Buddha Nature and Buddha Maitreya

 This lecture is related with the self realization of the Being.

In gnosticism, we talk about Buddha very often, and we understand that all of us have our own particular individual Buddha nature. It is stated that the stones, plants, animals, people have their Buddha nature. So, then we have to investigate the question: what is that Buddha nature? To understand this I have to tell you a tale of a Zen master. 

A disciple asked a master of Zen Buddhism:

"Master, Do I possess Buddha's nature?”

And the master answered him. "No, you do not.

The disciple replies, "But, I heard that the stones have Buddha nature; the plants have their Buddha nature; animals have theirs, and all of us people have Buddha nature."

Then the Zen master says "Yes, it is true: the stones, plants, animals, people have Buddha nature, but you do not."

“Why?” Asked the disciple.

“Because you are asking about it.”

That was the answer.

In other words, to recognize or to comprehend Buddha nature is nothing related with the intellect.

Any one can read many books or hear many lectures about the story of the life of Buddha, and not enjoy that Buddha nature. This is because it is not a matter of intellectualism or memorizing scriptures; this is not how we become familiar with, and immerse ourselves within, our own Buddha nature. No, Buddhism teaches is us that the path to living in accordance with our Buddha nature, our true nature, is in the awakening of the consciousness.

The word Buddha means enlightened one. To be enlightened means to be awakened; it is to be there second after second, moment after moment, enjoying the Buddha nature that we have and that everybody has. Yet, from the moment that we ask, “Do I have that Buddha nature?” We are inherently implying that we are not enjoying that state of enlightenment or that instant of remembering or being awakened. This is precisely what we had to understand when we talk about Buddha nature: it is something that we have to live, it is a state of being. It is something that we have to experience second after second, moment after moment. Unfortunately, we are divided in two; we are being pulled in two directions.

One of the directions that we are being pulled is inward, internally; the other direction, naturally, is outward. Buddha itself, or that nature that we are talking about here, in gnosticism we call the Innermost, the Monad, the spirit; it is that spark that is the very foundation of life within everything. When we investigate any particular matter, we discover that in the very depth there is always a unity that is called a Monad, and that Monad/Spirit is what we call Buddha.

“Brith-Esh ברית-אש (the covenant of fire in the Flaming Forge of Vulcan) created Elohim- אלהים Ath the heavens (Uranos-Ουράνος) and Ath the earth (Gaia- Γαία, the Schekinah-שכינה). And the earth (Gaia- Γαία, the Schekinah-שכינה) was (Chaotic or) formless, and void (Tohu VeBohu-תהו ובהו); and darkness was upon the face of the Abyss. And (Binah-בינה) the (Holy Ruach-רוח) Spirit of (Poseidon-Ποσειδώνας, the) Elohim- אלהים (of Jonas-Ιώνας) moved upon the face of the waters. And (Poseidon-Ποσειδώνας) Elohim- אלהים said, Let there be light: and there was light.” - Genesis 1:1-3

The hieroglyphic of the Tree of Life explains the Twelve Olympian Gods, that is, all the different parts of a true human being. When we investigate the Tree of Life, we discover that this Innermost, the Buddha, the Monad is associated with the second triangle of the Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life is formed by three triangles. The first triangle is related with Kether-Chokmah-Binah, that which we call the Logoic triangle, or the Divine triangle, which is related with creation. This triangle is where we find the three primary forces related with the law that creates: the positive, negative, and neutral forces that must unite in a single point, in order to originate any creation.

The second triangle is the triangle of the Monad; that spirit, that particular unity that we call Buddha. This Buddha is also constituted of three parts: the spirit, the divine consciousness, and the human consciousness, Chesed-Geburah-Tiphereth. To be more specific, it is the spirit itself that we give the title of Buddha to.

Below the second triangle we find the third triangle, which is related with what we call the mind, emotion and the very foundation of life of our physical body, the energy that maintains our life, Netzach-Hod-Yesod. That physical body itself is of course found below, in the sephirah called Malkuth.

"Some Kabbalists say that Binah is governed by Saturn; here we arrive at a point of disagreement. I do not want to say that the Holy Spirit is not governed by Saturn, that there is no relationship between them; indeed, a relationship exists between them. But this is not all, because without a doubt the world of Jupiter is in a certain way related with Binah; this is because Binah, the Holy Spirit, has powers, a throne, and washes the waters of life.

Chesed, in Himself, is the Innermost; according to the Hindus He is Atman. It has been said that Chesed is directly governed by Jupiter and nothing else. This is false, because the Innermost is Martian, a warrior, a fighter. This is not accepted by many Kabbalists, who might even consider it absurd. But, whosoever has a direct experience in Chesed knows very well that Chesed is a warrior. It is the Innermost who has to be in a struggle to the death against darkness, who has to fight very hard for His own intimate realization of the Self; He is always in battle. It is obvious that He has something of Jupiter, because He can grasp the scepter of Kings; I do not deny it, but it is a false statement that He is only and exclusively Jupiterian.

Geburah, Buddhi, has exclusively been considered Martian. This is a mistake, because in the world of the Spiritual Soul, who is feminine, we find the lion of the law that is solar. Thus, we find the severity of the law in Geburah, but as well we find the nobleness of the lion. Therefore, the buddhic, intuitional world is completely solar.

Some Kabbalists presume that Tiphereth, the world of the Human Soul, or properly called the world of the Son of Man, is governed by the Sun. Really, this is not so, because it is governed by Venus. This is why Christ (the Solar Logos) is crucified on Holy Friday, and this is something that we must meditate upon.

Netzach is the mental world, the cosmic mind, the mind of the human being. There are some authors who suppose that the mind is Venusian; I have to disagree with them, because when properly observed the mind is found to be Mercurial. Anyone can realize that the mind is Mercurial, because Mercury gives wisdom, gives the word, etc. There is no doubt that Netzach is where we can find Hermetic Magic, and in Hod we find Natural Magic. Other authors think differently. They believe that Natural Magic is found in Netzach; I have to disagree with them in that matter because when precisely seen, the mind is found to be Mercurial. There are authors that disagree with my concepts. They suppose that the mind is Venusian. I regret to discuss this type of concept because anyone can realize that the mind is Mercurial. Therefore, Hermetic Magic must be identified with Mercury, which is related with the mind.

Hod is the astral world, the astral body. The astral world is governed by the Moon. This is why astral projections become easier during the crescent moon and a little bit more arduous during the waning moon." - Tarot and Kabbalah by Samael Aun Weor

Obviously, this is a very simple overview of the Tree of Life, because every sephirah, every triangle implies a lot of wisdom, and incredible depth... but, for now, we are going to keep it simple, in order for you to comprehend that Buddha nature within us.

So, the Buddha nature that we talk about is related with the second triangle. We find, for instance, the explanation of this second triangle in the life of Buddha, and how Buddha Gautama was engendered by his mother Māhāmāyā.

When you study Sanskrit, you discover that the word Maya means “illusion” and it is related to matter. In the West, we too have a word for the illusory nature of matter: glamour. If you study the root of the word glamour, you will find that it was used in the context of the faeries, those spiritual beings of nature, elementals, and how they would make themselves invisible to mankind through the use of “glamour.” That is to say, the infatuation with material reality blinds us to the spiritual truth of ourselves, and the world we live in and binds us to ignorance. Hidden within this word Maya is the understanding that everything is illusion because everything that has a beginning must also have an end and therefore has no true reality; this is how matter is in any part of the universe. Sooner or later, all matter, all forms will cease to be, for instance, this planet Earth is real, physical, there is a lot of matter here, but with time it will die

According to gnosticism, we know that all planets, once they have accomplished their work, once all of their responsibilities as host of the many roost races, the many sub-races, the many souls, that come to call that planet home have been exhausted, they become moons. What is a moon? A moon is a dead planet that eventually transform itself into cosmic dust. The cosmic dust that we find in space is the remains of moons. Those moons, before becoming so, were all planets. So, it was just an illusion. That is why we state that everything is mind or mental, because when you think a thought, it immediately disappears, and another appears and eventually all mental matter will disappear as well. This is what in Sanskrit is called the Mahamanvantara, the Great Cosmic Day where everything appears, but when that disappears it is the Mahapralaya, the Great Cosmic Night.

So, of course everything, all matter has this Mahamanvantara and Mahapralaya. For instance, right now, we physically are in our own particular, small, Mahamanvantara or manifestation. We are physically alive but sooner or later we become old, we decay physically, we go to the grave and we disintegrate. That will be our Pralaya or Cosmic Night, so this physical body is an illusion. Even though it is real, it has no reality.

So, the reality is that which is eternal, which never changes, and this is precisely our own inner Buddha. The spark of life that is the intelligence that organizes any type of matter whether small or large.

According to Buddhism, Buddha was engendered by Māhāmāyā. When we talk about Maha in esotericism, we always place that in the upper level.

Maha is related, of course, with the superior forces of creation, which are always placed in the Sephirah Daath, which means knowledge. The sephirah Daath is found below the first triangle, Kether-Chokmah-Binah, on the Tree of Life is, this triangle, we stated, is related with the three primary forces, the forces of creation.

So, those forces of creation manifest in this mysterious sephirah called Daath דעת, and the name of this sephirah means “knowledge,” and in Greek we call it Gnosis. The Buddha was created, it is stated, when a white elephant came and placed a lotus flower in the womb of Māhāmāyā who was sleeping.

Of course, Māhāmāyā is a symbol of the matter, or the chaotic matter, which is in repose, which is not active. This engendering is caused by the Holy Spirit (or by Shiva as they say in Sanskrit in Hinduism) because the white elephant is an animal that represents fertility.

There are many animals or many symbols that are used in esotericism in order to symbolize the power of creation. The white elephant is one of them, it has to be white in order to represent the purity of that creation. And of course, in the Mythology of Christianity we find the white dove as a symbol of fertility. If you remember, the white dove was the one that came into (Daath דעת) the womb of the Virgin Mary (the Schekinah שכינה) and engendered the body of Jesus. So, it's the same initiatic symbol, written in the gospels.

Here, the white elephant symbolizes Shiva or the Holy Spirit that comes and engenders Buddha in the womb of Māhāmāyā, but this is a symbol of something that is happening within the internal dimensions, internal universes, it is not physical. It is related to our own particular individual Buddha. With this, I am also stating that we have our own particular Jesus.

So, that is the spirit the innermost that everybody has within.

Of course, that Buddha, that spark which is engendered by the Holy Spirit is the very beginning of our own particular individuality. Indeed, that Spirit also receives what in Sanskrit is called Buddhi (“wisdom”) or the divine consciousness which abides above. That is why in esotericism we say that the monad is a trio of spirit, divine consciousness and human consciousness, above, in the 6th dimension. The monad does not belong to this three-dimensional world. The only thing that we have that belongs to the three-dimensional world is this material body, the physical body in other words. Within this physical body, we think thoughts, we feel emotions, but obviously, emotions and thoughts are not three dimensional. We sense them, but they abide internally in our fifth dimension.

Beyond, of course, is the consciousness, which is that which gives us the understanding and comprehension that is beyond the mind. We feel that comprehension and understanding within, inside the physical body, but of course, this comprehension is not physical itself. It is all connected, but the comprehension itself exists in subtler dimensions. How do we know this? Because we can sense it, but we cannot prove it. If I ask you, can you bring me a piece of your intelligence here? You cannot bring it. It is impossible. One of you put one thought here... please show me your mind. Well, you can express your thoughts but to put, materially speaking, a piece of mind or piece of emotion here in order to see that, to see your mind or your heart... obviously, it is impossible, because it is not material. The same applies for that which is beyond the consciousness, or beyond the Buddhi, which is the Buddha itself.

Scarcely do people grasp that, and that is because people, usually nowadays, are not familiar with their internal reality; they are not there, within, spiritually speaking. People are in completely identified with matter, identified with the circumstances of life and with this society.

That is why in the beginning I told you when that disciple asked the Zen master whether they had Buddha nature, that master answered, “No.” Why? Because it is very difficult to experience, to sense that Buddha nature within you. For that, you have to remember yourself.

To remember yourself means to remember your being, your own entity, your own true self. The problem is that when we think about self, we always imagine a shape or form of something.

In this case, when we talk about the Buddha nature, we must remember that it has no shape, because that is what we call the spirit, and you cannot place the spirit in a cage or in any shape, otherwise it ceases being a spirit. The Buddha itself is a quality, an element that we have within that can take any shape but does not need the form and that's precisely the innermost, the spirit in each one of us. It can penetrate within you and leave because every single atom of our physical body has a part of that Buddha nature or that spirit. Part of it, not all of it because without it, the physical body cannot be alive. This is impossible because it is the very source of life. Our being, the formation of our selves descends in this manner: First, the Buddha. then the divine consciousness, the human consciousness, mind, emotion, and finally the physical body, in its superior and inferior aspects.

In order for any Buddha or that nature to manifest in any dimension it needs the three primary forces above it.

These three primary forces above are in Hinduism called, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. In Christianity, we call them Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are not people, they are forces. Indeed, if the Buddha nature within us has no form, obviously those forces which are above the Buddha nature, which are even more subtle and even more elevated, they also have no form. Further, the three primary forces in Egypt were Osiris-Ra, symbolizing the strength of the Sun; in Buddhism it is Avalokiteshvara.

According to Buddhism anybody that becomes aware of, and united with, not only of his own particular Buddha nature, but that which is above Buddha nature, which are the three primary forces, they call such a person the Buddha Maitreya, and this is precisely the title of the lecture. There is a master in Buddhism whose name is Maitreya but generally, that name is taken in order to point to any individual that comes into cognizant contact with his own Buddha nature, and beyond, which is Avalokiteshvara Maitreya, also called Chenrezig.

For instance, Tibetans say that the Dalai Lama is a Buddha incarnation. It does not mean that he is the reincarnation of Buddha Gautama. His own Buddha is self-realized; he self-realized his own Buddha in other lives. He was dedicated in order to be aware of that nature, thus he became a Buddha in previous lives and that Buddha incarnated or reincarnated in Tibet and became the Dalai Lama. So, there are many Buddhas.

But the life of Buddha Gautama symbolizes the way in which the Buddha is born and developed. This is something that we have to explain; it is as when you read about the life of Jesus of Nazareth, which teaches us the how a Buddha can be united with Christ.

Avalokiteshvara

What is Christ? Well, Christ is Christos-Χριστός, a Greek word which is equal to Avalokiteshvara. It is a force. It is also stated that the Dalai Lama is an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara; this means that he is united with that force. This is a very high level, a very high degree in the development of our own Buddha. But we have to understand that this development, this degree is something within, not outside. It has nothing to do with reading books… you can memorize all the books of Buddhism and all the books of Christianity or Hinduism and you will not be in that level of Buddha or enlightened ones. Yet any one of us has a little bit of that light within, that is waiting to be developed.

The goal of the path is to develop that embryo of light one hundred percent, to its full capacity and capability, and that is precisely the reason for our existence. It is stated in Buddhism that after a week, more or less, the Gautama Buddha was born from Māhāmāyā which is symbol of a superior force that enters and places that Buddha into matter. It says that Mahāpajāpatī, the sister of Māhāmāyā took over the responsibility of being in charge of that baby. It is necessary for us to understand this symbol: “Maha” is that which is above, superior, and Pajāpatī symbolizes the lower nature, the physical body.

The superior forces of Maya, that chaotic matter, engenders our own Buddha but we have to take care of it. In other words, this physical body that we have is that matter that takes care of that baby. You physically have the responsibility of nurturing your own baby, your own Buddha. But, unfortunately, in this life nobody cares about it. This is the same symbol with regards to the birth of Jesus. Mary, the mother of Jesus, symbolizes matter. Indeed, in Latin the word mother is mater, from which we get the English word “matter” and which is always a symbol of the eternal feminine, which transforms in different shapes.

You find that in both cases, in both religions, we talk about virgins.

The Virgin Māhāmāyā engenders Buddha; the Virgin Mary engenders Jesus. To acquire that virginity is precisely the point of the work in Buddhism or Christianity, and indeed, any other religion. We physically have to take care of it.

Buddha, married his wife Yaśodharā, and had a son. That son was called Rahula. When we study Christianity or Judaism, we find similarities about this symbol that we're talking about.

Now, let us delve into Judaism. In previous lectures we stated that Chesed is what the Jewish people call Abraham, and this word Abraham means, “exalted father.” Well, this Abraham is precisely the same as the Buddha that we have within.

In Judaism, it is stated that Abraham had a son that descended into Egypt (which, in the Bible, esoterically symbolizes the physical body). He engendered a son whose name was Isaac, and the development of that Isaac is related with the divine consciousness. In Buddhism we find a similar symbol, related with the Son of Buddha that later became his own disciple, and entered into the path of enlightenment.

It is the same symbol. Of course, we have to understand and comprehend that symbol in us, in order to understand how that force descends into matter, because that is within. Our Buddha descends into this physical body through the three primary forces, because our own particular Buddha always utilizes the three forces of creation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, or as we said in synthesis, the three primary forces synthesized as Avalokiteshvara. In our physical body we have those three primary forces, because without these three primary forces our own particular Buddha cannot manifest.

When you investigate the physical body, you find that we have three nervous systems.

The first is the central nervous system, which is related with the brain and the spinal medulla. It is also called the cerebrum-spinal nervous system. That is the first Ray, which is a nervous system that captures the force of the Father from above and allows that force to enter into the physical body.

The second is the grand sympathetic nervous system, which is related with the second force of the first triangle.

The third is the parasympathetic nervous system, also called the vagus nervous system.

So, in the physical body, we have three rays, three nervous systems. This is how they manifest in the physical body; this is how we channel these three primary forces, and this is how our physical existence is maintained. These three nervous systems are what we call the three brains. The objective of our own particular Buddha is to control these three primary forces in order to acquire enlightenment.

So, these three primary forces descend and create many things in our physical body, but unfortunately, not under the direction of our own innermost, our own Buddha, because we commit many mistakes.

We forgot about our own Buddha nature, our own embryo of soul. The good thing will be if that Buddha is being taken care of by Mahāpajāpatī, which will be this matter which will dedicate itself to the path of the self-realization. That is why everybody that takes that path is called a monk or a nun. For instance, for women, when they decide to follow the path of Buddhism, they become nuns and they attempt to imitate the life of Mahāpajāpatī, the foster mother of Gautama Buddha. What we have to understand is that Mahāpajāpatī is a symbol of our own matter.

If you want to enter into the path in order to receive enlightenment as a man you have to become a monk, a woman a nun.

What is a monk and what is a nun? It is somebody that take cares of the sexual energy.

I am not saying that all the monks and nuns are chaste, but that implies no sexual activity. No sexual activity from the ordinary way in which people use the sexual energy.

When you enter into the path as a nun or a Monk, it signifies that you are going to take care of your sexual energy in a wise way. That is the meaning of it and then you become a virgin if you want to take care of your own Buddha.

However, if you do not follow chastity, how could you take care of Buddha? Your own inner Buddha needs to grow up and the energy that allows him to grow up and to develop is the sexual energy. This is something that you have to comprehend. That is why Buddha Gautama was married. He had a son, but he had a son in the same way that everybody has one. In the case of Abraham, he has also a son in the same way that everybody has, who was called Ishmael. Abraham had that son with an Egyptian slave; that Egyptian slave is, in other words, that same matter; they are two aspects in Judaism that we have to understand. First is Sarah which brings reminds us of the two polarities; Sah, the moon and Rah the sun; Ida-Pingala which rises in the spinal column. That is the real wife of Abraham.

But the other is a slave, which is the same matter, Haggar; that is the matter which is the slave of the physicality.

The power that we use to multiply comes from inside. That power comes from the Holy Spirit, through Abraham, because the Holy Spirit that the Bible calls Jehovah is the one that tells Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation. And I will make of your seed an inheritance that will worship me.” It is the same thing that happened with Buddha: he engendered his first son as everybody commonly does, from the other matter which is his wife, but then he renounces his kingdom, and this is precisely what we have to do. You might say, “I have no kingdom.” Yes, you have a kingdom. The kingdom is called Malkuth. In Judaism and in Hebrew Malkuth means Kingdom. This means you have to renounce all the values and all that you have through inheritance in your physical body, that we talk in other lectures.

It does not mean that you have to have gold silver, and to be very wealthy in order to abandon the kingdom. No, it is a psychological process in which you have to abandon, little by little, that kingdom.

Everything that is written of the life and the development of Buddha is also within you, it is your physical body. When he abandoned his wife, and his son, it does not mean that he was irresponsible… that he left them in order to venture into the world, not taking care of his family. No, it means that by being with them, he was not with them. Or as Paul of Tarsus said to the Corintheans:

“This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time has been shortened. While it lasts, those who are married should live as though they were not.” - 1 Corintheans 7:29

This is only comprehensible when, you know the great Arcanum, when you know the mystery of chastity or the mystery of the Buddha when he abandoned his wife and son: he went and sat below a Bodhi tree.

“And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.” —Matthew 21:19

"The fig tree solely represents the feminine sexual forces. It is impossible to reach deep realization without the alchemy of the feminine solar forces." - Igneous Rose by Samael Aun Weor

“...Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.” —Luke 3:9

The Bodhi tree was a fig tree. The fig tree is a symbol of the feminine sexual forces and when we talk about the feminine sexual forces, we always refer to the sexual organ.

This is the symbol in esotericism. When we talk about the physical body, we know it is always feminine, esoterically speaking. In Kabbalah, Malkuth is feminine.  Whether you are male or female, symbolically, your physical body is feminine. The positive forces above are masculine, and those below are feminine.

So Alchemically, your physical body is feminine, it is kabbalistically related with the divine soul, the Nephesh Eloki-נפש אלקי; and is esoterically call the Mary Magdalene of the Master Mason. And, when you talk about your physical body, the lower part, the brute stone, is also feminine. Your sexual organ, whether you have the spear, masculine sexual organ or a chalice, feminine sexual organ; both are always feminine.

Esoterically speaking, Peter represents Pater Noster (qui es in cœlis), the Holy Spirit, in the Pineal Gland, the Brain; and Mary Magdalene the Holy Grail.

So, if the Buddha had to sit down at the foot of the tree of wisdom, Bodhi tree (which is a fig tree) it means that he was taking care of his sexual energy. This does not mean that he was using his sexual energy as is so common nowadays, in a very degenerated way, but rather in a chaste way; that is the beginning.

But, for that, you have to abandon your kingdom. What is it to abandon your kingdom? It means to abandon your inheritance, your Nephesh-נפש or animal inheritance, all of that which is related with your three brains, that which impels you to behave like an animal, to act in any way that is contrary to the will of your Being.

That is in the beginning (Berasheeth-בראשית, Genesis) of the awakening of your own particular Buddha, as in the case of Abram:

“And Iod-Havah-יהוה said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” - Genesis 12:1-3

It is a written also that the Buddha started making penances, different sacrifices physically in order to have that enlightenment. However, he discovered that extremes are no good and that he had to follow the middle path, the path of the well-balanced man. When that happened, when he realized that the real path is in the midst, a woman appeared.

This woman offered the Buddha rice and milk in a bowl. This is the symbol of the feminine yoni.  It means that he, as a man, needed to start working with tantra, sexual magic.

In Asia the symbol of the seed, the sexual seed, is rice. In the Middle East, the symbol of the seed is wheat, and in the Americas the symbol of the sexual seed is corn. So, we have three symbols here: Corn in America, rice in Asia, and wheat in the Middle East. So, when that woman brought rice to the Buddha, it meant that she was offering her help, in order for the Buddha to be able to perform tantra.

When the Buddha took that rice, it symbolized that he was transmuting his sexual energy in chastity with the woman. Obviously, as a consequence of this, he was immediately rejuvenated: he became healthy, and this is something that all the monks and nuns do not realize, that their inner Buddha nature needs the sexual energy.  Many of them, like in Christianity, say they have to be celibate. But they do not know why. Yet, if they were to study from the tantric, kabbalistic point of view, they would understand that, while it is good to be a monk or to be a nun, you have to marry. Indeed, begin as a monk, as a nun, but a time will come that, in order for you to spiritually develop, to develop your own inner Buddha, you must take a spouse, so that you can work with the sexual force in an upright, chaste manner; this is what the life of Buddha is teaching us. After this, all the ordeals come for his development. He becomes enlightened.

In this day and age people think that they can receive complete development of their own Buddha, just by being in celibacy... that is wrong. In order for the inner Buddha to descend into the physical world he needed the sexual act of the elephant, which is chastity with Māhāmāyā, which is the symbol of the superior forces, what we call in Kabbalah, Abba and Aima-אבא ואימה. These are the superior father and mother which are in heaven. Of course, here, we have to also control our own matter and to take care of our own Buddha, by being in chastity.

So, through the sexual act, the spiritual development of that Buddha is shown.

In the story of Buddha, you find that he starts fighting against demons, against the negative forces that are within him. Everything that happened to him before becoming a completely enlightened one is at the foot of the tree, the Bodhi tree or fig tree. That is showing us very clearly that the whole work that we have to perform is with our feminine forces, with the sexual energy. It is called feminine because the woman is always the one that takes care of creation. The woman receives the sperm and nurtures that embryo for nine months; the development of the life of any man or woman happens in the womb.

We become the womb when we start working with that energy, and we dedicate all the forces that we have in the three nervous system to our own Buddha because he needs the three primary forces in order to develop. Without the 3 primary forces no Buddha can develop. You can develop to a certain level, being single as a monk or a nun but beyond that, to acquire the hundred percent development of your own particular individual Buddha is only possible if you sit at the foot of the Bodhi tree; in other words, when we begin to work with your sexual energy in a chaste way, through tantra.

Remember, that the bowl which that woman brought to Buddha was filled with both rice and milk. Milk is the symbol of wisdom. After a great fight, the Buddha becomes enlightened. In other words, we will say that he became a Buddha Maitreya.

When any Buddha reaches complete enlightenment, they receive the title of Maitreya. This is what we call in Christianity, a resurrected Master.

When the three primary forces of Avalokiteshvara enter in to, not only our own, individual, particular Buddha, but in all the parts of that Buddha, from Chesed down to Malkuth, then you have an enlightened master. That is what we call a master. The master, the guru is the Buddha, Chesed, the innermost. People commit a great error when the believe that the master is the personality.

We build a personality when we come into this physical world. When we are born, our physical parents ask how themselves, “How will we name her or him? According to our ancestors or in accordance with what my aunt or uncle said?” Etc, etc.

Everyone is given a different name when they are brought into this world, but that is just a name that is temporal. Sooner or later, when we die that name disappears. It is not eternal. The true name that we have is in our own particular Buddha; that is our real name. The name that we have been given here is like a nickname, and it will disappear, just as the personality disappears upon death.

With that personality, we say that, “I was born in India,” or “I was born in Tibet,” or “I was born in Poland,” right? Everyone says this but that which was born there is the personality.

Indeed, that personality is something that we have to disintegrate. We have to fight against that because that is our own particular, individual kingdom, Malkuth, that Buddha renounced. You have to renounce that too. However, you don't renounce that by going into a mountain or a cave. If you go into that cave, up on to that mountain, you take all of your kingdom with you; you have not left it behind. You might think that you abandoned your country, your family, your religion, etc etc etc, but all of that is within you, your personality and your mind. Everything is there.

As the master says, people that try to escape and to hide in the forest, they hide all their mundane in that forest; all of their kingdom is there. So, understand that we do not need to go to any place in order to abandon the kingdom. Instead, in order to abandon the kingdom, you have to work psychologically. You have to meditate. You have to eradicate that from you by meditation. That is why the main thing that Buddha taught us there at the foot of the Bodhi tree was meditation. He was always sitting there meditating. Without meditation we cannot abandon the kingdom.

The abandoning of the kingdom is a process, it is accomplished step after step, and it is found in the development and the growing of another nature, which is the Buddha nature. But, for that, as we have said in many lectures, that Buddha has to be born first, has to be born inside through initiation, because the whole process that is happening in that Buddha under the Bodhi tree is a change; it is a spiritual birth through the sexual energy. In Judaism, the first birth, the first spiritual birth, is the birth of Isaac, the son of Abraham. That Abraham (the same Buddha) that engenders Isaac, which is the spiritual inheritance, symbolically represents the union of our own spirit with the divine consciousness.

When you start working and taking care of your own Buddha inside of you, your matter, first has to become virgin that is a process. You take care of your Sexual Energy and when that woman comes and offers the bowl of rice to that Buddha means that he starts practicing Tantra, sexual magic and then the first birth comes inside. That first birth is the union of the divine consciousness, Buddhi, with the spirit, the Buddha, Atman, Chesed.

So, the union of Buddhi with the spirit is what we call the first birth of that enlightenment. How do we do that? By raising the Kundalini in the physical body.

The Kundalini is a force that awakens only when the Buddha takes the rice from the bowl of that woman through sexual magic, because that bowl is the yoni. If there is no sexual union that birth cannot happen, the Kundalini cannot awaken. That Kundalini is the serpent that arises and that protects Buddha from that flood.

This happens after the woman brings the bowl of rice, which means that he has to raise that serpent. That serpent is the same mother Māhāmāyā, that is now rising in him, because it was dead but now is rising; it is resuscitating him. When you rise that Kundalini up all 33 vertebrae, from the coccyx to the pineal gland to the root of your nose, then your inner Buddha, your inner master, your inner Guru, your innermost, your spirit extracts that spiritual development from your physical body. That instruction goes into his divine consciousness, and the union of that divine consciousness, with the spirit is what we call the first initiation, the birth of the master. That is someone who started to walk on the path that goes to Nirvana. That is the beginning, the first step to Nirvana. We will say that a new master is born, but it is a baby master in heaven, in that level, because the master is always the innermost, the Buddha: that is his first enlightenment.

But that Buddha has to grow up and to develop in the vital body.

Thus, he then needs to raise the serpent of the vital body. He needs to raise the serpent of the emotional body. He needs to raise the serpent of his mental body. And, finally, he needs to raise the serpent of the causal body or body of will. Then, in that development, he acquires a human consciousness that becomes united with the divine consciousness. Then we have a marvelous master, which is a unified-trio, a tri-unity, or trinity in other words which in Sanskrit is called Atman-Budhi-Manas. This manas is the superior manas, the abstract mind that in Kabbalah is called Tiphereth, and in gnosticism we call the human consciousness, the goodwill, in other words. When the initiate reaches this level of development, then a new master is born, a true master.

It is important to remember, however, that when we talk about the master, we’re referring to the Buddha, Atman, Chesed, the innermost. It has nothing to do with the personality that we have here.

Sometimes we hear Gnostics that call the master such and such, and they name the personality, the name of that person. This is ignorance. That personality is going to disappear. The true Master is always the Buddha, the innermost. The inner Buddha is the one that acquires mastery, by working in his own matter; but the personality has to disappear sooner or later. So, if you address somebody and call him master, or your holiness, you have to visualize the innermost, the inner Buddha of that person that you are naming Holiness or Buddha or master.

If you think that the master is the physical body, you are wrong. The physical body will die and disappear. Of course, the physical body receives the energy of that inner Buddha, and manifests through that physical body. But the reality is within. It is not in the physical body, because if the reality was in the physical body, then the physical body would be eternal and this is what we have to understand.

We understand for instance, Jesus, a great master, but we visualize his inner being, and we know that is the master. Yet people in this day and age end up worshiping the personality of Jesus.

They think that Jesus has to come physically. The second coming they say...

In Buddhism we find that the Buddha promised that he was going to come, or a great master, a great Buddha was going to come in the future. That is the Buddha Maitreya in this day and age. Yet, people are waiting for something physical. That Maitreya comes from inside and develops, in the one that walks the path. When that Buddha Maitreya is fully developed and then you say, this is the Buddha Maitreya but from within and without. That is why when somebody says this person is a master, well his inner being is a master.

The physical person in this physical world can fall. They can degenerate again, and there are many cases of this. This is what we call a fallen Bodhisattva. What is the Bodhisattva? The Bodhisattva is the human soul which is the third aspect of that Buddha that enters into the world, which in Kabbalah we call Tiphereth; the human soul, the superior Manas, in other words. So, the Bodhisattva is only a vehicle. It is only a vessel. It is only a messenger.

The Bodhisattva is what is called the messenger, prophet or that one that delivers the knowledge or as we will say in Islam, Allah is Allah, Buddha is Buddha. The innermost is the innermost and Muhammad is his prophet. So, Muhammad in this case is the physical Bodhisattva that delivers the message of his own God, Allah in Arabic. In English it is God, in Spanish is Dios, Goth in German, Dieu in French, El- אל in Hebrew. That is why in gnosticism we say El- אל is El- אל but many Spanish people think that El- אל in Spanish means “He.” They think that he is He. No! El- אל is Aleph-Lamed. El- אל is El- אל; God is God; Allah is Allah.

So, as we said, the Buddha is always the Buddha, and that Buddha is inside, and that is the master. As we were stating, the Bodhisattva is a vehicle that can fall into many mistakes. The inner Buddha never commits mistakes; it is perfect. But the Bodhisattva, the human soul, can commit many mistakes, many errors and this is something that we have to comprehend.

The development of that inner Buddha is written about in the Book of Genesis. It is the story of Abraham. Abraham engendered Isaac and Isaac engendered Jacob. These three parts that are named in the Bible many times are the three parts of the monad: Chesed-Geburah-Tiphereth; Atman-Buddhi-Manas; spirit, divine consciousness and human consciousness.

It comes into my mind that statement of Jesus of Nazareth when he states:

“The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, saying: Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: Likewise, the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

And last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

For in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying:

“I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.” - Matthew 22:23-33

The former quotation means that Jehovah, which represent the three primary forces above the monad, is the God of the monad and the monad is “the living.” The living are the spirit, the divine consciousness, and the human consciousness. Those are the living entities that we have to develop.

It does not mean that everybody in this world is a human being, having those three parts fully developed. Not everybody’s inner Buddha, innermost, Chesed is a master. Everybody has the Buddha nature, but to become enlightened, to become a real Buddha Maitreya, you need to be born internally, spiritually, through sexual magic. The first birth is that extraction of the Kundalini of the physical body, uniting the divine consciousness with the spirit in the superior world. Then a new master is born, who starts walking towards Nirvana. If he gains the fifth initiation of the Major Mysteries, he enters into Nirvana, and if he renounces Nirvana, then becomes a true Bodhisattva that follows the direct path. That is a true Buddha because there are many Buddhas in Asia that reach the level of Buddha but not all of them are Buddha Maitreyas.

A Maitreya is one that renounces Nirvana for the love of this humanity, and continues his path until annihilating Mara, and his demons, and the three daughters, until cleaning, completely, all of his self and acquiring a hundred percent of enlightenment. Buddha Gautama did that process, and it is what in Buddhism is called the development of the three Kayas. What are the three Kayas? They are the three vehicles of those three primary forces that, in conjunction, are Avalokiteshvara.

These three vehicles are the Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya and Dharmakaya. Those are the main bodies taught in Buddhism related with the three primary forces.

The Nirmanakaya is related with Binah; the Sambhogakaya is related with Chokmah; and the Dharmakaya with Kether. Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the whole Avalokiteshvara, in conjunction. So, that is what we call a Buddha Maitreya: somebody that has developed those Kayas. This Sanskrit word Kaya means, “vehicle, body.”

Thus, in order to develop those bodies, first, you need to reach the level of Buddha, your innermost has to reach the fifth initiation of the Major Mysteries.

When such a Master reaches that degree, then he starts developing all those bodies. The first one is the Nirmanakaya. Nobody can do that if you have the ego alive. The disintegration of the ego is a process. The Buddha Gautama Shakyamuni reached the level of Dharmakaya, but it is a long process of enlightenment and development.

In previous lives, previous ages or periods of manifestation, many masters acquired that level, and, unfortunately, they also lost it. These are the fallen Bodhisattvas that we were speaking about before.

For instance, there was a master that was born in India, whose personality was named Krishnamurti. Of course, that was the name of the personality, and we recognize that he is a Buddha Maitreya. But he became Buddha Maitreya in previous lives but was still in the process of perfection. So, when some clairvoyant saw this Buddha, and they discovered that he was very enlightened because he was united with his own Avalokiteshvara, they thought it was the reincarnation of Jesus because they never knew about this knowledge. They did not understand that Jesus, with his life, represented the development of Avalokiteshvara, the development of that Maitreya within, just as Buddha teaches with his life, the development of that Buddha within. When you reach that level beyond that, you need another further information, more guidance, and for that Jesus descended and taught the path of Avalokiteshvara or the path of Christ. But as for Buddha they were in different levels. This is how Christianity and Buddhism unite.

They are 2 thumbs: the Buddha is one thumb and Christ is the other. We are not talking about individuals here… Our inner Buddha is one thumb and the other thumb is Avalokiteshvara, the Christ which is above the Buddha, which each of us has within.

Christ is a symbol of the three primary forces that are always acting in us. For instance, what is the energy of Christ in us? The energy of Christ are the three primary forces that descend in the three nervous systems that we have, and that the inner Buddha has to take advantage of; in order to grow up, in order to develop and that mastery is reached by that inner Buddha. It has nothing to do with the personality.

Many people think that the Bodhisattva is the master. The master is the Buddha. The Bodhisattva is only a vehicle. The Bodhisattva is that servant that says:

“Father, if it is possible, take this chalice out of me, but not let mine but thy will be done.”

So in other words, the Bodhisattva is the one that follows the will of his inner God his inner master.

Into my memory comes this passage:

“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said: Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying: Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19: 16-26

That is the answer of the Bodhisattva: “Don't call me good because good is Gedulah, Chesed the innermost, Buddha but we are only human souls, more or less perfect. Only the Father, the inner Buddha is perfect. He is perfect and here below we are not perfect.”

Questions

Audience: Some people that think that prayer is the only thing that is necessary and meditation is not necessary.

Instructor: To pray is to talk with God. Anybody can pray, I pray often. I close my eyes and talk to my inner God/Spirit, and it is a conversation that we have. This type of Prayer is good, but we have to work as Buddha taught us, to develop ourselves. We don't develop by praying. We develop by comprehending, by understanding our own nature; by awakening our own consciousness.

If we could accomplish the path by just praying... then that's easy. Just pray to your God. You believe in God, that is it, that is enough. And everybody's will be done. We need to work on ourselves. That is why there are Commandments: You shall not do this. You shall not do that. We discover that in life, we always do that which is prohibited. You shall not lie. But we are liars. We should not steal in many ways. but we steal. We act against the will of God in many ways, and if you observe yourself, you will see that you break the law.

Therefore, we need to meditate, to comprehend in order not to break the law. When you reach perfection and you no longer break the law, then you don't need to meditate. You don't need to comprehend anything. So, meditation is indispensable in order to comprehend our bad behavior and how to act in a good manner.

Audience: What is emptiness within Buddha nature?

Instructor: It is to abandon the kingdom. To be empty means not to think. It is to just be here and now, empty of mundane things. Of course, when we practice, as we said, self-remembering; remembering the Buddha, when you reach the Buddha level, the state of Buddha nature, you discover that the innermost does not think because he knows.

This relates with the beginning of this lecture, when that disciple asked the master, “Do I have the Buddha nature?” And the master says, “No, you do not.” “Why? Because the stones have Buddha nature, the plants have Buddha nature; animals have Buddha nature... How come I do not have Buddha nature?” He says “Because you are asking.”

It means that when you are in Buddha nature, you are empty. No thought. Just enjoying that state. Of course, there's levels and levels to this. The higher level is to reach the total emptiness of the mind because in Buddhism it is the emptiness of the mind.

If you sit down and close your eyes, you will see that your mind is not empty. It is full of thoughts, images, foolishness. How are you going to acquire that emptiness which is the goal? It is a process. But, if you observe, you have a lot of devils within your mind.

Of course, even if you pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name,” it is a devil praying there because you have a lot of devils. But, if you work in meditation and you acquire the total emptiness of your mind, then you acquire the Buddha nature. Then it is easy to be in the emptiness or in the Buddha nature of a stone, of a plant, of an animal, of a world because Buddha is everywhere, which means that emptiness, which is the Buddha nature, is everywhere. But we think and we always fill the mind with thoughts, etc. It is difficult to experience that because it's beyond the mind.

Audience: How important is it to develop patience while meditating, because many Gnostics are always discouraged because they don't have experiences beyond the mind or beyond the physical body?

Instructor: Well, the answer is that you have to practice and to remember yourself, second after second, moment after moment, not only during meditation but your whole life, when you're working, when you are at home, when you are with your friends, even when you are sitting watching TV, you have to remember yourself all the time, and when you go to meditate, of course, you continue that practice and doing the effort to quiet your mind in order to experience satori.

In order to acquire these type of experiences, if you are there meditating and longing to have that type of experience it is very difficult, very difficult to acquire that because then it is a desire. Somebody within you, the mind wants that experience. My advice is to sit down to meditate and just to control your mind, to be aware of you of your thoughts, your emotions, study yourself, meditate in that and you will see how, without any expectation, your consciousness will experience the Buddha nature in different levels, without longing for it.

The problem is when we are wishing for something, we desire that. That desire is of the kingdom. In other words, in order to experience Buddha nature, you have to abandon the kingdom. Some people go and meditate and they sit down for hours and try to experience Satori/samadhi but they took all of the kingdom with them. They're sitting there, of course, making a mudra very well, seated down, straight spinal column, good posture, etc. and they are there with closed eyes and all the mundane things are inside of them. The kingdom is completely there. They do not fight against that. They do not try to quiet down to comprehend their kingdom. In order to abandon the kingdom you have to comprehend your kingdom. 

Believe me, it takes a long, long time to comprehend your kingdom, because it's too much. Just study any kingdom there is always a queen, a king. There is always a lot of people that are working in the kingdom. There are animals, many things… when you close your eyes, you have to understand and comprehend your kingdom.

How are you going to abandon something that you are not cognizant of? In order to abandon something, you have to be cognizant of it. When you consciously abandon your kingdom, then you enter into your own reality which is your Buddha nature. Sometimes, it is just for seconds.

I remember an experience I had, where I was meditating, trying to abandon my kingdom and a lot of garbage was coming into my mind and I was comprehending, and I was very tired of comprehending all the things that were coming into my mind. I said to myself, what is this? All of a sudden, without any expectation, I felt myself going out of my body, like a bolt of lightning. Then I was in a place and when I saw that, I was so surprised to see the beautiful thing that I was seeing that immediately, my mind below tried to analyze, “What is this?” When I tried to analyze I felt like the genie of the lamp going back into the bottle again and my mind made me loose that experience.

I was lying on my bed, trying to go out but it doesn't matter how many jumps I did, I was still there in my physical body. I thought of how to extend that experience, but the effort doesn't work there. The only thing that I was doing before having that experience was analyzing myself, I was not expecting to go into satori. I was just simply analyzing all the garbage that I had within and remembering myself. Every experience comes all of a sudden, without any expectation.