#dharmakaya

In our journey to understand the nature of thoughts and the Self, we find ourselves drawing from the wisdom of various traditions—Jungian psychology, Vedanta as taught by Ramana Maharshi, the mystical insights of Kabbalah, and the profound teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. These perspectives, though rooted in different cultural and philosophical backgrounds, converge in fascinating ways, offering a…

In our former lives, we were trees. Maybe we have even been oak trees ourselves. This isn’t just Buddhist theory; it’s science. The human species is a very young species—we appeared on the Earth only recently. Before that, we were rock, we were gas, we were minerals, we were single-celled beings. We were plants, we were trees, and now we have become humans. We have to recall our past existences. This is not difficult. You just sit down and breathe and look, and you can see your past existences. When we shout at the oak tree, the oak tree isn’t offended. When we praise the oak tree, it doesn’t raise its nose. We can learn the Dharma from the oak tree; therefore, the oak tree is part of our Dharmakaya. We can learn from everything that is around, that is in us. Even if we aren’t at a meditation center, we can still practice at home, because around us the Dharma is present. Everything is preaching the Dharma.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, in “Being Peace”.

While our scribes still continue to write, our journalists to natter on, our critics to drone away, our politicians to hold forth and our judicial assassins to hatch their crimes in peace, we know what life really is. Our writers, thinkers, doctors and scribblers know exactly how to make a mess of life. While all these scribes drool upon us, whether from habit or compulsion, spiritual emasculation or a failure to apprehend nuance, in this dull sludge, on these turning grounds where the highly esteemed spirit of man is endlessly shifting around, we have harnessed thought the best. Come. Save us from these worms. Invent new houses for us.

¿Qué es un lugar? ¿Un espacio?

Saqué esta foto en un partido costero bonaerense. Uno de esos partidos que atraen un turismo más popular, con menos edificios y más casitas sencillas en alquiler. Si recuerdo bien, era invierno. Es extraña la sensación que genera ver algo así, como esto. Que parece un bunker costero, pero al mismo tiempo viene a la mente lo inapropiado que sería algo así en un lugar así.

Empecé a pensar, quién lo habrá habitado, con qué fin, y el por qué esta sensación de abandono me resulta tan romántica. Encontré un par de términos que se aproximan a definirla: Kenopsia y Saudade. Hasta cierto punto, son distintas facetas de la nostalgia. Nostalgia hacia algo vivido o no, percibido o imaginado.

Cuando veo cosas como este vestigio humano, y reflexiono con el espacio que ocupan, siento que medito y de alguna manera, creo una conexión. En los espacios de desolación y dejadez, sentirse cerca del dharmakāya es iluminador.

Vairocana

The Resplendent Buddha Vairocana (वैरोचन) one of the most important forms of the Buddha in China, considered to embody the radiant celestial form (dharmakaya) of the historical Gotama.

Liao Dynasty, 11th Century, Gilded Bronze, lost wax cast