[Advaita-l] Commitment to Dharma

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

Dear Subrahmanian Ji, 
                                 It is blessing to me to see your write up on the Commitment to Dharma,  Here I will add a few line on the Dharma-Transmission.    

"Today people have wealth, status,comfort and worldly fame as their main focus. What is the point of the Lord incarnating and taking efforts to reestablish Dharma?"
To the Lotus feet of Sri BHARATHI THEERTHA MAHASANNIDHANAMIn Buddhism, Dharmatransmission is a custom in which a person is established as a"successor in an unbroken Lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual'bloodline'  theoretically traced back tothe Buddha himself. The dharma lineagereflects the importance of family-structures in ancient China,and forms a symbolic and ritual recreation of this system for the monastical"family".Ideally "the formal recognition ofZen's deepest realization" but practically it is being used for thetransmission of the "true lineage" of the masters. There are onlyabout fifty to eighty of such office bearers in Japan. In Zen,dharma transmission  provides access toonly a relatively low grade. It is listed as a requirement for the very lowestecclesiastical status, that of an instructor third class, further training isrequired to become an Osho. The notion and practice of DharmaTransmission developed early in the history of Chán, as a means to gaincredibility and to foster institutional ties among the members of theChán-community. Charts of dharma-lineages were developed, which represented thecontinuity of the Buddhist dharma. Originally these lineages only included theChinese Patriarchs, but they were later extended to twenty-eight IndianPatriarchs and seven Buddhas.Teachings say the Tradition of Transmission of Dharma should not be hastilyunderstood; it is one expression of Truthconcerning the significance of the transmission of enlightened Knowledge-Wisdom (Prajna).Whenever sacred literatureis reduced to biographical or historical fact it becomes susceptible to vulnarbilities, People may fall in difficulties then in that case it should go geographically.To regard such as the formulation of absolutes, rather than expression of truthis to bring it down to mere ideality. Whilethe evidenceincontrovertibly refutes the historical possibility of “an unbroken chain of Masters”, the Zen Masters have never been overly concerned with historicalfacts; their business concerns the great matter of Life & Death.While the “literal” fact of formal Prosess can be used as guidance forthe Intermdiate student (e.g. a discipile that has come to trust a teacher may find some assurance in that teacher’s sanction ofanother), ,even in a “trusted Lineage,” should not be regarded as guaranteeing a legitimate teacher. When we do find an authentic teacher, we can usually trust their ability to recognize  others who have the skills and character needed to teach others. Nevertheless, we still needto check it out for ourselves; after all, again it is the greatest Matter of Life & Death. 

Dedicated to To all my Teachers & Master on the Ocassion of Teacher's Day
Kameswara Rao
 Dr. M.Kameswara RaoSenior Scientist, P&T Division,Defence Research & Development Establishment, Ministry of Defence, Govt of IndiaJhansi Road, Gwalior-474002,IndiaPh 91-(0)751-2390368(0) Imp Note:The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this message are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately and destroy all copies of this message and any attachments if any.
 

    On Monday, 4 September 2017 8:09 AM, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
 

 There was a time when people refused to go after objects or prosperity if
it came in the way of their observing Dharma. There have been instances in
the past when the king sent for scholars while they were engaged in
Anushtanam, they used to send the king’s emissary back saying that they
would come only after finishing their Anushtanam. When such a scholar once
went to the king after finishing his Anushthanam, the king expressed that
he was made to wait for an hour. The scholar replied, “My Anushtana is for
the good of all in the country.” Such was their dedication to their Dharma.

Today, we become happy when we realize that we had such ancestors. But our
happiness and contentment stop right there. How many feel that we should
follow in their footsteps and lead our lives like they did? They put Dharma
and the Lord ahead of everything else. Today people have wealth, status,
comfort and worldly fame as their main focus. What is the point of the Lord
incarnating and taking efforts to reestablish Dharma? What is the guarantee
that one will get born as a human in the next birth?      - ACHARYAL
BHAGAVAN JAGADGURU SRI SRI SRI BHARATHI THEERTHA MAHASANNIDHANAM
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