◎Jade Tablet – 10 – 30
◎The Setup for Vertical Ascent – 30
◎The Great Reversal and Inversion – 9
◎I Have a Secret with That One That I Can Only Speak of on the Scaffold
Hossein Mansur Hallaj was a 9th-century Sufi saint. He was sentenced to beheading by the Islamic religious establishment simply for proclaiming, "I am God." However, the words he spoke while his limbs were being severed on the scaffold are still widely conveyed in the 21st century.
The moment I proclaimed, "I am God," my relationship with God underwent a reversal. There are not many saints who openly proclaim such a great reversal, because it is dangerous.
Furthermore, in organized religion, regardless of the sect, a believer who is human is immediately branded a heretic and may be crucified the moment they declare, "I am God." In the Middle East and Europe, while all denominations should ultimately aim for union with God, religious organizations tend to consider remaining just short of this union as the ideal, and are inclined to ostracize those who actually achieve it.
This is likely done from the perspective of organizational defense, as a junior proclaiming "I am God" would infringe upon the authority of the founder. However, I believe this is fundamentally flawed.
On the night before his execution, Hallaj used his supernatural powers to unlock the shackles of 300 prisoners in the jail, opened the doors, and let them all escape, but he himself remained inside. When asked why, he replied, "I have a secret with That One that I can only speak of on the scaffold."
One hundred thousand people gathered for his execution and immediately began throwing stones at him. However, when he saw a well-known cleric throw mud at him, he sighed and said:
『Those who do not know what they are doing are excused, but it is painful for me regarding those who know they should not throw stones.』 (Memorial of God's Friends: Lives and Sayings of Sufis / Farid al-Din Attar / Kokusho Kankokai, p. 357)
The conduct of a seeker of truth demands such severity. I learned that even among Soto Zen masters, there were those who denied the existence of enlightenment, confusing un-enlightened practitioners ("Enlightenment Experiences: People Awakened in Mahayana Buddhism"). This must be harsh for those who advocate that enlightenment and practice are one and the same (shushō ichinyo).
Meister Eckhart also expressed union with God but apparently struggled to avoid being labeled a heretic.
When a human being reverses with God, there are three ways it can be perceived from the human side: being considered a madman and ignored, being labeled a heretic and persecuted, or being revered as a divine person. However, in this global modern Western civilization, it is mostly the former two. The treatment of Osho Bhagwan, who became a global outcast, is a typical example of this.
