Javier Milei, Argentina's president as the Buddha of the aeon.
You have probably seen it.
As a way of giving back to the community, we created a talk about teaching Tantra to sorcerers, occultist, witches and other people whose interest lies in ceremonial magic. Because we liked the sound and believed most Vajrayana Buddhists follow the Mahayana Bodhisattva path, we called it ‘Make Tantra Great Again’. We figured that if we had some pushback, it was going to come from the occult scene. We all understood that when we say “may all beings be happy” we really mean all beings, right?
Oh, boy, we were mistaken.
We had 0 pushback from the occult community. We had a lot of pushbacks from Mahayana Buddhists.
This puzzled us. Aren’t we all on the same page? Doesn’t the Buddha clearly states that in Mahayana, the ‘Great Vehicle’ is great because it fits all beings?
All sentient beings completely have Buddha Nature. The Tathagata abides as them continuously, as is totally unchanged.— Buddha Shakyamuni, The Mahaparanirvana Sutra
Doesn’t the holy Shantideva speaks of it in no unclear terms?
For all the beings ailing in the world,Until their sickness has been healed,May I become the doctor and the cure—Shantideva, the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Chapter 3
Or Lord Atisha?
Understand there are three types of individuals—lesser, middling, and superior.
I shall set out a system of classification in which their respective characteristics are made completely clear.
Know that those who, by whatever means,exclusively seek mere mundane pleasures of saṃsāra for their own benefit are inferior individuals.
Those who have turned their backs on saṃsāra’s pleasures and refrain from sinful karma,striving merely for pacification for themselves alone—such individuals are said to be middling.
Those who truly desire to completely eradicate all the suffering of others through their own personal suffering—such individuals are supreme.— Sri Atisha Dipamkara, Bodhipāthapradipaṃ
(emphasis is ours)
This shows that the great masters agree: you need to include all beings in the Bodhisattva Path. Once you leave that level, you are degrading it and yourself.
Let us repeat ourselves: if you are in the Bodhisattva Path, you need to regard every single being as part of your Bodhicitta intention. Every single one. You believe that they have the same Buddha Nature as Lord Buddha.
If you leave even one out, you have lost Bodhicitta.
There are no exceptions.
We have been saying this for years (check out ‘Tathāgatagarbha or the new adventures of Hitler’ from 2011 https://www.tumblr.com/budaenlayerba/9108593678/tath%C4%81gatagarbha-o-las-nuevas-aventuras-de-hitler) but it still needs to be repeated: even Hitler, arguably the worst human being to ever live, possesses Buddha nature.
Hitler’s mental continuum will become a Buddha, given time. It may be a tremendously long time, given his crimes, but he will become one.
There’s no one outside the Buddha scope.
No one.
Not even Hitler.
I imagine that this will be revolting for many people. Hear me out: I understand. It is revolting. And yet, it is necessary that we engage in this. Why? Because in Buddhism, the basis of suffering is not Evil, in an ontological sense.
It’s ignorance. Hitler is probably the most visible form of ignorance, a symbol of Evil, with a capital ‘E’, for many people. He was just one man. One man that used ignorance, suffering and confusion to enlist a nation into a genocide.
Our enemy is not the person, even someone as despicable as Hitler. It’s the ignorance. Even the worst of us (that I choose to use because, c’mon, who’s going to argue about him being the worst) is a victim of their own confusion.
One can consider a counter-argument: that Hitler has become a shorthand for as pure evil as one can get in this world. A kind of contemporary Devil. This is not a Mahayana argument.
The being called the Devil in Buddhism, Mara Papiyas, converts into the Dharma and eventually gets enlightened. Remember: Mara is a title. Now there’s another Mara. It’s like the President (or Führer). But even the Devil becomes a Buddha eventually in Mahayana.
So, what can we do? Pray for Buddha-Hitler. Pray so that his horrible actions may soon be purified. And have pity on him; he’s probably in a lot of suffering in the hells.
Remember that also you have been in the hells; even Buddha Shakyamuni, before he was a Buddha, spent time there on his earlier existences. We’ve literally all been there, where Hitler is now.
So you can change. Eventually. With time and effort. It’s difficult. But it is possible.
Now, I understand that this, in the abstract, might be possible to think. Still, it is certainly uncomfortable to think of beings that right now generate fear, being it Trump, Assad, Putin or whoever instills that emotion on you, having the same nature as a Buddha.
I know it is difficult. But it is crucial for your path as a Bodhisattva.
Spooky beings fill the Buddhist worldview. Bhutas, Pretas, Pisacas, a full menagerie of beings. You can check out Tibetan thangkas filled with spirits. You can mediate on liberating them all you want; none of them will be so difficult to meditate on as the person who threatens you right now.
But it is vital that you do. The Bodhisattva path is Heroic.
However, this doesn’t mean that self-defense is unnecessary. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take action to prevent the person harming other or yourself.
This doesn’t mean that you won’t fight. But it means that you will do so by keeping the awareness that the being you’re struggling against you has the same Buddha Nature that you have, and that a Buddha has.
It is hard.
So we will help.
We’ve created an extra session, that we will call Midday Meeting with the Maras. Come. Bring the image of whoever scares you.
We’ll do Tonglen on them, a Mahayana practice, to purify our perceptions and bring equanimity. It’s open and free for everyone who might need it. Come join us here: https://www.tantricsorcery.com/event-details/open-and-free-midday-meeting-with-the-maras
This is the first step of resistance: don’t let them control your reactions. Become free in your own mind.
But, above all: don’t lose Bodhicitta. Don’t let it ever shrink, even for one being.
Keep it universal. Keep it to all beings, without exception, and you will keep the path to Shambhala.
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