the contrary of the Life Force, for this grasping is in opposition to that Life Force; it is self-destructive.

Now those who were alert will have discovered an interesting thing. What does acting for the natural and correct benefit for oneself, all offspring, one’s tribe, all creatures and the natural environment remind one of? Is it not the perfect Bodhisattva state?

The Bodhisattva in the minds of most modern Buddhists is a beautifully ornamented figure not significantly different from Christian saints, with the advantage of no commitment to God. Foolish ritual, ceremony and dogma once more. But how beautiful is the human truth that everyone is endowed by nature with precisely the Bodhisattva attributes, no matter if he or she is a president, beggar or thief, no matter if he is rich or poor, ill or healthy, black, white, yellow or green, gay/ lesbian or not, criminal or saint, within one Buddha Dharma group or another, a Christian, Jew or atheist.

How magnificent and inspiring is the Bodhisattva state, which is the Life Force. But the Life Force is even more elegant and subtle than this and we will investigate those details later. However, we can make one other step in understanding Chan Dharma, for Jivitindriya is none other than the Buddha Nature. Now that will come as a surprise to those who imagined the Buddha Nature to be something complex and all-illuminating. But think about the human creature for a moment and, knowing the law of parsimony which declares that the simplest answer to a question is almost invariably the correct answer, look at Jivitindriya.

If all our attitudes, intentions and prepared actions are completely in accord with the Life Force, which is the controlling faculty or principle, need the human creature possess some complicated intelligence or spiritual guidance? If all is guided by this Bodhisattva state and the execution is developed by the fertile mind, then we can never be a slave to Identity.

When we take refuge in the Buddha is it not folly to take refuge in an image, a statue or an idea when the Buddha Nature is right there within us?

That is why the Visuddhimagga states that the Truth is readily available to anyone who simply stretches out his or her hand to receive it. Take refuge in your Buddha Nature: in joy, in compassion and benevolent affect. If one’s own Life Force is the Buddha, where then is the Dharma? The Dharma is what is contained in the Buddha Nature as attributes of the Life Force, namely joy, compassion, and benevolent affect (essentially in the living creature, not individuals).

There are other factors related to the Dharma that are directly related to the Life Force. Curiosity and creativity are an essential part of the survival of all apparent human creatures and the other components of the Life Force. It is curiosity that permits the mind to investigate and forge what may be required in the future (when it is not converted into a human vice or plaything to delight the arrogant and grasping mind).

Then there is playfulness. How sad it is that Modern Buddhism forgets playfulness and converts the free, meandering path of the magnificent Buddha Dharma stream into Thoreau‘s straight-cut ditch. That playfulness prepares both body and mind for the great adventure of living, when it too is not stained by Identity competition and pride.

Then there is humour. Yes, natural humour is a human attribute of the Dharma. But it is not the humour that destroys and points the figure of ridicule with superiority; it is the humour that sees the folly of the human creature and allows him to laugh at that folly and correct it without egoism or culpability.

So here, as part and parcel of the Life Force, we have the Buddha and the Dharma. Where then resides the Sangha with which we take refuge? It is in the sure and certain knowledge that all who are upon the path share precisely the same human nature, the Buddha Nature, the Life Force, the Bodhisattva State. In accepting the Sangha as refuge, the invisible Sangha, we are protected from listening to Mara, who wishes to convert that magisterial Life Force into personal property.

So how have we progressed so far? We have seen that there is a guiding Life Force available if we are open to it and that it is part of the natural inheritance of all creatures and that we are privileged in being the only creature able to exercise true dominion over all, not as the great destroyer and dictator that we have become, but as the noble king who presides over all his subjects. We have seen that the Bodhisattva state is that Life Force and that we need not disguise it in order to understand it, except as a tool. We have seen that the Life Force is the Buddha Nature, that the contents, the noble attributes of the human creature, are the true Dharma and that the Sangha is the realization that all human Awakening creatures will eventually touch that Buddha and Dharma which is common to mankind.

That allows us to begin to understand, without mystery, several of the most important elements of Chan Dharma and indeed original Buddha Dharma. Don’t ever confuse the apparent magic with the presentation of the magician, no matter how well his show is presented. The truth lies behind any act of apparent magic and being open and flexible to that truth is the greatest protection against the deception of your own mind and others who would deceive you.

THE MASCULINE AND FEMININE PRINCIPLES OF THE LIFE FORCE

If one understands that the Life Force is not just individual survival, but a very sophisticated evolutionary advance, then we can ask precisely how that Life Force manifests itself.

THE MASCULINE PRINCIPLE OF THE LIFE FORCE

First, of course, the Masculine Principle manifests itself in action, for without action the Life Force is nullified. Since classically action has been considered as a male-oriented quality and the feminine as a passive quality, the action component of the Life Force is considered as the Masculine Principle. That means that the Masculine Principle is the putting into harmonious and balanced action of correct survival impulses relevant to apparent personal survival, survival of one’s supportive tribe, the tribal offspring and the supporting environment. Those actions, when placed in a cognitive framework, may be considered as the operational unity of the human creature with all things.

Now since all action is accompanied by the use of Attitudes, Intentions and the preparation for Action, then these too form part of the Masculine Principle. But we can even go more deeply into the aspect of the Masculine Principle, for all Attitudes which are correct are accompanied by Joy, all Intentions which are correct and in accord with the Life Force are accompanied by Compassion, and all correct preparations for Action are accompanied by Benevolent Affect.

We can say then that the correct balance and harmony generating UNITY between man and his environment is the Masculine Principle and that it is also accompanied by Joy, Compassion and Benevolent Affect. But please remember that both human males and females have the Masculine and Feminine Principles within themselves as natural programs.

THE FEMININE PRINCIPLE OF THE LIFE FORCE

The Masculine Principle is really quite easy to understand, but the Feminine Principle is much more subtle. It is the innate understanding of the Life Force itself, not its expression. It is an understanding that cannot be easily expressed in words, yet it is essential. It is the complete internal comprehension, beyond words, of birth, life and death. Of course, now that it has been stated, it makes sense, yet stating it does not make the comprehension available any more than an understanding intellectually of the Masculine Principle brings about correct action.

It should be clear that actions unsupported by a correct appreciation of birth, life and death can never be correct and that unless the correct action of the Masculine Principle is present, then the comprehension of birth, life and death becomes redundant. Sadly, both are covered by the great veil of ignorance in the human creature and so the world is a sorry state.

We can say then that although the mMasculine Principle beneath the veil of ignorance may well be capable of generating unity, it cannot do so unless there is a complete melding with the Feminine Principle. That, you see, is the whole point of Buddha Dharma practice.

But the unification of these two is insufficient for complete unity; it can only bring one to the door. To open the door, one needs to do one more thing; one must eliminate the last mental conceptualization of Duality as being a real phenomenon.

THE DAKINI AND DAKA

The Dakini and Daka are visual and conceptual representations of the Female and Male Principles. One may immediately be shocked to see the fierce form they take. You might expect the Dakini to take on the appearance of the Virgin Mary and the Daka that of Saint Christopher, but that is not the case. The reason is quite clear.

We have said that the human mind is beneath a mantle of ignorance. Well, that ignorance can be personified as an evil serpent, as it often is in non-Buddha Dharma legend, or as a creature called Mara with his armies and three poisoning daughters. The Buddha Dharma presentation of a fierce aspect carries with it the idea that Mara must be driven away and his armies and daughters maintained in fear of advancing. So the fierce aspect is to “strike terror into the cruel heart of the enemy.”

That, of course, is just a psychological method of making clear the dividing line between the incorrect and the correct. There are, of course, no armies or daughters of Mara, nor is there Mara any more than there are really Buddhas, bodhisattvas, demons, protectors, Dakas or Dakinis.  All are psychological tools to help us discover our Buddha Nature.