Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, and#8220;Direct and Indirect Relationships with Realityand#8221; is a subtle exploration of the direct and indirect connections with the depths of Reality. From the talk and#8220;The Bodhisattva Hierarchyand#8221; by Sangharakshita given in 1969.
Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio
Relationships with Reality
[music] Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you, and happy listening. Now, this principle of spiritual hierarchy is a very important one for Buddhism. And it's important, therefore, that we should try to understand it right from the bottom up, to try to understand it radically as it were. We can do this, perhaps, by remembering that we, that human beings are related to reality, to ultimate reality, in two different ways. In the first place, we are related directly. In the second place, we are related indirectly. So, how are we related to reality directly, directly? We are related to reality directly, in the sense that, in the very depths of our being, there is something which all the time connects with reality. There is a threat, if you like, a golden threat. Whoever has seen it may be, it may be, gossip a thing. But that threat is there in the depths of our being, which is connecting us directly all the time with reality. In some people, of course, that threat has become a little thicker, a little stronger. In others, it has widened up almost into a road, and with others, those who are enlightened, there is no difference at all between the depths of their being and the depth of reality, itself, that you are directly continuous as it were. But this is the case only with Buddhist. Most of us, though we are directly connected in the depths of our being with reality, do not realize it, don't even see that thin golden threat shining as it were in the midst of the darkness within ourselves. We don't see it. If we are not aware of it, it is only the butters who wake up to it fully. But we are nevertheless related to reality directly, in the very depths, at the very roots of our own being, all the time. However oblivious we may be to that fact. Now, we are related indirectly to reality in two ways. We are related in the first place to those things which represent a lower degree of manifestation of reality than ourselves. We are related, say to nature, we are related, say to minerals, to rocks, to stones, to water, to fire. We are related to the different forms of vegetable life, to the different forms of animal life that are lower in the scale of evolution than ourselves. So in this way, we are related to reality indirectly. We are related to reality through these forms which manifest a lesser, a lower degree of reality than ourselves. And then secondly, we are related to reality indirectly also through those forms which represent a higher degree of manifestation of reality than ourselves. What those higher forms are, we shall see in a moment. Now the first kind of relationship with reality, relationship that is a first kind of indirect relationship with reality, this kind of indirect relationship with these forms of life which are lower than our own, which manifest reality less than we manifest ourselves. This sort of relationship may be compared with the seeing of a light through a very thick veil. Sometimes the veil seems to be so thick, especially in the case of matter, material forms and so on, so thick that we are unable to see the light which is there back of that form, back of that veil all the time. But the second kind of relation to reality, the second kind of indirect relation that is relation with reality through those forms of life which manifest reality more clearly than we manifest it ourselves. That relationship is like seeing a light as it were through a very thin veil, a veil which seems at times to become gossamer like diaphanous, a veil which seems at times to have an even rinse, aperture, through which the light of reality can be seen directly as it is without any intermediation at all. Now this thin veil, through which we see the light of reality, this thin veil is the spiritual hierarchy, especially it is the bodhisattva hierarchy, and it is therefore important. It is therefore of the utmost importance for us to be in contact with those who are at least a little more spiritually advanced than we are ourselves through whom the light shines, the light of reality shines a little more clearly than it shines through us. And those who are of this kind, these are known traditionally in Buddhism as our spiritual friends, our kalyana mittras. For the most part, undoubtedly, we are not ready for contact with a Buddha. For most of us, surely, if not, no doubt, for all of us, the idea of receiving instruction and guidance directly from a Buddha is perhaps even we may say ridiculous. Even the idea of direct contact with a highly advanced bodhisattva and probably, even if we met a Buddha or a highly advanced bodhisattva, we would not be able to recognize him or recognize her for what, in fact, what in truth they were. But we certainly can benefit immensely, immeasurably, from contact with those who are just a little more spiritually developed, a little more advanced, whose veil is a little thinner as it were than our own, whose veil letched through just a little more light, a brighter glimmer of light than does our own than do we ourselves. We hope you enjoyed today's Dharma Bite. Please help us keep this free. Make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. And thank you. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]