The Ten Grounds of the Way

The Buddha said: You do not understand the Way - because the Way cannot be understood by the body-oriented mind, and the Way cannot be understood by the mind-oriented mind.  Neither can it be understood through time, nor can it be understood through experience.

The Way is beyond time and beyond experience.

The Buddha gave us Ten Grounds, and if you practice these ten grounds, you will attain to the ultimate!  I would like to give these ten grounds, these ten bhumis. They are very practical.   Practicing these you will grow in spiritual strength.

The first bhumi is pramu-gita: It means joyousness.  Unless you are joyous you will never reach to the truth.  Joyousness, delight, celebration; that is the meaning of pramu-gita.  It means be joyous for no reason at all. 

The second ground is vimal. It means innocence, purity, simplicity.   Never lose your childlike-ness.  Remain innocent, purity, simple.

The third ground is prabhakhari.   It means luminousness, light.  Feel yourself as a flame, live as if you are an inner burning light, move with the inner flame!  Do whatsoever you do, but always feel yourself as if you are made out of light.  And by and by you will see luminousness arising around you.  Man is  made of bio-electricity; everything is made of electricity!  Buddha says man is light.  Light means electricity - cooperate with it and you will become a great light!

The fourth grounding is arsimati: radiance, aliveness, vitality.  The religious seeker should not be dull and dead.  Buddha says be alive!  Because it is only on the wings of life that you will reach to truth.  If you are dull you are lost.  Be radiant!  Burn the torch at both ends.

The fifth is sudurjaya: It means adventurousness, courageousness, challenge-welcomingness.  Whenever there is a challenge, welcome it, don't avoid it.  And whenever there is an adventure, don't escape.  Go on the journey, go on the trip!  Nobody ever loses anything by being adventurous!!!! 

Ordinary people accept the life of security, of no adventure; a good job, a good house, a good wife, a good husband and good children - and people are satisfied.  People are satisfied in living and dying comfortably, as if comfort is the goal.

Buddha says: Don't be confined to the comfortable, to the familiar, to the secure; don't base your philosophy on the promises of a life insurance company.  Have a little more courage, MOVE INTO THE UNKNOWN.   

And the sixth grounding is abhimukhi: immediateness, face-to-faceness, encountering that which is.  It means don't bother about the past and don't bother about the future.  Face the truth as it comes, encounter the fact as it comes, and with no preparation, with immediateness.  A personal usually lives in preparation in constant rehearsals....Abhimukhi means be alert and let the response come in the moment.

The seventh is durangama - far goingness, accepting the call of the beyond.  There is a beyond everywhere.  We are surrounded by the beyond.  Ordinarily when one looks into this abyss, they start to tremble, they go on looking in another direction.  Durangama means be available to the beyond.  Never remain confined to the boundaries.  ALWAYS TRESPASS BOUNDARIES! Make the boundaries if you need them, but always remember you have to step out.  Never make imprisonments.

The eight is achala:centering, grounding, immovability.  The Buddha says one should learn to be centered, unmoving, grounded.  Whatsoever happens, one should learn how to remain unwavering.  Let the whole world go into disappearance, let the whole world dissolve, but you go on sitting, being centered, unmoved.  No matter what upset comes, you go on being unmoved!

The ninth is sadhumati: intelligence, awareness, mindfulness.  It means sagely intelligence.  Not only intelligence, but sagely intelligence. Develop the intelligence that will lead you beyond, that will lead you to freedom!

And the tenth is dharma-megha:  grace showering, becoming a cloud of truth, love and grace.  Whatsoever you get you have to share; then you will get more.  Whatsoever you have, you have to shower, you have to give it to others, you have to distribute it.  All that you attain in your being has to become your compassion. Then you will get more.  The more you become spendthrift of your inner energies, the more space will be created for God to descend in you, for truth to penetrate you.  whatever gifts you have, give them!  This is dharma-megha.

The truth is given in different ways: some dance, some sing, some play music, some teach.  Buddha went on teaching for forty-two years.  His students would say, you go on talking constantly and you teach us silence.  I loved buddha's statement:  He said, "I have to talk to teach you to be silent.  Be silent, so that one day you can also talk."

These ten grounds will give you energy, light, love and intelligence.  The ten grounds!  Walking upon them you come upon the ultimate!  The ten beautiful bhumis!