Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00231)

In Badulla, south-eastern Sri Lanka, I had the
opportunity of another visit to the senior Buddhist
monk I had met last year. He used to be a teacher of
monks but is now retired due to health reasons. He
lives in a small cottage on the compound of a Buddhist
temple.

The subject of our conversation, done through an
interpreter, was the stages on the path (marga):
sotapatti, sakridagamin, anagamin and arhat. They are
mentioned in theosophical literature. He mentioned the
well-known notion of the "fetters" (samyojana) and
said that progress from one stage to another is by
getting rid of a number of "fetters". Of the these,
one of the central ones is the sense of self
(sakkayadhitti). He said this is the most serious
impediment for one to thread the path.

He said the "anagamin" (non-returner) is free from
"tanha", the thirst for experience which is the source
of suffering ("dukkha"). "There is suffering but no
sufferer". Almost incomprehensible to me, he said that
even the "anagamin" has fetters to deal with, even
when they are necessarily of a subtler nature. One of
them is "avijja" (Pali word for Avidya), ignorance.

I then asked him: "Are there Arhats alive today?" To
which he answered: "Possibly, but it is very difficult
to verify it. It is a universal truth that no Arhat
would say that he himself is an Arhat". An Arhat, he
added, is free from the illusions created by the sense
of self (sakkayadhitti).

My questions became slightly bolder: "When do you
think Maitreya-Buddha will manifest himself in the
world?" His answer was quite remarkable:
"Maitreya-Buddha will manifest when the present world
is 'destroyed' and after a new cycle of life begins,
either on this or on another planet". Was he referring
to another Round?

"Is the Boddhisatva Maitreya [he differentiated
between Maitreya-Buddha and Boddhisatva Maitreya] in
physical incarnation now?", I ventured to ask. He
said: "Yes". "Do you have any idea of the place where
he would be living now?", I continued. "Bharatha"
(India), he said. He made clear that these were just
his views and he did not claim the authority of any
traditional Buddhist text in support of them. 

What he said about Maitreya-Buddha reminded me about
what Samdhong Rimpoche had told me in a conversation
in Sydney, in 2001, during the World Congress of the
Adyar TS. He said that, according the Tibetan Buddhist
tradition, Maitreya-Buddha would manifest in the world
in a million years from now, but that there would be
partial manifestations before the full manifestation
would take place. These partial manifestations would
prepare humanity for the future teaching.

Rinpoche also said that in this age (Kali-Yuga) there
is individual clarity and collective darkness, and
that in the next age (Satya-Yuga) there will be
collective clarity but individual darkness, for these
two poles must always be together.

On being asked about the existence of the Mahatmas, he
said Tibetan people are aware that Mahatmas do exist,
the difficulty being that since they do not attract
any attention to themselves it is very difficult to
recognise them.


Pedro



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