seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

fade quickly in early morning body- counts. And, though the young sons of leaders may
indeed have inherited the stuff of leadership, veteran fighters are disinclined to audition
their talents. In order to have mature heirs to his power, a chief must survive for at least
two generations - even as his sons must survive for one; and longevity seldom accrues to
the pugnacious or the transient. Their society must, therefore, allow for movement in the
ranks.
Priests, on the other hand, can live a long time. They can have many sons who,
especially in societies in which language is loved but writing unknown, are able to spend
their years of draft exemption safely memorizing that holy writ which only their fathers
know and can teach. The Aryan priest class defined and owed its existence to hereditary
privilege. Yet, since they were mortal men and in times of defeat would be regarded by
the victorious as prime candidates for slaughter (being so ill suited for more constructive
employment) they readily deferred to their warrior kings and carefully maintained their
subsidiary or auxiliary positions. But though secondary, their rank was nonetheless
important. Priests alone can read in planetary alignment or goat entrails those indicators
of impending disaster or auspicious circumstance which are so vital to command
decisions. They also comfort the maimed, eulogize the fallen, inspire the weary and
generally help to sustain a high level of morale by delivering their gods' sanctifying
blessings upon each campaign.
But when fighting nomads build houses and settle into more or less peaceful
domesticity, changes must occur in their societal status quo. As slave-taking conquerors
the Aryans constituted an elite leisure class. Thorstein Veblen - that eminent observer of
this class of unemployed achievers, anticipates their altering requirements: "Chief among
the honorable employments in any feudal community is warfare;" notes Veblen, "and
priestly service is commonly second to warfare. If the barbarian community is not
notably warlike, the priestly service may take the precedence with that of the warrior
second." And sure enough, though the warrior class ranked first during the years of the
Aryans' militaristic expansion, the priest class began its assault upon that station when
generals became gentry.
For it was then, after those agrarian preoccupations with death and rebirth and the
phases of the moon had at last entered the warrior imagination, that the native religion
could issue its seductive challenge. The new heroes would be those who were victorious
on interior fields of battle. Thus did Aryan chieftains became spiritual yeomen who
happily fought under the aegis of kingly (raja) yogis.
What they learned was wonderful. The new teachings, a collection of inspired
essays composed over many years by various masters, were called the Upanishads
(knowledge acquired `sitting near' a master). Though contrary to the doctrinal spirit of
the Vedas, they were nevertheless accepted as a suitable addition to the sacred lore. That
mysterious and impervious force that renewed the moon and earth was now identified:
CHAPTER 1 INDIA
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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