Just a Thought on the Divine

"You are your only master. Who else?"
Buddha

The plan for today was to begin delving into the Six
Preliminaries, but a thought occurred to me concerning
yesterday's entry, and, well, as I am attempting not to
live my life in the future, I will go with the thought of "now".

I am impressed by the attempts of so many to try and
elevate the Buddha's status to godhood, even though
he was quite adamant about his feelings on the matter.
Even his first students got caught up in this notion, and droves have followed their example ever since.

Why, then, are we as humans so anxious to assign divinity, even when the object of our designs protest, quite eloquently, that they are not interested in such adornment?

Have you ever had close contact with someone who possesses fantastic, compelling charisma? Have you ever felt the hope that if you just hang around that particular person for a while, perhaps some of that stardust, that mojo, that. . .beauty will rub off on you, and then you can be as beloved as they are--as adored. As otherworldly, and so divinely all together, and no earthly concerns can touch you.

It's the subtle beginnings of worship. They are so wonderful, therefore, if we follow them, if we strive to be like them, if we make them something beyond ourselves, beyond our level of existence, then perhaps, I've been thinking, we hope to hand over to them, in this process, responsibility for our existence and where we are going. Here, at this point, the worship becomes as poison that freezes the blood and stops the heart. As a flesh and blood Buddha pointed out: No one purifies another.

At least for me, when I turn to a god, especially in times of chaos, I am looking for someone to FIX! things. And, maybe if I ask really nicely, that Someone will help me out. I'll go a step further: that Someone will make the world a better place. That Someone will solve the world's problems. That Someone will take my life into their hands and mold it into what I always wanted it to be.

I am not of the mind that when I ask the Buddha for his blessings, and dedicate the merit generated from meditation practice to the well being of all sentient beings, that I am just talking to the air. I hope I am learning to practice one of the Buddha's most fundamental teachings: Compassion does not mean we can transform the life of another and therefore assume all responsibility for where life takes them. Buddha's blessing is the knowledge that each of us must find our own way, and that countless others have done just this. The seeds of Buddhahood are within all of us.

Just my thoughts. What do you think?

Tomorrow the First Preliminary. Abide in peace and joy, Cynthia