The Dragonfly Sutra

SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY RELEASE

Sunday 8 August 2021: On the 13th Anniversary of the Terma of Gaia Awakening, Nemeta offers the recitation of the Dragonfly Sutra to all visitors. This version is sung by Dan the Celt.

Originally, JLL set a boundary on public release of the complete Sutra in written form, and other conditions as well. He still advises strongly not to write it down. The units in this section of Nemeta explain in great detail how to use the Sutra as a tool for sharpening your power of attention, rigpa. By remembering the Sutra, you use the tool correctly and optimally. Merely reading it does not produce the same results. But you can at least read it aloud, then pronounce it silently as you read. Alternate between those two ways of reciting the Sutra and it may have an effect that approximates to remembering without reference to its written form.

We live in exceptional times. Given that those who respect the instruction of the Maine professor will observe the above guidelines, here, for the first time, is the complete written form of the 11-line, 55-word text of The Dragonfly Sutra. It was composed on the last day of the Idris Shift, July 3, 2019, in Oudenaken, Belgium.

Tathagate

The beat of wings
moving on air
stirred by wings
that flutter then and there
makes not a sound
on its own, and the stroke
that lifts the hull to flight
and steadies it to alight
measures a slight delay
in the interplay of the matching wings
and there gathers speed with the other pair

The opening mantra, Tathagate, means “what moves on, and what causes to move on.”

§ Removed from the Humanities CLP:

Addition November 2019
Maitreya Challenge
Consummate End of the Buddha Dharma

Identity image for YT channel John Lamb Lash, not yet activated.

Due to the special instance of emergence of The Dragonfly Sutra on the last day of the Idris shift 2019, the question arises: Where does exposition of the Sutra fall in the curriculum of Nemeta?  The short answer is, it belongs in the Humanities, Course 13 of the three Vocations. As Pali-Greek scholar-sage Ken Wheeler has noted, Buddhism today has nothing to do with its original philosophy. He rightfully condemns it as nothing but a pulpy (my word) form of secular humanism. Thus, in that sense, taking down Buddhism is a tactical move in restoration of the Humanities.

To facilitate access to all forthcoming content, text and talk specific to The Dragonfly Sutra, I  have created a stand-alone Course page with curriculum panel.  Going ahead, all units of talk and text  relative to The Dragonfly Sutra will be posted in there.

§

In the area of the Sacred Groves that features The Dragonfly Sutra, you will also find the exposition of Dog Zen. Talks and text on the Sutra and Dog Zen complement each other and share a common aim: to present non-attainment teaching in the way suitable to the conditions at the end of Kali Yuga. These conditions are unique and rigorous. Lama Luv Mutt likes to emphasize that Dog Zen is the “consummate end” of Buddhism. As the saying goes, the Buddha Dharma has lost its tread. There are Buddhist scriptures that predict the end of the Dharma at the final stage of Kali Yuga, right now. But if that end is consummate, then it produces the final flowering of enlightenment, an instruction that cannot be surpassed, to which nothing more can be added.

The Diamond Sutra is the jewel ornament of liberation. Dog Zen is the liberation of the path of liberation. The unique signature of Ch’an and Zen Buddhism is “direct pointing to the nature of mind” — a point on which all scholars and presumed masters agree. Dog Zen presents this truth in a single line:

“What directs your attention to the productions of your mind is not a product of your mind.”

Reflection on that single line liberates your attention, rigpa, so that it can attend directly to its optimal spontaneous activity. Recitation of The Dragonfly Sutra hones the liberated attention and holds it steady on the experience of satori, sudden enlightenment, the non-attainment of what you already know and does not need to be attained.

PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY this final consideration:

There is no metaphysical significance in The Dragonfly Sutra. It is not a coded philosophical message. It has no symbolic value whatsoever. There is nothing in it to analyze or interpret. It contains no hidden message, it carries no reference to anything outside itself. It connotes absolutely nothing. (Typically, a word may both denote and connote. Hollywood denotes a place, an area in Los Angeles. What it connotes is a lot more, of course.) When reciting and reflecting on The Dragonfly Sutra, it is imperative that you realize that it does not connote anything. It describes how a dragonfly flies, stated in meticulous and exact detail, in 55 words and 11 lines, period. To benefit from this Sutra, be mindful to dismiss from your mind any connotations or interpretations that may arise as you contemplate it. There is nothing to understand here. It is purely a description of the flight of a dragonfly.

Previous content for this unit:

§ On the occasion of recording the talk, Benefits of the Dragonfly Sutra, accessible to visitors, I am revising this landing page for more clarity and simplicity. When you recite the Sutra and reflect on it,

In the talk below I refer to my friend Richard Lair who now lives in Thailand near the Burmese border (Chang Mai). Some of you may recall that name from my account of encountering a living Bodhisattva in the manifestation of a Cambodian girl near Angkor Wat in October 1965. Years later, I realized that it was the Organic Light I saw at that moment, streaming from her brow like liquid ivory. Lair was with me on that occasion and participated in what I saw.

The YT channel TheBlueElvis showcases the Thai Elephant Orchestra in several vids with Lair speaking in some of them. Below is one I have chosen as a starter, if you care to investigate. In another vid, Richard comments with his inimitable soft understated humor that it is the heaviest orchestra in the world. They did the calculations and found out that it weighs more than the total company of the Berlin Philharmonic. I assume that covers both players and instruments. Also, he and Dave Soldier have consulted with musicians who concur that it is indeed music judged by professional standards.

Special Talk March 18 2020

BENEFITS OF THE DRAGONFLY SUTRA

NOTE: I am making this talk publicly available for reasons set out in the talk.

Optional access: Go here to download DFS Benefits Audio https://nemeta.org/unit/dragonfly-sutra-benefits/

Orientation

Members can access other units, text and talk, in the curriculum panel below, as applies with all Courses.  As it unfolds so far, the DFS/DZ material is taking shape via several blocks (grouped units):

• Introductory – orientation and background
• Sample Recitations
• Exposition – talking points concerning how the Sutra works
• Medicine Buddha – critique of Buddhism (forthcoming)
• 36 Tattvas – about cosmic projection and the holographic analogue
• DOG ZEN

Note carefully that a single unit/page may contain more than one talk. For instance, the first unit in the block titled Exposition is Attending to Mind. That page holds a sequence of talks with some text, illustrations, and links. Thus, each talk is not posted on a separate unit/page with an individual URL. Talks can run consecutively within the single unit.

The content to be found here is original, new, and developing. Going forward, this content will likely present a good part of original material coming out on Nemeta, additional to periodic installments and special messages to staff accessible in the private conference rooms, 18 Breaking Nous and 17 The Terma and the Terton. Other blocks to be released in the Courses and Vocations 1 – through 15 will present pre-existing material packaged and reformatted with moderate or no revision or addition, barring the occasional orientation talk or advisory notes that may be provided. Currently, Nemeta holds over 500 units in storage, due to be released progressively in the various Courses.

I realize that it may be tricky at moments to keep track of this material, even though the admin Ceridwen and myself work continually to make Nemeta as user-friendly as possible. But the school is an evolving organism, so the problem of linear organization is inevitable. It comes with the turf where the banyan tree grows.

Your patience and diligence are appreciated.

§ March 2014, Correction begins – > July 2019, The Dragonfly Sutra = 64 months. What’s it all about, Rhomé? Why this, why now?

“Taking Down Buddhism”

Words from the revered Indian Guru Ramana Maharshi (1879 – 1950) with background picture of his sanctuary site at Arunachala Hill in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, S. India

In the above talk I indicate that those presumed to be enlightened can do nothing but teach how to attain enlightenment, making Buddhism a redundant system. My critique of Buddhism in this respect extends also to the yogic schools and Vedic philosophy, exemplified in Ramana Maharshi, who is assumed to have attained the state of “god-realization,” in the jargon of those schools.  According to this revered master, the sole and supreme purpose in life is to realize TAT TVAM ASI, Thou Art That, you are what you seek—in my view, this is a banal assertion of terminal narcissism. I disagree with the claim that the only purpose of life is to attain self-realization, defined either in Buddhist or Vedic terms, or on any terms whatever! As I argued many years ago in The Seeker’s Handbook (1991), Asian and Eastern forms of philosophy and practice cannot satisfy the question of finding purpose in life. I stand as strongly as ever on that point.

Additional to that objection, I have another. It concerns the syntax of the two selves, higher and lower, real and illusional, etc., inherent to the Vedic systems and Buddhism. Exposition of the DFS and DZ provides a totally novel solution to the problem of the two selves. This issue goes to the interpretation of Ken Wheeler (YT Theoria Apophasis) regarding the fundamental mistake in Buddhism about annata, the no-self doctrine. Although I do not follow Wheeler who reiterates the two self paradigm, I do find his critique of annata drawn from the Pali Canon of Ceylonese Buddhism to be instructive. This deeply confused and misleading issue is on the list for consideration in units in development on this Course.

– revision jll March 20, 2020