JIRIKI AND TARIKI

Jiriki and tariki are terms in Japanese Buddhism that classify how one becomes spiritually enlightened.  Jiriki means by one's own effort while tariki means by the power of another, what in Christianity would be called faith. 

The Japanese character "ji" means "self," and "riki" means "power."  "Ta" means "other, outside."  Jiriki and tariki have been part of Japanese Buddhism since Buddhism first arrived in Japan in the sixth century.

An example of jiriki is Zen, where the emphasis is placed on individual initiative and the need for working out one's own salvation.  Note that the idea of the individual being responsible for his own salvation is more typically found in original Buddhism, i.e. in the Theravada school.  Zen is Mahayanist. 

An example of tariki is Pure Land Buddhism.  Here, the individual does not save himself but relies instead upon the Amitaba Buddha.

PART VS. WHOLE

Why do senseless things happen?   The spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle replied that such things are like chips of paint from a very large painting.  What may seem senseless, such as, for example, the death of an infant, will not seem senseless when viewed from the standpoint of the larger picture.

But what is this larger picture?  Christians say that it is God's master plan.  It is God's Will when there is tragedy and God's Will when there is triumph.  We can accept our fates more readily this way, even as the first thing out of our mouths when some awful event occurs is, "How could God allow this?!"

When something tragic, or triumphant, happens, Buddhists see it as the "mutual arising of opposites."  It is the nature of existence, what they call Suchness, that where there is good there is also evil, where there is pleasure there is also misery, where there is life there is also death.

They also view events in terms of karma.  Karma is the impersonal law of cause and effect.  If this is, that is.  If a person caused pain to another in his previous life, for instance, he will experience pain from some person in his current life.  If he showed compassion toward another person in his prior life, someone in his current life will show him compassion. 

This is to say, Buddhists do not make God, or a God, responsible for what happens to us, insisting that the individual is responsible for his fate.

CHAIN OF CAUSATION

Whatever is, is dependent upon something else, called Dependent Origination (paticca samuppada) or the Chain of Causation in Buddhism.  This theory applies to the central issue in Buddhism which is suffering, its cause and elimination. 

Dependent Origination states: (1) If this is, that comes to be; (2) From the arising of this, that arises; (3) If this is not, that does not come to be; (4) From the stopping of this, that stops.

From this, the Buddha formulated his Four Noble Truths:

Dukkha: There is suffering. Suffering is an intrinsic part of life prior to awakening.  Suffering is experienced also as dissatisfaction, discontent, unhappiness, impermanence.

Samudaya: There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment or desire (tanha).

Nirodha: There is a way out of suffering, which is to eliminate attachment and desire.

Magga: The path that leads out of suffering is called the Noble Eightfold Path.

It is worth noting that in Buddhism there is no First Cause, nothing that explains how or when all this arising and ceasing began.  Instead, there is an emphasis on things as they are.

Speculating over what might have happened in the past or what might happen in the future is a waste of time, the Buddha taught.  There is suffering now and doing something now to alleviate it is the point.

SWAMI ADVAITANANDA

Swami Advaitananda, born Gopal Chandra Ghosh (1823-1904), was the oldest monastic disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.  He was known as the elder Gopal, or Gopal Senior.  For some years he was a householder employed at a shop in Calcutta.

After his wife died, he began frequenting the temples where Ramakrishna lived in Dakshineswar, eventually becoming one of eleven disciples to whom Sri Ramakrishna gave the ocher cloth of renunciation.  This was in 1886.  After the passing of Ramakrishna in this same year Gopal took sannyasa vows and became Swami Advaitananda.

Swami Advaitananda visited Indian places of pilgrimage at different periods.  In 1901 he was made one of the trustees of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, later becoming the vice president.

Even in his old age he declined any personal assistance, believing that monks should be self-reliant. He chanted the Gita daily and accompanied the other monks on tabla when they sang. 

Swami Advaitananda died on December 28, 1904 at the age of 81, chanting the name of Sri Ramakrishna.

GIRISH CHANDRA GHOSH

Girish Chandra Ghosh (1844-1912) was a householder-disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.  Girish was a brilliant Bengali playwright, actor, director, and producer.  He wrote nearly 40 plays.  In 1872, he co-founded the Great National Theatre, the first Bengali professional theatre company.

The story of his relationship with Ramakrishna and his eventual transformation into a renunciate is documented in the Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, or, as it is known in English, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.  A good account is found as well in Ramakrishna and His Disciples by Christopher Isherwood.

Briefly, Girish, despite his talents and accomplishments, was a notorious libertine and atheist.  He had experienced many tragedies in his life, losing both his wives, two daughters, and his younger son whom he loved very dearly.  The son was only three years old.  It hardened his disbelief in God. 

Girish first met Sri Ramakrishna in the ancestral home of his neighbor Kalinath Bose.  Then on September 21, 1884 Sri Ramakrishna went to watch Girish's play "Chaitanya Lila" at the Star Theatre.  Chaitanya, who lived in the 15th century, was the founder of one of the Vaishnava sects of Hinduism and was considered an avatar.  Girish said he wrote these kinds of plays just to make money, rather than out of any devotion to Hinduism.

Girish's first meeting with the Master there at the theatre was not very cordial.  For instance, he saw Sri Ramakrishna in a moment of spiritual ecstasy and thought it some kind of a trick.  Sri Ramakrishna, though, went on to watch a number of Girish's plays in the months ahead, even blessing Binodini, one of the lead actresses. 

As it happened, Girish secretly always wanted to find a guru, despite his refusing to believe that any human being could be so to another.  He came to believe, however, that Ramakrishna might be that guru he was looking for.  Over time, their relationship deepened and Ramakrishna did indeed become Girish's guru, even though the road was rocky at times.

The relationship required complete self-surrender to the religious life, difficult for a complicated man like Girish to accept.  But he did, to the extent that Ramakrishna referred to him as "second to none."

RAMAKRISHNA ON GOD

When asked, "Does God really exist?" Sri Ramakrishna replied, "You don't see the stars in the daytime, but that does not mean that the stars do not exist."

BHAIRAVI BRAHMANI

Bhairavi Brahmani, also known as Brahmani or the Bhairavi, was a wandering nun whose birth name was Yogeshvari.  "Bhairavi" means a nun of the Tantric sect.  "Brahmani" means a Brahmin woman; she was from a Brahmin family from the district of Jessore in Bengal.

It is not known if the Bhairavi was ever married, or under what circumstances she decided to renounce the life of the world and become a wanderer. 

In 1861, she initiated Sri Ramakrishna into the disciplines of Tantra and was the first to proclaim him an avatar.  In this way, she played an important part in the initial spiritual development of Ramakrishna. 

TANTRA

Tantra is a religious philosophy according to which Shakti is typically the main deity worshiped, and the universe is regarded as the divine play of Shakti and Shiva. Shakti is the mother aspect of the Godhead while Shiva is the father aspect.

The word Tantra applies as well to any of the scriptures commonly identified with the worship of Shakti. Tantra deals mainly with spiritual practices and ritual forms of worship, the goal of which is liberation from ignorance. The intended result is the direct knowledge that the individual soul and the Godhead (Shakti/Shiva) are one.

Besides the Shakti Tantras, there are also Buddhist and Vaishnava Tantras. In the Vaishnava sect, devotion is to God as Vishnu.

DAKSHINESWAR

Dakshineswar is a small village on the Ganges River about five miles north of Calcutta.  In the 1850's, a group of temples within a compound there was built.  The construction was arranged for by a wealthy woman of the sudra caste (laborers and servants) named Rani Rasmani. 

She had built a Kali temple, twelve small Shiva temples, and the Radhakanta (Sri Krishna) temple.  A Chosen Ideal is that aspect of the Godhead selected by a spiritual aspirant for devotion, and the Rani's Chosen Ideal was Kali. The Kali temple became the most famous of the temples. 

The Rani engaged Ramkumar (1805-1856), the oldest brother of Sri Ramakrishna, as priest of the Kali temple.  This followed the dedication of the temple in 1855.  In this way, she was instrumental in bringing Ramakrishna to Dakshineswar.  She wanted Ramakrishna to be her spiritual guide.

Just north of the northernmost Shiva temple is the room which Sri Ramakrishna occupied for much of his life. 

Regarding the Radhakanta temple, both Ramakrishna and his brother served as priests there at one point.  When on one occasion the image of the deity was damaged, Ramakrishna personally repaired it.

THE KALI TEMPLE AT DAKSHINESWAR

The Kali Temple at Dakshineswar is a large building but the shrine which contains the image of the goddess is relatively small.  It affords room only for the officiating priest and just a few worshippers.  All others must crowd on the open terrace outside the shrine or on the marble steps leading down from it.

The reason for this apparent disproportion between the sizes of the temple and the shrine is that Hindus regard a temple as a symbol of the human body.  Within the body of the temple, the shrine symbolizes the heart, the seat of the Atman within a person.

The image of Kali at the temple is small, less than three feet in height.  She is seen standing upon the prostrate body of Shiva, who lies on a silver lotus of a thousand petals.  The figure of Shiva is made of white marble, that of Kali of black basalt.  Kali is dressed in red silk and decorated with ornaments studded with jewels.  She wears a girdle of severed arms and a necklace of skulls, all carved out of marble.

Kali is seen sticking out her tongue, explained by some as a gesture of coyness, by others as a licking up of blood.  She has four arms.  One of her left hands holds a decapitated head, the other a bloody sword.  One of her right hands confers blessings on her devotees, the other is raised in a gesture signifying "be without fear."  This gesture of "be without fear" is similar to one found on statues of the Buddha.

Since she is shown standing upon his prostrate body, it is sometimes incorrectly said that Kali has conquered and destroyed Shiva.  Ramakrishna explained the real meaning of their relationship this way.  Kali stands on Shiva's chest, Shiva lying under her feet like a corpse; Kali's eyes are fixed on Shiva.  This simply denotes the union of Brahman with its Power. 

Brahman does not act, therefore Shiva, representing Brahman, lies on the ground immobile.  Kali, the Power of Brahman, keeps her eyes fixed upon Shiva since she can only act because of Brahman's presence.  Only through Brahman can she create, preserve, and destroy, her role on earth.  According to Ramakrishna, Shiva sanctions everything that Kali does.

UPANISHADS

The Upanishads are the philosophical portion of the Vedas.  The word upanishad means "sitting near a teacher," in the sense of "intimate sessions for the initiate."  In the form of dialogues, composed with memorization in mind, they teach the knowledge of God and record the spiritual experiences of the sages of ancient India. 

Of the 108 Upanishads that have been preserved (108 is a mystical number), the principal 10 are: Isha, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka, Aitareya, and Taittiriya.  Since Upanishads brought to a close each of the four Vedas, they became known as the Vedanta, "anta" meaning the end of the Vedas.

The Upanishads are, in general, agreed on one fundamental view, that the ground of all being, whether material or spiritual, whether in the form of  humans, animals, or gods, heaven, earth, or hell, is an all inclusive, unitary reality.  It is beyond apprehension by the senses, ultimate in substance, infinite in essence, and self-sufficient.  It is the only really existent entity.  It is called Brahman. 

Some Hindu scholars claim that Gautama Buddha was profoundly influenced by the Upanishads, but when one considers the horror with which many brahmins hold him, this must be taken with a grain of salt.  On the other hand, the Upanishads do correspond broadly to certain doctrines later developed in Mahayana Buddhism.

VEDAS

The word veda means knowledge.  There are four Vedas, dating from the earliest period of known Indian scriptures.  They are the Rig Veda, a collection of praises in the form of hymns; the Sama Veda, also a collection of hymns; the Yajur Veda, a collection of sacrificial formulas; and the Atharva Veda, a collection of charms and magic formulas.  They are known together as Samhitas (Collections).

The Vedas consist of a ritual or "work" portion called Karmakanda, and a philosophical or "knowledge" portion called Jnanakanda. 

Each ritual portion is a collection of mantras or, again, hymns, most of which are addressed to deities such as Indra or Varuna.  The ritual portion known as Brahmanas is concerned with details of sacrificial rites and with specific duties and rules of conduct.  The ritual portion known as Aranyakas is forest treatises so called, which emphasize the spiritual interpretation of religious rites and ceremonies. 

Each knowledge portion comprises Upanishads, a term meaning to sit next to or at the feet of (a teacher), and also "secret teaching." 

Practically all our knowledge of early Hinduism is drawn from the study of the Vedas.

THIS ODDITY

It seems odd that there is anything at all. -----Alan Watts

FIVE SHEATHS

The Upanishads speak of the "cave" in which the Atman is hidden. This cave is the five koshas or sheaths surrounding it.  Beginning with the outermost sheath, they are the Annamaya-kosha, the Pranamaya-kosha, the Manomaya-kosha, the Vijnanamaya-kosha, and the Anandamaya-kosha.

The Annamaya-kosha is the gross physical body that is nourished by food. 

The Pranamaya-kosha is the subtle or vital sheath.  It vitalizes and holds together body and mind.  As long as the vital principle exists in the organism, life continues.  The gross manifestation of this sheath is breath.

The Manomaya-kosha is the sheath of the mind, which receives sense impressions.

The Vijnanamaya-kosha is the sheath of intellect. This is the faculty that discriminates, wills.

The Anandamaya-kosha is the sheath of bliss so called, because it is nearest to the blissful Atman.  The bliss sheath normally has its fullest play during deep sleep, when the mind and senses cease functioning.  In light dreaming and wakeful states, it has only a partial manifestation.  This sheath stands all the while between the finite world and the Atman. 

The Atman remains separate from the sheaths and unaffected by their properties.  According to Vedanta the wise man should discriminate between the true self that is the Atman and the koshas, which are non-self.  This discrimination is based upon the fact that the koshas are transient, ever changing.  The Atman is eternal and changeless.

AWAKENING SPIRITUALLY

When you are dreaming, you think that that state is real.  When you wake up from the dream, you see that the waking state is real.  When you wake up from the waking state, awaken spiritually, you see that that state is even more real.

BRAHMAN AS THE GROUND OF BEING

Brahman is referred to as the ground of being.  It may be thought of as the clay that a jar is made of.  Nothing of the jar is not clay.  The form of the jar is an effect of Brahman, what Brahman has manifested itself as.  Brahman is both the clay and the jar.

THE MAHABHARATA

The Mahabharata is perhaps the world's longest epic poem, consisting of over 100,000 couplets, including the Bhagavad-Gita.  Considered a treasure house of Indian lore, the poem is divided into books called parvas.  It was composed over a period of eight hundred years (400 B.C. to 400 A.D. approximately).  

Expanding upon and illustrating the truths of the Vedas, the Mahabharata tells the story of King Bharata's descendants, the cousins Pandavas and Kauravas.  The purpose of the poem, according to the reputed author of the epic, Vyasa, is to sing the glory of God, the dynastic war between the Pandavas and Kauravas merely providing the occasion.

THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Mahendranath Gupta (1854-1932) a.k.a. “M” first met Ramakrishna in 1882, and, attracted by his teachings, maintained a stenographic record of Ramakrishna's conversations and actions in his diary.  This diary eventually took the form of a book, Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, translated as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.  In the beginning, M had no plans of publication.

After the death of Ramakrishna in 1886, the growing public recognition of Ramakrishna encouraged M to make his diary public. Indeed, he thought that his was an important medium for public dissemination of Ramakrishna's ideas. He also sought the assessment of Sarada Devi, Ramakrishna's wife, before publication.

The first volume was preceded by a small booklet in English called A Leaf from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1897).    Between 1898 to 1902, excerpts from his diary were published in leading Bengali journals, such as Bangadarshan, Udbodhan, Hindu Patrika, Shaitya Patrika and Janmabhumi. 

Volumes one through four were published in 1902, 1904, 1908 and 1910 respectively, and the fifth volume in 1932, delayed because of M's health problems.  At the time of M's death in 1932, he was contemplating at least one, if not two, additional volumes after which he hoped to rearrange the entire material chronologically.

It should be remembered that the Kathamrita was published from 15 to 50 years after M's sessions with Ramakrishna, and covers a total of only 186 days spread over the last four and a half years of the saint's life. 

The full text of the original diary, which is said to contain enough material for another half dozen volumes, has never been made available publicly.  However, according to Dipak Gupta, M's great-grandson, scholars can, and have, seen all the material.  The diary belongs solely to M's descendants, not to the Ramakrishna Order.