Many Masters, Zero Vessels : Higher Dimensions and Nirmanakayas

Abstract: In many religious traditions, scripts, we encounter various kinds of non-physical beings. They are from both lower and higher dimensions. Beings from higher dimensions are known as light beings who may appear before the bodhisattva to support him. Many practitioners nowadays believe that these are just merely stories, mind made and mythical, but to the one who progressed through bodhisattva path, their support is natural and essential. There are various kinds, from low ranking divine beings to angles, archangels and seraphims. The most important kind is the bodiless ascended and realized masters, famous bodhisattvas in the highest spirit realm (Sambhogakaya) who are waiting for their vessels. This article brings author's experience on this.    

 

What is the true purpose of Mahayana practice ? It is to benefit countless beings. In order to do that, the helper (the bodhisattva to become Buddha) has to be limitless. What is the biggest limitation we have against our full potential ? We are well aware of the limitations of our human mind. In addition, our limited energy system and the physical body also pose difficulties to achieve this goal. This is why in Mahayana Buddhism we establish the concept of Nirmanakayas. It is not only a concept, we need to really make human vessels for that. However our sole purpose cannot fulfil this desire, many aspects such as time, era, balancing of karmic energies, the universal order have to support this cause. In other words, divine timing ! We believe that, we are slowly approaching the "end time of the universe". This is the "end time" of the cyclic existence of the universe. Then this cyclic existence goes back into its dormant state. 

When the end time approaches, a huge mass of beings need to merge with the universal energies leaving their physical bodies behind. This mass is what we refer to as the "enlightened" quota. Universe cannot handle a huge quota of unenlightened, "separated" gross energies at its contraction, therefore they have to be transformed and merged with the existing universal energies well before this change. A mass awakening during this time is therefore inevitable ! The duty of the Nirmanakayas is to bring these beings into awakening.

Who is a Buddha ?

The very passage above should give you a hint. A Buddha or an enlightened master is not a religious leader. His duty is not to maintain a religion or a spiritual tradition. His task is to balance the energies in this existence. In a limited perspective, his teachings appear to us as tools and methods to end our suffering. Of course our own happiness, bliss at least release positive vibrations to the existence, strengthening the collective. This reminds me of Shanthideva's quote.

“Where would I find enough leather

To cover the entire surface of the earth?

But with leather soles beneath my feet,

It’s as if the whole world has been covered.”

However the big picture is different, Buddha is here to support the universal mechanism. To uplift the collective consciousness. He is contributing to a scientific experiment, being a part of it, to finish this experiment once and for all. Buddhas only reveal this information to higher bodhisattvas as the level of comprehension matters to grasp this truth. After several centuries, the teachings about this scientific experiment come to know as "Mahayana Teachings" to the world, preaching, memorising, and repeating (i.e. Sandhinirmocana Sutra).

To support the mass awakening of this era, several Buddhas may appear in different parts of the world, in different skin colors, different outfits and from different backgrounds. Despite their differences, they deliver the same story in different flavours.

Our Limitations in Helping Others

We can deliver talks, sermons, motivational speeches, on dharma, duality, non-duality and all mind-made concepts. End of the day these are just good enough for our conceptual knowledge. As was stated, the real service is always energetical. Does it make Buddha a saviour ? Many Buddhists won't accept this statement. However there are instances, even in the Pali canon, that demonstrates Buddha's transmission ability.  

i.e. The enlightenment of the Acrobat Uggrasena: Buddha reached out to him as he knew his true potential. He became enlightened in the middle of his somersaults at Buddha's presence.

Fig. 1: Uggrasena, the acrobat who became enlightened !

Doesn't this sound ridiculous ? Can one become enlightened in the middle of a circus ? Buddha asked Ugrasena to first focus on breathing and come to the present moment. My interpretation is that somersaults helped Ugrasena to take his awareness back to his physical body and, with the aid of Buddha's energy field, Uggasena's samsaric maturity, and the focus on breathing, his self detached from his physical body. Ugrasena didn't have any meditative experience in his life. This would not have been possible without the transmission ability of Buddha. 

Christians calling "Christ is their saviour" could also be a valid statement in the same manner. The main issue here is when we wait for a saviour, our personal effort to taste the divine never happens. Apparently the one who is not trying won't be saved by the saviour when he returns. 

For us to be fully functional in our physical body while connected to the source of the universe requires intensed purification to our subtle energy channels and bodies. 

Do Buddhas Take our Karma ?

Another controversy statement ! If the liberation of a person depends on releasing, freeing his karmic debts, then what Buddhas do to us (i.e. Uggrasena, the acrobat) to liberate ourselves is more or less taking our residual karma back to himself. Isn't it so ?

Universe will not take karma back from any person. If  we're on our own, the only way to dissipate this karmic energy is by ourselves. However when a Guru appears, he uses his ability to raise the energies of others. As a result, the karmic energy that gets released from the disciple then comes back to the Guru. So that Guru is responsible for handling that unwanted karmic energy. Would this Guru do that to anybody ? This is why the Guru-disciple relationship is very sacred and built upon trust in Tantrayana. If the Guru is a Nirmanakaya and the disciple is from his defined quota, then settling this karmic debt is not that difficult and even anticipated.

Higher Dimensions and Sambhogakaya Realm

Archangels and seraphims were the first enlightened souls in the universe but staying in bodiless form similar to higher bodhisattvas in Buddhist tradition. For instance, famous seraphims such as St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael were resurrected masters many thousands years ago. They are similar to other Buddhist masters such as Bodhisattva Manjusri, Avalokiteshvara, Mahakala, Vajrasattva who are in their bodiless forms. However these bodiless forms are not Nirmanakayas, which means they can never incarnate into a human form. They are available in energy forms to guide, help, defend, protect the adepts who walk on their corresponding spiritual paths. 

Nirmanakaya masters are a special kind where they promised to return to complete their service, or do further spiritual work required for the humanity. The general religious belief is that, these masters such as Sakyamuni and Christ, are already gone from the existence. But to a higher bodhisattva, this is not the case. 

Fig. 2: Incarnating into a vessel.

Similarly some old Tibetan masters ! This sounds like a fairy tale right ? You would not expect to hear such a thing from a rational person. At least the Mahayana sect of Buddhism knows this, and even practiced this. Right now the issue is we have so many masters in energy form, but no qualified vessels in human form.       

The Unborn Mind

There is a famous poem from Marpa Lotswa, on the nature of "unborn mind". 

Mind is unborn.
Mind is like the sky.
Don't corrupt it with
a mist of conceptualizations.

In my opinion he is here referring to the new mind (the new soul) of the yogi after the incarnation takes place. Before that, we do not really need to worry about a newborn mind, as purification is a gradual process. After the incarnation, 2/3 of the yogi's mind (conscious, subconscious) is now replaced by the incarnated energies and therefore this upper layer is new and unborn. If the yogi corrupts this layer again by the afflictions, concepts and external senses then the purity will be gone. This 2/3 of his mind layer merges with the rest and completes the incarnation cycle. Then only a Buddha can emerge within us. 

May you all become Nirmanakaya vessels to benefit numerous human beings..... 🙏