Chapter 4 - Sanskrit Voice Of The Lake

In the past, I learned many different ways of pronouncing mantras. These include the old Sanskrit, the modern Sanskrit, Tibetan, Nepalese. Thai, Indonesian, Mandarin and Taiwanese, etc.

I learned several thousand kinds of mantras. The more mantras I learned, the more ways of pronunciation I learned. For example, The Great Compassion Mantra' actually can be recited in many different ways, and the difference in sound between Mandarin and Old Sanskrit is amazing. And The Mantra of Six Syllables "Om Mani Padme Hum"¹ has been translated into 5 syllables or 7 syllables in other languages .... The confusion of mantra and mantra pronunciation can be quite baffling.

I asked my own guru about this problem.

My guru replied, "All mantras and all sounds of mantras have to be taught by your guru in order to have merit and reward. If you try to learn ten thousand different mantras, ten thousand different sounds on your own, they will not bring you any response or accomplishment because they have not been blessed or empowered by your guru."

Ah! I finally understood. I gave up the ten thousand mantras, the ten thousand sounds. What I would learn would be my guru's empowered mantra, what I would pronounce would be my guru's pronunciation. My guru's accomplishment will be my accomplishment.

One night out at the deck, while standing and gazing at the lake. I started to think of the problem of Sanskrit pronunciation. While my thoughts were racing, I heard the sound, "Jhar... Jhar... Jhar..." . "Ah! That is the sound of water. That is the sound of the rocking lake." I suddenly remembered the words of my guru, "The voice of the Sanskrit is the voice of the Cosmos."

That's right. This is then the truth of the real Cosmos. When the sounds of the Cosmos dissolve in your bloodstream, and cause your own body's sounds to harmonize with the rhythm and tempo of the notes of the Cosmos, there will be a sublimation, a metaphysical transformation of your heart and soul, an immersion of your heart and soul,a unification with the Supreme, and this is what Unification of Three Secrets² means.

I was once a cultivator of the following kind: I tried being a vegetarian; I tried consuming only one meal once a day; I had strange dreams and visions; I learned countless and countless mantras; my eyes turned icy; I stopped laughing or joking; I wore a black monk's robe; my lips symbolized my contempt for all the worldly people; everything seemed to be below me because I was a cultivator.

A cultivator, understanding that this world is an illusion, knows that wealth is illusory, profit and fame are illusory, status is illusory, beautiful women are illusory, happy times are illusory, youth is illusory, aging is all the more illusory. Everything in this world will eventually change and disintegrate.

It was a step beyond the worldly affairs to realize that everything will eventually change and disintegrate; I mulled over Emptiness which was understood so well by Master Subhuti³. I tried my best to transform all my bodily desires to Emptiness, to experience the tranquility when my mind is occupied by not even one single thought, to completely rid myself of Greed, Anger, and Ignorance. I no longer desired exquisite food nor sensual pleasures. I tossed out dreams. I excluded merry daughters. Misery and worry left me. That was the state of Purity.

When Purity arrived. I could hear the sound of Sanskrit coming from the inside of me. It was the awakening of the soul. Then this inner Sanskrit voice was uplifted by the outer cosmic voice and became full and eternal. This experience is the self-realization of Buddha-Nature in the most inner part of one's sel?It is a secret path [to enlightenment] from ancient time to now.

The voice of Lake Sammamish is the "Jhar... Jhar... Jhar..." of Sanskrit. From the deck, I gazed, completely in silence, at the direction of the lake. There was not a single whiff of breeze nor a single drop of drizzle. I just stood there, silently.

Gradually, the voice of Lake Sammamish amplified. It filled up the ten directions of the universe. Not just that, it also entered, through my crown chakra, into the inside of my body. At that instant, I really understood what Existence and Non-Existence means.

It is a transformation from Purity to total sublimation of Self. It is also an understanding of the truth of the whole universe from Emptiness.

The voice of Lake Sammamish has become my secret mantra. The "Jhar... Jhar... Jhar..." was transmitted invisibly to me by the most supreme teacher of the universe. Because this mantra has set my own Sanskrit voice into motion, and caused my soul to truely awaken, and enabled me to enter into the state of true Existence and Non-Existence, I know and I will always know, that this is one secret way to Enlightenment.

Be it Old Sanskrit, Modern Sanskrit, Tibetan Sanskrit, Nepalese, Thai, Indonesian, Mandarin or Taiwanese, all these tens of thousands of mantras, syllables, if they cannot bring sublimation to your heart and soul, they will not do you any good. The so called empowered mantras that can bring about responses and accomplishments are actually, metaphysically speaking, a process of Self Purification - Psychic Revelation-Mutual Immersion.

The voice of Sanskrit is a part of Nature - a truth well hidden in the realms of man and heavens! It could be a cascading waterfall rumbling down, a boundless ocean with immeasurable waves, screeches of hawks, music, or the sound of the earth revolving in the universe. Holy-Red-Crown-Vajra-Master has awakened to this realization after experiencing life and death and all the travail.

Lake Sammamish teaches me the mantra of the Sanskrit sound. The sound of the Cosmos is the grand teacher of the sound of Sanskrit. If one wants to learn the real mantra, one has to learn from the Cosmos and from one's own inner world. This is indeed the secret of the Cosmos. This is indeed the beginning of the eternal, suffering-free, Unification of Three Secrets.

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