Written by "Dao" Nelson Lara. (September 2021).
Here, Bhikkhus, an untaught ordinary person who has no regard for Noble Ones, and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, who has no regard for true men and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, perceives earth as earth. Having perceived earth as earth, he conceives himself as earth, he conceives himself in earth, he conceives himself apart from earth, he conceives earth to be mine. He delights in earth. Why is that? Because he has not fully understood it, I say. (MN1).
I write this from Thailand, where I came to seek ordination, only to get a response from one wat stating that they are only accepting guests who are "fully vaccinated".
I would like to make a statement to the Buddhist community: stop getting yourselves and others entangled in the affairs of the world.
I A person who is unable to ordain in the Holy Life facilitated by the Buddha due to political reasons masquerading as medical and public health reasons should reveal the extent of deterioration of the Sangha in this modern age, falling into ignorance, falling into the ways of the world. This article is not political in nature but it touches on how the Buddhist community itself has become political by adopting a view and intentionally taking sides on an issue that we should not be taking sides on. We are the ones who should be setting the example. We should encourage critical thinking in others, not enforce mandatory vaccination requirements for anyone to visit our temples. The Sangha should first and foremost follow the Dhamma, and afterwards it may consider the legitimacy of political trends, not the other way around. There are two points I would like to leave here for any real Buddhist practitioner currently struggling with the measures enforced by the globalist elite and their governments:
1) The Kalama sutta (AN3.65): “Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,' abandon them.”
The Buddha never praised blind faith. He actually encouraged his followers to question and test his own teachings. Is this similar to what the mainstream media is doing today? Are they allowing opposing views to be heard or are they censoring them? This brings me to my second point:
2) Science is not indoctrination. There is no such thing as “Listen to the science”. Anyone who tells you this is either trying to manipulate you or is operating on autopilot, mindlessly regurgitating what others have said.
Science is based on field study, rolling up your sleeves and doing the hard work yourself out on the field, evaluation, failure, experimentation, collection of data, and the formulation and testing of competing hypotheses. Based on the results, truth can be determined. And often this truth is temporary as well. As it has been proven time and time again in history that leading paradigms on scientific issues have shifted.
John thinks A.
Matthew thinks B.
Patricia thinks C.
Deborah thinks D.
We have to examine these four hypotheses and determine which one is true. There is no such thing as: “John thinks A. He’s a scientist. Everyone MUST do this. Listen to the science. Nobody else gets the right to speak because they will be spreading misinformation according to our fact checkers.”
Currently there is no diversity of scientific opinion, there is only one opinion being forced down everyone’s throats, or rather, in everyone’s arms. All the scientists and doctors who have formulated something different to the official narrative have been attacked and silenced. There is no discussion on the mainstream media about the unreliability of PCR tests as they can be easily manipulated. A person might be declared “positive” without revealing how many cycles were run for the test.
The media is not talking about wealthy people traveling on private airplanes during this so-called pandemic, with no mask requirements for the pilots or passengers, no paperwork and no PCR test requirements upon arrival on destination. It’s a virus that doesn’t attack the wealthy. It doesn’t enter expensive shopping malls. It doesn’t stick to the cardboard boxes of online shopping giants. It doesn’t enter lavish birthday parties of the wealthy either.
The prime minister of New Zealand said: “We are your single source of truth”. That has to be one of the most ignorant and outright psychopathic statements I have ever heard. Completely in opposition to the spirit of science.
Some places even allow 12 year-old kids to take the vaccine without the consent of their parents. In Theravada Buddhist countries, if you want to become a monk, you need your parents’ permission, regardless of how old you are. The different approach to respect for the family unit is clear.
The media’s new catchphrase: “pandemic of the unvaccinated” is a pure demonstration of politics and science merging together. They are obviously trying to turn us against each other with manipulation and ad hominem attacks, their favorite one being “conspiracy theorist” without listening to any diverse scientific opinion.
Can you imagine when people believed the earth to be flat, if the governments had “protected” the people from “misinformation” by censoring anyone who had a different theory? Can you imagine if Albert Einstein had been censored for spreading “misinformation” about Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation? This is the world you live in now. Ignorance is protected, for the sake of passive compliance and fearful submission to His Holiness Mr. Global. His method of ruling the world is to hide behind the five khandhas. That’s it. Human beings will follow him blindly until they literally walk themselves off a cliff. Just get anyone to put on a costume and people will follow their orders. Never reveal yourself. Disguise yourself as a symbol. Hide behind the labels of doctor, police officer, scientist, journalist, politician, liberal, conservative, master’s degree, PhD… Humans will believe you. Hide behind the khandhas and humans will do anything. Anything. They will not question the magic trick that has been placed in front of them.
“I would never have believed that I’m once again going to fight the very same people whom I fought 80 years ago”. (Vera Sharav, Holocaust survivor).During this pandemic, I have noticed there are mainly three types of doctors:
1. Doctors who are motivated by greed. They will prescribe whatever pharmaceutical companies order them to prescribe as long as the bribe is significant. They do not have the slightest concern for the wellbeing of their patients and they do not give a second thought to whatever treatment they are recommending, as long as they can make as much money as possible from the transaction.
2. Doctors who are affected by ignorance. These are scholars with “book smarts” only. Intellectuals. They will also prescribe whatever pharmaceutical companies want them to prescribe, although the motivation is different. They accept whatever is said to them by their colleges, books and superiors. They are easily influenced by peer pressure. Even if all their patients died from the medication they have prescribed, they still would not be able to develop a single independent critical thought: “is this medication or treatment that I am prescribing helping or harming the patient?” They simply follow their training. They advise others to take the government’s experimental gene therapy simply because they have seen the news on the mainstream media, or were instructed to do so. Naïve, completely clueless of the nature of their profession.
3. Investigative doctors. These are the types of doctors who study medicine in the spirit of science. They do not accept anything simply because it was said by an “authority”, government, dictator, book, professor or any other entity with either unwholesome or wholesome intention. They know these are all references, not unquestionable sources of truth. They will study reality on their own and help their patients based on the results they have obtained. They are also immune to bribes or manipulation.
Of these three, which one do you think the Buddha was?
My goal is not to make you agree with me. Agreeing with me will not solve the underlying tendency to ignorance; but paying attention will. My goal is to raise awareness on the habit of blind trust, as well as the habit of believing the five khandhas. Reinforcing the habit of ignorance leads to rebirth in the animal realm. Just as an animal blindly follows its executioner until they get their head chopped off, so are many people nowadays following their executioner without questioning anything. Dullness, fear, cowardice, not knowing, not wanting to know, not investigating, not paying attention, not understanding neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant sensations, mindlessly seeking comfort and avoiding pain, the strong mental habit of following the crowd without questioning the reason… all these indicate that the underlying tendency to ignorance remains within one. Unless you are trying to secure yourself a one-way ticket to the animal realm, stop functioning on autopilot and wake up to what is going on in the world right now.
Do these clowns really expect everybody to accept them as the only source of medical advice? Maybe they don’t expect it, I mean, they are trying to mandate their hypothesis. One of the best-kept secrets of modern medicine is that the body heals itself if we create the right conditions and stop engaging in the habits that caused the sickness in the first place. But how is pushing this narrative going to make them any money or increase their power?
If the people have allowed the governments to break the law and violate their freedom to such an extreme level due to this so-called “emergency”, then what is stopping the government from creating new emergencies in the future to once again break the law as they please? Historically, have governments easily relinquished emergency measures once they have implemented them?
“The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision.” (Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, 1947).
You have to stand in awe… in awe… at the ridiculous level of the narrative being sold by the globalist elite and their governments, with all their inconsistent public safety policies that punish some and reward others depending on how it benefits them at that particular moment, even more astonishing is the fact that so many people have bought it. But to witness the Buddhist Sangha fearfully buying into this nonsense too? Buddhist lay people and even monks? Really?
Whatever happened to “Subject to aging, subject to illness, subject to death”(AN5.57)? Have these teachings become obsolete? The very fact that there is a threat to safety in society is the very essence of existence in Samsara: dukkha. Locking down the entire country and destabilizing its natural flow shows the profound absence of awareness of the First Noble Truth in the world at this time. There’s a virus, lock down the country. There’s climate change, lock down the country. There’s death, lock down the country. What’s next? Lock down the world until dukkha never appears again? Nice try buddy. I am blown away at the fact that so many Buddhist lay people and monks have fallen for this drivel hook, line and sinker.
"There are these four ways of going off course. Which four? One goes off course through desire. One goes off course through aversion. One goes off course through delusion. One goes off course through fear. These are the four ways of going off course."
If you —
through desire,
aversion,
delusion,
fear —
transgress the Dhamma,
your honor wanes,
as in the dark fortnight,
the moon.
"There are these four ways of not going off course. Which four? One does not go off course through desire. One does not go off course through aversion. One does not go off course through delusion. One does not go off course through fear. These are the four ways of not going off course."
If you don't —
through desire,
aversion,
delusion,
fear —
transgress the Dhamma,
your honor waxes,
as in the bright fortnight,
the moon. (AN4.19)
I am very grateful that the Buddha did not listen to his father when he told him there was nothing worth seeing outside the palace. Nor did the Buddha listen to Mara on the several occasions where he tried to manipulate him. The Buddha also did not settle for a comfortable meditative state after reaching high stages of absorption as taught by his teachers while he was still a bodhisattva. Had the Buddha blindly trusted authority, cowered in the palace looking for a false sense of security, relaxed his efforts in the face of comfort, or followed the hearsay of his time, we would not have the Noble Eightfold Path to walk on today.
What is “the government” other than the khandhas? Form, feelings, perception, formations and consciousness. Anyone can stand on a stage and declare that they’re a politician. Why do you believe them so blindly? Are politicians known for taking on the five precepts and spending their vacation time doing meditation retreats?
Have you ever attended a meeting of the leaders of your country and witnessed how they discuss their operations?
“I recall having approached many hundred assemblies of Mara’s retinue... And formerly I had sat with them there and talked with them and held conversations with them, yet I see no ground for thinking that fear or timidity might come upon me there. And seeing no ground for that, I abide in safety, fearlessness and intrepidity.” (MN12)
Have you ever attended one of Mara’s meetings? Have you attended two? five? One hundred? Do you know how they talk? Do you know how they operate? Do you know how they change their narrative when talking to the public and when talking among themselves?
Have you ever attended a meeting of the people in charge of the Federal Reserve in the United States of America? Have you attended two? five? One hundred? Do you know how they talk? Do you know how they operate? Do you know how they change their narrative when talking to the public and when talking among themselves?
What is a police officer? Other than the khandhas. Form, feelings, perception, formations, and consciousness.
Anyone can put on a police uniform, just as a person wearing a costume. And yet, you give all your consent and obedience to it.
What is the media? Other than the khandhas.
What is a public health employee? Other than the khandhas.
What is a doctor? Other than the khandhas.
What is a Buddhist monk? Yes, a Buddhist monk. Other than the khandhas. Form, feelings, perception, formations and consciousness. Anyone can wear their robes, just as a person wearing a costume. But ask yourself, in this time of deception, how many of them are teaching wisdom and how many of them are immersed in fear, cowardice and ignorance? Closing their temples to the world when the world needed them the most. There are definitely some good monks in the world today, but you must seek substance, not form. Forget about fame, charisma, title, number of followers, reputation, elegant manners, sophisticated speech, celebrity status, theoretical knowledge, wide vocabulary, tendency to engage in endless and pointless intellectual debates, expertise in rites and rituals, knowledge of Pali language, memorization of scripture, chanting capabilities, length of single or accumulated meditation sittings, length of ordination, education level, physical appearance, “this monk lives in a cave, his level of seclusion makes him trustworthy”, “this monk is the abbot of a world-famous international temple”, “this monk is the millionth reincarnation of a long lineage of spiritual leaders”, etc. So many modern gurus carry these characteristics, accompanied by all kinds of defilements. The only truly important question to consider: “is wisdom present in this Venerable Monk or Nun?” If the answer is no, then all of these characteristics are nothing but khandhas. And khandhas can easily be taken over, hijacked, held hostage, kidnapped... by demons.
Form is the way of demons.
Feelings are the way of demons.
Perception is the way of demons.
Formations are the way of demons.
Consciousness is the way of demons.
"Magandiya, it's just as if there were a man blind from birth who couldn't see black objects... white... blue... yellow... red... the sun or the moon. Now suppose that a certain man were to take a grimy, oil-stained rag and fool him, saying, 'Here, my good man, is a white cloth — beautiful, spotless, & clean.' The blind man would take it and put it on. "Then his friends, companions, & relatives would take him to a doctor. The doctor would concoct medicine for him: purges from above & purges from below, ointments & counter-ointments and treatments through the nose. And thanks to the medicine his eyesight would appear & grow clear. Then together with the arising of his eyesight, he would abandon whatever passion & delight he felt for that grimy, oil-stained rag. And he would regard that man as an enemy & no friend at all, and think that he deserved to be killed. 'My gosh, how long have I been fooled, cheated, & deceived by that man & his grimy, oil-stained rag! — "Here, my good man, is a white cloth — beautiful, spotless, & clean."'
"In the same way, Magandiya, if I were to teach you the Dhamma — 'This is that freedom from Disease; this is that Unbinding' — and you on your part were to know that freedom from Disease and see that Unbinding, then together with the arising of your eyesight you would abandon whatever passion & delight you felt with regard for the five clinging-aggregates. And it would occur to you, 'My gosh, how long have I been fooled, cheated, & deceived by this mind! For in clinging, it was just form that I was clinging to... it was just feeling... just perception... just fabrications... just consciousness that I was clinging to. With my clinging as a requisite condition, there arises becoming... birth... aging & death... sorrow, lamentation, pains, distresses, & despairs. And thus is the origin of this entire mass of stress.'" (MN75).
Currently there are some monks leading people to take the government’s experimental gene therapy… How can these beings help us become free from ignorance when they themselves can so easily be deceived by Mara?
If you want me to treat you like a police officer, a journalist, a public health employee, a doctor, or a monk, then behave like one, show it with your actions. Like a scientist, a true scientist, we must study the situation of the world today, from all angles, all views, all sources, mainstream and independent, based on actual results, not on how you wish the world to be. We must let go of our own views if proven to be false, views are not our friend. Become the greatest detective this world has ever seen, without attachment to views, to an ego or to craving for sensual pleasures, only to the search for truth. For me, the scam is so blatantly obvious that I can’t believe that there are people out there who actually believe it. The evidence is everywhere. All it takes is a little bit of independent research.
“Unfortunately, we have had a process, and it started with the Kennedy assassination, where the more they get away with, the less they respect the average person. And it’s reached a very dangerous point because you have the average person can’t fathom that the governance system has grown this far away from them.” (Catherine Austin Fitts, Former Federal Housing Commissioner – Solari Report)
These are the dangers of being born into privilege and luxury, the dangers of settling for provisional pleasant states either as a human or in a celestial realm. One gets so comfortable with an enjoyable and sheltered lifestyle, that one completely loses touch with reality. Lulled into complacency, sentient beings never would have thought the hammer could have come down on them. As wisdom wanes, one gets easily deceived, herded around like cattle, only to be met with a rude awakening.
Thankfully, there are great beings of immense bravery, integrity and a strong back bone to shine a light for the world to see. They have been working tirelessly for months, against all odds, being ridiculed, slandered and insulted by the mainstream media and its blind followers. They have lost their livelihood, their friends, their reputation. Headed for the deva realms, their generosity and love for humanity is greater than you can measure, and they are the ones truly helping you. I get it, you are a nice person, a good person. You think everybody else in the world is warmhearted like yourself. You have never been touched by real evil. You have never seen it. So you can’t identify it when it is present. You can’t recognize it. You think it does not exist, that it’s impossible that the world is controlled by demonic megalomaniacs, narcissists and psychopaths.
What really worries me is that these demonic beings have painted themselves into a corner. How could anyone ever trust them again after the truth comes out? Sooner or later everyone will realize that “two weeks to flatten the curve” was nothing but manipulation. It will never go away. Furthermore, many people who took the injection in good faith are slowly starting to realize that they will have to take it a second time, and who knows how many more times in the future. As their narrative keeps crumbling all around them, they will have no choice but to carry out this scam until the very end with more and more extreme measures, political strategies and manipulative tactics, at any cost.
“When anyone feels no shame in telling a deliberate lie, there is no evil, I tell you, he will not do.” (MN61).
The fourth precept “no lying” in the human realm is currently being destroyed, abandoned, discarded as a triviality. It is up to the reader to recognize who is their friend and who isn’t, who has their best interest at heart and who doesn’t, and to remove their rose-colored glasses and realize that they do not live in Disneyland. Remember that you and only you will inherit the results of your actions.
The Buddhist path is not for the faint of heart, for the coward who runs towards a false sense of security in the material world and hides in self-denial. The Buddha was born into the caste of warrior Nobles. And so must you become a warrior on the Noble Eightfold Path. Don’t be afraid to look at the truth of the world. Don’t be afraid to look at the truth of yourself.
Buddhism is not for intellectual games, to stroke your ego, nor is it a “feel good” religion, which is what it has unfortunately morphed into in the last decade due to a decline in Dhamma, facilitated by all kinds of fraudulent gurus looking for customers. Buddhism is about seeing the world the way it is, not as you want it to be. I do not take any pleasure in presenting the world as I have had to describe it in this article.
“Considering my nightmarish expedition, it is perhaps surprising that I have little fear of King Death, for my faith assures me that his inevitable presence is the face of Truth. However, I do fear King Bullshit, the face of self-deception and cowardly self-denial. He is an insidious and evasive shadow, always concealing himself in one’s blind spot. Fortunately, there are luminous beings of compassion and wisdom who dissolve his power into organic fertilizer, a soil from which blossoms of wakefulness will eventually unfold.” (Samuel Bercholz – A Guided Tour of Hell: A Graphic Memoir, 2016).
My hope is that at least one person will read this and come to their senses. One of the reasons why I am such a strong follower of the Buddha today is because I have travelled a lot in my life and through this extensive travel experience I have been able to test and see for myself many of the teachings of the Buddha, studying them in the real world, not in a university. I want everybody in the world to have the same opportunity as I did without being robbed of the chance to help themselves. Every human being has the right to pursue their own destiny, fulfillment, happiness… call it what you will. I am referring to the option that Siddhartha Gautama had to leave his palace behind to go and study reality on his own, without being stopped on the way by some authority because he didn’t have a “vaccine passport”. Or even worse, after he discovered the way out of suffering, to be censored for spreading “misinformation” according to the science of his day. These people want to swallow the sun, own the rain, and loan us the moon, with interests. The doors to the Deathless should remain open and accessible to all those who wish to embark upon the path to find them.
Please Sangha, the very existence of this article shows there is something terribly wrong within our community today. Stop encouraging people to take the government’s experimental gene therapy. See the danger in such an action. Let it be optional. Encourage critical thinking in others, allow public debate with diversity of scientific opinion without censoring those who oppose the official narrative. Remember that your actions will have consequences. Whatever you choose to do, make an informed decision, that is all I am asking.
“I know you, Evil One. Don’t assume, "He doesn’t know me." You are Mara, Evil One. And Brahma, and Brahma’s assembly, and the attendants of Brahma’s assembly have all fallen into your hands. They have all fallen into your power. And you think, "This one, too, has come into my hands, has come under my control." But, Evil One, I have neither come into your hands nor have I come under your control.” (MN49).