Buddhas amongst us: What the fellow Chinamen saw in Mrs Chang?
In the past, the dharma - teachings of reality - have flourished in many countries such as India, China, Tibet, Japan, Mongolia and Korea. At some point in history these teachings were brought over by pioneers to these new areas and locals started practicing them. As we know now there has been many great fully enlightened masters in all of these countries. If I were to gather a list of all of them, it would make a thick book. We are talking about tens if not hundreds of thousands of individuals.
If we think about this it must have gone in the following way. For example, a local, let's say mister or missis Chang from somewhere in China, took up some form of dharma practice and started practicing it. Some years went by and gradually this person reaped fruits from her/his practice. Then finally one day she finished her practice, finished the whole path of purification and became equal to all buddhas and mahasiddhas - masters - in her attainment. She became a living mahasiddha. Excellent! This is how it is supposed to be.
Now, if we think of Mrs Chang and she becoming a fully enlightened master of dharma, it is inevitable that the people around her - the locals - at some point had to accept the fact that a) also Chinese people could attain buddhahood and b) that there was one (or more) of these attained buddhas living amongst them. There had to be a moment or a process among Chinese people and their culture where attaining buddhahood as a Chinaman became part of their view and comprehension. The same applies to all other ancient dharmic cultures.
Teaching of reality - dharma - has only one purpose, that of helping people to become who they truly are, or in other words shedding what they aren't. If people are who they truly are, they have no self-delusion and are buddhas. To achieve this is the sole purpose of all dharmic teachings, i.e. the purpose of yogas and tantras. And there is no other way to validate the purpose of dharma except through first hand experiences and by becoming a living buddha oneself. That someone else in India or China has achieved this is inspirational but only so, and this is not enough. The meaning and purpose of dharma can only be verified first hand. This is the only authentic way to develop faith towards the teaching and towards one's guru.
So, according to our example, Mrs Chang took up practice and became a fully realized individual. And the locals had to accept that them too could take up practice and go all the way. After all, the central tenet of mahayana and especially vajrayana says that enligtenment is possible in this life and in this body. Some tantric manuals even say that one who has the right methods, the blessings and guidance of a guru and works hard, can finish the path in a matter of few years, namely 2-7 years.
So, by her example Mrs Chang testified to the validity of the view and took her place in the lineage. This made her dharma clear, palpable, alive and down to earth. Had her dharma been mere shallow words supported by big money of the rulers and the religious establishment, people wouldn't have paid attention to it, unless being forced.
The people who knew Mrs Chang, lived with her and had interactions with her, had to accept that she had indeed fully awakened. The energy and verbal expression of a mahasiddha, who knows the nature of mind inside out, does not go unnoticed, unless if one is not listening. So the locals saw the change in Mrs Chang, felt the wisdom energy pouring out of her and simply had to accept that a fellow Chinaman had become a holder of wisdom.
This process must have happened countless times not only in China but in each of the countries I mentioned. By looking at the local community now we can see that it is not a problem for Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Korean or Tibetan people to accept and appreciate that some of them are living buddhas. For them it is natural to have people like that among them. It is also natural for the locals to bow their heads, to touch the feet (to receive blessings), to visualize their gurus in meditation and to offer themselves and everything they have to their gurus. I have seen people do that and I have done that myself, both in front of my Asian and Western gurus.
To me it has never been a problem to acknowledge whose medicine kept me alive. Knowing this I never had a moment when it wasn't clear and therefore my gratitude towards my gurus is to this day, to this moment, incessant. Anyway, the process of acceptance that happened in Asian countries hasn't even started in the West.
Dr Daniel Brown, a professor and teacher of Tibetan buddhism, was the only voice within Tibetan buddhism who publicly stated that two people in his sangha had attained buddhahood. He-was-the-only-one-in-the-whole-field-of-dharma-who-openly-stated-this. To my knowledge he was the only one to state this among thousands of dharma teachers active in the West. Well, I have too but I am unknown and not part of the establishment so whatever I say is disregarded by most buddhists.
Anyhow, Dr Brown did and by saying this publically he was in fact doing the same thing as countless past masters who openly stated that they had attained the end of the path. I am including a number of these statements, quoted from classical buddhist and dzogchen literatire, in my upcoming book. I never met Dr Brown but I highly appreciated his openness and directness, especially during the last years of his life. Some of his talks, like Sacred Sundays, are outstanding. May he enjoy his rebirth in the pure lands in the midst of masters and adepts. May he enjoy the natural bliss of being!
Unless the teachings of dharma are lucid and down to earth, they will not become part of the modern Western culture. If the teachings have too much foreign or ancient baggage, or if they are not taught well, people will not take them seriously and throw them away as mumbojumbo. If they won't take them seriously, the dharma will never become the universal existential helper and pacifier it always was and is supposed to become.
KR, 12.4.2022
