OM AH HUM

2023, June, Issue 51

When I returned from the death bardo, I described that brilliant light as lasting for an eternity, the turbulent energetic dimension I described as a journey lasting a hundred years, and my time of death in the hospital I explained how it only lasted five minutes, before they revived my ailing heart.  Now, if you’ve dabbled with Tibetan Buddhism, you may have some idea about the significance of this; although, it is more likely that the idea you hold may not be quite right.  No level of extensive explanations can really ever come close to the profound nature of such an experience.  I try to keep it simple.

Sometimes it is explained that body, speech (or energy) and mind must come together.  In Tibetan Buddhism, you will sometimes see people chanting OM AH HUM over and over again, while they move their praying hands from the top of their head to their throat to their heart center.  They may also chant OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM, which is a sort of reaffirmation of the more simple mantra.  Many many mantras exist that are similar or are considered to have great power, simply because they call upon our real condition in a variety of ways.

What really happened to me was the coming together of body, energy and mind.  Coming from a materialistic paradigm here in the West, we may think that the body is this physical body that we think is who we are.  In reality, this physical vessel that we find ourselves in is a symptom of mind not knowing what it really is.  The amazing brilliant infinite light is really body.  The energy or speech is that turbulence that is rarely perceived, even though it is prevalent and all-pervasive, something we feel encompasses all beings, or something we sense as auras.  Mind is this physical body that we think is real, just as we think the entire world is real.  We cannot really say that anything exists anywhere that is not of mind.

OM AH HUM, or enlightened body, enlightened speech and enlightened mind—these come together in order for us to manifest, even though it is not apparent; at least, at the very least, that is so when we are confused or trapped in cyclic existence.  In my current novel, I’ve been expounding upon this notion, that we come together in this way, from body, speech and mind, become fabricated or appear because our Real Nature, because of our enlightened qualities that seem so far away.  In reality, we’ve always had the essence of being awakened right from the beginning.  For some reason, we work very hard to ignore who we really are, allowing ourselves to be easily distracted or burdened by disturbing thoughts and emotions of our own creation.

OM AH HUM

Body.  Speech.  Mind.

Body of Dharmakaya.  Energy of Sambhogakaya.  Mind of Nirmanakaya.

We are that body of that amazing light, that encompasses all possibilities, beyond all possibilities, beyond concept and object.  We are that energy, often referred to as speech, where thoughts manifest from light, where we begin to fabricate self out of nothing whatsoever.  We are that physical manifestation of mind, where we imagine all this to be true, even though we have no evidence to prove our own existence in a universe where nothing stays the same for more than one moment.  To awaken to reality, as it is, we need to see all and beyond for what it is, not for what we wish it to be.

Enlightened body, merging with enlightened energy, merging with enlightened mind, we find ourselves within something very much like a dream, a magical display, trapped for all eternity, because we have no desire or determination to awaken.  Even when most people discover these profound truths, they will dabble for a while, go shopping for something else, get tired, quit, step into the first trap they find, forget why they were thinking about awakening, get lazy, stop practicing, remain in constant confusion or distraction, wonder why they are suffering.  Instead of taking this great good fortune of this discovery of profound teachings, utilizing it for infinite blessings, it is typically squandered or lost.

I’ve seen examples of this over and over again.  Our materialistic paradigm creates an attitude of shopping for a product and discarding it just as quickly.  It’s spiritual consumerism, which is really a casual approach to the Dharma, treating it as common and disposable.  If we wish to awaken, we must seriously practice, taking the Dharma to heart, become fully devoted and determined to awaken.

The point of receiving teachings and meditation, is to awaken.  To do this, we must develop Bodhicitta, which opens the door to awakening.  If we see awakening as something disposable or not to be treated seriously in our materialistic paradigm, then it is like a fool throwing away a large diamond so that he can take a nap on a pile of manure, or a person lost at sea who decides to carve holes in his boat, rather than paddle to shore.

If we wish to awaken, then we should not allow that notion to drift away under any circumstances.  Do what you can to awaken, and you will never be disappointed.  Awaken now.

Blessings in Light,

Robert Aho