Observations placeholder
Asvaghosha - The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana - The Diamond
Identifier
016363
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Another useful paragraph about the necessity to work at purification. The concept of the jewel here is the same as that employed in other mystic movements of the diamond. It has to be mined and worked to get it to shine.
In effect at the later stages of the spiritual path, contemplation or meditation is actually counter productive to what you need to do.
A description of the experience
Asvaghosha - The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana translated by D T Suzuki
Now, briefly speaking, three faculties of the soul will be awakened by the perfection of faith :
- rightness of comprehension, for it truthfully and intuitively contemplates suchness;
- profundity of virtue;, for it rejoices in accumulating all good deeds;
- greatness of compassion, for it desires to uproot the miseries of all beings.
It may be asked whether there is ever any need for one to discipline oneself in all good deeds and to try to save mankind, since all sentient beings as well as all things in the world, abiding in the oneness of the universe that has no second, will, as can be logically inferred, have nothing to do but calmly to contemplate suchness.
In reply, we say, yes.
Because the mind may be likened unto a precious jewel which is pure and bright in its essence but buried in a gross veinstone. Now there is no reason to suppose that one can make it clean and pure only by contemplating it, and without applying any means [of purification] or a degree of workmanship.
It is even the same with suchness. Though it is pure and bright in its essence and sufficiently envelopes all merits, yet it is deeply buried in infinite external defilements. And there is no reason to suppose that a man can make it pure and clean only by earnest contemplation on it, and without trying any means of work or of discipline.