Sangha - The Next Buddha

 

Sangha - The Next Buddha

Many buddhists think about the coming of Maitreya Buddha in the future. It is said that Maitreya is the next great buddha who will come to revitalise the teaching of reality (dharma) when it has deteriorated too much. Maybe this view is right as there has been great buddhas in the past too. However, I like to play with this thought and interpret the meaning of Maitreya Buddha in a different way.

Buddhism has had many problems with guru worship and how our spiritual masters are seen as super heroes with superior abilities, that common people don't have. It doesn't help that scriptures speak about attainments in such aggrandizing and mystical manner.

Anyhow, I think that the culture should grow beyond hero figures, beyond spiritual idols and the community - sangha - should be the next one to become a buddha. The world needs idols and examples but what is more important is understanding that we all have buddhanature and that it can be realised in a single lifetime. 

 

Photo of Maitreya Buddha's statue

This understanding of our potential as well as the methods that would enable full buddhahood without having to spend decades in intensive full time practice. However, even though such methods are rare, they do exist and because of this fact it is potentially possible for the sangha to be the next buddha.

Imagine the world with not just a handful of mahasiddhas (buddhas), but each sangha, or perhaps every other, or at least every tenth(!) sangha with a number of mahasiddhas. Imagine how different the dharma culture would be... How different the world would be... This is a dream, but it could actually be reality.

 

What I mean by this is normalisation or casualisation of buddhahood. Buddhahood brought near and within the reach of any practitioner who is serious about exhausting all phenomena. I dream of such striking pragmatism in dharma that the ultimate attainment, like the very first shifts and stages that are now openly spoken in more or less traditional circles, among many thousands of people worldwide, would be discussed, approached and attained with the same efficacy. This is not that impossible of a task though there are major challenges. 

 

What I know of ancient India and Tibet, it has been similar but I don't think buddhahood has ever been brought as close to (so many) people as what I mean here.

 

But, you know, I'm just a fellow with big dreams without that much of impact to the world culture of dharma... but I'll do my best. The second edition of my book, that I hope to publish at the end of this year or early 2022, will include first hand accounts of a handful of people from our sangha who have attained exhaustion of all phenomena. It will be precise and down-to-earth, without nonsense. 

 

I pray and hope that this simple act will send ripples throughout the world to start an avalanche of true dharma! But you know the world is what it is...

 

-Kim, 21.5.2021