Wrathful
Expression
of
the Nature of Mind
When
we think of the Buddha, we think of a serene figure, sitting in peace
with an etheric smile on his or her face. However, not all buddhas
and mahasiddhas, or masters, are peaceful, many of them are wrathful.
Wrathful means dynamic.
If
we are used to thinking that mahasiddha is someone who just remains
in peace and never raises his voice, it is perhaps shocking to know
that someone fully realized would use harsh words and seemingly
aggressive behaviour, like overthrow tables of the moneychangers, as
Jesus did, or shoot arrows to kill enemies of dharma, like a disciple
of Guru Rinpoche did.
Christ
Driving the Money Changers out of the Temple by Valentin
de Boulogne
To
think of mahasiddhas as people who keep distance to society, not
acting when action is needed, is false and immature. The freer one
becomes of being self-charged, the richer the expression of the
nature of mind becomes. This means that someone who is liberated,
lives his or her persona in full. Personality is not lost, though
selfing is. The realisation of emptiness removes our sense of self,
if one's training is complete. Empty nature of mind is not a state of
mental blankness but the exact opposite, birth of oneself as fully
aware and awake, including the range of emotions in their selfless
mode. Buddhahood is abound with ornaments, in some cases soft grace
and showering of lotuses, and furious flames and sharp daggers in
others. A mahasiddha can not be solely peaceful or solely wrathful
because the range of human emotion takes both forms.
Wrathful
expression of the nature of mind is a controversial topic because the
history of buddhism and spirituality in general, is full of abuse and
hurt caused by teachers who were far from being fully realized, that
is, mahasiddhas. The so called ”gurus” have caused harm and pain
because their training has been incomplete. This is extremely
regrettable for there is no sin greater than making people lose their
faith towards teaching of liberation which basically is loosing faith
in themselves. That people, with or without lineage, set themselves
up as realized and convince their students that their reactions of
anger and confusion are enlightened wrath, when all it is is display
of their delusion, attachment and perverted motivations, is both
appalling and wrong.
Wrathful
expression can take many forms, just like it does in art. This is a
difficult topic and cannot be thoroughly explained in few lines. Perhaps it is enough to say that there are wrathful buddhas
and mahasiddhas, and that the scope of enlightened expression is not
limited to peacefulness. Hopefully that is helpful.
”Although
my view is higher than the sky,
My
respect for the cause and effect of actions
is as
fine as grains of flour.”
- Padmasambhava,
Guru Rinpoche
May all beings be free,
-
Kim Katami, 6.1.2019
