The Four Noble Truths and the Physical World
By Adrian Chan-Wyles PhD
It is remarkable to think that religion has created such an inner focus that Yogis are able to perform extraordinary feats of body-mind manipulation. The cost for this ability is rejection of the outer world and everything in it. The Buddha, who was brought up within the Brahmanic tradition of Yoga practice rejected this kind of development as he said it did not reveal the true nature of the human mind and the perception of the physical world. This is why the Buddha rejected Brahmanic religion, but not the physical world. The correct perception of the world is required to prove the validity of his Four Noble Truths theory. Without living within a material world and perceiving it correctly there can be no Four Noble Truths, and therefore no Buddhism. When the human mind gives up historical conditioning that makes the body function through a specific set of self limiting patterns, then all patterns of behaviour become available at source to the individual to use within society and for the benefit of the people. Withdrawal from the physical world is not required, nor is it the source of unusual abilities, but the inverted thinking of religion has made full psychological and physiological ability appear to be mysterious and a product of a divine being acting upon the world.
The Yogis of India are confronted from the moment of their birth with the stifling physicality of the relentless Brahmanic caste system and the theology that generates and supports it. The sheer weight of determinism means that action in the physical world is viewed as pointless and of no real worth. The only freedom allowed by this system is the full embracing of a religiosity that looks within, but never without. The only direction of action is to confirm inwardly to the pressure of the social oppression. The message is simple; do not attempt to change the outer world as this is impossible. The outer world can not be changed because it has been created and is sustained by a mysterious divine entity (i.e. Brahma). Not only is everything set in stone, but is set in spirit. Therefore the outer world can be rejected by the Yogi as such an action is actually sustaining its presence through non-confrontation. This is justified by the peculiar Brahmanic theology which teaches that the outer world is determined and unchangeable through the agency of human will, whilst at the same time claiming it is an illusion! This is because withdrawal from the world is actually withdrawal into the world and the Yogi is confirming the existence of the Brahmanic system whilst apparently appearing to reject it – such is the illogicality that underlies the thinking associated with religiosity.
How does the Buddha approach this Brahmanic world that he was born into? He rejects the social system and the theology associated with it, but he does not reject the existence of a physical world that underlies the Brahmanic cultural programming. All religious thinking is an attempt to escape suffering; the problem is that the suffering that is being escaped from is never dealt with head-on, as a real entity, but is rather distorted into an abstract concept in the mind. In other words, whatever it is that is creating the suffering is allowed to carry on functioning in the world, whilst the religionist victim of the suffering simply tries to deny the physical reality of the situation, and transform the physical reality into a spiritual reality. Suffering of the body becomes a disembodied phantom in the mind that has no bearing on the reality of the suffering. The religionist abandons a physical world that they think they can do nothing about, and withdraws into a world of comforting imagination. As the rational mind is still functioning even within a religionist, an elaborate, but entirely fallacious theory (i.e. theology) is created to justify and sustain the illusion of inner reality.
The Buddha does not entertain philosophical speculation that is either produced by religious thinking, or is liable to encourage the development of religious thinking – this is why he would not answer certain questions put to him. However, his focus is upon the re-discovery of correct awareness with regard to sensations felt through the bodily senses, and sensations felt through the mind. In this regard he does not state that the mind and body are one, nor does he assert that they are different. Awareness in this context refers to the exercise of the logical and rational mind free of imaginations and social programming. Historical conditioning reduces an individual to perceiving the world in a manner conducive to the dominant powers that exist within society. Generally speaking such an individual perceives the world in a shallow manner and lacks awareness of his own predicament. This is the delusion that Buddha describes as the default position of human beings who have not yet cleared their minds of historical programming and religious imaginations.
Having tried all the various yogic off-shoots of the Brahmanic system to escape suffering, and after having attained the highest level of awareness in each school, the Buddha understood that none of these paths escaped the Brahmanic system that created them. He made use of the context of meditation – as used in Brahmanism – but through focusing his mind upon the development of bare awareness, he used his will power to ‘see through’ his own historical conditioning and into the rational and logical capacity of his mind that has only become available to humanity in general in modern times. This pristine state of awareness is beyond the deluded state that preceded it, and is not dependent upon it. This is because the deluded state only appears to be different from its underlying pristine state – one state literally reflects the other. Enlightenment is the understanding that all states of mind are historically conditioned, but share exactly the same essence. Perceiving the essence of the underlying mind-reality renders all previous conditioning null and void, and prevents any new one-sided conditioning from taking its place. Enlightenment is the achievement of a permanent state of mental re-adjustment.
The Buddha’s premise is simple; the source of human suffering is not generated by a god or divine presence, it is generated within the individual mind through inherited historical conditioning. The Buddha referred to this inheritance as karma, but it includes family and community influence from the moment of birth, as well as conditioning environmental factors, etc. The Buddha used familiar Brahmanic terms when teaching others who were not yet enlightened, but using radically different interpretations from those found within Brahmanic theology. Karma, rebirth, and gods all seem to be real in the unenlightened state, but are understood to be non-existent in the enlightened state. The Buddha, (whilst advocating the development and use of the rational mind), utilised the concept of religion as a means to over-come and transcend the historical conditioning of religious programming.
What does this mean to the Buddhist practitioner? Firstly the Buddha rejects idealism (i.e. the world is a thought, or set of thoughts), and rejects materialism (the world is comprised only of physical matter). This position does not accept any one-sided, dualistic view of existence. In other words, the Buddha rejects an idealistic world that stands in opposition to a material world, and does not accept as valid a materialist perspective that rejects an idealistic view of the world – the Buddha steadfastly refuses to be intellectually drawn into the pointless and self-perpetuating arguments that define deluded human thinking. The conscious mind and the physical world it perceives and interacts with can not be fully understood in the unenlightened or partially aware state. This is why the Buddha rejects intellectual arguments which are formulated by a deluded mind and are premised upon historical conditioning rather than an insight developed through a pristine awareness. In this situation, the mind is deluded because it does not clearly perceive the nature of its own thought processes. The mind is unaware of how a thought arises, the nature of the thought that has arisen, and how a thought passes away across the surface of the mind. Instead, the only facet of the thought that is perceived is its superficial surface content, which is taken as real and permanent in meaning. One of the underlying thought structures associated with religious thinking is that of a permanent spiritual essence that stands in opposition to a cruel and ever changing external world. This is a clear example of inverted thinking. The world is bad, so the spirit is good; the world is forever changing, so the spirit is permanent and unchanging. The inner psychological constructs are inverted images of the external world they inwardly reflect and distort. The Buddha radically rejected‘atma’ or Brahmanic essence as an illusion based upon a misinterpretation of the world.
The Buddha’s considered answer to the plight of humanity is interesting. He states that in the unenlightened or unaware state, humanity inhabits a world that is interpreted through the filter of inverted images. In other words, things as they really are, are not perceived correctly in the human mind, but are distorted to represent wishful thinking. The deluded human mind performs this function without being aware that it is doing so, and as a consequence this distortion of reality causes the experience of suffering. The deluded human mind causes its own suffering, but in its distorted view of reality, it mistakes this self-generated suffering as originating in the external world. This is the First Noble Truth which states that existence is suffering. It does not deny that suffering exists in the external world, (in fact, through the teaching upon everything being in a state of flux Buddhism confirms it), but makes clear that it is within the grasp of each individual to train their minds so that undue suffering is not replicated within it. The Second Noble Truth concerns the arising of suffering which is premised upon a belief in a permanent self and an unchanging world. As there is no permanent self and the world is continuously changing, the individual suffers because of the obvious difference between inner delusion and outer reality. The polarity between inner delusion and outer reality creates the dialectic of suffering experienced in the human mind, as one aspect competes with the other for a dominance that can not be won in the dualistic, deluded state. Instability is the essence of the deluded state that can not be resolved through the agency of more deluded thinking. Delusion, as an ongoing state, can not cure itself. This is why the Buddha formulated the Third Noble Truth which states that suffering can be over-come. Through his enlightenment, the Buddha fully perceives and understands the working of the human mind in its deluded state, and through this knowledge is able to lead others out of the quagmire of delusion and into the light of rationality and reason. There is an answer to delusion. The Buddha knows this because through his self-effort he discovered it for himself. The Fourth Noble Truth describes the path that should be followed to clear the deluded mind of inverted thinking. This method is referred as the Noble Eightfold Path and consists of:
1) Right View
2) Right Intention
3) Right Speech
4) Right Action
5) Right Livelihood
6) Right Effort
7) Right Mindfulness
8) Right Concentration
Through the training of the mind, and behaviour modification, there is the generation of wisdom, moral discipline, and meditative absorption. Understanding the Buddha’s teaching leads to wisdom. Wisdom sees clearly what actions and behaviours have been performed or prevented. A mind and body that is calmed through right behaviour can then be developed through meditative absorption. For the Buddha, ignorance is greed, hatred, and delusion within the human mind that can not see beyond its own conditioning. This ignorance survives because the mind does not, as yet, understand the Four Noble Truths. It is likely that many lists within the Buddhist Canon have been preserved in reverse order as a device to add memory recall developed at a time when the Buddha’s teachings were passed on through word of mouth, prior to the suttas being recorded in writing. If the list is adjusted to fit in with this hypothesis, the Noble Eightfold Path could read in one of two other orders:
1) Right Concentration 1) Right Effort
2) Right Mindfulness 2) Right Mindfulness
3) Right Effort 3) Right Concentration
4) Right Livelihood 4) Right Action
5) Right Action 5) Right Livelihood
6) Right Speech 6) Right View
7) Right Intention 7) Right Intention
8) Right View 8) Right Speech
Right View and Intention = Development of Wisdom
Right Speech, Action and Livelihood = Development of Moral Discipline
Right Effort, Concentration, and Mindfulness = Development of Meditative absorption.
All of the Buddhist suttas/sutras explain one or more aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path and do not deviate from it. The various schools of Buddhist thought have developed around this teaching and distinguish themselves from one another by emphasising one particular aspect of it over the many others. All developments within Buddhist philosophy over the thousands of years since the Buddha have developed only from the Noble Eightfold Path, and can be traced directly back to it. The Four Noble Truths are a blueprint for psychological re-adjustment whilst living within, and acknowledging the presence and validity of the physical world. At no point in the description of this method is there a need to resort to the outside influence of a god, or to the performance of religious ritual. Human will-power is the agency through which change is achieved in both the mind and the world. When the mind is cleared from the distorting influence of historical conditioning, the world is viewed correctly as it is. This is a major shift in perception. Coupled with this important development are the actions that are taken by enlightened beings in the world that use their thoughts, words, and deeds very wisely for the benefit of all. The world is changed because perception is changed and behaviour is improved. This means that wisdom allows for the perception and understanding of the forces of historical conditioning that permeate society, and for the human mind to be free of these influences whilst the physical body still inhabits the world. The enlightened being is mentally free from the poisonous influence of historical conditioning, whilst the physical body they inhabit has no choice but to conform to their strictures. This means that the body must and does conform to the trends of historical materialism whilst the mind remains free to pick and chose the most suitable course of action available at any one time. The Buddha’s message is clear; develop understanding of the functioning of the physical world by enhancing the mind’s ability to perceive and be aware. The Buddha’s freedom is a freedom of psychology whilst living in the world. He never said that the physical body can mysteriously escape the rules and regulations that govern physical matter. Outer society can evolve overtime into a state of affairs that is free of injustice and oppression, but in the meantime, individuals can bring this future date nearer by progressing humanity’s evolution by developing and freeing their individual minds. All this takes is an understanding of the Buddha’s teaching on the Four Noble Truths.
The religious mindset believes that it has escaped from, and transcended the laws of the physical universe. It thinks this even though it inhabits a living human body. In reality the physical boundaries of the universe have not been transcended, and the religious person still exists firmly within their walls. This should not be surprising as living matter is physical matter, and dead matter is still physical matter. Matter is the essence of physical life, as is confirmed by the English word ‘mother’ which has its origins in the Latin word ‘Mater’. The Latin word ‘Mater’ (or ‘mother’) is the origin of the English word‘material’. Life is matter; matter is life. This reality has been further developed and explained through Buddhist philosophy as form is empty, and empty is form. This is not a denial of the existence of physical matter, but it is an acknowledgement that there is a higher level of reality for observing the true nature of that physical matter. This Buddhist insight conforms to the philosophy developed from Quantum Theory. Physical matter is comprised of sub-atomic particles that are distanced apart within the atoms and molecules that are formed. Therefore the structure of physical matter is as much empty space as it is material. This confirms the Buddha’s statements that deny the universe is either purely matter, or entirely comprised of ideas. Reality is something other than what human beings usually believe it to be. However, it is interesting to note that scientists can get to an idea of the reality of the universe through objective study of phenomena by arriving at the correct interpretation of events through experimentation. This might well come under Right Concentration and Right Effort, as well as Right Action, and so on. The focus of the mind inhabiting the physical world is the preferred method of development that both modern science and ancient Buddhism advocate as the key to understanding. Give up out-moded religious concepts and reality will manifest here and now.
©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2014.
The Yogis of India are confronted from the moment of their birth with the stifling physicality of the relentless Brahmanic caste system and the theology that generates and supports it. The sheer weight of determinism means that action in the physical world is viewed as pointless and of no real worth. The only freedom allowed by this system is the full embracing of a religiosity that looks within, but never without. The only direction of action is to confirm inwardly to the pressure of the social oppression. The message is simple; do not attempt to change the outer world as this is impossible. The outer world can not be changed because it has been created and is sustained by a mysterious divine entity (i.e. Brahma). Not only is everything set in stone, but is set in spirit. Therefore the outer world can be rejected by the Yogi as such an action is actually sustaining its presence through non-confrontation. This is justified by the peculiar Brahmanic theology which teaches that the outer world is determined and unchangeable through the agency of human will, whilst at the same time claiming it is an illusion! This is because withdrawal from the world is actually withdrawal into the world and the Yogi is confirming the existence of the Brahmanic system whilst apparently appearing to reject it – such is the illogicality that underlies the thinking associated with religiosity.
How does the Buddha approach this Brahmanic world that he was born into? He rejects the social system and the theology associated with it, but he does not reject the existence of a physical world that underlies the Brahmanic cultural programming. All religious thinking is an attempt to escape suffering; the problem is that the suffering that is being escaped from is never dealt with head-on, as a real entity, but is rather distorted into an abstract concept in the mind. In other words, whatever it is that is creating the suffering is allowed to carry on functioning in the world, whilst the religionist victim of the suffering simply tries to deny the physical reality of the situation, and transform the physical reality into a spiritual reality. Suffering of the body becomes a disembodied phantom in the mind that has no bearing on the reality of the suffering. The religionist abandons a physical world that they think they can do nothing about, and withdraws into a world of comforting imagination. As the rational mind is still functioning even within a religionist, an elaborate, but entirely fallacious theory (i.e. theology) is created to justify and sustain the illusion of inner reality.
The Buddha does not entertain philosophical speculation that is either produced by religious thinking, or is liable to encourage the development of religious thinking – this is why he would not answer certain questions put to him. However, his focus is upon the re-discovery of correct awareness with regard to sensations felt through the bodily senses, and sensations felt through the mind. In this regard he does not state that the mind and body are one, nor does he assert that they are different. Awareness in this context refers to the exercise of the logical and rational mind free of imaginations and social programming. Historical conditioning reduces an individual to perceiving the world in a manner conducive to the dominant powers that exist within society. Generally speaking such an individual perceives the world in a shallow manner and lacks awareness of his own predicament. This is the delusion that Buddha describes as the default position of human beings who have not yet cleared their minds of historical programming and religious imaginations.
Having tried all the various yogic off-shoots of the Brahmanic system to escape suffering, and after having attained the highest level of awareness in each school, the Buddha understood that none of these paths escaped the Brahmanic system that created them. He made use of the context of meditation – as used in Brahmanism – but through focusing his mind upon the development of bare awareness, he used his will power to ‘see through’ his own historical conditioning and into the rational and logical capacity of his mind that has only become available to humanity in general in modern times. This pristine state of awareness is beyond the deluded state that preceded it, and is not dependent upon it. This is because the deluded state only appears to be different from its underlying pristine state – one state literally reflects the other. Enlightenment is the understanding that all states of mind are historically conditioned, but share exactly the same essence. Perceiving the essence of the underlying mind-reality renders all previous conditioning null and void, and prevents any new one-sided conditioning from taking its place. Enlightenment is the achievement of a permanent state of mental re-adjustment.
The Buddha’s premise is simple; the source of human suffering is not generated by a god or divine presence, it is generated within the individual mind through inherited historical conditioning. The Buddha referred to this inheritance as karma, but it includes family and community influence from the moment of birth, as well as conditioning environmental factors, etc. The Buddha used familiar Brahmanic terms when teaching others who were not yet enlightened, but using radically different interpretations from those found within Brahmanic theology. Karma, rebirth, and gods all seem to be real in the unenlightened state, but are understood to be non-existent in the enlightened state. The Buddha, (whilst advocating the development and use of the rational mind), utilised the concept of religion as a means to over-come and transcend the historical conditioning of religious programming.
What does this mean to the Buddhist practitioner? Firstly the Buddha rejects idealism (i.e. the world is a thought, or set of thoughts), and rejects materialism (the world is comprised only of physical matter). This position does not accept any one-sided, dualistic view of existence. In other words, the Buddha rejects an idealistic world that stands in opposition to a material world, and does not accept as valid a materialist perspective that rejects an idealistic view of the world – the Buddha steadfastly refuses to be intellectually drawn into the pointless and self-perpetuating arguments that define deluded human thinking. The conscious mind and the physical world it perceives and interacts with can not be fully understood in the unenlightened or partially aware state. This is why the Buddha rejects intellectual arguments which are formulated by a deluded mind and are premised upon historical conditioning rather than an insight developed through a pristine awareness. In this situation, the mind is deluded because it does not clearly perceive the nature of its own thought processes. The mind is unaware of how a thought arises, the nature of the thought that has arisen, and how a thought passes away across the surface of the mind. Instead, the only facet of the thought that is perceived is its superficial surface content, which is taken as real and permanent in meaning. One of the underlying thought structures associated with religious thinking is that of a permanent spiritual essence that stands in opposition to a cruel and ever changing external world. This is a clear example of inverted thinking. The world is bad, so the spirit is good; the world is forever changing, so the spirit is permanent and unchanging. The inner psychological constructs are inverted images of the external world they inwardly reflect and distort. The Buddha radically rejected‘atma’ or Brahmanic essence as an illusion based upon a misinterpretation of the world.
The Buddha’s considered answer to the plight of humanity is interesting. He states that in the unenlightened or unaware state, humanity inhabits a world that is interpreted through the filter of inverted images. In other words, things as they really are, are not perceived correctly in the human mind, but are distorted to represent wishful thinking. The deluded human mind performs this function without being aware that it is doing so, and as a consequence this distortion of reality causes the experience of suffering. The deluded human mind causes its own suffering, but in its distorted view of reality, it mistakes this self-generated suffering as originating in the external world. This is the First Noble Truth which states that existence is suffering. It does not deny that suffering exists in the external world, (in fact, through the teaching upon everything being in a state of flux Buddhism confirms it), but makes clear that it is within the grasp of each individual to train their minds so that undue suffering is not replicated within it. The Second Noble Truth concerns the arising of suffering which is premised upon a belief in a permanent self and an unchanging world. As there is no permanent self and the world is continuously changing, the individual suffers because of the obvious difference between inner delusion and outer reality. The polarity between inner delusion and outer reality creates the dialectic of suffering experienced in the human mind, as one aspect competes with the other for a dominance that can not be won in the dualistic, deluded state. Instability is the essence of the deluded state that can not be resolved through the agency of more deluded thinking. Delusion, as an ongoing state, can not cure itself. This is why the Buddha formulated the Third Noble Truth which states that suffering can be over-come. Through his enlightenment, the Buddha fully perceives and understands the working of the human mind in its deluded state, and through this knowledge is able to lead others out of the quagmire of delusion and into the light of rationality and reason. There is an answer to delusion. The Buddha knows this because through his self-effort he discovered it for himself. The Fourth Noble Truth describes the path that should be followed to clear the deluded mind of inverted thinking. This method is referred as the Noble Eightfold Path and consists of:
1) Right View
2) Right Intention
3) Right Speech
4) Right Action
5) Right Livelihood
6) Right Effort
7) Right Mindfulness
8) Right Concentration
Through the training of the mind, and behaviour modification, there is the generation of wisdom, moral discipline, and meditative absorption. Understanding the Buddha’s teaching leads to wisdom. Wisdom sees clearly what actions and behaviours have been performed or prevented. A mind and body that is calmed through right behaviour can then be developed through meditative absorption. For the Buddha, ignorance is greed, hatred, and delusion within the human mind that can not see beyond its own conditioning. This ignorance survives because the mind does not, as yet, understand the Four Noble Truths. It is likely that many lists within the Buddhist Canon have been preserved in reverse order as a device to add memory recall developed at a time when the Buddha’s teachings were passed on through word of mouth, prior to the suttas being recorded in writing. If the list is adjusted to fit in with this hypothesis, the Noble Eightfold Path could read in one of two other orders:
1) Right Concentration 1) Right Effort
2) Right Mindfulness 2) Right Mindfulness
3) Right Effort 3) Right Concentration
4) Right Livelihood 4) Right Action
5) Right Action 5) Right Livelihood
6) Right Speech 6) Right View
7) Right Intention 7) Right Intention
8) Right View 8) Right Speech
Right View and Intention = Development of Wisdom
Right Speech, Action and Livelihood = Development of Moral Discipline
Right Effort, Concentration, and Mindfulness = Development of Meditative absorption.
All of the Buddhist suttas/sutras explain one or more aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path and do not deviate from it. The various schools of Buddhist thought have developed around this teaching and distinguish themselves from one another by emphasising one particular aspect of it over the many others. All developments within Buddhist philosophy over the thousands of years since the Buddha have developed only from the Noble Eightfold Path, and can be traced directly back to it. The Four Noble Truths are a blueprint for psychological re-adjustment whilst living within, and acknowledging the presence and validity of the physical world. At no point in the description of this method is there a need to resort to the outside influence of a god, or to the performance of religious ritual. Human will-power is the agency through which change is achieved in both the mind and the world. When the mind is cleared from the distorting influence of historical conditioning, the world is viewed correctly as it is. This is a major shift in perception. Coupled with this important development are the actions that are taken by enlightened beings in the world that use their thoughts, words, and deeds very wisely for the benefit of all. The world is changed because perception is changed and behaviour is improved. This means that wisdom allows for the perception and understanding of the forces of historical conditioning that permeate society, and for the human mind to be free of these influences whilst the physical body still inhabits the world. The enlightened being is mentally free from the poisonous influence of historical conditioning, whilst the physical body they inhabit has no choice but to conform to their strictures. This means that the body must and does conform to the trends of historical materialism whilst the mind remains free to pick and chose the most suitable course of action available at any one time. The Buddha’s message is clear; develop understanding of the functioning of the physical world by enhancing the mind’s ability to perceive and be aware. The Buddha’s freedom is a freedom of psychology whilst living in the world. He never said that the physical body can mysteriously escape the rules and regulations that govern physical matter. Outer society can evolve overtime into a state of affairs that is free of injustice and oppression, but in the meantime, individuals can bring this future date nearer by progressing humanity’s evolution by developing and freeing their individual minds. All this takes is an understanding of the Buddha’s teaching on the Four Noble Truths.
The religious mindset believes that it has escaped from, and transcended the laws of the physical universe. It thinks this even though it inhabits a living human body. In reality the physical boundaries of the universe have not been transcended, and the religious person still exists firmly within their walls. This should not be surprising as living matter is physical matter, and dead matter is still physical matter. Matter is the essence of physical life, as is confirmed by the English word ‘mother’ which has its origins in the Latin word ‘Mater’. The Latin word ‘Mater’ (or ‘mother’) is the origin of the English word‘material’. Life is matter; matter is life. This reality has been further developed and explained through Buddhist philosophy as form is empty, and empty is form. This is not a denial of the existence of physical matter, but it is an acknowledgement that there is a higher level of reality for observing the true nature of that physical matter. This Buddhist insight conforms to the philosophy developed from Quantum Theory. Physical matter is comprised of sub-atomic particles that are distanced apart within the atoms and molecules that are formed. Therefore the structure of physical matter is as much empty space as it is material. This confirms the Buddha’s statements that deny the universe is either purely matter, or entirely comprised of ideas. Reality is something other than what human beings usually believe it to be. However, it is interesting to note that scientists can get to an idea of the reality of the universe through objective study of phenomena by arriving at the correct interpretation of events through experimentation. This might well come under Right Concentration and Right Effort, as well as Right Action, and so on. The focus of the mind inhabiting the physical world is the preferred method of development that both modern science and ancient Buddhism advocate as the key to understanding. Give up out-moded religious concepts and reality will manifest here and now.
©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2014.