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5.  The Dalai Lama’s Teachings:
On the Indestructible Drop within the Heart,
Consciousness as the Mind of Clear Light
& the Empty Space Particles

The Dalai Lama explains esoteric Tibetan Buddhist views of the nature of human consciousness, and describes some of the subtle anatomic processes which underlie life and death.  The following notes draw from the Dalai Lama’s book Advice on Dying, and Living a Better Life (2002), and his dialogues with Renee Weber and David Bohm, in Dialogues with Scientists and Sages (1986).  I will focus the Dalai Lama’s teachings as most pertain to the investigation of the heart doctrine, the nature of human consciousness as light, and the concept of zero point origins.

The Dalai Lama states that after conception the psyche and body grow from that which forms into the Heart.  He describes three major channels interconnecting seven major “channel-wheels” or centres within the subtle anatomy, as the basis for consciousness and mind within the body, supported by various ‘winds,’ as the medium or support for mind.  He also describes various ‘knots’ or constrictions established at the heart centre, as well as at the other six centres:
 

In the body there are at least seventy-two thousand channels—arteries, veins, ducts, nerves, and manifest and unmanifest pathways—which start growing at what will be the heart soon after conception.  … (there are) three most important channels … At vital places in these three channels are seven channel-wheels, with differing numbers of spokes, or channel-petals.  … The wheel of phenomena is found at the heart … the residence of the very subtle wind and mind that are themselves the root of all phenomena.
    At the heart, the left and right channels wrap around the central channel three times (each channel also looping over itself), and then proceed downwards.  This results in a six-fold constriction at the heart, which prevents the passage of wind in the central channel.
    At each of the (other six) centres … the right and left channels wrap around the central channel once each (each channel also looping over itself), thereby making two constrictions.  The right and left channels are inflated with wind and constrict the central channel such that the wind cannot move in it; these constrictions are called “knots.”  (pp. 138-9)

The Seed of Life at the centre of the Flower of Life
can be used to depict the six fold constriction
around the central channel wheel of the heart,
the 7th centre, or channel-wheel.

All the channels, arteries and such, grow out from that which forms into the heart.  The inner circulation of the ‘winds’ which support consciousness and mind, are then distributed through three major channels through a system of seven centres—in the pattern of 1-3-7, as befits the description of light.  Just as white light divided by a prism, yields a spectrum of seven colours, so also there is an inner circulation of consciousness and vitality through the inner human being—through the subtle ‘winds’ which are the basis for mind and conscious experience.

The ‘knots’ within the heart restrict the winds in the central channel, as the knots at other centres also constrict individual awareness.   At death, these knots are loosened, and the winds move again within the side channels and then the central channel, and  finally return to the heart.  Although the ‘winds’ do not ordinarily move in the central channel, yogic techniques can enable this, which leads to the “more profound states of mind….”

The Dalai Lama explains some of the dynamics of death and dying:
 

… During the last four phases of dying, the winds that serve as the foundations of consciousness enter into the right and left channels and dissolve there. In turn, the winds in the right and left channels enter into and dissolve in the central channel.  The deflation of the right and left channels loosens the constrictions at the channel knots: When the right and left channels become deflated, the central channel is freed, thereby allowing movement of wind inside it. This movement induces the manifestation of subtle minds, which yogis of Highest Yoga Tantra seek to use in the spiritual path; the winds on which a deeply blissful mind rides are intensely withdrawn from moving to objects, and such a mind is particularly powerful in realizing reality.  (p. 143)

The Dalai Lama describes the indestructible drop within the Heart as the place of origin of life and consciousness within the body.  As a person dies, the vital energies, and consciousness, are withdrawn through the channels and gather at the heart, before the soul leaves the body.  As this happens, as the life principles resolve back into the underlying realms of Being from within the nothingness, the heart essentially functions as a black-hole computer.  As this happens, all the information of the persons’ life is available to them, as consciousness resolves back to zero point levels, and the patterns of life are illuminated by consciousness, reflecting the nature of the Mind of Clear Light.

The Dalai Lama describes the “indestructible drop” within the heart, and how there are also such “essential fluids” in each of the centres.  In another profound passage, he explains esoteric physiology within Tibetan Buddhism:
 

At the center of the channel-wheels are drops, white on the top and red on the bottom, upon which physical and mental health are based.  At the top of the head, the white element predominates, whereas at the solar plexus the red element predominates.  These drops originate from the most basic drop at the heart, which is the size of a large mustard seed or small pea, and, like the others, has a white top and red bottom.  Since it lasts until death, this drop at the heart is called the “indestructible drop.”  The very subtle life-bearing wind dwells inside this drop; at death, all winds ultimately dissolve into it, at which point the clear light of death dawns.  (p. 145)  #1
  The Dalai Lama offers profound teachings on the nature of the human subtle anatomy and the physiology of life and death.  Such concepts represent a coherent proposal and model of the psyche, a worthy ‘hypothesis’ for scientific inquiry.  Such a view of an “indestructible drop within the heart,” provides an alternative perspective to “the head doctrine” of modern science—the belief or assumption that material-energetic processes of the brain produce consciousness.

The Dalai Lama describes “consciousness” as inner illumination or light, which reflects the deepest Mind of Clear Light.  Whereas modern psychology and science have considered consciousness to be non-substantive, or nothing in itself, esoteric teachings describe consciousness as ‘light’ and as reflecting forms of higher dimensional or ‘supernal’ light.  Again, these are legitimate scientific proposals, that there is such a realm of higher dimensional light—as such possibilities are indeed described within modern physics.  The Dalai Lama most clearly equates consciousness with light:
 

Consciousness is defined as that which is luminous and knowing.  It is luminous in the double sense that its nature is clear and that it illuminates, or reveals, like a lamp that dispels darkness so that objects may be seen.  …  Consciousness is composed of moments, instead of cells, atoms, or particles.  In this way consciousness and matter have different natures, and therefore, they have different substantive causes.  (2002, p. 129)

Consciousness is light, which illuminates the objects and matters of human experience—illuminating the material side of nature.  Again, we have distinction between the ‘I’ and the ‘me.’  Consciousness is considered as separate from the objects of awareness, yet illuminates them as an inner light source in a holographic manner.  The Dalai Lama states simply: “Matter cannot make consciousness.”  (1986, p. 236)

The Dalai Lama explains that to understand human consciousness, we have to distinguish between matter and consciousness, and that “space particles”  (space quanta) are the basis for matter, while the “mind of clear light” is the basis for consciousness:
 

In Buddhism, there are levels of coarseness and subtlety of particles, and the most subtle of all particles would be the particles of space.  These serve as the basis for all of the particles  ... The particles of space remain forever. ... When you go back and back, researching what the substantial causes are, you will eventually get back to the particles of space. ...  new worlds will form physically on the basis of the empty space-particles.  (In Weber, 1986, pp.235-6)

According to the Dalai Lama, “...  new worlds will form physically on the basis of the empty space-particles,” as zero point sources.  Similarly, H. P. Blavatsky describes the Gods and other invisible powers clothing themselves in bodies based such zero points foundations, like empty space particles.  So also, the Kabbalist, describes the supernal infinitesimal point source origination of a Cosmos, and a minute point vacated within the Plenum-an empty space particle, before the descent of the line of light within the void.  The conjunction of Light and the empty Space Particles are the ultimate basis for human experience.  Consciousness is different from the space particles and does not depend on them, but the space particles are necessary for individualized conscious experience:
 

... There are different levels of consciousness.  What we call innermost subtle consciousness is always there. ...   In the field of matter, that is the space-particles; in the field of consciousness, it is the clear light.  These two are something like permanent, as far as continuity is concerned.  ...  The clear light ... is like the basic substance that can turn into a consciousness that knows everything.  All of our other (kinds of) consciousnesses –sense consciousness and so on–arise in dependence on this mind of clear light.  (Weber, 1986, p. 237)

Space particles are the foundation for the material realms and the contents of consciousness, while consciousness is a reflection the mind of clear light, which illuminates the material or subtle world orders.  Individualized consciousness, or the I-experience, depends upon the conjunction of these elements -the clear light and the empty space particle.  A point source, or empty space-particle, and the light of consciousness are the ultimate metaphysical principles behind the phenomena we understand as human consciousness.

Certainly, if science wants a model of holography, to understand a human being within a multi-dimensional Universe, this is provided by the Dalai Lama’s views.  A coherent supernal light source illuminates material objects of perception and the mind.  What we normally consider as our conscious experience is the conjunctions of these elements—the Space Particles, upon which new worlds are built, and the Consciousness or Mind of Clear Light, which illuminates the material sides of nature—a human being within their varied bodies, within the seven dimensions of Maya.

The Dalai Lama explains that there is a close association between the consciousness/mind and the ‘winds,’ which support it.  He states:  “… the wind on which consciousness is mounted, like a rider on a horse, is a physical entity that supports consciousness.  Although consciousness can separate from the physical body, as it does when we pass from one lifetime to another, consciousness can never separate from the subtlest level of mind.”  (p. 132) The subtle winds support the movements of subtle mind, and are “beyond physical particles,” although substantive in their own nature.  The Dalai Lama and the esoteric traditions further regard ‘consciousness’ as being able to exist in relationship to 7 dimensions or planes of being, each of which has a further seven fold division.  Thus, esoteric Buddhism suggests 7 degrees of Maya, of material creation, and 49 planes of existence—all of which could conceivably be illumined by the “Mind of Clear Light.”

The Dalai Lama offers us a view of the origins of consciousness which are consistent with modern ideas about 7 dimensional Calabi-Yau spaces existent at every point in space and time, as “space particles,” and about the quantum interconnectedness of life.  His descriptions of the life review processes which occur at death are also consistent with the idea of the heart functioning as a mini black hole computer, and as the vital winds withdraw into the heart, all the quantum information of one’s life available within the subtle dimensions of being. Indeed, the Universe is a Hologram, illuminated by the mind of clear light, and all new worlds are established on minute, empty space particles.   Imagine that a human being were such a pixel on a screen of higher dimensions, with a point source origin, and a consciousness capable of reflecting the Mind of Clear Light!

The concept that a human being does indeed have such a singularity origin is of a profound nature, and relates mystical psychologies to physics and ancient metaphysics.  Such concepts or frameworks of understanding must be elaborated if we are ever to explain all the paranormal phenomena reported and experiences throughout the history of humanity.  Maybe the ordinary person who feels in their heart, that there is more to the universe than meets the eye (the external light, seemingly), and believes in God, in fact, is right, and this belief is remembrance of one’s own high origins, or the self experience of the indestructible drop within the heart.   The mind longs to know the secrets of the heart, according to the prophet Gibran, the yogis, and mystics through the ages.  Modern science has now brought us to the point where we can actually relate such concepts as the Dalai Lama proposes to the hard sciences in the areas of physics, information theory, cosmology and medicine.

Meanwhile, the dogma of the head doctrine remains the most serious impediment to the progress of science, the awakening of humanity to the mysteries of the Heart, and the next step forward in the evolution of human consciousness.  And who is really so enlightened as to the nature of Self and consciousness—the head brain theorists of modern psychology and science, or the Dalai Lama, and the other mystic explorers of consciousness?

DESARROLLO-PORTUGAL:
Lejos de Europa

Mario de Queiroz

LISBOA, 21 sep (IPS) - Indicadores económicos y sociales periódicamente divulgados por la Unión Europea (UE) colocan a Portugal en niveles de pobreza e injusticia social inadmisibles para un país que integra desde 1986 el ”club de los ricos” del continente.

Pero el golpe de gracia lo dio la evaluación de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE): en los próximos años Portugal se distanciará aún más de los países avanzados.

La productividad más baja de la UE, la escasa innovación y vitalidad del sector empresarial, educación y formación profesional deficientes, mal uso de fondos públicos, con gastos excesivos y resultados magros son los datos señalados por el informe anual sobre Portugal de la OCDE, que reúne a 30 países industriales.

A diferencia de España, Grecia e Irlanda (que hicieron también parte del ”grupo de los pobres” de la UE), Portugal no supo aprovechar para su desarrollo los cuantiosos fondos comunitarios que fluyeron sin cesar desde Bruselas durante casi dos décadas, coinciden analistas políticos y económicos.

En 1986, Madrid y Lisboa ingresaron a la entonces Comunidad Económica Europea con índices similares de desarrollo relativo, y sólo una década atrás, Portugal ocupaba un lugar superior al de Grecia e Irlanda en el ranking de la UE. Pero en 2001, fue cómodamente superado por esos dos países, mientras España ya se ubica a poca distancia del promedio del bloque.

”La convergencia de la economía portuguesa con las más avanzadas de la OCE pareció detenerse en los últimos años, dejando una brecha significativa en los ingresos por persona”, afirma la organización.

En el sector privado, ”los bienes de capital no siempre se utilizan o se ubican con eficacia y las nuevas tecnologías no son rápidamente adoptadas”, afirma la OCDE.

”La fuerza laboral portuguesa cuenta con menos educación formal que los trabajadores de otros países de la UE, inclusive los de los nuevos miembros de Europa central y oriental”, señala el documento.

Todos los análisis sobre las cifras invertidas coinciden en que el problema central no está en los montos, sino en los métodos para distribuirlos.

Portugal gasta más que la gran mayoría de los países de la UE en remuneración de empleados públicos respecto de su producto interno bruto, pero no logra mejorar significativamente la calidad y eficiencia de los servicios.

Con más profesores por cantidad de alumnos que la mayor parte de los miembros de la OCDE, tampoco consigue dar una educación y formación profesional competitivas con el resto de los países industrializados.

En los últimos 18 años, Portugal fue el país que recibió más beneficios por habitante en asistencia comunitaria. Sin embargo, tras nueve años de acercarse a los niveles de la UE, en 1995 comenzó a caer y las perspectivas hoy indican mayor distancia.

¿Dónde fueron a parar los fondos comunitarios?, es la pregunta insistente en debates televisados y en columnas de opinión de los principales periódicos del país. La respuesta más frecuente es que el dinero engordó la billetera de quienes ya tenían más.

Los números indican que Portugal es el país de la UE con mayor desigualdad social y con los salarios mínimos y medios más bajos del bloque, al menos hasta el 1 de mayo, cuando éste se amplió de 15 a 25 naciones.

También es el país del bloque en el que los administradores de empresas públicas tienen los sueldos más altos.

El argumento más frecuente de los ejecutivos indica que ”el mercado decide los salarios”. Consultado por IPS, el ex ministro de Obras Públicas (1995-2002) y actual diputado socialista João Cravinho desmintió esta teoría. ”Son los propios administradores quienes fijan sus salarios, cargando las culpas al mercado”, dijo.

En las empresas privadas con participación estatal o en las estatales con accionistas minoritarios privados, ”los ejecutivos fijan sus sueldos astronómicos (algunos llegan a los 90.000 dólares mensuales, incluyendo bonos y regalías) con la complicidad de los accionistas de referencia”, explicó Cravinho.

Estos mismos grandes accionistas, ”son a la vez altos ejecutivos, y todo este sistema, en el fondo, es en desmedro del pequeño accionista, que ve como una gruesa tajada de los lucros va a parar a cuentas bancarias de los directivos”, lamentó el ex ministro.

La crisis económica que estancó el crecimiento portugués en los últimos dos años ”está siendo pagada por las clases menos favorecidas”, dijo.

Esta situación de desigualdad aflora cada día con los ejemplos más variados. El último es el de la crisis del sector automotriz.

Los comerciantes se quejan de una caída de casi 20 por ciento en las ventas de automóviles de baja cilindrada, con precios de entre 15.000 y 20.000 dólares.

Pero los representantes de marcas de lujo como Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Maserati y Lotus (vehículos que valen más de 200.000 dólares), lamentan no dar abasto a todos los pedidos, ante un aumento de 36 por ciento en la demanda.

Estudios sobre la tradicional industria textil lusa, que fue una de las más modernas y de más calidad del mundo, demuestran su estancamiento, pues sus empresarios no realizaron los necesarios ajustes para actualizarla. Pero la zona norte donde se concentra el sector textil, tiene más autos Ferrari por metro cuadrado que Italia.

Un ejecutivo español de la informática, Javier Felipe, dijo a IPS que según su experiencia con empresarios portugueses, éstos ”están más interesados en la imagen que proyectan que en el resultado de su trabajo”.

Para muchos ”es más importante el automóvil que conducen, el tipo de tarjeta de crédito que pueden lucir al pagar una cuenta o el modelo del teléfono celular, que la eficiencia de su gestión”, dijo Felipe, aclarando que hay excepciones.

”Todo esto va modelando una mentalidad que, a fin de cuentas, afecta al desarrollo de un país”, opinó.

La evasión fiscal impune es otro aspecto que ha castrado inversiones del sector público con potenciales efectos positivos en la superación de la crisis económica y el desempleo, que este año llegó a 7,3 por ciento de la población económicamente activa.

Los únicos contribuyentes a cabalidad de las arcas del Estado son los trabajadores contratados, que descuentan en la fuente laboral. En los últimos dos años, el gobierno decidió cargar la mano fiscal sobre esas cabezas, manteniendo situaciones ”obscenas” y ”escandalosas”, según el economista y comentarista de televisión Antonio Pérez Metello.

”En lugar de anunciar progresos en la recuperación de los impuestos de aquellos que continúan riéndose en la cara del fisco, el gobierno (conservador) decide sacar una tajada aun mayor de esos que ya pagan lo que es debido, y deja incólume la nebulosa de los fugitivos fiscales, sin coherencia ideológica, sin visión de futuro”, criticó Metello.

La prueba está explicada en una columna de opinión de José Vitor Malheiros, aparecida este martes en el diario Público de Lisboa, que fustiga la falta de honestidad en la declaración de impuestos de los llamados profesionales liberales.

Según esos documentos entregados al fisco, médicos y dentistas declararon ingresos anuales promedio de 17.680 euros (21.750 dólares), los abogados de 10.864 (13.365 dólares), los arquitectos de 9.277 (11.410 dólares) y los ingenieros de 8.382 (10.310 dólares).

Estos números indican que por cada seis euros que pagan al fisco, ”le roban nueve a la comunidad”, pues estos profesionales no dependientes deberían contribuir con 15 por ciento del total del impuesto al ingreso por trabajo singular y sólo tributan seis por ciento, dijo Malheiros.

Con la devolución de impuestos al cerrar un ejercicio fiscal, éstos ”roban más de lo que pagan, como si un carnicero nos vendiese 400 gramos de bife y nos hiciese pagar un kilogramo, y existen 180.000 de estos profesionales liberales que, en promedio, nos roban 600 gramos por kilo”, comentó con sarcasmo.

Si un país ”permite que un profesional liberal con dos casas y dos automóviles de lujo declare ingresos de 600 euros (738 dólares) por mes, año tras año, sin ser cuestionado en lo más mínimo por el fisco, y encima recibe un subsidio del Estado para ayudar a pagar el colegio privado de sus hijos, significa que el sistema no tiene ninguna moralidad”, sentenció. (FIN/2004)

Mas tem razão para nos verem assim.

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

© Oriah Mountain Dreamer, from the book The Invitation