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A LA GLOIRE DU GRAND ARCHITECTE DE L'UNIVERS |
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A. L. G. D. G. A. D. L. 'U. -- A la Gloire du Grand Architecte de l'Univers, formerly the inscription at the head of French Masonic documents. by Robert Thurman Excerpted from "Inner Revolution" A pure land is the environment created by a fully enlightened being so that as many others as possible have the potential also for developing into fully enlightened beings. This enlightened individual is called a buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha was not simply an historical figure who lived and taught 2,500 years ago -- he is an example of the full flowering of human potential, reached by undergoing inner revolutions, coups of the spirit in which the power of negative impulses and emotions is toppled and we are freed to be as happy, good, and compassionate as we can evolve to be. The Buddha developed an inner science for achieving this revolution, one that was preserved in Tibet after invaders nearly wiped it out of India 1,000 years ago. Since Tibet was built on the foundation that a society's top priority is to provide all the means for each individual to achieve this inner revolution, Tibet is our toehold for seeing where inner revolution might lead, giving us a glimpse of the architectural plans for building that pure land revealed by the Buddha's toe pointing. The tantric exercise of mandala creation is a rehearsal on an intimate scale for universe rebuilding. The bodhisattva vows to create a buddhaverse, a world that expresses to others the wisdom, compassion, and love of his or her complete enlightenment. It is extremely difficult even to imagine how to create this kind of environment. Think of how much knowledge is required to make a greenhouse so that plants can flourish optimally. What would you have to know to make a greenhouse buddhaverse for living beings in which they all could flourish optimally? An architect tries to imagine the residents of his or her building living a certain lifestyle, doing a certain work. The architect visualizes spaces and volumes and forms of subliminal influence that will create an environment that will bring out the best in these imagined residents. The practice of mandala creation is a playful rehearsal for the creation of the best of all possible worlds. Tantra practice begins when the bodhisattva, after being initiated by a great master -- a process of consecration whereby the bodhisattva is anointed with the healing elixirs of the enlightened imagination -- abandons the "gross" world of the physical senses and their objects and enters a dreamlike, magical, and extremely subtle realm where eons can be moments, universes are contained within atoms, and this universe is an atom of a larger universe. The initiation itself provides the doorway from the ordinary world to the world structured by enlightened beings. It is at this level that the bodhisattva adopts the mahasiddha ideal and is empowered to visualize, through sustained concentration guided by a detailed sacred architectural plan and a detailed divine anatomy, the environment as a perfect crystal palace with majestic gardens; the time as the golden age of total fulfillment; his or her own body as the jewel body that perfectly articulates all the highest qualities of enlightened love, compassion, joy; his or her companions as perfect heroes and heroines already established in enlightenment; and his or her self as the diamond of the buddhamind that is perfectly aware of selflessness as the clear light of the void. The power of the enlightened being to affect his or her environment is immense. The enlightened mind can landscape worlds, preserve planets, save whole environments, create buddhaverses. The enlightened being is almost like a god. He or she is creative but not "the Creator," competent and powerful in the work of liberating others, but not omnipotent.
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