Why Bodhicitta?

2023, November, Issue 72

Great Compassion . . . is the key to Bodhicitta;

Aspiring for Bodhicitta,

that notion that we wish to be on the path of awakening

so that all beings will awaken, through our great compassion,

and, if we aspire long enough, we discover the key,

the key to ending suffering for others,

which is so precious, such an amazing find;

Relative Bodhicitta,

which is this understanding that we must first awaken,

we must first awaken or help others to awaken,

so, we diligently go down that path, seeking our own

enlightenment,

and that of others,

helping everyone or being ready to help all,

helping them to awaken before we

before we awaken entirely,

and if we do this long enough,

we discover an ultimate key

the key to everything, which liberates itself

which is the key called

Absolute Bodhicitta,

which really has no name, being beyond such things

being beyond ordinary thought

understanding of our real nature;

Bodhicitta,

on the absolute level,

is the key to everything,

it is freedom,

it is liberation from that which binds us,

it dispels all karma,

it is the ultimate,

it is that which radiates from timeless luminosity,

Dharmakaya essence,

it is

when

we

Awaken.

~Robert Aho~

An excerpt from the poem, The Key to Everything, within the book, Timeless Luminosity © 2020.

People who are trying to decide if they should be on a Spiritual Path have heard me speak repeatedly about how important Bodhicitta really is.  There is some confusion about this.  People might think that I am talking about Mahayana Buddhism, or that I am asking them to take Bodhisattva vows, or that it is some higher level of teaching that will take many years to understand.

In reality, Bodhicitta is very simple.  It is simply that you have discovered the importance of your own life, as well as the life of all beings.  It is an acknowledgement that we can’t keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them, expecting different results.  It is realizing that all the politics in the world won’t change human nature or remove suffering.  It is realizing that the only answer remaining is that we must awaken.  Buddha Shakyamuni came to this realization—before he renounced the world and worldly endeavors.

Bodhicitta comes first.

So, this brings me to an important point, which is something that brought me back from the death bardo.  As I’ve said many times, when I died, I instantly became that bright light that some call Source or Dharmakaya or God.  I became that as one, timelessly, completely integrated for all eternity.  What is that extremely bright, fully aware, all-pervasive light?

People form some sort of idea about that.  Some belief or object springs forth in their mind that is completely missing the point.  Any time you reify that light, you miss that.  If you think that it is a thing, then you have missed it entirely.  If you give it a name, then that name is something else.  When we try to bring the Nature of Mind into some sort of notion or concept, or if we bottle that as some component of our religion, philosophy, school, or as a part of an institution, then we are simply falling into another trap formed by ignorance.  I say Timeless Luminosity, which was the title of my first book and this website; however, such an expression is just an open-hearted expression, making no assertions whatsoever.  Timeless Luminosity is beyond what we think; yet, it is inclusive, as well.  Absolutely no limitations exist.

When I instantly became Dharmakaya light, Wisdom Light, I became Ultimate Bodhicitta.  So, that is where we start, beyond ideas about compassion or awakening.  We start with a spark, which is meant to ignite our entire existence from being one filled with darkness and disturbances into one filled with light and blessings for all.  We start by acknowledging who we really are, even if we don’t really understand that yet.  We acknowledge what all the great religions try to point at, which is love and compassion, beyond our mere human understanding.

When we have ignited that brightness within our own heart center with this aspiration to awaken, which is really an acknowledgement that this world can solve none of our problems, that we must look inward to much greater strength and wisdom.  I learned this—as the light of Dharmakaya, this bright Timeless Luminosity.  We must start with a faint understanding, as Aspirational Bodhicitta.  This is simply because that brightness is where we already are, it is Ultimate Reality, it is us.

So, we’re already Timeless Luminosity, we just don’t notice.  When we start our Spiritual Path with an aspiration to awaken, we’re starting with who we already are, in order to awaken into that ultimate condition, which is Ultimate Bodhicitta.  When we start with the light, the light will only grow, until it becomes more than we can imagine.

Our earthly existence, filled with turmoil and so much confusion, becomes less of a concern.  When we get serious about our Spiritual Path, then we can renounce, seek deeper teachings, do what our capacity will allow.  We must start where we are, where our life resides.  Then we can continue, as our capacity increases, into Enlightenment.

Blessings in Light,

Robert Aho