How to do
Bhumi Mapping
If you are not familiar with the Open Heart Bhumi Model before, go here:
http://openheartopenheart.blogspot.fi/2016/02/stages-of-spiritual-attainment.html
Came across this article by Dzongsar Khyentse. I didn't read it fully but something specific caught my eye when reading it, here:
Came across this article by Dzongsar Khyentse. I didn't read it fully but something specific caught my eye when reading it, here:
"By and large, human beings tend to prefer to fit into society by following accepted rules of etiquette and being gentle, polite, and respectful. The irony is that this is also how most people imagine a spiritual person should behave. When a so-called dharma practitioner is seen to behave badly, we shake our heads over her audacity at presenting herself as a follower of the Buddha. Yet such judgments are better avoided, because to “fit in” is not what a genuine dharma practitioner strives for. Think of the great mahasiddha Tilopa, for example. He looked so outlandish that if he turned up on your doorstep today, odds are you would refuse to let him in. And you would have a point. He would most probably be almost completely naked; if you were lucky, he might be sporting some kind of G-string; his hair would never have been introduced to shampoo; and protruding from his mouth would quiver the tail of a live fish. What would your moral judgment be of such a being? “Him! A Buddhist? But he’s tormenting that poor creature by eating it alive!” This is how our theistic, moralistic, and judgmental minds work... Right now the majority of us can only afford to be slightly nonconformist, yet we should aspire to be like Tilopa. We should pray that one day we will have the courage to be just as crazy by daring to go beyond the eight worldly dharmas—happiness and suffering, fame and insignificance, praise and blame, gain and loss—and care not one jot about whether or not we are praised or criticized. In today’s world, such an attitude is the ultimate craziness. More than ever, people expect to be happy when they are admired and praised, and unhappy when derided and criticized. So it is unlikely that those who want the world to perceive them as sane will risk flying from the nest of the eight worldly dharmas. Sublime beings, though, couldn’t care less either way, and that is why, from our mundane point of view, they are considered crazy."
I've seen the same example given by many. What came to my mind when reading this, is that if we cannot or as we cannot draw a certain conclusion of a person like Tilopa or any other lama, based on their outlook and behaviour alone, then how exactly can we know whether Tilopa or some other person is an adept, a specialist or not? Or is it even possible? This is a good question, isn't it? How can we be sure that a guru is a true guru? How can we be sure that this person really embodies what he teachers others? After all, spiritual teachers or gurus (tib. lama) are persons who should know first hand, as a living experience, what they talk about. This is the most basic requirement of a guru.
Receiving authorisation as a teacher from one's own guru, is the traditional way to ensure that the teacher is valid and experienced enough to teach a particular method of dharma and practice to others. On the other hand such an authorisation can actually mean different things. Teachers with this authorisation may or may not be highly skilled specialists, professionals of mind training and meditation, in the strict sense of the word. It is clear that teachings do differ greatly, even though they are said to lead to "enlightenment" or "buddhahood". Therefore, the question remains: How can we know whether this teacher is a skilled adept, a specialist or not?
This is precisely where the geniousness of the Open Heart Bhumi Model comes in. This bhumi model is based on the energy body of man, energy channels and centers, which are common to all men, and therefore it is not particular to any special method. If you are not familiar with this bhumi model, find the information and the Bhumi Study Series from the OH-blog.
So. There is a realistic way to map both yourself and others with this bhumi model. It requires in-depth study and practice but after engaging in it for a while, it surely starts to make sense and you can begin to see with your own eyes and feel in your own body, what I have presented in the materials. For people who have practiced meditation, healing arts or tantric yoga, it can explain a lot of things in just a few sessions of study.
The reason why the application of this bhumi model might be difficult to people, could be because of their prior orientation or lack of it. The bhumi model is universal but not all practices and methods of dharma or healing, contain the ingredients that help one to get a hang of it immediately. In fact, as far as I know, few methods do. It is very simple, however.
Along one's own preferred dharma practice, one can begin to observe different teachers, whether met live or through pictures, gaze them with openness to allow a transmission phenomena take place. Transmission phenomena means that when two (or more) people tune into one another, or in this case when a person tunes into the bodymind of a particular lama, a transmission phenomena takes place. It means vibrating in unison. In order to perceive this, calmness, clarity, focus, sensitivity and relaxation are required. Of course the easiest way to do this is when meeting the teacher in person but it can also be done through photos, videos, or through the mere name of the lama, and whether the concerned lama is alive or deceased. This mechanism is also the foundation of tantric guru yoga where the student attunes to the presence, you can call it "aura" or an energy field, of a particular master, like Padmashambhava, Babaji or Machig Labdron to receive a spiritual charge from them. This is practiced widely in most tantric traditions. When it comes to bhumi study, it is a skill that anyone can learn. But it requires effort like all skills do. And of course, as in tantric teachings, usually the demonstrations and help of a skilled teacher can be very helpful.
Spiritual attainments of various degrees do correspond to different kinds of vibrations, that is "resonances", that are various types of "clarities of awareness". And as said it is based on the universal energy body of all men. This means that whatever some lama has attained, what is his (or her) living attainment, it can be "mirrored" into our own bodyminds. This transmitted experience in turn enables us to see where this or that lama, such as Tilopa or someone else, actually abide at. With extensive study of this model you can become very skilled in doing this. When this art has been learned it takes just a few seconds to get the transmission effect going on and when you know how each of the 13 bhumis or at least the four main categories feel like, it becomes clear in your own experience what is going on at the other end of the line. This is how anyone can learn to map bhumis, both one's own and that of others. Perhaps it is needless to say here but this should be done for dharmic purposes, for the liberation of all beings, not for narrowminded egoistic purposes. It is a way of spiritual study, that can help in many ways.
There you have it. And next time when a naked guy with a fish in his mouth comes to your door, you can just look into his eyes, and see what his bhumi is. In the case of a mahasiddha it should be one of the three highest ones, bhumis 11-13. And if it's just a naked guy posing as a holyman, trying to get you to believe that he is a yogi when he actually isn't, by checking his bhumi you come to know the truth of it. Simple as that.
Cheers,
Kim Katami
Read Dzongsar Khyentse's full text here:
