The Yoga Tradition

by Georg Feuerstein

  The most commonly adopted meditation posture is the pallanka (paryanka) seat, as depicted in innumerable seated Buddha statues. The texts emphasize erect bodily posture (uju-kâya), undoubtedly because experience shows that in this way both breathing and mental concentration can be considerably improved.

  The yogin who has penetrated through all delusive phenomena by virtue of single-mindedness in the highest stage of jhâna enters nibbâna. Because the Buddha denied the notion of a continuous entity abiding within the flux of phenomenal existence, he has been accused of nihilism, but against this charge he defended himself on several occasions. When liberation is attained, it is no longer possible to say anything meaningful about the nature of the liberated or enlightened being—whether he or she exists or does not exist. Freedom is a paradox or mystery. It is to be discovered rather than talked about.

  This fact, however, did not scare the Buddha’s followers into silence. Over the centuries, Buddhist monastics, as well as educated lay followers, have interpreted and reinterpreted the Buddha’s legacy, trying to make it accessible for their contemporaries. Not only did the Buddhist community spawn hosts of scholars, it also birthed many great yogins and enlightened adepts, who periodically regenerated the spiritual basis of Buddhism. Their revitalization of the Buddha’s dharma has often had effects far beyond the sphere of Buddhism. Thus, the Buddhist teachings have exerted a significant influence on many schools of Hinduism, including the tradition of Yoga.

  If the Buddha was indebted to adepts who taught an early form of Yoga, Patanjali (who gave Yoga its classical philosophical shape) in turn owed an intellectual debt to Mahâyâna Buddhism. The long historical interplay between Buddhism and Hinduism reached its peak in the sweeping cultural movement of Tantrism, starting in the middle of the first millennium C.E. It gave rise to schools that are not easily identified as either Buddhist or Hindu, as can clearly be seen in the Siddha cult, described in Chapter 17. What they all have in common, however, is a passion for personal realization, for yogic experimentation with the hidden potential of the human body-mind.

  IV. WISDOM AND COMPASSION- THE GREAT IDEALISM OF MAHYNA BUDDHISM

  The Literature of Mahâyâna Buddhism

  Upon his enlightenment, the Buddha resolved not to taste the bliss of nirvâna to the full, by abandoning his human body-mind, but to compassionately reveal the path of enlightenment to others. The Buddha’s decision to combine wisdom (prajnâ) with compassion (karunâ) has served many of his followers over the centuries as a guiding ideal. Mahâyâna Buddhism arose in response to the widely felt need within the Buddhist community to cultivate the feminine aspect of the spiritual path, as expressed in the virtue of compassion. It has sometimes been viewed as the creation of lay followers, but this is mistaken. As much as Hînayâna, the Mahâyâna approach is the product of learned monks who sought to articulate the Buddha’s teaching in ways accessible to their contemporaries.

  The Mahâyâna teachings are enshrined in the Sûtras, which were composed in Sanskrit between the first century B.C.E. and the sixth century C.E. Unlike the Sûtras of Hinduism, which are aphoristic works, the Mahâyâna Sûtras are narrative scriptures. They are presented as the authentic sayings of the Buddha, corresponding to the earlier Suttas of the Pali canon.

  Among the more important scriptures of this genre are the Prajnâ-Pâramitâ-Sûtras, the earliest of which is the Ashtâ-Sâhasrikâ-Sûtra (“The Eight Thousand”) composed in the pre-Christian era, though the most popular are undoubtedly the Hridaya- (“Heart”) and the Vajra-Chedikâ- (“Diamond Cutter”) Sûtras. The longest work of this genre is the Shata-Sâhasrikâ-Sûtra which, as the name indicates, consists of 100,000 verses. Mention must also be made of the Abhisamaya-Alam- kâra, an exegetical scripture attributed to the transcendental bodhisattva Maitreya. Lex Hixon, an American writer and spiritual teacher, said of the Ashta-Sâhasrikâ that its “teachings are fresh as a dew-covered flower—even now, after some two thousand years.”14 His comments apply to the other Prajnâ-Pâramitâ works as well.

  Other well-known and much-loved Sûtras, belonging to the first centuries C.E., are the Sad-Dharma- Pundarika (“Lotus of the True Teaching”) and the Lankâ-Avatâra, commonly spelled Lankâvatâra (“Descent of Lankâ”). The Canadian scholar Edward Conze estimated that a mere two per cent of the Mahâyâna Sûtras have so far been “intelligibly translated.”15

  In addition, there are numerous secondary works produced over the centuries by thinkers and poets of the various Mahâyâna schools and in different languages, notably Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese.

  The Doctrine of Emptiness

  At the core of Mahâyâna thought lies the realization that nirvâna is not something that is external to the phenomenal universe, but that it is both immanent and transcendental. For the Mahâyâna adherent, suffering(duhkha) is not, as the followers of Hînayâna proclaim, something that can only be avoided by opting out from the world. Instead, it is an illusion that can be rectified through proper insight, and which does not call for any flight from the world. Thus, the realistic philosophy of the Hînayâna tradition is replaced by the stately nondualist conception of reality that we also meet in the Upanishads of Hinduism: There is One, which appears as many. As the author of the Vajra-Chedikâ-Sûtra, an old Mahâyâna text, declares:

  [Like] a star, a fault-of-vision, a lamp, an illusion, a dew drop, a bubble, a dream, a lightning flash or a cloud—thus should the composite [phenomena] be viewed. (32)

  The phenomena are said to be void (shûnya) because they lack essence. There is only universal voidness (shûnyatâ), which is itself void. The Buddhist notion of voidness or emptiness is not readily grasped, and it is all too easy to dismiss it as Oriental mythologizing, whereas it is a very sophisticated philosophical notion grounded in spiritual experience. That this central Mahâyâna idea caused even Easterners some difficulty is borne out by the story of Bandhudatta, the erstwhile Kashmiri preceptor of the famous Mahâyâna teacher Kumârajîva. After his acceptance of the Mahâyâna creed, Kumârajîva naturally tried to share his newly won insight into the empty nature of things with his former teacher. But Bandhudatta would hear none of it. He deemed the doctrine of emptiness to be mere empty talk. To underscore his position, he told the following story.

  A madman once asked a weaver to spin him the finest cloth possible. The weaver tried his utmost best, but the madman twice rejected his work as being too coarse. When the madman returned a third time, the weaver pointed into the air, saying that he had woven a cloth so fine that it was now invisible. The madman was delighted, paid the weaver, and picked up the invisible cloth to present it to the king.

  Kumârajîva was unruffled by his teacher’s hostile attitude and eventually succeeded in converting him. Emptiness is not nothingness, but no-thing-ness. When we consider phenomena most profoundly, they reveal themselves to us as illusory. But even this illusoriness is illusory, for, practically speaking, there are phenomena that form the content of our experiences. In reality, nirvâna and samsâra are both constructions of the unillumined mind, and the yogin must rise beyond them.

  SOURCE READING 8

  Prajnâ-Pâramitâ-Hridaya-Sûtra

  The earliest Mahâyâna Sûtras were composed anonymously in South India between 100 B.C.E. and 100 C.E., though according to tradition they are attributed to the Buddha himself. The most important scripture of that early period is the Ashtâ- Sâhasrikâ-Prajnâ-Pâramitâ-Sûtra (“Perfection of Wisdom Sûtra in 8,000 [Lines]”). Subsequently, longer and longer versions were written, which were then recondensed. The most popular of these Sanskrit condensations is the Prajnâ-Pâramitâ- Hridaya-Sûtra, or Heart Sûtra for short, which was perhaps composed around 300 C.E. Edward Conze, who translated several Prajnâ-Pâramitâ scriptures, remarked about the Heart Sûtra that it “alone can be said to have gone really to the heart of the doctrine,” meaning the doctrine of emptiness.16

  This scripture exists in two recensions, one consisting of only fifteen lines, the other of t
wenty-five lines (translated in this book). The shorter version appears to be the earlier one, as is atiested to by the Chinese translation of Kumârajîva (c. 400 C.E.), while the longer version was translated into Chinese by Dharmacandra in 741 c.E.

  The teachings of the Heart Sûtra are communicated by the transcendental bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan: Chenrezig). The doctrine of emptiness is closely associated with the bodhisattva ideal. Even though all things and beings are empty of essence, the bodhisattva nevertheless is paradoxically dedicated to liberating these phantom beings. He (or she) cannot bear to witness the suffering of others and seeks to guide them to the liberating wisdom so that they, too, may realize the ultimate Reality beyond all appearances. Even though suffering, like any finite experience, is empty, those who suffer firmly believe in their pain because their minds are clouded with ignorance. Upon enlightenment, all suffering is transcended because the deluded mind is transcended together with all phenomena. The bodhisattva aspires to attain enlightenment for the ultimate benefit of others.

  Om. Homage to the Holy and Noble Perfection of Wisdom!

  Thus have I heard.

  At one time the Lord dwelled at Râjagriha on Vulture Peak Mountain together with a large gathering of monks and a large gathering of bodhisattvas.

  At that time the Lord, having spoken on the course of dharma called “Profound Splendor,” entered into concentration.

  At that time also the Noble Avalokiteshvara, the great being and bodhisattva, was engaged in the practice of the profound Perfection of Wisdom, reflecting thus:

  “The five aggregates are by nature empty,” he reflected.

  Thereupon the long-lived Shâriputra. through the Buddha’s influence, said to the Noble Avalokiteshvara. the great being and bodhisattva:

  “How should one teach a son of good family or a daughter of good family who wishes to practice the profound Perfection of Wisdom?”

  Thus spoken to, the Noble Avalokiteshvara, the great being and bodhisattva, said to the long-lived Shâriputra:

  “O Shâriputra. a son of good family or a daughter of good family wishing to practice the profound Perfection of Wisdom should reflect as follows:”

  ‘The Noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, engaged in the practice of the profound Perfection of Wisdom and reflected and saw that the five aggregates are by nature empty.’

  “Here, O Shâriputra, form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not different from form, and form is not different from emptiness. That which is form is emptiness, and that which is emptiness is form. So it is also with sensations, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.”

  “Here, O Shâriputra, all things are marked by emptiness, and are neither produced nor stopped, neither defiled nor immaculate, neither deficient nor complete.”

  “Therefore, O Shâriputra, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no impulses. no consciousness; there is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; there is no visible object, sound, smell, taste, tangible object, or mental object; there is no eye element and so on up to no mental consciousness element; there is no ignorance and no absence of ignorance and so on up to no old age and death or the absence of old age and death; there is no suffering, origination, cessation, or path; no knowledge, no attainment, and no nonattainment.”

  “Therefore, O Shâriputra. the bodhisatna is free from attainment, relies only on the Perfection of Wisdom, and lives without mental veils. Free from mental veils, he transcends misconceptions and abides having nirvâna as his summit.”

  “By relying on the Perfection of Wisdom, all the Buddhas who appear in the three times awaken to unsurpassed, complete enlightenment.”

  “Therefore one should know the Perfection of Wisdom, the great mantra, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the mantra unlike any other, which alleviates all suffering and is the truth because it is free from error.”

  “The mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom is uttered thus:

  TADYATH OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVH.”

  “Thus, O Shâriputra, a bodhisattva should be taught in the practice of the profound Perfection of Wisdom.”

  Thereupon the Lord emerged from his concentration and spoke approvingly to the Noble Avalokiteshvara, the great being and bodhisattva, thus:

  “Well said, well said, O Son of Good Family! Just so, O Son of Good Family, just so should the practice of the profound Perfection of Wisdom be engaged. As you have explained it, so it is sanctioned by all the worthy tathâgatas.”17

  Thus spoke the Lord. The enraptured long-lived Shâriputra; the Noble Avalokiteshvara, the great being and bodhisattva; the monks; the bodhisattvas, those great beings; and the entire world with its deities, humans, demons, eagle spirits, and celestial spirits rejoiced in the Lord’s speech.

  Thus ends the Noble Prajnâ-Pâramitâ-Hridaya.

  The Bodhisattva Ideal

  While the Hînayâna tradition was almost exclusively interested in the individual’s salvation, the followers of the Mahâyâna school rejected this approach and sought to incorporate social values into the path to emancipation—the bodhisattva ideal. The spiritual hero of the Hînayâna tradition was and still is the arhat, the “worthy one,” who has attained enlightenment. The Buddhist texts give an esoteric etymology for the designation arhat, deriving the word from ari (“enemy”) and the root han (“to kill”). The idea behind this is that the arhat has killed or deadened the enemy of passion.

  The bodhisattva ideal can be seen as an extension of the earlier arhat ideal, for bodhisattvas too are committed to transcending the self in their effort to dispel spiritual darkness in other beings. They are the beings (sattva) dedicated to enlightenment (bodhi) for the sake of others. It is wrong to assume, as some Western writers have done, that bodhisattvas postpone their own enlightenment in order to help others. Rather, they make an all-out effort to attain enlightenment so that they can serve others more in their own struggle for enlightenment. Even before their enlightenment, bodhisattvas are motivated by compassion for all other beings—a compassion that increases infinitely once they have attained enlightenment. What bodhisattvas postpone is full liberation (parinirvâna), which would lift them out of the realms of conditioned existence where beings are suffering. In the Bodhi-Caryâ- Avatâra18 of Shântideva (early eighth century C.E.), the bodhisattvas benign attitude is described as follows:

  I am medicine for the sick. May I be their physician and their nurse until their sickness is gone. (3.7)

  Having dedicated myself to the happiness of all embodied beings, may they strike me! May they revile me! May they constantly cover me with dirt! (3.12)

  May they play with my body and laugh at or toy with me! Having given my body to them, why should I be concerned? (3.13)

  May those who denounce, injure, and mock me, as well as all others, share in enlightenment! (3.16)

  May I be a protector for those without protection, a guide for travelers, a boat, a bridge, a passage for those desiring the farther shore. (3.17)

  For all embodied beings, may I be a lamp for those in need of a lamp. May I be a bed for those in need of a bed. May I be a servant for those in need of a servant. (3.18)

  For all embodied beings, may I be a wish- granting gem, a miraculous urn, a magical science, a panacea, a wish-fulfilling tree, and a cow of plenty.(3.19)

  There are ten stages (bhûmi) that bodhisattvas must traverse, which are understood as degrees of perfection (pâramitâ). They can embark on the bodhisattva career only after the “consciousness directed to enlightenment” (bodhi-citta) has awakened in them. That bodhi-citta, which is often misleadingly translated as “thought of enlightenment,” is the aspiration to lead all beings to enlightenment. It is the will to transcend everything, which is a rare thing indeed. The poet-philosopher and adept Shântideva, author of the Shikshâ-Samuccaya (“Compendium on Discipline”) and Bodhi-Caryâ-Avatâra (“Entering the Conduct of Enlightenment”), compares the generation of the bodhi-ci
tta to a blind person finding a jewel in a dunghill. And Shântideva marvels at the fact that the bodhi-citta should have arisen in his own case. The following are the ten stages of the bodhisattva path:

  The joyful (pramuditâ) stage: After having taken the bodhisattva vow to be entirely dedicated to the salvation of other beings by postponing their own liberation, bodhisattvas then cultivate to perfection (pâramitâ) the virtue of open-handedness (dâna), that is, the liberal giving of themselves to others. This term is generally translated as “generosity.”

  The immaculate (vimalâ) stage: They cultivate the virtue of self-discipline (shîla).

  The radiant (prabhâkarî) stage: Acquiring insight into the transiency of conditioned existence, they develop the supreme virtue of patience (kshânti).

  The blazing (arcishmatî) stage: They cultivate willpower (vîrya).

  The very-difficult-to-conquer (su-durjayâ) stage: They work on perfecting their meditative absorption (dhyâna).

  The stage that is “present” (abhimukhî): They gain supreme liberation, which reveals to them the identity of phenomenal existence and nirvâna after death. However, they are prevented from doing so by their vow; hence they enter the “nonstatic” (apratishtha) nirvâna and continue to work for the good of all beings.

  The far-going (dûrangamâ) stage: They become transcendental bodhisattvas freed from their human body but able to assume any shape at will. They now acquire perfection in expediency or skill (upâya).