1) Ignorance causes delusion
2) Delusion causes suffering
3) Suffering is defeated by Wisdom
4) Wisdom is the path to Enlightenment
Contrary to the perception of Druidism as a barbaric faith of the Dark Ages, the Druidic faith is in fact one of the most spiritually developed of all the faiths.
The aim of the Druidic faith is not Nirvana via self extinction, it is self perfection to end rebirth and the perfection of both the human race and the planet to end the suffering of all life.
This process of Creative Self Evolution, leading to self enlightenment and freedom from rebirth, is not predicated on the Theerevada Buddhist notion of Nirvana for the sake of the self, but on the principle of individuals embracing the principles of becoming a Mayhayana Bodhisattva.
As stated in Wikkipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva ;
Mahayana Buddhism regards the Bodhisattva as a person who already has a considerable degree of enlightenment and seeks to use their wisdom to help other human beings to become liberated themselves. In this understanding of the word the Bodhisattva is an already wise person who uses skillful means to lead others to see the benefits of virtue and the cultivation of wisdom.
The Mahayana encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings. Indelibly entwined with the Bodhisattva Vow is parinamana (Sanskrit; which may be rendered in English as "merit transference").
In Mahayana Buddhism life in this world is compared to people living in a house that is on fire. They take this world as reality pursuing worldly projects and pleasures without realising that the house is on fire and will soon burn down (the inevitability of death). A Bodhisattva is the one who has determination to free sentient beings from samsara with the cycle of death, rebirth and suffering. This type of mind is known as bodhicitta; Sanskrit for mind of awakening. Bodhisattvas take bodhisattva vows in order to progress on the spiritual path towards buddhahood.
There are a variety of different conceptions of the nature of a bodhisattva in Mahayana. According to some Mahayana sources a bodhisattva is someone on the path to full Buddhahood. Others speak of bodhisattvas renouncing Buddhahood.
According to the Kun-bzang bla-ma'i zhal-lung, a bodhisattva can choose either of three paths to help sentient beings in the process of achieving buddhahood. They are:
King-like Bodhisattva - one who aspires to become buddha as soon as possible and then help sentient beings in full fledge;
Boatman-like Bodhisattva - one who aspires to achieve buddhahood along with other sentient beings
Shepherd-like Bodhisattva - one who aspires to delay buddhahood until all other sentient beings achieve buddhahood.
The Druidic notion of Buddahood is both spiritual and corporeal, in that the aim of the Druidic initiate is to perfect not just themselves but also all life and nature itself.
For instance one of the aims of the Druid in the modern world would be working as a genetic scientist who would be working in Genetic Therapy programmes to remove the tragic errors of nature, man and god within human DNA that result in inherited genetic diseases.
The aim of this would be to ensure that future generations of children do not have to be born with inherited genetic diseases. The aim is to improve mankind in order to end suffering.
If god had not wished man to improve his own condition, then why would god have given man both the mind and the tools to be able do so ?
Man was given his power over nature not to destroy nature, but to act in order to perfect nature.
Man is gods tool in the Cosmos. Through man god seeks to perfect both himself and the universe.
The aim of modern Druids is not just to achieve self enlightenment nor to divinise nature, the role of the modern Druid is to work for the benefit of all humanity, life and nature.
For instance a modern Druid may work as a scientist in order to find a cure for some of the diseases that attack nature, such as the mystery killer disease that is eradicating British oak trees.
There is no point in a Druid being a passive witness to death, a Druid must intervene to act on behalf of Nature and act in the name of life - for we are a part of nature not just a witness to her extinction.
That means the Druid must diagnose not just the sickness but also act to provide the cure.
If that means The Wicker Man for those criminals whose actions are such that they threaten the survival of the planet, nature, the people and the future then that is an essential part of the process of regeneration.
Nature is not a pacifist nor is she afraid to kill. If the survival of all life is under threat then those that threaten the survival of life must be dealt with.
Unlike other religions though Druids do not kill in the name of their religion, their gods, their faith nor in the name of oil, gold, power or riches.
We may kill only in defence of life.
Just as in Gnostic Christianity, where sin is defined as ignorance not as an inherited burden from Eve or the death of Christ, the Druid regards ignorance as the greatest of sins.
Ignorance causes delusion - which in turns generates false needs and desires that afflict the mind and soul.
Delusion causes suffering - it is these false needs and desires that can never be satisfied that create the evils of our world - lust, power, money, fame, status etc etc these are symptoms of delusion.
Suffering is defeated by Wisdom - wisdom unlocks Truth which is the highest goal of Druidism. The Druid works for the perfection of the Great Work, to unlock the divine truth, the logos, within himself, all life, nature and the Universe. Just as new scientific discoveries in medicine lead to new medical procedures, drugs and surgical techniques that alleviate pain and suffering, so Wisdom defeats suffering, for by achieving greater wisdom we unlock the potential to help ever more people and alleviate their suffering.
Wisdom leads to Enlightenment - once the initiate is aware that he is afflicted by false needs and desires which have been inculcated into him via the media, society and the Urizenic systems of social / political control then he can defeat them. Enlightenment is an awareness that one is enslaved, as by being aware of ones slavery to false desires one is then placed on the path to liberty.
Enlightenment is liberty - It is an awareness of the Truth, ones place in the Cosmos and the pursuit of self perfection whilst working for the enlightenment of others.
Druidism is not simply going to Stonehenge on a solstice and performing a ritual nor acting like a hippie caricature.
A druid may be a warrior who fights for his homeland, who fights to defend the environment and who fights to defend his people and culture.
Druidism is the union of mind, soul, spirit and deed in pursuit of the liberation of the self and the world.
3 comments:
Great article Lee, I am particularly interested in Druidism myself, and I concur with most of your understanding of its principles. The Druid that I am very interested is the Celtic Druid, the Preachers of Immortality. And this is the Druidism I refer to.
The Druid is first and foremost an avatar of nature. This is not some airy-fairy view of man and nature living together in some bizarre utopia of free love and orgies, women riding naked upon horses, tigers as tame as cats. No, for as much as the Druid is connected to the infinite delicate subtleties of nature he is also connected to the brutal and "inhuman" aspects of nature – but this is not something he fears, he does not seek to overcome nature, he does not subjugate nature to the whim of man. He does not anthropomorphise nature, he does not place man above nature - for the Druid there is only one dominion - nature.
Lee, you wrote:
"Man was given his power over nature not to destroy nature, but to act in order to perfect nature.
Man is gods tool in the Cosmos. Through man god seeks to perfect both himself and the universe."
Perhaps a different choice of words than I would use, as my own understanding of Druidism does not lead me to believe that the Druid has "power over nature" or that he would ever seek that, in fact, he could not even think that it - instead, I would say, his power is that he is intimately nature, therefore he is the perfect tool to perfect himself and the universe.
Also, the Druid has no fear of death; he cannot have fear of death – to the Druid life is a cycle, death is simply transformation of matter and energy into another form. To fear death would mean a fear of life and the universal order. This is why the Celtic warriors had such formidable and legendary bravery, because they had no fear of death because they embraced life. To overcome the fear of death is one of the greatest acts of overcoming of the self, and realisation of ones self as truly a part of nature.
This is what the Druid is, he is absolutely not a hippy, in fact he would probably terrify most people today.
An excellent book on this subject is by Anne Ross:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Druids-Preachers-Immortality-Anne-Ross/dp/0752425765
It's CENTURY, not "CNETURY" you dismal illiterate piece of lowlife scum.
A Nother turd wrote: "It's CENTURY, not "CNETURY" you dismal illiterate piece of lowlife scum."
Ooo, a typo, so you determine someone is a "dismal illiterate piece of lowlife scum" because of a typo not on the quality and content of their writing... that would seem a rather bizarre criteria, surely it would be a better measure if you actually responded with views of your own rather than simply letting fly your dememented projections. But then again, coming from a self-loathing, fucked up freak like you thats the sort of pathetically banal and weak statements we expect, and we certainley don't expect you to be able to respond to the articles - in fact your lack of comment and invective shows you to in fact be the dismal illiterate piece of lowlife scum.
Dis iz how we roll ***throws a gang sign*** I'll house you bitch.
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