The Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha—the state, production, communism. What you saw in Soviet communism – what you saw in Chinese communism – was an attempt to pervert the very principles of Buddhism, the three pillars of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. It was an attempt to prevent the flow between East and West—that would unite the eastern and western hemispheres and their respective states of consciousness, uniting the masculine and the feminine in the perfect polarity.
Thus, you might surmise that there has been – for a long time – a plan of higher awareness to unite East and West, to form a synergy – a higher union – of eastern and western thought, eastern and western states of consciousness. And the manipulators, the false teachers, have been at least somewhat aware of this plan. And thus, communism was, seen from a higher perspective, an attempt to foil this plan and create a barrier to the reestablishment of the flow between East and West, West and East.
You saw this out-pictured most obviously in Europe with the so-called Iron Curtain, dividing East from West. This curtain symbolized that there was no physical travel between East and West, but at a deeper level there was no exchange of thought, there was no exchange of ideas, there was no exchange of information. What then does such a division produce? Well, all fear springs from the unknown. So, when one side of the Iron Curtain does not know what is going on on the other side, then fear begins to grow. And fear, of course, is the most effective block of the natural flow from one polarity to another. Fear is intricately linked with separation. Fear springs from separation, one might say, but one might also say that separation springs from fear.
And thus, you saw this division in Europe that prevented the figure-eight flow between eastern and western Europe, then expanding to encompass a figure-eight flow between Asia and the Americas. And thus, the vision of higher awareness for a reborn Russia that is part of Europe, so that there can be the figure-eight flow between Russia and western Europe—that was meant to be there so long ago, was aborted by the Bolshevik revolution and what followed.
The Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. These three represent the way to manifest the kingdom of God on earth. First, the Buddha – which is not necessarily the Buddha as it is oftenpictured in the East – the Buddha represents a higher reality, the higher reality that is beyond any man-made image, doctrine, or system. The Buddha represents the higher reality beyond any structure. And therefore, when the people who adhere to the system, venerate the Buddha, they venerate something beyond form, something that cannot be turned into a system. And therefore, the movement of Buddhism – had it remained in its original form – could not be turned into the elaborate systems that you see today in various aspects of Buddhism.
This, then, represents the fact that if there is devotion to something beyond form – and if the people realize that they are formless beings – then no system, no structure, no philosophy, no movement will ever become an end in itself. It will remain what it is meant to be—a means to an end, in either the raising of the consciousness of the people and the raising of the vibration of the earth into that of a golden age.
In the communist system, there had to be a complete denial of God—a denial of anything beyond the material universe; anything beyond what can be defined and controlled by man. And thus, you see the remark so often quoted from Karl Marx that “religion is the opium of the masses.” From one perspective, this is a completely correct observation. False religion – religion where the structure has become an end in itself – does indeed serve as the opium of the masses. Yet you also see that it was not the goal of Marx, or Marxism, to set people free. It was the goal to move them from being under one form of control to another form of control. And so, what Marx put instead of religion was the state. The state as a man-made entity, a man-made structure, a man-made system that acknowledges nothing beyond itself that acknowledges no higher authority anywhere. The state is supreme. The state is always superior to the individual.
This, of course, is not that different from most formal religions. The Catholic Church was from the beginning a system designed to suppress individuality, especially individual Christhood. And thus, you see that the state created by Marxism and communism was simply another form of an oppressive system that did not set the people free from religion but made them even more enslaved than they had been under a religious system. For now there was not even an acknowledgement of some authority beyond the human. Of course, one might say that there is no such acknowledgement either in the Catholic Church. For, even though they talk about God, the image of God is a completely man-made image. And so, does it really make any difference whether they acknowledge the existence of a God or whether they deny the existence of a God? Both systems deny the Living God. So the foundation for Marxism and communism was indeed the establishment of the state as the superior entity, the superior system that no individual could stand up against—for it would be destroyed by the apparatus.
Then comes the Dharma. And again, you have a perversion in traditional religions, where they often believe that the Dharma is to do the will of God, as if you were some kind of robot being pulled around, dancing to the movement of the strings of the mighty hand in the sky. This was then turned into – under communism – that the citizens had an obligation to work for the state, to maintain the state, to maintain the system, and to work toward some promised utopia in the future. Can you see that the promised communist system that would supposedly emerge after the state had played its role – as described by Marx – is not that different from the promised paradise that people would attain after they had left the earth—that is talked about in the Catholic Church and other religions.
And then comes the Sangha. Again, in both religion and communism, a perversion of the original concept of higher awareness, where, again, the community is something that demands unquestioning obedience by the individual. For in both systems there is an underlying subtle idea that the individual cannot attain salvation as an individual but only by being part of the community or through some external savior. But in both cases you do not have the power within yourself.
The reality of the teaching that the Buddha gave so many centuries ago is that the dharma is not actually your outer actions. The dharma, in its ultimate form, is to rise above duality, to manifest your Divine Presence while you are in embodiment, and therefore give people a frame of reference, so that they see that the Buddha is not some far-away concept up there in the sky. But that the Buddha can be seen, can manifest itself in and through form.
And this, then, is the recognition that the individual has the dharma to embody the Buddha. And that recognition leads on to the establishment of a true community, where the individual is not erased or is not subservient to the whole. But where the individual maintains his or her inner connection to the Buddha, to the higher self, to higher awareness, and yet – because of that inner connection that each one has individually – they can come together in a true community of coming-into-unity without erasing the individuality.
So you, then, see that this was the plan of the beings of higher awareness—to set this in motion, beginning with the Buddha’s teaching and then continued with the teachings of Jesus, who also gave a similar teaching. Namely that each person had the potential to manifest Christhood and thereby establish that connection to the Living Christ beyond any man-made structure. And that it was the Dharma of each individual to attain that Christhood, and then to let that light so shine before men that they might see your good works and know that these works can truly come only from the Father within you. And then, when you have established this on an individual basis, you can come together and form the true Christian way, where you are followers of “The Way” and demonstrate that way to others.
This goal is, of course, still the goal of the beings of higher awareness—it is still attainable. And as you have seen, the second law of thermodynamics has indeed broken down the communist structures and systems. And now, there is a new day and a new opportunity for the the more aware people to go back and find the true way of the Buddha and the true way of the Christ and the true way of all spiritual teachers and teachings. The way that reaches for a higher state of consciousness and then demonstrates that consciousness, as it demonstrates the figure-eight flow from above to below, from below to above.
So that you have that vertical figure-eight flow established that then becomes the foundation for establishing of the horizontal figure-eight flow between East and West, North and south and all the world around, until the entire world is one huge figure-eight flow; where the energies and the ideas flow from heart to heart around the globe. And, where people see themselves, first of all, as individuals with a connection to the spiritual realm, but then as united in a spiritual community; a Sangha that is beyond national borders, beyond race, beyond sex, beyond ethnicity, beyond any divisions. And they all see that they are a part of this great movement of raising the earth and manifesting the Age of Higher Awareness on this planet—by bringing forth the ideas, by sharing those ideas, and by working together to make those ideas and visions a manifest reality.
Look at the magnificent example set by Jesus. Did Jesus establish a home base? Nay, his home base was within him, and he carried it with him wherever he went. Did he seek to establish some elaborate cathedral somewhere that people would then come to? Nay, he came to the people wherever they were at, in the physical or in consciousness. And thus, he demonstrated, indeed, the willingness to flow with higher awareness without any structure whatsoever. He walked the dusty roads of Galilee with just his clothes and his sandals, and sometimes a lump of bread.
Higher awareness has many things to bring forth for the golden age. But it does not want to bring forth everything through one person. For in that case it would be impossible to prevent people from idolizing that person, as you have seen them do to the Buddha and to Jesus and to other spiritual teachers. There is a delicate balance to be followed. In past ages, there was often only one who could serve as the open door. But in this age things are different. There are many who can serve as the open door in some capacity or another. You who are here should see yourselves as being the open door for bringing forth new impulses and ideas.
Do not limit that this has to be done as you see in some spiritual teacher. Your Life plan is your Life plan and is not to be modeled on anyone else. The inspiration you can find is that if you are willing, to go through a period of weeding out the elements in your being – the visions and the beliefs and the structures that limit the expression of higher awareness through you – then you too can find what is your individual expression, what is your Life plan—that then empowers you to be of greatest possible service.
And this is what has been lacking in many spiritual organizations. For the people were not willing to look beyond the leader and recognize the motto that higher awareness has given: What one has done; all can do. For what one has done was done not by the outer person, but by the flow of higher awareness through that person. And that same higher awareness can flow through every one of you. And that is when you establish the true Sangha.
The true Sangha is not one where the Buddha sits, as if he was on the top of the pyramid and he is the only open door. And all the others are just sitting there in meditation and receiving the wisdom of the Buddha, as he speaks endlessly. This is not the true Sangha. The true Sangha is where everyone is an open door in some measure, and where everyone can bring forth something that will help the Sangha move forward and manifest what the Sangha is meant to manifest.
And thus, you all have that potential to go out and share your Presence, share your light and thereby awaken others—that this awakening might spread as rings on the water of the collective consciousness. Until all have been touched and have then received an opportunity to choose between unreality and reality, the reality they have experienced through you or someone who came in contact with you and carried that spark of reality with them.
And thus, you see, indeed, the short-term potential for a spiritual awakening in Russia, and an awakening to the need for Russia to reach out to the West, to open itself up to the West. And, then see that it is not simply that Russia has something to learn from the West, but also that the West has something to learn from the Russian people—their dedication, their passion, their sincerity; their willingness to give their all into whatever activity they engage themselves.
This is something that is often lacking in western Europe, where you see many people who take life so lightly that they do not truly dedicate themselves to anything; but they sort of sail through life without having any commitment to expanding their skills, or their knowledge or their understanding. They think life is so easy – or that it should be so easy – that they do not have to truly dedicate themselves to a practical skill or the expansion of their consciousness. And so, you see that there is much to be gained from both sides coming into a closer communion, an exchange of ideas, of vibrations, of consciousness. This can establish a true Sangha that can shatter the structure of the false Sangha imposed by force through the communist system.
Think of the Soviet Union: the vast territory, the vast distances in space but the even greater distances in the backgrounds and the consciousness of the people—yet all forced to come under one system. And still, some nations are very much affected by that mindset, as is Russia herself. Yet it was a forced union that could not be sustained. And yet you see a peculiar phenomenon—that because the forced union was there, there has now been established a connection between these different peoples. And even though the structure of the communist system is fading away, there is the potential to build on to that connection and raise it up into a true spiritual connection.
Russia and the communist system can then become – when the old dies and it is reborn – the very instrument for forging a greater union and a greater figure-eight flow between East and West. And thus, you see that even though the false hierarchy attempted to use Russia and communism to build a wall between East and West, their efforts can actually be turned on its head; they can be turned upside down. They can then become an instrument for actually bringing forth that union. And thus, even though, in a certain way, the actions of the false hierarchy delayed the union between East and West, we can quickly catch up to where the world would have been, had the Bolshevik revolution not happened.
The Buddha says: “Time is not.” For the Buddha takes the long view and knows that nothing – no structure that is man-made – can endure forever. And therefore, every such structure will in the end serve the cause, the greater timeless cause, of awakening humankind to the vanity and the folly of the dualistic state of consciousness, and the reality of non-duality.
The reality of nonduality. This might be a byword that you can remember. When you face a difficult situation in life – be it in your personal life or society – just remember this little silly rhyme: The reality of nonduality. And then tune in to that reality by looking beyond the duality of the situation you face. It might be a tool for you remembering that even though you are facing a difficult situation, that situation is only in form. And you are beyond form. So when you reconnect to the formless, then surely that which has form will no longer limit your Spirit and its expression in form. Take this simple thought with you. Take it into your heart and your mind and allow it to expand, allow it to grow, and multiply it through your attention.