One could spend a lifetime studying the teachings of Buddhism and still merely be scratching the barest surface of an iceberg. Buddhism is a spiritual practice for those of us who have come to see that what is created is impermanent and uncertain; and that anything that is impermanent is inherently unhealthy. We cannot find our happiness in anything that is impermanent, only pain and suffering. The essence and spirit of Buddhism as a religion and the core of Buddhist doctrine, teaching and practice, is the action of going for refuge - seeking shelter in the Buddha, Sangha and Dharma, the three roots which support the Tree of Life - an action which a Buddhist will repeat over and over again in their lifetime of seeking Nirvana - the uprooting and elimination of the causes of pain and suffering. It is a path you must strive to live with Nirvana as your ultimate goal. Nirvana is the realization of true reality which is uncreated, unborn and permanent.

In Buddhism the Dharma represents religious truth in teachings and this is the usual translation of the word. The root of the word Dharma means to support and Dharma can also mean virtue. The Dharma allows us to take external lessons and internalize them by learning, using and developing the same qualities which Buddha used to obtain enlightenment and then it acts as a ladder or trellis which will support us once we attain enlightenment. To seek shelter or refuge in the Buddha is to honour Buddha as a perfect man. Seeking shelter in the Sangha or the spiritual community is to seek refuge with people of the finest quality who exemplify excellence.

There is a common belief in Buddhism that at the time of Buddha's birth a flash of light traveled around the world and that this was the first growth of the Tree of Perfection - a tree so divine that it bloomed with flowers that glistened and glowed. Buddha was born, received his enlightenment, preached his first sermon and died under the Bodhi (Fig) tree. He sat under the tree for six years to be enlightened. Fig trees are identified with the Tree of Knowledge and combine both feminine and masculine qualities. Fig trees produce no flowers.

In the Barren Fig Tree parable in Luke 13:6-9, the tree is used as a symbol for the Hebrew rejection of Jesus. Jesus pled with the owner of the vineyard to leave the barren fig tree for a year in order to give the Hebrews time to reflect and hopefully repent, He finally condemns the tree and orders it cut down. Mohammed attributed intelligence close to the level of animals to the fig and it became a sacred fruit. A basket of figs is also connected with the role of women as earth goddesses or mothers.

The Tree of Knowledge is a title given by followers of the Bodhidharma (Wisdom Religion) to adepts who have achieved the highest levels of mystical knowledge. There are ten paramitas or stages of study and practice which are followed by Bodhisattvas as they strive to attain Buddhahood. They are charity, discipline, forbearance, energy, concentration, wisdom, expedients, vows, power, and knowledge. There are also ten directions or ten quarters in Buddhism: North, South, East, West, North-east, South- east, North-west, South-west, the Nadir, and the Zenith.

The wood of the tree is symbolic of Wisdom, the core principle of Buddhism. Wise people eat when they are hungry, drink when they are thirsty and sleep when they are tired. The sap which nourishes the tree is symbolic of Compassion - spiritual food. The wood and the sap together express the life force of the Tree of Life - like heat from fire, they cannot be separated. Without Compassion, Wisdom dies. Without Wisdom as a vessel and vehicle, Compassion cannot move and dissipates. We need both.

In the Kabbalah, the Tree of Life is identified with the sephirothic tree of life. The Sephiroth represent the emanations by which the infinite is in touch with the finite. The tree forms a link between heaven and earth and has manifestion in the Four Worlds of emanation, creation, formation and actualization. Ein Sof is the sap, the living water carrying spiritual nourishment through the Tree of Life. The Sephiroth are the vessels of the living water and represent the worlds of light which manifest the darkness of Ein Sof. Each has a colour associated with it: Kether - White; Binah - Black; Chesed - Blue; Chokmah - Grey; Geburah - Red; Tiphareth - Yellow; Netzach - Green; Hod - Orange; Yesod - Violet; Malkuth - Citrine, Olive, Russet, Black.

Ein Sof is an essence with no colour and it flows through all of these vessels, the sap does not change because of the colour, only the way we Will to perceive the sap is changed - like sunlight passing through coloured glass - we change the living water. The Sephiroth underlie life as a collection of experiences for the body as perceived through our senses and are a present and active force in everything that exists. The first three Sephiroth (Kether, Chokmah, Binah) are called the Supernals. They exist outside of space and time and they cross the bridge of Daath in their journey from infinite to finite reality.

The two schools of Buddha's doctrine or the esoteric (inner) and the exoteric (outer) aspects of Buddhism, are respectively called the Heart (the seal of truth or true seal) and the Eye Doctrine. It is called the Heart because it represents the teachings which emanated from Buddha's heart and the Eye Doctrine represented the teachings and work of his mind.

The Tree of Life also has an inner and outer world which are explained with imaginative and claritive brilliance in "Guide to Tarot of the Sephiroth" by Josephine Mori and Jill Stockwell - the deck was created by Dan Staroff. The Inner World describes the journey of personal tranformation using the story and characters from "The Wizard of Oz" - Dorothy on her journey must integrate into her psyche her mental experiences, emotions, spirit and sensations so that when she awakens from her dream she will have been enriched spiritually by the experience and achieved personal transformation. The Outer World is likened to the planning and building of a home, an undertaking which must consider resources, concepts, defining, refining, desires, actualization, plans and construction.

The Three Pillars of the Tree of Life correspond to the Buddhist concept of the subtle body or our central nervous system. In Buddhism the nerve channels are energy pathways which radiate from five, six or seven nexi called wheels, complexes or lotuses. The nerve channels are connected on a three channel central axis running from our mid brow to our genitals through the brain crown and the base of our spine. These channels form the structure or, as it were, the trellis.

On these pathways are subtle drops of substances or nodes of subjectivity which transmit and focus awareness. These drops are moved around by subtle energies called winds, not unlike the energy flowing between the Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. The winds cause transformations in our experiences. The drops are associated with the genetic material that makes up the essence of the male and female sexual fluids, red for female (blood) and white for male (semen).

The Three Pillars also relate to the three interior states of the subtle mind which correspond to these structures and energies. They are called luminance (pure moonlight, Pillar of Form/Severity), radiance (pure sunlight, Pillar of Force/Mercy) and imminence (pure darkness and the deepest state of subtle mind, Pillar of Harmony/Mildness or The Middle Pillar ). Luminance is associated with 33 desire based instinctual patterns. Radiance is associated with 40 aggression based instinctual patterns. Imminence is associated with 7 ignorance based instinctual patterns. These states of consciousness do not occur until subjective energy is withdrawn from the gross senses.

The Three Pillars correspond to the three realms in Buddhism: the realms of desire (our world), form (realms of the lesser dieties), and formlessness (realms of the higher dieties) and to the Three Pillars of Buddhism: Sila (moral discipline); Samadhi (being at one with) and Prajna (understanding or wisdom). They also correspond to the three periods of time: past, present and future. We must lose the burdens of the past and be disciplined in the present, so that we may be free in the future.

"Form is none other than emptiness and emptiness none other than form"
Heart Sutra

The gross mind state which corresponds to our gross body state (flesh, blood, bone and elements) is called the mind of the six-sense consciousness. Five of these correspond to the physical senses and the sixth is the mental sense-consciousness which runs the central nervous system by co-ordinating the information from the other five senses through concepts, thoughts, images and volitions. This reinforces the concept of life as a collection of experiences for our bodies that we are perceiving through our five senses.

Buddhist teaching tells us that in the first week after his enlightenment Buddha meditated on his new insights and enjoyed new found feelings of happiness (Kether).

The second week Buddha paid homage to the Tree that had shaded and sheltered him during his 6 year struggle to attain enlightenment, by standing at attention and gazing motionless at it. A sapling of this original tree is in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka and is the oldest documented tree in the world. (Chokmah)

During the third week, in order to assuage the doubts of the Devas as to his true attainment of enlightenment, Buddha created a golden bridge and meditated while walking back and forth on it. (Binah)

He created a jewelled chamber during the fourth week and meditated on the higher teachings. His mind and body became pure and perfect and an aura of six colours emanated from his body. Each colour represents one of Buddha's noble qualities: Blue - confidence; Yellow - holiness; Red - wisdom; White - purity; Orange - absence of desire; Mixed - all of these qualities. (Daath - The Rainbow Bridge - Chesed)

Tanha, Rathi and Raga the beautiful daughters of Mara (the Deceiver and Tempter) tried to distract Buddha from his concentration by dancing for him. This occurred during the fifth week after his enlightenment.(Geburah)

During the sixth week Buddha was meditating under a Mucalinda tree when it began to rain heavily. Mucalinda was the king of serpents and in order to keep Buddha dry, he wrapped himself around the Buddha seven times, putting his hood over Buddha's head. (Tiphareth)

In the seventh week Buddha was meditating under a Rajayatana tree when two merchants named Tapassu and Bhallika offered him rice cake. This was his first meal after his enlightenment. The two became his first lay disciples.(Netzach)

On the outer level the Dharma refers to the spiritual path Buddha taught which was broken down into three levels: words (Hod), acts (Yesod) and attainment of Awareness (Malkuth) - the three garments of the soul; words, deeds and thoughts.

Buddha's Trellis
Pillar of Form (Sila)	Pillar of Our World (Samadhi)	Pillar of Formlessness (Prajna)
	1
3	11	2
5		4
	6
8		7
	9
	10

Position 1:

Traditional Kaballah: Keter, radiance of the Divine Presence. Will surrounds the conscious powers of the soul (the Sephiroth or Divine Emanations) and forces them to manifest themselves according to its directions. It represents the superconscious realm of experience. The image of a crown represents the aura surrounding our consciousness.

Christian Cabala: Divine Will Dignatory: Voluntas (Will)

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Crown; Astrological Correspondence: God (later Saturn)

Buddhist Principle: The extremely subtle indestructible drop, extremely subtle body-mind complex; the deepest state of pure soul, the deepest seat of life and awareness. The state of extremely subtle mind corresponds to the intuition of clear light. Being is a state of intelligent light, constant but changing, infinitely aware to the interconnectivity of all things, beyond duality and instinctual patterns, at one with reality and truth in a state of peace, translucent, untroubled and uncreated. The first of the Three Jewels: The Buddha: Awareness and Understanding.

The First Mysterious Gate: All things are co-existent, corresponding to one another.

Position 2:

Traditional Kaballah : Hokhmah, Wisdom; the first power of conscious intellect within Creation. It corresponds to the right hemisphere of the brain. Its inner and outer aspects are referred to jointly as "Abba", the Father. It represents the power of intuitive insight and the ability to extract information from the superconscious level - acuity of perception to pull the seeds of truth in reality. Hokhmah is the beginning force in the creative process and the power of selflessness. The palate of selflessness that allows the soul to taste Divinity - an inner spiritual sense that comes before and stimulates the sense of sight.

Christian Cabala: Wisdom Dignatory: Sapienta (Wisdom)

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Left side of face; Astrological Correspondence: Fixed stars (later Uranus)

Buddhist Principle: Urgency and impermanence. The transmutation of the ordinary between, dreams and the waking magic body. Beatific-Body, bright with freedom's natural energy. The Beatific Body represents the ultimate, subtle and detached sastisfaction of being a Buddha who has realized perfect union with the infinite freedom of ultimate reality. It is like an ethereal body formed from sheer joy at being liberated from suffering and the awareness of the absolute nature of reality. Speech becomes the Beatific Body when Buddhahood is obtained. The second of the Three Jewels: The Dharma: Right Understanding and Views.

The Second Mysterious Gate: The intention and extension of one thing involve those of others without any obstacle.

Position 3:

Traditional Kaballah: Binah: Understanding, Compassion; the second conscious power of intellect in Creation. It corresponds to the left hemisphere of the brain and is associated with the sense of hearing. Its inner and outer aspects are jointly called "Imma", the Mother. It represents the power of conceptual analysis and reasoning, both inductive and deductive, and the ability to comprehend insights. The Wide River which gives the ability to explain and expand on concepts for yourself and others. It also represents the ability to distinguish and differentiate between ideas. Its root word "bein" means "between". Hokhmah and Binah are two companions that never separate.

Christian Cabala: Intelligence. Dignatory: Veritas (Truth)

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Right side of face; Astrological Correspondence: Saturn

Buddhist Principle: The transmutation of death, sleep and trance. Truth-Body, voidness free of intrinsic status. This is the highest fruit of wisdom and perfect freedom with the fulfillment of all selfish concerns. Body and speech are interactive. The body reaches out from self-centredness to touch other people and situations with speech to express the content of the mind to others thereby linking one mind to another. Speech is the joy of the mind attaining infinite oneness. Mind becomes the Truth Body when Buddhahood is achieved. The third of the Three Jewels: Sanga: Purity and Harmony.

The Third Mysterious Gate: The One and the Many are mutually inclusive.

Position 11:

Traditional Kaballah: Da'at, Higher and Hidden Knowledge. Da'at is the reflection of Keter in the realm of consciousness as well as the attitude and emotions of the soul. It corresponds to the cerebellum or posterior brain. Da'at represents the powers of memory and concentration which are based on our ability for recognition and sensitivity. It is a bridge between the higher powers of the intellect (Hokhmah and Binah) and the lower levels of intellect, Lower and Extending Knowledge. It is also the bridge between the intellect and the realm of emotion which creates Unification - the ultimate spiritual purpose of Da'at.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Third-Eye or Throat; Astrological Correspondence: None (later Pluto)

Buddhist Principle: Walking a tightrope across an abyss. The In-Betweens: Life is between birth and death; Dreams are between sleep and waking; Trance is between dualistic consciousness and enlightened awareness; Death Point is between life and reality; Reality is between death point and existence; Existence is between reality and birth. The end of birth is death. All meetings end in separation. All accumulation ends in dispersal.

Position 4:

Traditional Kaballah: Hesed, Lovingkindness; the first of the emotive aspects in Creation and the first day of Creation. The first day accompanies and radiates all other days of Creation. Hesed also inspires and accompanies all of the other emotions of the soul. It corresponds to the right arm which draws us near. Hesed is the desire to embrace all of Creation and cover it in good and the force which impels the soul to connect to outer reality and leads us to love.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Left Arm; Astrological Correspondence: Jupiter

Christian Cabala: Mercy and Love Dignatory: Bonitas (Goodness)

Buddhist Principle: Waking the Magic Body. The Magic Body is created in the third perfection stage, self-consecration. It is the highest, spiritual, consciously created form of subtle mind for a dreamer in mundane life. Vows, promises or committments that can't be kept completely but that can be constantly repaired.

The Fourth Mysterious Gate: All things are identical with one another.

Position 5:

Traditional Kaballah: Gevurah, the second of the emotive aspects of Creation. It corresponds with the left arm which repels. Gevurah is the power to restrain yourself from doing good or giving goodness to someone who is not worthy or likely to misuse it and is the force which assesses the worthiness of Creation. It also gives us the strength to overcome our inner and outer enemies. Hesed and Gevurah together balance our soul's view of the outside world and are two hands acting together to form reality. It also represents fear of God as the beginning of Wisdom and the arms of God embracing the world. The Hebrew letter Aleph, the pause before speaking, is a silent letter and is made up of three more letters. Yod, Vav (Waw) and Yod. The word Yod means pointing hand and Vav is the conjunction and. Aleph is two pointing hands joining, one reaching up and one reaching down.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Right Arm; Astrological Correspondence: Mars

Christian Cabala: Strength Dignatory: Potestas (Power)

Buddhist Principle: Waking the Gross Body. Making and keeping committments in constantly changing circumstances. Infinite mind and speech create the gross body manifestations necessary for a Buddha to relate to those of us who cannot perceive our oneness with beauty and who misunderstand suffering and alienation. This is necessary in order to liberate and inspire us towards enlightenment.

The Fifth Mysterious Gate:The hidden and the manifested mutually perfect each other.

Position 6:

Traditional Kaballah: Tifaret, Beauty; the third emotive aspect of Creation and corresponding to the heart and upper torso. Tifaret represents the reconciliation of the opposing aspects of Hesed and Gevurah allowing focused compassion and mercy to blend with right action and appropriate expression. It is the union of the three emotions of the soul which are fear, love and mercy.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Heart, Breast; Astrological Correspondence: Sun

Christian Cabala: Beauty Dignatory: Virtus (Virtue)

Buddhist Principle: Morality is the true beauty of a person. Restraint and spontaniety. Once enlightened the ordinary mind achieves the experience of oneness with infinite reality which becomes permanent awareness. Buddhist ethics has ten laws which are divided into three groups. There are three that relate to the body: don't kill, steal or commit sexual misconduct. There are four which relate to speech: don't lie, slander, gossip or revile. The other three relate to the mind: don't covet, hate or hold distorted beliefs.

The Sixth Mysterious Gate: All minute and abstruse things mutually penetrate one another.

Position 7:

Traditional Kaballah: Netzah, Victory; the fourth emotive aspect of Creation and associated with the right leg, the first limb of the supernal body to touch the ground. It is the power to overcome those obstacles which prevent us from giving good to the world and its ultimate victory is in overcoming death itself. Netzah is the union of our emotions (heart) and our expression (mouth) giving the sense of timelessness and eternal life within the barriers of chronological time through which we can achieve confidence.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Loins, left hip and leg; Astrological Correspondence: Venus

Christian Cabala: Endurance Dignatory: Eternitas (Eternity)

Buddhist Principle: Waking Trance. Taking care of your own happiness. The isolation of speech from the ordinary by the unification of energy-wind and mantra. The mantra is a sound which expresses the deepest essence of a thing. This practice assists in the transcendence of the ordinariness of time. The root of time is in respiration and the wind energies are united with the mantras, the vajras of body, speech and mind. This requires advanced meditation techniques which turns the seeker into living mantra alone in the centre of an empty universe. It takes three years of daily pracatice to complete the full cycle of recitations necessary to achieve renunciation and clarity; 100,000 prostrations while reciting the Refuge Prayer; 100,000 recitations of the Confession Mantra (100 syllables); 100,000 offerings of the Sacred Word Mandala and 1,000,000 recitations of the Guru Yoga Prayer.

The Seventh Mysterious Gate: All things reflect one another.

Position 8:

Traditional Kaballah: Hod, Splendour, Acknowledgment, Reverberation; the fifth emotive aspect of Creation and associated with the left leg. Hod and Netzah are two halves of a single body, they must work together in order to walk. They are the scales of justice, Netzah weighs merits and Hod concedes, acknowledges or confesses. Hod is the ability to advance towards realizing your goals with perseverance and determination based on true committment. Committment is a vision you embrace from the inside and choose to walk in your day to day life. We are a society dictated by paralysing overanalysis which prevents us from making true committments or even assessing if we know what committment means to us. Hod gives us the ability to express our thanks and to confess allowing us to achieve sincerity.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Loins, right hip and leg. Astrological Correspondence: Mercury

Christian Cabala: Majesty Dignatory: Gloria (Glory)

Buddhist Principle: Waking State. Depth and accuracy, committment to ethical conduct. Karmas are the mental, verbal and physical actions we may take which affect and constitute the consequences of our lives and are accumulated as a result of actions by the body, mouth, and mind. Buddhists believe that we carry a spiritual gene which informs the structures of our present lifetime with the experiences of millions of previous lifetimes and when combined with the physical genes we receive from our parents begins the process of spiritual and biological evolution.

In Buddhism the Four Noble Truths state that all delusion driven life is suffering, the suffering is caused by misknowledge and evolution, there is freedom from this suffering and the pathway to it is spiritual education in morality, meditation and scientific wisdom. There are eight sufferings: birth, old age, disease, death, separation from loved ones, meeting uncongenial persons, unfulfilled wishes, and the suffering associated with the five raging skandas (the components that make up the body and the mind). Only by internalizing the truth of emptiness (reality) can we escape suffering. There are also four debts: to one's parents, to the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), to the founders of the nation/enlightened temporal leaders and to all sentient beings. In past lives all men were our fathers, all women our mothers.

The Eighth Mysterious Gate: Truth is manifested in facts and facts are the source of enlightenment.

Position 9:

Traditional Kaballah: Yesod; Foundation; the sixth of the emotive aspects of Creation and associated with the womb and the male procreative organ. It is the power of the soul to reach, connect and effectively communicate with outer reality. Yesod is considered to be both the beginning - the foundation of procreation - and the conclusion of the body. It is our ability to bring and act to a conclusion in truth, and to confirm our emotions and ethics through right action thereby achieving self-fulfillment in our lives - grounding us and solidifying our union with earth.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Genitals; Astrological Correspondence: Moon

Christian Cabala: Foundation Dignatory: Magnitudo (Greatness)

Buddhist Principle: The Dharma of experience - ethical, meditational and intellectual- and the higher educations of justice, concentration and wisdom. Enlightenment is the perfect knowledge and awareness of the state of things. Our possibility of liberating ourselves from suffering is based on the truth of the condition of Enlightenment and the untruth of our mundane condition of suffering. The ultimate reality is in the teachings, the path we take to realization and the qualities which are derived from the journey. The task of the Buddhist is to actualize deep moral sensitivity, powerful mental intensity and acute intellectual insights.

The Ninth Mysterious Gate: The past, present and future are inter-penetrating.

Position 10:

Traditional Kaballah: Malkut, Kingdom, The World of Speech, The Gate to God; the last of the emotive aspects of Creation which gives us the power to express our thoughts and emotions to others. It is associated with the corona of the penis, the labia and the mouth. Malkut represents the soul's power for self-expression. The soul wears three garments: Thought, which reveals the soul inwardly and Speech and Deed which reveal the soul outwardly. Proper speech allows us to use authority and Kingship which, when balanced with sensitivity to the needs of others, will lead us to humility. Malkut forces all other agents of Creation to accept one Divine authority thereby assuring the ultimate good of the mundane realm.

Hermetic Kaballah: Body Position: Feet, anus; Astrological Correspondence: Earth

Christian Cabala: Kingdom, Creation itself.

Buddhist Principle: Transmutation of ordinary life, waking state and integrated gross body. Emanation body, ceaselessly arising everywhere. Ordinary body becomes the Emanation body when Buddhahood is achieved. You are responsible for yourself in all three areas of body, speech and mind. This triad becomes the Three Buddha Bodies. As the Emanation Body rises from the energy of the Beatific Body, speech is experienced as fulfilling and joyful experience and a limitless amount of appropriate manifestations are available to assist the Buddha in expanding the enlightenment of others.

The Tenth Mysterious Gate: All things are manifestations and transformations of the mind.

Buddhism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find refuge. Judaism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find water. Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where to find food. Islam is one beggar telling another beggar where to find fire. You cannot separate shelter from refuge, wet from water, sustenance from food or heat from fire. We sit alone at our tables wondering where to seek knowledge to find enlightenment, and God sits alone at His table waiting for us to seek understanding to find humility.

It is my hope that you enjoy this piece and glean some new insights both into Buddhism and into the Tree of Life. I am long overdue in writing this but it has been percolating for a long time - my thanks to those who have waited patiently and encouraged my efforts. I completed this on my birthday and it is my pleasure to have shared the creative endeavour of my day with people of fine quality and understanding. Peace be with you all and always remember that when you ask God to help you, however you may conceive God to be, you had best be putting on a seatbelt.

Sources:

Benedict's Dharma
by Norman Fischer, Joseph Goldstein,
Judith Simmer-Brown, Yifa
Edited by Patrick Henry
(c) Riverhead Books 2001
New York

Guide to Tarot of the Sephiroth
by Josephine Mori and Jill Stockwell
Deck by Dan Staroff
(c) U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Stamford, CT
06902
See U.S. Games Sytems - Item #SPH78 and #SKUBK207 for convenient on-line ordering. The book and deck set is available at bookstores nationwide or by contacting U. S. Games Systems Inc. directly at (800) 544-2637.

The Essential Kabbalah
(c) 1995 Daniel C. Matt
Quality Paperback Book Club
by arrangement with HarperSanFrancisco
Harper Collins Publishers

The Path of Blessing
(c) 1998 by Marcia Prager
Bell Tower
New York, New York
Crown Publishing Group

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