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Critical Review on
The Secret Oral Teachings of Tibetan Buddhist Sects
by Alexandra David-Neel and Lama Yongden

In the book, "The Secret Oral Teachings of Tibetan Buddhist Sects," by Alexandra David-Neel and Lama Yongden, David-Neel explores the possibility of the world as we know it being different from the world that we are used to. She challenges readers to separate ourselves from thinking of the world as a concrete place which thrives throughout a linear reality. She also questions the validity of the concept of an "ego" as a separate being David-Neel opens the doors to a new concept, a reality check wherein there is much more to the reality that everyone grew up with, giving us a whole new perspective in the way we see our world.

Chapter one opens up questioning the purpose of writing the book. Why write the book if no one would listen? It is hard for ordinary people to conceive the depth that they have to delve into to see the Truth. Most people are not satisfied with the insights which the secret oral teachings reveal. They search for superficial reasons of existence. They only hear what they want to hear and quickly dismiss statements that seem absurd to them, for these are too far removed from their conceptions of life. The irony here is the hesitation of teaching others about the secret oral teachings because of the great doubt that the ordinary people would not understand it. The "secret" of these teachings is that these are not necessarily taught but rather learned on their own while the Master merely leads the way to this learning.

The catch to this is that the person who wants to learn from the secret oral teachings has to do so by forgetting everything they have learned in the past and learn things anew, seeing without the filters of ignorance and looking at reality with an open mind. Not everyone is capable of doing so. As in the symbolism of the lotus flowers in the water, some stay underwater and "bloom in the depths," others reach the water's surface, yet only few are able to emerge out of the water. Those deep underwater had minds obscured by their ignorance, those peeking through saw some light, but it is only those that bloom away from all obscurity that have a keen enough mind to hear and understand the Truth. The learner's way to the Truth is not learning from others but by discovering things and figuring things out on his own. This way, he could see "more"(lhag thong), and go beyond the bounds of those limiting his vision, removing the last traces of dust which interferes with his sight.

Chapter two states that in a learner's search for knowledge, he encounters an obstacle which keeps many people from becoming a "wise person." The problem is, it is our very contact with reality which distorts our view of what is real. Our own sensations, which we rely on to communicate with the world, has a tendency to beguile us. Instead of seeing things as they really are, we tend to ratiocinate, to interpret what we sense through our reasoning. However, we use our memories to form theories about reality. Sometimes our memories could feed us the wrong information on that which is not there but may be similar to that which is there. In this case, our former experiences have the ability to add bias to our minds. Our senses are not as reliable as they seem. People in this world, therefore, interpret the world differently from each other.

The secret oral teachings theorize that the tangible world is movement wherein separate flashes of energy follow each other at such small intervals that we do not notice this change brought about by different causes and effects acting together. Something that exists does so as a result of other things that exist and cause it to be. As a result, that which is real produces effects. In this way, the whole of reality is made of interconnected movement that is dependent on other movements and at the same time is the cause of other movements. Therefore, everything in reality is no constant change. It is the movement of contacts and their effects that is our individuality.

The teachings in Chapter three tell of the belief in the non-existence of the ego. The Buddhist creed states that "All aggregates are impermanent" and "All things are devoid of self." Instead, they think of individuals as santana, a current of elements making their way as a group. Buddhist scriptures tell of this current manifested as a "chain of interdependent origins" (ignorance, samskara-mental formations, consciousness, name and form, sphere of senses, contact, sensation, desire, prehension, existence, birth, and old age). This theory, the Pratitya samutpada, states that each being is this chain and at the same time its own creator. It, as everything else , is interdependent as nothing exists by chance.

Chapter four focuses more on the theory that everything is movement that is interconnected in such a way that it cannot happen without starting another movement. Each of these causes an emission of energy, a seed, which stays in a receptacle of consciousness(alaya vijnana) until given favorable circumstance to produce another similar seed. These favorable circumstances, themselves products of seeds, continue to appear resulting in a continuous flow into the receptacle while other seeds equally steadily flow out in the form of habits, propensities, or "memories"(vasana). This impermanent flow in both continuous(never stops) and discontinuous(made of distinct moments). In this state, an individual may find himself immobile, caught up in the perpetual flow without any solid substance to hold onto. Transcending knowledge falsified by the deception of senses, a student of the secret oral teachings must see alaya vijnana himself as a result of a penetrating vision (lhag thong) which causes him to see past his former idea of reality.

Chapter five states that in order to reach lhag thong, one must "go beyond." The teachings speak of "Excellent Virtues"(gift, morality, patience, energy, meditation, transcendental wisdom, method, aspirations, strength, and knowledge) which students seek to attain. However, to be able to be "excellent" in this endeavor, one must be so used to acting out these virtues that he does it subconsciously, as stated in the teaching called nang(esoteric). These virtues are used as a mere stepping stone towards greater wisdom. None of the virtues, taken on its own, can produce liberation(tharpa). As in the parable of the raft, a traveler who comes upon a road blocked by a river will use a raft to reach the shore on the opposite side. Once there, he leaves the raft behind as a useless burden. The way to liberation, Buddhist salvation, is through "going beyond" these virtues. Once done, one would have no use for virtues for he has attained a matter of existence wherein he has attained lhag thong, looking past opinions of good and bad wherein the pairs of opposites do not exist. By this time, he would have been able to disclaim opinions, understanding that things only have a relative value in that world of illusion where these things that exist only in the mind are void of reality.

Chapter six expands on the way to liberation through looking pst obscurity. The untrained mind is constantly full of thoughts formed by assumptions and conclusions based on opinions. People could be said to think too much, trying to figure out ways to live a better life. Doing so, the mind is constantly in chaos, forever wondering whether it is doing what is "right." In the simile of the two chains, whether one is bound by the iron chain of evil deeds or the gold chain of good deeds, the activity of the mind still binds the person both ways for he still disputes within himself the quality of his life based on good and evil. To free oneself of this activity is to be liberated, reaching Nirvana. Once the mind is quieted, it will no longer be restless, for it is free of preconceived ideas and looks at everything in a nonjudgmental way.

In this "way of seeing"(thong lag), facts are considered with direct consciousness, the mind constantly alert and not wandering to form new opinions. This is the way of thinking that teachings lead students into. A student would at first see the world through relativism. As he realizes more the state where his mind is in, he would start letting go of opinions. Doing so would lead to the realization of the world of the absolute and the void.

Chapter seven enumerates the possibilities that students could end up turning away from the world with scorn and disgust, or become a calm thinking who sees things as void, feeling neither scorn nor disgust. The term void is not defined as nothingness or emptiness for nothing could not exist since nothing comes from nothing. Void is the independence from forces which compose it, and it does not produce anything. The Void, as an origin of all things, is nowhere at no time but now, at each instant in our minds. The world appears and disappears in our minds like "waves which arise from the sea and fall back into it." The Absolute, the Reality, are void of all our conceptions. The imaginary word, in turn, is not wholly unreal, yet is closer to an intermingling with the relative world. Seeing the world denied of apparent reality frees the mind from forming thoughts on concrete objects and instead helps the student view things in a different light. The purpose of the oral teachings is not to dictate or lecture but to entice students to think, doubt, seek, never truly knowing but forever inquiring.

In truth, at least as of today, we do not seem to have the ability to know everything there is to know about the universe. The point is that all we know about the universe is everything we have been told and everything we have observed. In turn, we should at least attempt to view the world through purely our own reasoning, to proliferate new ideas and test out former concepts, to seek the truth, and to see our world without the rose-colored glasses. We might come to realize that we are just a minute part of the great eternal void.

Grade Received: 250/300 B+