A hallmark of Buddhism, as I understand it, is the bringing together of these two dimensions of religious life – the socially engaged and the direct seeing into the heart of reality. Tearing these two apart does profound damage to the human spirit. Nonetheless it is common and many people fail to see how the two come together as one. One key to this mystery is provided by a reflection upon the subject of human longing.

King Bimbisara was a friend of the Buddha. He was overthrown by his son Ajatashatru who had been egged on by the Buddha's disaffected cousin Devadatta. The usurper had his father starved to death in a prison. He also imprisoned his mother, Queen Videhi. The Buddha visited Videhi during her incarceration. Queen Videhi says to the Buddha, “What must you and I have done in previous lives to have such awful relatives in this one?” Betrayal is one of the most painful things that can happen to a human being. When a parent is betrayed by their child or a teacher by their disciple, there is a great grief.

Buddhism begins with recognition of this grief, which does not just pertain to these two situations but permeates the whole of life one way or another. This recognition is the first noble truth. It is noble to recognise this grief. From this grief springs and equally great longing. Videhi has such a longing. By the power and sincerity of her longing, the Buddha is able to reveal to her a great vista of buddha–worlds. In other words, she enters into a mystical vision. We call this the vision of the pure land.

Because this longing for better worlds is one of the deepest realities for a human being, visions of pure lands are generated. Because visions are generated, humans are inspired to actualise them. Religions come into existence as a result of a mystical inspiration. Buddha getting enlightened, Mahommed hearing the voice of Allah, and Jesus encountering Satan during his forty nights in the wilderness are all examples of this. What commonly goes wrong is that the religion is then appropriated and developed by people who do not have access to the vision. This is a bit like the builders not having access to the plans. Something gets built, but it may be only a distant approximation to the original intention.

The plan, however, was not made simply to be worshiped. It was made in order to be implemented. True mysticism gives inspiration for action. After his enlightenment, the Buddha did not retire to a cave or commit suicide. He went forth and for forty more years lived out the inspiration that came from the vision that had come to him. Religion in its true sense is precisely that – the living out of the vision in the real world.

When people hear the word vision, they are often inclined to think that something escapist or fantastic is being described. The Buddha. However, very much had his feet on the ground. His mysticism sprang from the hard experience of open–hearted living. He taught his disciples an approach to meditation that began with deep reflection upon their material nature. Meditation upon the earth element was generally the first topic studied in Buddha's meditation class.

The guts of the Buddha's message is thus: the deepest experience of life is not to be obtained by escaping from concrete reality but by entering more deeply into it. To train in religion as Buddhism understands that term means to enter into a deeper and more intimate relationship with concrete reality than most people have even dreamt of. It is the purpose of spiritual training to bring one to this point of intense encounter. Such intense encounter is what Buddhism means by faith. To live the Buddhist faith is to live in direct, intense, intimate encounter with reality. This is more than bitter–sweet, it is simultaneously bliss inspiring and heart breaking. It is to know and feel in one's bones how every moment of life partakes both in the great grief and in the wonder of ever fresh awakening.

It is because most people cannot stand the intensity of such a life that they retreat into the defences of ego – the attempt to keep reality at a distance. Ego is the creation of a false, make believe life, one or two or several removes from reality. In the make believe world one can live voyeuristically. One can convince oneself that by mentally replicating something one has done the real thing. One can pretend that one's mood and sentiments are profound when they are merely selfish, and so on.

Buddhist training repeatedly turns the trainee back toward reality. It may be the reality of putting your shoes neatly outside the meditation hall. It may be the reality of the cat killing a mouse. It may be the reality that the teacher also farts sometimes. In any case, it is the reality of Quan Shi Yin appearing “on the street, and in the shops”. It is the Buddha lifting his foot and stretching out his arm. When the trainee knows in his bones the stretching out of the arm and the lifting of the foot, he or she will be plunged into a spiritual free fall from which there is no possibility of rescuing even a shred of the ego's carefully constructed defence system. This is a fall into a place that is as terrible as it is wonderful. It is the place that Videhi went when, in the full knowledge that her son was, right then, in process of killing his father, she saw the pure land.

Nobody should enter into Buddhist training lightly. It is not a hobby. Nor is it a business of building up a successful club or institution. Who can build who has not seen the plans? No wonder the spiritual scene is full of jerry buildings. But do not doubt that there is indeed something very wonderful to be had here, for those with the stomach for it. The word bodhisattva means one who has the courage (sattva) of the enlightened (bo) vision (dhi).

As a Buddhist sangha, our task is to bring the enlightened vision into the light of day by transforming the vision of the pure land into action in the real world. Every person has at least a glimpse of some bit. Each worker on this building site may not have the whole plan, but everybody does have a piece of it. That piece is represented by the love and compassion that he or she does find in his or her own heart. If each of us acts on that, although the individual may not have the whole plan yet, the pieces of the jigsaw will gradually add up. If you take part in the attempt wholeheartedly one day when you least expect it, the whole pattern will suddenly become clear. That is Buddhist mysticism. Engagement inspires vision and vision inspires engagement.

Going forth is what makes us realise how much work we have to do upon ourselves. Doing work upon ourselves inspires us to go forth. Mystical experience does not come from chasing after it. It comes as a by–product of carrying out the Buddha's original intention to the best of one's ability. If we do so, the larger picture will in due course dawn upon us. Everybody can have a part in this. Those who wish to do it whole– heartedly, however, should not be lulled into thinking that it is an easy road. The ego is not built for nothing. The world beyond ego is a much higher energy proposition.

The primal longing is the dukkha–samudaya: that which arises in us as a result of encountering the affliction in the world. This longing is not an imperfection. It is a noble truth. Generally it runs to waste in the sands of distraction, ego and oblivion. The Buddha, however, offers us the alternative of garnering and cultivating it (dukkha–samudaya– nirodha) so that it matures into a higher intention, an aspiration, and finally a vow. This vow can take hold of one's life and set one upon the right track (marga). This track leads to sama–dhi, the consumate vision. We should not allow such visions to go stale. They were made to lead us back into a total involvement with life. Mysticism is vibrant aliveness. If you come here for visions, therefore, think first what they may get you into and consider whether you are ready for that and, correspondingly, if you come here for engaged activism, ask yourself first if you are willing to undergo the religious training that will genuinely ground you in universal compassion and the Buddha's true intention.

Thank you

Dh.D.J. Brazier
October 2000