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theories regarding "integral freedom" and its practice that are current in such society. But
behind these absurd extravagances there are elements of knowledge regarding old
traditions, forgotten history and the handling of psychic forces to be gleaned. But in these
circles, as elsewhere in Tibet, the great difficulty is to gain a footing.
It is unnecessary to be an ordained monk to enter the "Short Path to Deliverance."
According to its adepts, only initiations are of value. So any layman, if recognized as fit to
WITH MYSTICS AND MAGICIANS IN TIBET: CHAPTER VII: MYSTIC THEORIES AND SPIRITUAL TRAINING
undertake the spiritual climbing, may be accepted by a mystic master and in due time
initiated by him. The same rule applies to students of magic. Nevertheless, most mystics
and magicians have begun their career as youths in the religious Order.
The choice of the master who is to guide him along the mystic path, arduous and fraught
with deceitful mirages, is a momentous decision for the candidate to initiation. The course
which his life will follow depends to a great extent upon the character of the lama he
elects.
For having asked admittance at a door from which they ought to have turned away, some
have met with
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fantastic adventures. Yet, if the young monk is satisfied with begging the spiritual
guidance of a lama who is neither an anchorite nor an "extremist" of the "Short Path," his
novitiate will probably not include any tragic incidents.
During a probation period of undetermined length the master will test the character of his
new disciple. Then he may simply explain some philosophical treatises and the meaning
of a few symbolic diagrams (kyilkhors), teaching him the methodic meditations for which
they are used.
If the lama thinks his pupil capable of proceeding farther, he will expound him the
programme of the mystic training.
The latter includes three stages, namely:
Tawa to look, examine.
Gompa to think, meditate.
Chy�d pa to practice, realize. This is the fruit of accomplishment through the
two former stages.
Another less current enumeration makes use of four terms to convey the same meaning, as
follows:
FIRST STAGE: T�n "meaning," "reason." That is to say investigation of
the nature of things, their origin, their end, the causes upon
which they depend.
Lob "study" of various doctrines.
WITH MYSTICS AND MAGICIANS IN TIBET: CHAPTER VII: MYSTIC THEORIES AND SPIRITUAL TRAINING
SECOND STAGE: Gom thinking or meditating on that which one has
discovered and learnt. Practising introspective meditation.
THIRD STAGE: Togs Understanding.
In order that the novice may practice in perfect quietness the various exercises which that
programme requires, it is nearly certain that the lama will command him to shut himself in
tsams.
(Written mtshams and pronounced tsam.)
The word tsams signifies a barrier, the border of a territory. In religious parlance, to "stay
in tsams" means to live in seclusion, to retire beyond a barrier which must not be passed.
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That "barrier" may be of different kinds. With advanced mystics it becomes purely
psychic and it is said that the latter need no material contrivances to isolate themselves
while meditating.
There exist several categories of tsams, each one being subdivided into a number of
varieties.
Proceeding from the less austere towards the most severe forms, we find the following
ones:
A lama or a lay devotee shuts himself in his room or private apartment. He does not go out
or only does so at fixed time, to perform some devotional practices such as walking
around religious edifices making repeated prostrations before sacred objects, or the like.
According to the rule which he has adopted, the tsamspa
(He who practices tsams. Not to be mistaken for tsampa: flour of roast barley, written rtsampa.)
either may be seen or must remain invisible. In the first case, he is generally permitted to
talk briefly with the members of the household, his relatives or servants, and even to
receive a few visitors. In the second case, he may only be seen by those who attend him. If
a visitor is admitted, he must remain within hearing outside the tsamspa's room. A curtain
screens the entrance and the interlocutors remain invisible to each other as in some Roman
Catholic contemplative Orders of nuns.
A number of Tibetans resort occasionally to one or another of these mild forms of
seclusion for non-religious motives, seeking merely to avoid disturbance while engaged in
the study of any branch of Tibetan learning: grammar, philosophy, astrology, medicine,
etc.
WITH MYSTICS AND MAGICIANS IN TIBET: CHAPTER VII: MYSTIC THEORIES AND SPIRITUAL TRAINING
Next comes the recluse who sees but one attendant.
He who renounces speaking and makes known his needs by writing.
He who partly covers his window, so that he cannot see the surrounding landscape, nor
any outside object except the sky.
He who renounces the sight of the sky, covering his window entirely, or living in a
windowless room which, nevertheless, admits the daylight indirectly.
He who sees no one at all.
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In this case, if the tsamspa enjoys the use of a suite of rooms, his meals are brought into
one of them, while he retires into another. When he lives in a single room, food is placed
next the entrance. Someone knocks at the door to inform the recluse that what he needs is
ready, and then the inmates of the house leave the adjacent room or corridors for a
moment to allow the tsamspa to come out without being seen. Any object is returned in
the same way, the tsamspa calling attention by knocking at the door or ringing a bell.
Among those who practice this particular kind of tsams, some ask by writing for the
things which they require, but others renounce this facility. Consequently, whatever may
be their needs, they cannot make them known. Even if those who attend on them forgot to
give them their meal, they ought to fast in silence.
Generally tsams in one's own house do not last long, especially of the strict kind. One year
seems to be an exceptional period. One usually hears of people who live in seclusion for
three months, one month and even a few days only. Laymen rarely shut themselves in
their apartment for more than one month.
It is easy to understand that prolonged and severe tsams cannot be practiced in an ordinary
residence. There, whatever care is taken, the moving about of people busy with worldly
affairs and the noise inevitably reach the tsamspa, through the thin barrier of his closed
door.
The silence and quiet surroundings which may be enjoyed to a high degree in the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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