Spiritual Practice School
Truth with a lowercase “t” also refers to a person’s statement when it corresponds to reality (truth as opposed to falsehood).
The concept of truth is also used in logic, when a given logical statement contains no contradictions.
Absolute truth (with a lowercase “t”) is a philosophical concept. In philosophy, absolute truth is a true statement (philosophical or scientific) whose content does not allow for problematisation or correction. In other words, if a statement can be problematised and then corrected according to some criterion, then that truth is not absolute. Since it is impossible for any true statement to avoid problematisation or correction (unless the statement’s content is zero), absolute truth does not exist. From this, we can conclude that the essence of the original philosophical absolute truth lies in its absence. In Buddhist philosophical schools, this principle is known as the principle of emptiness: “Truth is emptiness”. “Nothing inherently exists”. Everything we think of as the essence of a phenomenon is merely our own thoughts that we “extract” from things or phenomena – thoughts that were not originally present in those things or phenomena
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Truth with a capital “T” usually refers to spiritual absolute Truth.
The essence of spiritual absolute Truth does not lie in the existence of a single God, nor in the structure (or universal interconnectedness) of the Universe, nor in the existence of an otherworldly realm, nor in the Law of Karma – but in the eradication of worldly desires.
Eradicating worldly desires means the same as liberation from dependencies, from samsara, from the bonds of samsara, from suffering, from illusions, from fetters, from karma, and from similar things. It means the same as attaining nirvana, the absence of disturbance, the state of the Absolute, the state of absolute peace.
Since the state of nirvana is described as a transparent emptiness in which nothing exists, the Buddhist principle of emptiness – “Truth is emptiness” – also applies to spiritual absolute Truth. In essence, there is no difference between spiritual absolute Truth and the Truth to which a Buddha awakens. They are one and the same. However, it is crucial to understand the difference between two related things. The Truth to which a Buddha awakens is the state of mahānirvāṇa, the experience of this state, and what remains for the Buddha as a result of this experience. This is personal experience – and therefore, it cannot be fully conveyed in verbal‑logical form. Spiritual absolute Truth refers to the part of this experience that can be conveyed verbally. The Buddha’s experience is reflected in this concept, but is not fully reducible to it.
Experience is not transmitted through words. Words can only convey knowledge. Knowledge and experience are different. When a teacher tells students something, they convey knowledge. When the teacher gives a task and students solve it, they gain experience – the experience of solving that task. There is no other way to transmit experience. Experience is a thousand times more informative than knowledge. This is why it is impossible to convey knowledge about nirvana or the experience of awakening in words, as ordinary knowledge. The only thing that can be conveyed in words are instructions – methods by which adepts can enter the correct meditative state and experience nirvana, liberation, awakening, or any required experience for themselves. Therefore, it is always a mistake to understand spiritual absolute Truth as only knowledge about the result of spiritual practice, rather than the result itself. The result of spiritual practice can only be represented as personal experience.
This is why the preservation of authentic Buddhist sutras has no meaning unless they are backed by a system of genuine spiritual practice. This applies to the Pali Canon and any other scriptures. Genuine Dharma (literally, Law) can only be called those sutras that are supported by a living system of spiritual practice: “To purify the eye of Dharma through ten wholesome deeds and three kinds of right action”. This is why the Eightfold Noble Path is not a path of knowledge, but a path of gaining personal experience. Gautama said – and his words remain true to this day – that genuine Dharma would last only five hundred years after his passing. This is exactly what happened: five hundred years later, Buddhist arhats first recorded the text of the Pali Canon, claiming they had “saved” Dharma. But genuine Dharma arises from direct realisation, not from reading.
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Practice, practice, practice! Spiritual practice – practice it yourself, yourself, yourself! There is no such thing as someone else’s experience. Without one’s own real engagement in spiritual practice that accompanies the Law, the Law ceases to be a Law. Without real practice, the Law (Dharma) becomes mere useless paper – a museum exhibit.
What a Buddha awakens to is mahānirvāṇa. The experience of mahānirvāṇa is what is called spiritual absolute Truth. For example, in the film Little Buddha, when the Buddha sits in the lotus position and begins to meditate, and the devil begins to assail him in various ways, this refers exclusively to the inner devil within the Buddha. It is just an image – an externalised and artistically shaped representation of the inner obstacles that arise before the Buddha just before attainment: the obstacles that appear before the Great Liberation. These obstacles have a precise name: worldly desires.
Sometimes one hears: “There is no need to seek Truth. Truth is Jesus Christ”. But if trust is used as the basis for defining Truth, this is a flawed foundation. The path to correct Truth must not include trust as an intermediate step. If the justification of true Truth relies on trust, then such Truth becomes doubtful – because it does not apply to everyone, but only to those in a state of trust, to those who believe in this particular instance of supposed Truth.
Another opinion is sometimes heard: “Truth is love”. Yes and no. It depends on what is meant by love. If love is understood as the Absolute – then yes: “our primordial unity”. But if love means some other kind of love – sensual attachment, the love of Sita and Rama, parental, human, familial, sexual, or similar – then no. Such love is not Truth, primarily because it is not eternal. It will end sooner or later, and in the absence of mutuality, it can cause great suffering, psychological trauma, or even mania.
Buddhism asserts that all problems stem from ignorance – and ignorance is, first and foremost, a lack of knowledge of Truth. There are no people who innately decide to be evil. No one thinks: “Since I was born as Hitler, I will now harm everyone, kill and torment them”. No. Such people do not exist. There are no inherently evil people. All so‑called evil people are simply those who lacked the wisdom to understand that they are being evil. And even if a person realises they are evil and committing a crime, they often lack the insight to see that their actions will lead them to hell. This is elementary human folly. How can this be proven? It is proven simply: look within yourself and ask: Have you ever had a moment when you suddenly thought, ‘I want to be evil. I want to bring suffering and harm to people. I am inherently harmful and evil’?
Levels of Achievement
● Hatha Yogi – purification of the right, left and central channels. Awakening of kundalini.
● Raja Yogi – ability to transcend attachment to the three gunas, and in particular, the energy of tamas. Tamas manifests in a person as laziness. This is why the first thing any practitioner should get rid of is precisely tamas. When a practitioner overcomes their tamas, a very strong willpower awakens. In meditation, the brain emits alpha waves.
●Samadhi Yogi – ability to stably enter samadhi. A kundalini yogi. Holiness. In meditation, the brain emits theta waves.
● Arhat – entering the state of nirvana. Solitary awakening. Solitary liberation and enlightenment (“enlightenment” refers to the mental aspect of liberation). A soul worthy of offering. A mahamudra yogi. In a calm state, the brain emits alpha waves; in meditation, it emits delta waves.
● Bodhisattva – savior. Mahayana Yogi.
● Bodhisattva in astral – savior in the astral realm. Astral Mahayana Yogi.
● Bodhisattva in Causal – savior in the causal realm. Causal Mahayana Yogi.
● Buddha – attainment of mahanirvana. Great Awakening to Truth. Great liberation. The spiritual level of a buddha surpasses that of any deity, with the exception of Shiva. In both meditation and a calm state, the brain does not emits any waves.
● Victor in Truth – attaining mahanirvana independently, without teachers.
● Departure of the Victor in Truth into Mahaparinirvana – attainment of the Absolute. Adi‑Buddha. The spiritual level of the Adi‑Buddha surpasses that of any deity, including Shiva.
Awakened Bodies – Buddha Bodies
As yogis advance in meditative practice and master ever‑deeper stages, they awaken dormant bodies within. The awakening of a body of another dimension – and a controlled exit into this other body – is also called the formation of this other body.
● Physical body – associated with the muladhara chakra and operates in the world of phenomena. To exit the physical body in another body, a yogi must bring the physical body into an altered state – for example, by achieving extreme relaxation, entering a drowsy (meditative) state, falling asleep, or attaining a state of artificial anabiosis (samadhi).
● Body of Apparition – associated with the svadisthana chakra. Operates in the lower astral plane.
● Phenomenal body (nirmanakaya) – associated with the manipura chakra. Operates in the lower causal plane. It can manifest in the world of phenomena as the body of apparition, seperated from the real physical body.
● Body of the Law (dharmakaya) – associated with the anahata chakra. Operates in the upper astral plane.
● Body of Essence (svabavikakaya) – associated with the vishudha chakra. Operates in the middle causal.
● Body of Reward (sambhogakaya) – associated with the ajna chakra. Operates in the upper causal.
● Vajra body (vajrakaya) – associated with the sahasrara chakra. True Ego. It represents the Atman. Abides in the state of nirvana.
In the course of the Six Yogas of Naropa, yogis progress sequentially from the lower to the higher chakras and work with the awakened bodies corresponding to these chakras. The Six Yogas of Naropa – performed in the following order – are:
● Tummo Yoga (Yoga of Inner Heat), which focuses on generating inner warmth and energy, often linked with the lower chakras and the awakening of kuṇḍalinī;
● Bardo Yoga, which deals with the intermediate states (bardo) between life and death and trains the practitioner to maintain awareness during transitions;
● Yoga of Dreams, which cultivates lucid dreaming and the ability to recognise dreams as illusory, using this insight to deepen spiritual awakening;
● Yoga of the Illusory Body, which trains the yogi to perceive all phenomena, including the body, as illusory and facilitates the formation and control of subtle bodies;
● Yoga of Light, which involves practices of visualisation and working with inner light and aims at realising the luminous nature of mind;
● Yoga of Transference of Consciousness (phowa), which teaches the method of consciously transferring one’s consciousness at the moment of death to a higher realm or state, ensuring a favourable rebirth or liberation.
Four Yanas
Yana. The path to achieving various spiritual levels proceeds through spiritual practice (sādhana). A wide range of interests is realised through spiritual practice. This may be simply love or attachment to the Supreme, or to some saint, or to a particular deity (or even just to its form). It may also be an attraction to saṃsāra, or it may be a material interest. Spiritual practice includes specific techniques such as āsanas, special physical exercises, walking (standing or running), and prāṇāyāmas. In Christianity, standing is a very important gymnastic component of spiritual practice (though its significance is little understood; for this reason, church officials who refer to officials holding candles at ceremonies merely for show as “candle‑holders” are wrong). Spiritual practice also includes mental exercises such as meditations, mantras, prayers, and reading sūtras. It also involves making changes to one’s lifestyle, as well as purification techniques and various ascetic abstentions – such as, for example, intermittent dry fasting. Spiritual practice further includes various ritual actions and the performance of ceremonies, as well as different ways of making offerings – of oneself, one’s actions, or one’s possessions. Spiritual practice is carried out either independently or under the guidance of various teachers, either individually or by joining like‑minded groups. The multitude of schools, approaches, paths, and methods of spiritual inquiry are traditionally systematised, categorised, and correlated with the four yanas. Each subsequent yana includes all the preceding ones.
● Hinayana (literally "lesser vehicle") is the path of individual, personal liberation. It has another name: Theravada. This path involves the adept leaving home, joining a monastic community, and becoming a monk by taking on the relevant monastic vows and precepts. Within this yana, the practice of retreat is also carried out – that is, when the adept abandons worldly life but lives outside the monastic community. Sometimes, retreat is carried out outside the community but under its supervision. If we compare the speed of spiritual growth within a community and outside it, progress within the community is an order of magnitude faster. Laypeople, meanwhile, should strive to become monks. If this is not possible, then a layperson should structure their life so that it is as close as possible to the monastic lifestyle. Among the recommended offerings that laypeople can make are donations to the monastic community. Through such an offering, a layperson accumulates karmic data so that in the next life there will be no more obstacles to monastic life. A marked feature of Hinayana is social seclusion, autistic tendencies, and self‑centredness. Since any interaction or social openness on the part of the adept brings their state back to the initial, worldly level – because in this case the adept becomes filled with data received from another person, and this foreign data is usually unbearable for them, causing them to fall back to the worldly level. The goal of Hinayana is small nirvāṇa. One who attains small nirvāṇa is called an Arhat. After personal attainment, having become an Arhat, the adept can choose what to do next: abandon life and enter small parinirvāṇa, or take up the path of Mahayana.
● Mahayana (literally "great vehicle") – is, in the strict, original sense, the continuation of the path of spiritual growth after attaining the level of an Arhat. It is the path of the Bodhisattva – Bodhisattvayana. The main task of a Bodhisattva is to lead all souls to spiritual awakening. The goal of Mahayana is mahanirvāṇa. One who ultimately attains mahanirvāṇa is called a buddha.
However, there is another, broader meaning of the term Mahayana. It turned out that Mahayana can be practised even at the stage of Hinayana. Moreover, it turned out that if a person has not yet attaned the level of a Bodhisattva, but nevertheless practises what a Bodhisattva should do, their speed of spiritual progress increases by an order of magnitude. Thus, Mahayana in the broad sense is the path of saving all souls. Adepts of Mahayana initially strive to attain enlightenment for the sake of saving all souls. This approach is based on the development of bodhicitta. Bodhicitta (literally “awakened consciousness”) is the conscious choice and resolve of the adept – regardless of whether they are already an Arhat or not – to dedicate themself entirely to saving all souls.
Mahayana, in this broad sense, unites all the other vehicles. It is practised by both monks and laypeople. Within schools of Mahayana, there is often a mistaken belief that mahanirvāṇa differs from small nirvāṇa in that one enters small nirvāṇa individually, while one enters mahanirvāṇa collectively. This is not the case. Both are achieved individually (instances of simultaneous collective awakening are practically non‑existent). The difference between the two lies in the spiritual level. The practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa and the six Buddha bodies is also part of Mahayana.
● Tantrayana (literally "secret vehicle", tantra translates as "connection, thread, sequence") is a secret, esoteric vehicle. Tantrayana is included in both Mahayana and Vajrayana. In Tantrayana, non‑trivial means are used to achieve the goal: magic, borderline states (of life and death), psychotechniques, and sociotechniques. Tantra is understood as the practice of achieving the final result (“fruit”) – the state of Buddha – by any possible means. The word “tantra” is understood as the unbroken continuity of cause (basis), skillful means (path), and fruit. In tantra, rituals, mudras, meditations, and yantras are practised. All tantra practices are secret; one must not speak of them to anyone, otherwise there will be no effect from the practice. An important detail of tantra is the Bodhisattva vow: the adept, without fail – regardless of whether they are an Arhat or not – must take a vow to save all living beings. Also an important condition of tantra is taking a vow to attain the state of Buddha in order to later save all or as many souls as possible. Tantra is considered the shortest and at the same time the most dangerous path. For a tantra adept, it is very important to find a good teacher, who must also be thoroughly vetted.
Tantra transforms the adept into a divine being. Identification with a deity (or deities) occurs through mantras, mandalas, meditations, and rituals. Signs and symbols acquire special importance in practice, particularly words written in Sanskrit characters (which quite resonates with Orthodox discussions about the need to recite prayers in Church Slavonic, and which inevitably creates a special existential perception – although it is more than obvious that the lag of church language behind the modern one is a natural regularity). Tantra is characterised by an expansion of the list of practices, departing from traditional Buddhist meditations and rituals, and allowing borrowings from other religions – such as yoga, Christianity, Sufism, paganism, and Taoism. Physiology is studied as a subject of organism transformation. Techniques for activating sexual energy are used. A rule is introduced for the work of consciousness: there are no failures in practice – that is, any failure is not a failure but, on the contrary, a success, a necessary event for development, a lesson that must be studied in order to avoid repeating the mistake. A repentant sinner is higher in spiritual level than a righteous person. Moral and ethical norms are re‑examined.
It should be especially noted that there is a significant difference between genuine tantra and what amateurs commonly mistake it for. A large number of so‑called tantrists who have appeared recently (in the early 21st century), practising in the tradition of Rajneesh or Andrey Lapin, in fact have nothing to do with genuine tantra. They are merely engaged in highly sophisticated group sex, using esoteric, magical, and energetic techniques – all of which they practise for the sake of obtaining ever more sophisticated pleasure. As a rule, in these orgies there is not even any talk of what spiritual growth means.
● Vajrayana (literally "diamond vehicle") is the path of forming an indestructible consciousness. The main aspect of Vajrayana is unshakable devotion to the guru. “Indestructible consciousness cannot be formed; it can only be copied”. In Vajrayana, very high demands are placed on the spiritual level of the guru. In Vajrayana, the guru must be at least a Buddha or a Bodhisattva very close to supreme awakening. Vajrayana is considered the highest vehicle. It is not hard.
Commandments
Commandments are instructions indicating what a person who has embarked on the path of spiritual awakening should not do. The higher a person’s spiritual level, the fewer mistakes they make on their own, and the fewer commandments they have to observe. A person who is spiritually perfect, for example someone like a Buddha, has no need for commandments. The lower a person’s spiritual level, the more mistakes they involuntarily make in the course of their life, and the more commandments they need to observe in order to hold themselves back from falling. Almost all commandments are formulated negatively: do not do this, do not do that. Therefore, a commandment such as “I am God” – which exists in Christianity and Judaism – falls outside the definition of proper commandments (unless we take into account the explanatory subtext “you shall have no other gods”, which, in fact, also falls outside, since it is more of a manipulation than a commandment, insofar as there is no specific criterion by which this particular “God” is distinguished from any other “god”).
Commandments work best if there are no serious omissions in the list of commandments, if everything that could destroy a person is covered as much as possible. To cover as many possibilities as possible, Buddhists took into account that a person can commit three types of actions: actions of the body, actions of words, and actions of the mind (actions of the mind also include actions of the soul, such as feelings, emotions, and states). And furthermore, sages of various religions noticed that a person tends to fall under the influence of one of three universal energies: the three gunas (sattva, tamas, or rajas). And these three attachments in Buddhism came to be called the three poisons. That is, it turns out that almost any wrong action can be seen as a consequence of being caught by one of these three poisons.
When considering the division into three poisons and three types of deeds, the following results: rajas at the body level is murder. Tamas at the body level is adultery. Sattva at the body level is theft. Rajas at the speech level is slander. Tamas at the speech level is lying. Sattva at the speech level is calumny. Rajas at the mind level is hatred. Tamas at the mind level is ignorance. Sattva at the mind level is greed. It is believed that actions of the mind are more important, that all other transgressions stem from actions of the mind. Therefore, these three – greed, hatred, and ignorance – were named the three root poisons. And they were held responsible for all the sufferings a person has to face in life. That is, the cause of all suffering lies in the three root poisons: greed, hatred, and ignorance. If a person eradicates these three poisons within themselves, then they will attain liberation from all suffering, and then they will achieve true spiritual liberation.
Three poisons multiplied by three types of actions gives nine. It turns out – nine fundamental commandments. One more commandment for speech was added and it turned out to be ten fundamental commandments. These ten commandments, with minor modifications, are preached in all religions.
What is very important to keep in mind here? One must understand that any of the ten commandments must be understood both in a narrow and in a broad sense.