Spiritual Practice School

Additionally, the concept of truth is employed in logic when a given logical statement contains no contradictions.

The concept of absolute truth (with a small letter) is used in philosophy. In philosophy, absolute truth is a true statement (philosophical or scientific), the content of which does not imply problematization and correction. In other words, if a statement can be problematized, with subsequent correction according to some criterion, then this truth is not absolute.

Since the absence of any problematization or correction of any true statement is impossible (unless this statement is equal to zero in its content),Insofar as absolute truth does not exist, it follows that the essence of primordial philosophical absolute truth lies in its absence. In Buddhist philosophical schools, this principle is called the principle of emptiness: "truth is emptiness". "There is nothing inherently existing". Everything we think about any given phenomenon as an essence is merely our own thoughts, which we "extract" from things or phenomena. And these thoughts themselves were not and are not present in any things or phenomena.

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Truth with a capital T is usually understood to refer to spiritual absolute Truth.

The essence of spiritual absolute Truth lies not in the existence of a Single God, nor in the structure (or universal interconnectedness) of the Universe, nor in the existence of an afterlife, nor in the existence of the law of karma, but in the eradication of worldly desires.

The eradication of worldly desires is the same as liberation from addictions, from samsara, from the bonds of samsara, from suffering, from illusions, from bonds, from karma, and other such things; it is the same as the attainment of nirvana, the absence of agitation, the state of the Absolute, a state of absolute peace. Since the state of nirvana is described as a transparent emptiness in which there is nothing, in Buddhist philosophy the principle of emptiness, "Truth is emptiness", is also applicable to the "spiritual absolute Truth". That is, essentially, there is no difference between the "spiritual absolute Truth" and the "Truth to which a Buddha awakens". They are one and the same. However, it is crucial to understand the distinction between the two interconnected things discussed here. "The Truth to which a Buddha awakens" is the state of mahanirvana, the experience of this state, and what remains in the Buddha as a result of this experience. All of this is personal experience. And therefore, all this material cannot be conveyed in verbal and logical form. However, on the other hand, all this material can be conveyed to some extent in verbal and logical form. It is precisely that part that can be conveyed in verbal and logical form that is conveyed by the concept of "spiritual absolute Truth". The experience of Buddha is reflected in this concept, but is not fully reducible to it.

Experience cannot be conveyed in words. Words can only convey knowledge. Knowledge and experience are different things. When a teacher tells students something in school, they are transmitting knowledge. When a teacher assigns students a problem, and the students solve it, the students gain experience the experience of solving that problem. Experience is not transmitted in any other way. Experience is a thousand times more informative than knowledge. It is for this reason that it is impossible to convey knowledge of nirvana or the experience of awakening in words, like ordinary knowledge. The only thing that can be conveyed in words are instructions, instructions on the methods by which adepts could themselves enter into the correct meditative state and experience nirvana, liberation, awakening, or any other required experience. This is precisely why it is always wrong to understand "spiritual absolute Truth" as merely knowledge of the results of spiritual practice, but not the results themselves. This is because the results of spiritual practice can only be realized through personal experience and in no other way.

This is precisely why preserving authentic Buddhist sutras is meaningless unless these sutras are backed by a system of genuine spiritual practice. This applies to both the Pali Canon and all other scriptures. This is precisely why only those sutras that are backed by a system of genuine spiritual practice can be called authentic Dharma (literally, Law). "Purify the eye of Dharma through the ten virtuous deeds and the three types of correct action". This is precisely why the Eightfold Path is not a path of knowledge, but a path of personal experience. And it is no coincidence, and precisely for this reason, that Gautama said, and his words remain true to this day, that the authentic Dharma would only exist for five hundred years after his passing. And so it was. Exactly five hundred years later, Buddhist arhats wrote down (for the first time) the text of the Pali Canon and claimed to have saved the Dharma.

Practice, practice, practice! Practice spiritually. Practice yourself, practice yourself, practice yourself! There is no such thing as someone else's experience. Someone else's experience is not experience. Without one's own genuine spiritual practice, which accompanies the Law, this Law ceases to be the Law. Without genuine practice, the Law (Dharma) becomes nothing more than useless wastepaper, a museum exhibit.

What the Buddha awakens to is mahanirvana. The experience of mahanirvana in this sense is called "spiritual absolute Truth". When, for example, in the film "Little Buddha", the Buddha sits in the lotus position, begins to meditate, and is overcome by the devil in various ways, then, in this case, it is exclusively the inner devil that resides within the Buddha. It is simply an image. The film presents an externalized and artistically shaped image of the inner obstacles that confront the Buddha just before achieving his goal. These are the obstacles that arise before attaining Great Liberation. All of these obstacles have a precise name. They are "worldly desires".

Sometimes one hears the opinion: "There is no need to seek the Truth. The Truth is Jesus Christ". However, if such an element as "trust" is used in justifying what Truth is, then this will be an erroneous justification of Truth. The process of justifying the correct Truth should not have "trust" as an intermediate link. If the justification of the true Truth relies on "trust" as an element of this proof, then such Truth becomes questionable. Because it is not suitable for everyone. It is suitable only for those who are in this state of "trust"; it is suitable only for those who believe in this particular instance of the alleged Truth.

Sometimes you may hear another opinion: “Truth is love.” And yes. And no. It all depends on what one considers to be love. If by the word “love” we understand the Absolute – our original, universal unity that belongs to all of us – then yes, that is true. However, if by “love” we mean any other kind of love – such as sensual attachment, the love of Sita and Rama, parental, human, familial, sexual, or any similar kind – then no. Such love is not Truth. Such love is not Truth primarily because it is not eternal. Such love will sooner or later come to an end, fade away, and disappear.

Buddhism asserts that all problems stem from ignorance. And ignorance is, first and foremost, a lack of knowledge of the Truth. There are no people who initially decide to be evil. There is no person who suddenly thought, "Well, since I was born Hitler, that means I'm going to harm everyone. I'm going to kill and torture everyone". No. Such people don't exist. There are no inherently evil people. All evil people are simply those who lack the intelligence to realize that they are evil. And if a person suddenly realizes that they are evil, that they are committing a crime, they are not always intelligent enough to understand that their actions will lead them to hell. All this is basic human stupidity. How can this be proven? It is proven very simply. Look inside yourself and ask yourself. Have you personally ever had such cases when, out of the blue, you began to think to yourself: "I want to be evil. I want to bring suffering and harm to people. I am an inherently harmful and evil person"?

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 to the energy of tamas. Tamas manifests in a person as laziness. This is why the first thing any practitioner should get rid of is tamas itself. Therefore, when a practitioner overcomes their tamas, a very strong willpower awakens in them. During meditation, the brain emits alpha waves.

●Samadhi Yogi – ability to stably enter samadhi. Kundalini yogi. Sanctity. During meditation, the brain emits theta waves.

● Arhat – entering the state of nirvana; solitary awakening; individual liberation and enlightenment (‘enlightenment’ refers to the mental aspect of liberation); a soul worthy of offering. Mahamudra yogi. In a calm state, the brain emits alpha waves. During meditation, it emits delta waves.

● Bodhisattva – savior. Mahayana Yogi.

● Bodhisattva in astral – savior in the astral plane. Astral Mahayana Yogi.

● Bodhisattva in Causal – savior in the causal plane. Causal Mahayana Yogi.

● Buddha – attainment of mahanirvana. The Great Awakening to the Truth. The Great Liberation. The spiritual level of a Buddha surpasses that of any deity, with the exception of Shiva. During meditation and in a calm state, the brain does not emit any waves.

● Winner in Truth – attainment of Mahanirvana independently, without teachers.

● The Departure of the Conqueror in Truth into Mahaparinirvana – attainment of the Absolute. Adi-Buddha. The spiritual level of Adi-Buddha surpasses the spiritual level of any god, including the spiritual level of Shiva.

Awakened Bodies – Buddha Bodies

Yogis, in the course of meditative practice and the mastery of ever deeper boundaries in it, awaken the sleeping bodies within. Awakening the body of another dimension and a controlled exit in this other body is also called the formation of this other body.

● Physical body – associated with the muladhara chakra. Operates in the world of phenomena. To exit the physical body into another body, the yogi must bring the physical body into an altered state. For example, relax extremely or enter a semi-sleep state (meditative state), or fall asleep, or enter a state of artificial suspended animation (samadhi).

● Ghost's body – associated with the svadisthana chakra. Operates in the lower astral plane.

● Phenomenal body (nirmanakaya) – associated with the manipura chakra. Operates in the lower causal. Can manifest itself in the world of phenomena as precognition, separated from the real physical body.

● Dharma body (dharmakaya) – associated with the anahata chakra. Operates in the upper astral plane.

● Essential body (svabavikakaya) – associated with the vishudha chakra. Operates in the middle causal.

● Reward body (sambhogakaya) – associated with the ajna chakra. Operates in the upper causal.

● Diamond Body (vajrakaya) – associated with the sahasrara chakra. True Ego. Atman. Resides in the state of nirvana.

Six Yogas of Naropa. During the Six Yogas of Naropa, the yogis pass sequentially from bottom to top through the mentioned chakras and work with the awakened bodies corresponding to these chakras. The six yogas of Naropa in order: tumo yoga, bardo yoga, dream yoga, illusory body yoga, light yoga, and transference yoga.

Four Yanas

Yana. The path to attaining various spiritual levels is through spiritual practice (sadhana). Many different interests are realized through spiritual practice. This could be simply love or attachment to the Supreme Being, a saint, or a specific deity (or even just a form of one). It could also be a pull toward samsara. It could also be material interest. Spiritual practice includes specific techniques, such as asanas, special physical exercises, walking (standing or running), and pranayama. In Christianity, standing is a very important gymnastic component of spiritual practice (but its significance is little understood; for this reason, churchmen who call officials who hold candles at ceremonies for show "candlesticks" are incorrect). Spiritual practice also includes mental exercises, such as meditation, mantras, prayers, and reading sutras. Spiritual practice also includes lifestyle changes. Spiritual practice also includes cleansing techniques and various ascetic abstinences, such as intermittent dry fasting. Spiritual practice also includes various rituals and ceremonies. Spiritual practice also includes various forms of donation, whether to oneself, one's actions, or one's values. Spiritual practice is conducted either independently or under the guidance of various mentors. Spiritual practice is conducted individually or by joining like-minded groups. The many schools, approaches, paths, and methods of spiritual exploration are commonly systematized, divided, and correlated with the four yanas. Each subsequent yana encompasses all the preceding ones.

● Hinayana (literally "lesser vehicle") is the path of individual, personal liberation. It is also known as Theravada. This path entails the adherent leaving home, joining a monastic community, and becoming a monk by taking the appropriate monastic vows and precepts. Within this yana, the practice of retreat is also practiced, where the adherent renounces worldly life but lives outside the monastic community. Sometimes, retreat occurs outside the community, but under its supervision. If the rate of spiritual growth is compared with that without a community, then progress within the community is significantly faster. Laypeople should strive to become monks. If this is not possible, then they should structure their lives so that they are as similar and close as possible to the monastic life. Among the recommended donations that laypeople can make are donations to the monastic community. Through such a donation, a layperson accumulates karmic data so that in the next life they will no longer face obstacles to monasticism. A prominent characteristic of Hinayana is social isolation, autism, and egocentricity. Any interaction, any social openness of the adept, throws their state back to the initial, mundane level; in this case, the adept is filled with data they receive from another person, and this foreign data, as a rule, becomes overwhelming, and, as a result, they fall to the mundane level. The goal of Hinayana is lesser nirvana. One who has achieved lesser nirvana is called an arhat. After personal achievement, becoming an arhat, the adept can choose what to do next: discard life and enter lesser parinirvana, or embark on the path of Mahayana.

● Mahayana (literally "great vehicle") – in its strict, original sense, is the continuation of the path of spiritual growth after attaining the level of arhat. This is the path of the bodhisattva. Bodhisattvayana. The main task of the bodhisattva is to bring all souls to spiritual awakening. The goal of Mahayana is mahanirvana. One who ultimately achieves mahanirvana is called a buddha.

However, there is another, broader meaning of the word Mahayana. It turns out that Mahayana can be practiced even at the Hinayana stage. Moreover, it turns out that if a person has not yet reached the level of bodhisattva, but nevertheless practices what a bodhisattva must do, then their speed of spiritual advancement increases significantly. Therefore

Mahayana, in its broadest sense, is the path to the salvation of all souls. Mahayana adherents initially strive for attainment for the sake of saving all souls. This approach is based on the development of bodhichitta. Bodhichitta (literally, "enlightened consciousness") is the conscious choice and determination of the adherent, whether already an arhat or not, to dedicate themselves entirely to the salvation of all souls. Mahayana, in this broad sense, encompasses all other paths. Mahayana is practiced by both monks and laypeople. Within Mahayana schools, there is a common misconception that mahanirvana differs from lesser nirvana in that lesser nirvana is attained individually, while mahanirvana is attained collectively. This is not true. Both are attained individually (cases of simultaneous collective awakening are virtually nonexistent). The difference between the two lies in the spiritual level. The practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa and the Six Bodies of Buddha are also included in the Mahayana.

● Tantrayana (literally "secret vehicle", tantra translates as "connection, thread, sequence") is a secret esoteric vehicle. Tantrayana is part of both Mahayana and Vajrayana. In Tantrayana, non-trivial means are used to achieve goals. Magic. Borderline states (of life and death). Psychotechnics. Social engineering. Tantra is understood as the practice of achieving the final result ("fruit") the state of buddhahood by any possible means. "The word 'tantra' is understood as the inseparability of the cause (base), skillful methods (path), and fruit". Tantra practices rituals, mudras, meditations, and yantras. All tantric practices are secret. They cannot be disclosed to anyone. Otherwise, the practice will be ineffective. An important detail of tantra is the bodhisattva vow. That is, an adept, whether an arhat or not, must necessarily take a vow to save all living beings. Another essential requirement of tantra is the vow to attain buddhahood, with the goal of subsequently saving all, or as many, souls as possible. Tantra is considered the shortest and, at the same time, the most dangerous path. It is crucial for a tantric adept to find a good teacher, who must also be thoroughly vetted.

Tantra transforms the adept into a divine being. Identification with the deity(ies) occurs through mantras, mandalas, meditations, and rituals. Signs and symbols, particularly words written in Sanskrit, acquire special significance in the practice (which resonates with Orthodox arguments about the need to read prayers in Old Church Slavonic; this inevitably creates a unique existential perception; although it is more than obvious that the lag between church language and modern language is a normal, natural phenomenon). Tantra is characterized by an expanded list of practices, departing from traditional Buddhist meditation and rituals, and borrowing from other religions, such as yoga, Christianity, Sufism, paganism, and Taoism. Physiology is studied as a means of transforming the body. Techniques for activating sexual energy are used. A rule for the mind is introduced, stating that there are no failures in practice; that is, any failure is not a failure, but, on the contrary, a stroke of good fortune, an event necessary for development, a lesson, and should be studied to avoid repeating the mistake. A repentant sinner is spiritually superior to a righteous person. Moral and ethical standards are being reconsidered.

It is especially important to note the significant difference between true Tantra and what amateurs mistakenly perceive it to be. The large number of so-called Tantrics who have appeared recently (at the beginning of the 21st century), practicing in the tradition of Rajneesh or Andrei Lapin, in fact, have no connection to true Tantra. They simply engage in highly sophisticated group sex, employing esoteric, magical, and energetic techniques. They practice all of this for the sake of achieving increasingly sophisticated pleasure. As a rule, at these orgies there is no talk whatsoever of any understanding of what spiritual growth is.

● Vajrayana (literally "diamond chariot") is the path to developing an indestructible consciousness. The main aspect of Vajrayana is unwavering commitment to the guru. "Diamond consciousness cannot be formed, it can only be copied". Vajrayana places very high demands on the spiritual level of the guru. In Vajrayana, the guru must be at least a Buddha or a Bodhisattva, very close to the highest awakening. Vajrayana is considered the highest chariot. It is easy to see that Christianity is also a diamond chariot, since the most important aspect in Christianity is proclaimed to be faith in Christ and complete, uncritical obedience to him (servitude to God). As in Tantra, of the three types of action, the most important action is the action of the mind. Thoughts must be pure or none at all.

Commandments

The commandments are indications of what a person embarking 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 must observe. A spiritually perfect person, such as a buddha, for example, has no need of commandments. The lower a person's spiritual level, the more mistakes they involuntarily make throughout their life, and the more commandments they must observe to keep themselves from falling. Almost all commandments are formulated negatively: don't do this, don't do that. Therefore, a commandment such as "I am God", which exists in Christianity and Judaism, by definition of what a commandment is, falls outside the definition of a true commandment (unless one considers the clarifying subtext of "You shall have no other gods", which, in fact, also falls outside the definition, as it is more manipulation than a commandment, since there is no specific criterion by which this particular "God" is distinguished from any other "god").

Commandments work best if the list of commandments is free of serious omissions, if, as far as possible, everything that could destroy a person is foreseen. To cover as many options as possible, Buddhists took into account that a person can perform three types of actions: actions of the body, actions of words, and actions of the mind (actions of the mind here also include actions of the soul, such as feelings, emotions, and states). Sages of various religions also noted that a person is prone to fall under the influence of one of the three universal energies: the three gunas (satva, tamas, or rajas). These three obsessions became known in Buddhism as the three poisons. This means that virtually any wrongdoing can be seen as a consequence of being obsessed with one of these three poisons. When we consider the division into the three poisons and the three types of actions, we arrive at the following: Rajas at the level of the body is murder. Tamas at the level of the body is adultery. Satva at the level of the body is theft. Rajas at the level of words is backbiting. Tamas at the level of words is lying. Satva at the level of words is slander. Rajas at the level of the mind is hatred. Tamas at the level of the mind is ignorance. Satva at the level of the mind is greed. It is believed that the actions of the mind are more important, that all other misdeeds arise from the actions of the mind. Therefore, these three greed, hatred, and ignorance were called the three root poisons. They were blamed for all the suffering a person faces 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, they will achieve liberation from all suffering and attain true spiritual liberation.

Three poisons multiplied by three types of actions equals nine. This gives us nine fundamental commandments. Adding one more commandment for speech results in ten fundamental commandments. These ten commandments, with slight modifications, are preached in all religions.

What is crucial to keep in mind here? It is important to understand that each of the ten commandments must be understood in both a narrow and a broad sense.