Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte,, and#8220;Jewel as Symbol of True Selfand#8221;, is from the talk and#8220;The Jewel in the Lotusand#8221; by Sangharakshita,
The jewel is the most precious of all material things, therefore a fitting symbol of the True Self. This jewel is consciousness itself and#8211; once it comes to light it shines forth in itand#8217;s original splendor.
This talk is part of the Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra Series given in 1971.
[music] Dharma Vites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for real life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, come and join us at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. Thank you and happy listening. [music] Now one might ask one might inquire why it is that the jewel is chosen as the symbol of the true self and not some other object, some other entity. And we may say that there are various reasons for this, first of all, the obvious one, the jewel is the most precious of all material things, at least traditionally. So it's a worthy, a fitting symbol of the self, the true self, one's own true nature. Because that, likely, jewel in nature, is infinitely precious. And then the jewel is bright and shining. This is perhaps its most prominent natural characteristic, is brilliant. Perhaps it's many faceted, it's some beautiful, transparent colour. It's bright, glittering, shining. And the true self is very much like this, it's even more like that. Because the true self, the depths of our own being, the true self is self-aduminous. It's conscious, it's aware. If I even to say that it is conscious, that it is aware is wrong, is not correct. Because it doesn't possess consciousness, it doesn't possess awareness as a quality, something as it were stuck on from outside and which can be removed, the true self. One's own true being, or oneself in the depths of one's being. This true self, this jewel is consciousness itself. Not that it possesses consciousness as an attribute, but it's really being, it's really nature, is pure, clear, transparent consciousness without the distinction, without the dichotomy of subject and object. And another reason why the jewel is chosen, the symbol for the true self is, the jewel cannot be soiled. It cannot be made dirty. It may conceivably lie hidden in dust and dirt for ages upon ages. But when the dirt, when the dust is removed, then the jewel shines and sparkles, clean and bright as ever. And it's just the same with our own true nature, it's essentially pure. It may be hidden for ages, hidden for the greater part of our lives, maybe hidden by passions of various kinds, maybe hidden by ignorance, maybe hidden by anger, maybe hidden by egotism and so on. But once it comes to light, once all those departments are removed, then it shines forth in its original splendor. Really, it has not been defiled at all. We hope you enjoyed the talk. Please come and help us keep this free at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. And thank you. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]
