Gentle Whispers Page 1

As living beings, our experience of existence occurs through means of five (or six) elements. Furthermore, all sentient beings, not only human beings, have variable concentration of the elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space, each of which contributes towards the substantiation of physical form. The element of earth, or the sphere of earth, manifests as the solidity of bodily existence. The sphere of water is present in the body as its fluids. The sphere of fire is its warmth. The sphere of wind is associated with the breath. The orifices and spatiality of the body are representative of the sphere of space. Additionally, all sentient beings have the sphere of wisdom. In all the realms except human, however, this wisdom element is likened to one of the other five, such as fir or water. This similarity obscures the essential quality of wisdom, making wisdom an indistinct and unrevealed quality for the beings manifesting in those realms. These beings function as though they have only five essential elements. It is extremely fortunate that human beings have the separate and distinct element of wisdom in addition to their quintessential physical being.

The element of wisdom is one's inherent buddha nature, and, is present within all sentient beings. This buddha nature may be likened to perfectly pure water, and the obscurations of ignorance and stupidity may be likened to mud. The nature of the water is undiminished when it becomes mixed with the impurity of the mud. Similarly, insubstantial obscurations veil our innate, inherent buddha nature, yet it is the wisdom element that enables one to recognize the mind's true nature. Unfortunately, sentient beings in the three lower realms are so heavily obscured, mostly by ignorance and stupidity, that they have no recognition or experience of the wisdom element or buddha nature.

Within the human realm of our experience, the wisdom element makes its presence known to varying degrees.

The degree of revelation is a result of one's previous positive accumulations. that allows partial purification of the obscurations veiling the mind's true nature. The unveiling of this awareness is known as " the dawning of our innate wisdom element." Such awareness distinguishes itself in our recognition that the human ability to understand certain things differs from that of beings in the other realms, most notably and observably from the capabilities of those beings in the animal realm.

Further, this wisdom can be developed and increased, especially if one uses the path of Dharma. To illustrate this, remember that in the middle of the night there is such total darkness that it is impossible to see or to discern anything except the state of darkness. But, come the earliest part of dawn, the outlines of mountains and different landscapes can be vaguely perceived, become clearer.

This comparison illustrates the character of wisdom element, which awaits the clarity of perception, the dawning recognition of mind's true nature. With the practice of Dharma, this wisdom element increases, flourishes, and becomes fully illuminated; much like the sun's gradual rise into full daylight, it allows all phenomena to be seen with great clarity.

Although the wisdom element is a sixth and separate element in the human realm, still it is obscured by the discursive consciousness, the element of consciousness. Even though one may hear the Buddha's teachings on the nature of mind and of all phenomena, the obscuration of discursive consciousness prevents the element of wisdom from fully manifesting and, without the full wisdom, one is unable to recognize fully the true nature of the mind.

With meditation practice, however, the obscuration of discursive consciousness decreases and the sphere of wisdom increases, becoming more apparent, and thus more powerful. As we have discussed, the discursive element of consciousness is thought of as being of four types. These are the obscurations of primordial ignorance, dualistic clinging, emotional distraction, and karmic accumulations; all four obscure the element of wisdom.

Fortunately, through the practice of Dharma, these four veils may be completely purified. When the clouds that obscure the light at noon have vanished, the sun appears completely brilliant in the mid-heaven; similarly when the four mental obscurations are eliminated, primordial wisdom is completely present and shining. This is what is meant by the Tibetan word 'sangye' (pron.: songdje) meaning completely purified, opened, and accomplished.

This is the Tibetan term for 'buddha.'

 Once a sentient being has purified the four obscurations and attained the state of sangye or buddhahood, then his or her wisdom is completely developed and open. At that point tremendous power and qualities of great compassion, great wisdom, etc., spontaneously arise. Such qualities are totally beyond any similar mental qualities that are ordinarily attainable by god or human beings. Traditionally, it is recognized that there are thirty-two great qualities of enlightened mind ascribable to the historical Buddhas.

The speech of a buddha also has immaculate qualities that are totally beyond any qualities of speech available or attainable by gods or men. For example, if a buddha is speaking to a large audience with several different language backgrounds, all present understand the meaning perfectly. Furthermore, all present are able to hear the words carried over great distances without a buddha ever raising his or her voice. In all, a buddha has sixty such immaculate qualities of speech.

The body of the historical Buddha possessed thirty-two major and eighty minor signs of perfection that are totally beyond the marks of perfection attainable by any gods or humans. A historical buddha's being is completely free from any kind of physical faults, and is able to manifest in a dazzling and wondrous form, which is incredible beautiful by anyone's standards and has one hundred twelve immaculate qualities.

Yours in the Dharma