Enlightenment
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Realise enlightenment is impossible. If you could be unenlightened one moment, and enlightened the next, then enlightenment would be bound by time, would be given substance by its opposite, would be dual, would be some ‘thing’ to be attained. You do not need to be something more. Forget the need and hope. Awake is what you are, not what you become.
Be willing to notice. Look at the stars, the wind, the romp of birds through the sky. Be willing to be free. Forget the sutras, the wise sayings, the path, the seriousness, the pain, the wars, the relationships, the imagined problems. Forget your objections. Hush for a moment; gently, with arms wide and open, notice the absence of anything but Life.
Be. Realize that only the ego wants to awaken. And be done with it.
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“You are not ready to accept the fact that you have to give up. A complete and total ’surrender’…. It is a state of hopelessness which says that there is no way out…. Any movement in any direction, on any dimension, at any level, is taking you away from Yourself…”
–U.G. Krishnmurti -
For me the first realisation of enlightenment, or of the nature of who I really am, is not something that can be expressed. What happened cannot even be called an experience, because the separate experiencer needed to be absent for it to emerge.
However, what accompanied that happening was a realisation of such simple magnitude and revolutionary content that it left me awestruck and quite alone.
One of the things I came to see is that enlightenment only becomes available when it has been accepted that it cannot be achieved.
Doctrines, processes and progressive paths which seek enlightenment only exacerbate the problem they address by reinforcing the idea that the self can find something that it presumes it has lost. It is that very effort, that investment in self-identity that continuously recreates the illusion of separation from oneness. This is the veil that we believe exists. It is the dream of individuality.
...
Life is not a task. There is absolutely nothing to attain except the realisation that there is absolutely nothing to attain.
No amount of effort will ever persuade oneness to appear. All that is needed is a leap in perception, a different seeing, already inherent but unrecognised.
Tony Parsons, The Open Secret, pp4-5
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Essentially the experience of enlightenment brings with it the sudden comprehension that there is no-one and nothing to be enlightened. Enlightenment simply is. ... All and everything is oneness, and all that we do is get in its way by trying to find it. -
More Tony,
Aliveness, there' s only ever aliveness. No matter where you go or what you do, you can't achieve aliveness, you can't learn to see aliveness. There is just aliveness. You don't need anybody to tell you that, you don't ever need to come to another meeting to find out all there is is aliveness. It already is that.
Question: Why do we find it so difficult to accept?
Because we're always looking for something, always looking for something else, something in time.
Because we think we are individuals living in something or other, we're always looking for something else.
We have a picture of what we're looking for, which isn't "this" . (pointing to right here, right now)
So hardly ever is there just the seeing of " this". There's always a living in anticipation of something to come.
What we don't realize is "this" is what we're looking for.
And it's constantly... here!
It is constantly what is, rather what could be.
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But the idea of "you" is being reinforced all the time. The emphasis is that there is someone there; everything in the world goes on emphasizing that there is someone there. The pretence of "me" goes on being reinforced even in the search for enlightenment, because what a so-called master will say to you is, "I have become enlightened - I am an enlightened person and can become an enlightened person". You - this pretend "you"! It's a total utter fallacy because awakening is the realisation that there is no one - it's as simple as that. It's totally and utterly simple, and also very difficult.
Awakening is the realisation that all that's been happening - the whole idea of there being a "me" - is a pretence. You're actually pretending to sit there and look at me. You 're pretending that you're sitting there looking at me and trying to get something. -
Thanks for sharing!
If one gives up the untrue,
turns towards the real and gives up concepts,
abides in brilliance without self or other,
even ordinary people and aryas will be equivalent.
When one abides in unchanging stability,
from then on there is no need to follow what is taught in texts.
--1st Patriarch of Chinese Zen, Bodhidharma, The Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices
However my advise is before that, read sutras, they contain good pointers And continue to read after that 
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Hi AEN,
When one abides in unchanging stability,
How does one abide in unchanging stability?
from then on there is no need to follow what is taught in texts.
“You are not ready to accept the fact that you have to give up. A complete and total ’surrender’…. It is a state of hopelessness which says that there is no way out…. Any movement in any direction, on any dimension, at any level, is taking you away from Yourself…”
Let go of the search, let go of the sutras.
Just "be". -
But the idea of "you" is being reinforced all the time. The emphasis is that there is someone there; everything in the world goes on emphasizing that there is someone there. The pretence of "me" goes on being reinforced even in the search for enlightenment...
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As what Thusness said in one of the very early posts -- lame question on meditationOriginally posted by JonLS:How does one abide in unchanging stability?Hi Long Chen,
It is what is known as 'wu wei' (non-action)
Yes it is possible. But as much as I would not like to say, there is no what, where, when, why and how. Sounds senseless but it is true. These are what Naturalness is not.
Nevertheless, the mind will be stubbornly attached to this current mode of knowing because to the mind, it is all there is. It seems to be a destined journey that a sincere seeker has to continue penetrate its own depth, till it completely exhaust itself and meet its own DEATH. The death of the 'I'.
The giving up and full understanding of the poverty of the entire thinking and analytical mechanism will allow the mind to rest itself upon nothing. Here karmic tendency arises and ceases as it is, no effort to struggle is made.
This is the time effortless knowing arise. A complete clarity of ISness manisfesting as pure Presence.
Seek deep into the depth of our own self, there is always this Will, Effort..etc. This Unwillingless to let go, to be.
Simply put, it is this that separates.
Lastly try not to find a sit in the body. The true nature fills all space. Creating a boundary for What that is neither within nor without will eventually prove futile. Presence finds itself in Otherness. The body has created the illusion of 'inward' and divides. We have engaged ourselves in too much analysis and lost our intuitiveness and directness. Since u have experienced the pure Presence, sense the 'I' that holds and let go immeidately.
Presense always IS.
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Originally posted by JonLS:
Yes. And indeed sutras are just pointers... Though if you point the moon to the cat, it will probably come and sniff your fingers instead
“You are not ready to accept the fact that you have to give up. A complete and total ’surrender’…. It is a state of hopelessness which says that there is no way out…. [b]Any movement in any direction, on any dimension, at any level, is taking you away from Yourself…”
Let go of the search, let go of the sutras.
Just "be".[/b] -
tell that to the african kids who are dying of starvation
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Resistance is futile.Originally posted by Omniknight:tell that to the african kids who are dying of starvation
You will be assimilated! -
Stories that creates more propensities unknowningly by trying to statisfy dualistic mind.
Realise enlightenment is impossible. If you could be unenlightened one moment, and enlightened the next, then enlightenment would be bound by time, would be given substance by its opposite, would be dual, would be some ‘thing’ to be attained. You do not need to be something more.
Attempting impossibility.
Be willing to notice. Look at
This is sutra.
the stars, the wind, the romp of birds through the sky.
Fallen into experience and attempting impossibility.
Be willing to be free. Forget the sutras, the wise sayings, the path, the seriousness, the pain, the wars, the relationships, the imagined problems. Forget your objections. Hush for a moment; gently, with arms wide and open, notice the absence of anything but Life.
Always is, no be. Ego is the wanting.
Be. Realize that only the ego wants to awaken. And be done with it. -
Originally posted by JonLS:
Beautifully expressed.
quote:
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For me the first realisation of enlightenment, or of the nature of who I really am, is not something that can be expressed. What happened cannot even be called an experience, because the separate experiencer needed to be absent for it to emerge.
However, what accompanied that happening was a realisation of such simple magnitude and revolutionary content that it left me awestruck and quite alone.
One of the things I came to see is that enlightenment only becomes available when it has been accepted that it cannot be achieved.
Doctrines, processes and progressive paths which seek enlightenment only exacerbate the problem they address by reinforcing the idea that the self can find something that it presumes it has lost. It is that very effort, that investment in self-identity that continuously recreates the illusion of separation from oneness. This is the veil that we believe exists. It is the dream of individuality.
...
Life is not a task. There is absolutely nothing to attain except the realisation that there is absolutely nothing to attain.
No amount of effort will ever persuade oneness to appear. All that is needed is a leap in perception, a different seeing, already inherent but unrecognised.
Tony Parsons, The Open Secret, pp4-5
Beautiful and thanks for sharing!
Aliveness, there' s only ever aliveness. No matter where you go or what you do, you can't achieve aliveness, you can't learn to see aliveness. There is just aliveness. You don't need anybody to tell you that, you don't ever need to come to another meeting to find out all there is is aliveness...
Tony Parsons, The Open Secret -
Care to share ur experience of the shift from "I AM" to "impersonal mere happening"...
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Before, there was a person who was aware that he existed. This fact was the most important fact, he thought.Originally posted by Thusness:Care to share ur experience of the shift from "I AM" to "impersonal mere happening"...
But then this person became less and less, and now all that's left, much of time, is "simply this", whatever is arising.
The person still arises from time to time, but he suffers from a great deal of confusion when he does, he doesn't know whether he's coming or going. But that doesn't really matter anymore because he doesn't take himself all that seriously anymore.
What arises most often is "Isness".
But there is no need to stay there, life is much too dynamic. -
Originally posted by JonLS:
Agree. It “doesn’t really matter” because ‘symbolic meaning’ is realized as the cause of confusion. The need to explain subsides and gave way to an impersonal mirror bright sensation. The need to explain is only relevant conventionally but not ultimately. Although the exact cause of confusion is not clearly discerned, the root cause of confusion is intuitively understood by resting in naked awareness.
Before, there was a person who was aware that he existed. This fact was the most important fact, he thought.
But then this person became less and less, and now all that's left, much of time, is "simply this", whatever is arising.
The person still arises from time to time, but he suffers from a great deal of confusion when he does, he doesn't know whether he's coming or going. But that doesn't really matter anymore because he doesn't take himself all that seriously anymore.
This is because the nature of isness is impermanence.
What arises most often is "Isness".
But there is no need to stay there, life is much too dynamic. Even the experience of this impersonal mirror bright clarity cannot dissolve the illusion of permanence. Isness does not remain and the inability to cope with the mere speed of this ‘instantly gone’ will create the sense of self. It is reinforced by the habitual tendency to ‘recall’ and ‘reconfirm’...when isness is clearly seen as the arising and ceasing itself, sense of self ceases. -
Hi Thusness,
Agree. It “doesn’t really matter” because ‘symbolic meaning’ is realized as the cause of confusion.
Always there was a need to know. But now, knowing is seen for what it is, just a need to know. It's in the nature of the separate sense of self to know things, that's how it "holds" itself together conceptually.The need to explain subsides and gave way to an impersonal mirror bright sensation.
Impersonal mirror bright sensation can also be called an "inner knowing" or "peace" itself. You use different words than I do, but I recognize what you are saying.Although the exact cause of confusion is not clearly discerned, the root cause of confusion is intuitively understood by resting in naked awareness.
It seems to me that the root cause of confusion is the mind's tendency to grasp, to know. And when that is seen through, then confusion seems to arise. But not all the time, only at times when the separate sense of self reasserts itself.the root cause of confusion is intuitively understood by resting in naked awareness.
Agreed!This is because the nature of isness is impermanence. Even the experience of this impersonal mirror bright clarity cannot dissolve the illusion of permanence. Isness does not remain and the inability to cope with the mere speed of this ‘instantly gone’ will create the sense of self. It is reinforced by the habitual tendency to ‘recall’ and ‘reconfirm’...when isness is clearly seen as the arising and ceasing itself, sense of self ceases.
Thank you for this, it sounds good to me. These days, there is a "seeing" of deep layers of conditioning, or "bonds" as I think you call them. Feelings and thoughts that had simply been accepted as a part of life are now seen for what they are, simply thoughts and feelings that have escaped scrutiny before because of the deep unconscious identification with them. -
Originally posted by JonLS:
Yes. There is a need to know because there are conditions for this type of conventional knowing to arise but it limitations are seen through. It is not the right tool for experiencing our pristine nature but it is the right tool for other purposes.
Always there was a need to know. But now, knowing is seen for what it is, just a need to know. It's in the nature of the separate sense of self to know things, that's how it "holds" itself together conceptually. A wrong fit creates the confusion.
I would say suffering comes with grasping whereas confusion comes when we dwell into symbolic meaning. In isness, there is no overlay and therefore confusion does not arise. “Inner knowing” is a wide open whole body/mind sensing void of the sense of self. More of an immediate and direct perception.
Impersonal mirror bright sensation can also be called an "inner knowing" or "peace" itself. You use different words than I do, but I recognize what you are saying.
It seems to me that the root cause of confusion is the mind's tendency to grasp, to know. And when that is seen through, then confusion seems to arise. But not all the time, only at times when the separate sense of self reasserts itself.
For example with the stabilizing of non-dual experience, when someone said “enlightenment has no attainment”, there is an instant knowing of what it meant. A spontaneous and immediate knowing as if it is a plain fact of reality that is experienced and lived in every moment. That is the feeling. That is the heart to heart communication. "Making sense" comes later as a convenient way to explain in conventional terms by fitting into the framework of our thinking mechanism. This may not be a good example though.
Yes. Buddhism spoke of the impact of creating karma. Just for the illustration of the impact and not to dwell and fall into the discussion of what is good and bad, right or wrong. There is a thread about “smells” by Marcteng and this is what he wrote:
These days, there is a "seeing" of deep layers of conditioning, or "bonds" as I think you call them. Feelings and thoughts that had simply been accepted as a part of life are now seen for what they are, simply thoughts and feelings that have escaped scrutiny before because of the deep unconscious identification with them.
This is the impact of conditioning. Once formed, it becomes a whole new experiential reality and is difficult to rid off.
When I smell something unpleasant, like garbage and bad air, I feel very agitated and angry.
Is there a way where you can practise when you smell something unpleasant, wont have these kind of thoughts?
I have a neighbour who burn incense everyday without fail, once in morning and once at night and filled the whole corridor with the incense, but I find the incense really smelly and unpleasant and I felt pissed and angry whenever I smelled by the incense smell -
This is the impact of conditioning. Once formed, it becomes a whole new experiential reality and is difficult to rid off.
It is difficult as long as it is clung to. If you would rather react to the smell than see what mechanism is at work then that is what you will get. If there is an openness, a desire to let go or a desire for the truth of our being then this allows the space, the stillness, for truth to emerge.
This openness or space that is created is beginning of the end of the separate sense of self.
But it costs us everything we know.
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Originally posted by JonLS:
Why cry? Means everything is at disposal! Mind, body, space, isness....
But it costs us everything we know. -
Because , at first, it can be painful and scary for the egoic sense of self.Originally posted by Thusness:Why cry? Means everything is at disposal! Mind, body, space, isness....
But the peace and liberation more than make up for it.
And never is there a sense that it is not as it should be. -
Enlightenment
by Toni Packer, "The Wonder of Presence"
Someone asked, “Does it really matter if we ‘wake up’ or not?”
A little while ago I took a walk up the hill. What a delightful morning! Warmth and coolness were present at the same time. Gentleness pervaded the air, and birds were singing everywhere. Wet, sodden shoes passed by the croaking pond where tiny little skimmers crisscrossed back and forth on the surface of the water, leaving their ever so delicate tracks.
On the big upper field several deer were grazing. Looking up at the intruder, their long white tails twitched a little as we looked at each other. Then they kept on grazing. Colors dotted the sun-drenched field, and blooming grasses were swaying in the breeze. The fragrance of wild roses filled the air.
If you had walked along with me this beautiful morning, we both would have laughed at the question whether it matters if we wake up or not.
Had we been caught up in anger, worry, or frustration, we wouldnÂ’t have laughed. We would not have seen the lovely vibrant field.
We have so many questions. Whence do they arise? Are there deeper motives to our question? Can we wonder about it and look? Someone asked, “Is there such a thing as ultimate, complete and total enlightenment?” Are we really asking, “If there is such a thing, can I get it?”
Where does wondering about complete and total enlightenment come from? And from where does wanting it arise? And the frustration about not getting it? DoesnÂ’t it all come out of our deep inner discontent with ourselves, with others, and with the world? Sometimes we canÂ’t even say what it is that causes it; we just feel painfully out of sync. There is an inner meaninglessness, a feeling of hollow emptiness. Not the emptiness of vast open space, but a feeling of nothing of value inside, feeling lonely, cut off from happiness and alienated from people. There may be the fear of abandonment, or feeling unloved. All of these things are going on in human beings.
Out of the desires to fill up the inner depletion and find lasting contentment may come questions about enlightenment, and with them the yearning to find meaning and not feel isolated from everything and everyone. The brain creates endless concepts and fantasies to alleviate the inner suffering.
If we become increasingly transparent to these movements of thought and feeling, we will realize that inner pain is not dissolved by conventional ways of dealing with it, materially or spiritually. Money, position, acquisitions, or relationships have not brought lasting contentment. Religious beliefs may provide illusions of security and support, but for many of us they simply have not worked. We have wandered from one belief system to another, attracted by promises of salvation, liberation, or enlightenment, but real hunger for truth and clarity can be stilled only with genuine food.
The discursive mind is capable of throwing up doubts and sceptical questions at any time. Maybe we suddenly find ourselves in quiet openness, a profound stillness without any feeling of lack. Then thought comes in and beings to wonder “Will this last? Can I get it back? Was it real? Was this enlightenment or is there more? It doesn’t seem enough.” Thinking about a past moment of freedom immediately sows the seeds of doubt by asking, “Is this all there is? It can’t be! There must be a more convincing experience than what I just had!” Thoughts grow like clinging vines that choke the living presence. Truly being here is being unknown, unknowable, unadorned. Being here is absence of doubting or affirming thoughts about myself. It is the absence of me! Thoughts that arise about me are just thoughts, with their enormous power to obscure clarity.
Is it our task to find out whether or not there is total and complete enlightenment like the Buddha proclaimed? I always liked the Buddha’s saying: “I truly attained nothing from complete, unexcelled enlightenment, and that is why it is called complete, unexcelled enlightenment” No-thing, no one to attain it, spaceless space, no one there to occupy it. Just alive presence with the evening star in the sky. Dying to all the stuff imagined and clung to about oneself – what I am, what I was, what I will be, what I could be, should be...
Can we see all concepts as concepts with deepening clarity and wisdom? Not immediately lurching toward something promised in the future that has its sole existence in thoughts? Can we clearly discern what constitutes thinking and what is actually present right here without needing to think it? Can we discern it effortlessly? -
The open windows, fresh air touching the skin, bright sunshine everywhere, all kinds of twittering sounds, crows calling and breathing, pulsating life! Caw, caw, caw, caw.. Sensations throughout the body, breathing, beholding it, not the words, but the aliveness of it all. Can we realize now that “complete unexcelled enlightenment” is a concept?
You may sincerely object, “How can I know for sure that enlightenment is just a concept? Maybe it is real. Lots of enlightened teachers have told and written about it. So – shall we then ask together: “What is enlightenment without all concepts?”
Let us delve profoundly into this question, not asking for other people’s description of experiences, not looking for promises, nor expecting to know for sure, but questioning out of not knowing, inquiring meditatively, deeply, darkly, until we don’t know anymore what is “enlightened” or “un-enlightened”! In silently wondering deeply without knowing, the conceptual world is left behind. Are we going into the question in this way?
All too often our yearning for something to alleviate the inner suffering gets in the way of deep inquiry. Rather than asking, “What is enlightenment” can we question our inner feeling of insufficiency? We have tried to fill it with fantasies of all descriptions, with entertainment, acquisitions, achievements, relationships, spiritual searching, and solemn vows – anything to fill the aching void. But have we ever really explored it directly, unconditionally?
Becoming conscious of it in or out of retreat, can we be with the ache of emptiness ,not calling it by any name? Let all labels fly into thin air and stay with what is here, discomfort without calling it discomfort. Staying here with what’s indefinable. Not resisting, not fighting, not looking for anything else. Just letting what is here be here in its entirety, physically, mentally, totally. Letting it be without knowing. Not becoming the doer for or against it. Just this quiet presence in the midst of the silence of chaos. In this there is an unfolding transparency. It happens when one sits patiently, silently, unconditionally. By “sitting” I simply mean being totally with what is here. Not moving away or toward something else, just remaining with the whole thing – an intense presence that includes all bodily sensations, breathing, wind-storming, raining, sunning, birding, coughing, fans humming – everything right here, all at once, without a seam. Observing thoughts coming up, emotions about to be triggered, physical sensations arising and more thoughts, emotions, feelings, sensations unfolding and abating – being with it all. There isn’t any place to escape to. Everything is here without separation.
Let thoughts come up, let them reveal themselves for what they are and disappear. It all is the stuff of dreams, traces from the infinite past. Thoughts may trigger fear, but fear too can become transparency. When it arises, here it is. Let it be. Don’t call it by name – labels attract memories and reactions from the past. No need to have any feelings about it – they too are empty. Fear is an unavoidable occurrence in our habitual self-centered consciousness. We cannot possibly live the illusion of a separate me without experiencing fears about what may happen to it. But illusions and dreams can also be seen as just dreams and illusions, even though they can arouse tremendous inner turbulence in the form of horror, agony, or pleasure. It is all part and parcel of human consciousness manifesting as separate me and you.
Sitting quietly, watching things come up time and time again, a tape may be playing: “Is that what meditation is all about? I don’t want to spend the rest of my meditative life watching endless repetitions of garbage.” But the important thing is not what is seen but the quality of seeing. When a person asks, “Is watching the comings and goings of thoughts and emotions all there is to meditation?” I say that it all depends on the quality of the watching. Is it consumed by judging, by feeling guilty, ashamed, or impatient? As those mental movements occur, see them for what they are and don’t be disturbed by them. That is choiceless awareness – no separate watcher occupying center stage. The inner show is simply displaying itself on its own and needs no particular audience, no applause or rejection . Let it all happen as it is happening in the infinite space of open presence.
Is “choiceless awareness” just another dream ,a new illusion? Thought can turn anything into a concept by thinking and dreaming about it. See it when it happens and don’t be fooled by it. Choiceless awareness is not an illusion. It is here for human beings like you and me. Transparency unfolds on its own, revealing all there is as it is, in utter directness and simplicity, without need for a director.
Actually, awareness is here even during times of darkness. Presence never goes anywhere. This is not a dogmatic statement but a simple fact that each one of us can come upon. See the cloud, the darkness! Hear the wind! Feel the breathing! Smell the flowers! Touch the swaying grasses! Clouds, wind, thoughts, breathing, fragrant flowers, and grasses change all the time, but seeing is here without time. Even though doubts may obscure it, it is here the instant the mind stops and every cell of the body opens up to hear and see and be.
No need to bother one’s head about what has been said. Being present is all of oneself, not just the head! We are this entire living creation from moment to moment without a break. Walk innocently through the fields, into the woods, along the ocean beach or in the city streets with the sheer joy of aliveness, its infinite movements and sounds and fragrance – the love of it all without making a thing out of it!
Are we here? -
Nevertheless, the mind will be stubbornly attached to this current mode of knowing because to the mind, it is all there is. It seems to be a destined journey that a sincere seeker has to continue penetrate its own depth, till it completely exhaust itself and meet its own DEATH. The death of the 'I'.
This is exactly the experience I've had.
The giving up and full understanding of the poverty of the entire thinking and analytical mechanism will allow the mind to rest itself upon nothing. -
ImpermanenceÂ…Originally posted by JonLS:This is exactly the experience I've had.
Thoughts, feelings and perceptions come and go; they are not ‘me’; they are transient in nature. Isn’t it clear that if I am aware of these passing thoughts, feelings and perceptions, then it proves some entity is immutable and unchanging? This is a logical conclusion rather than experiential truth. The formless reality seems real and unchanging because of propensities (conditioning) and the power to recall a previous experience and the experience of ‘impersonality’ may not be able to bring sufficient clarity to the ‘impermanent and dynamic’ aspect of isness presence. The bliss and peace experienced here, is still the bliss of formlessness.
There is also another experience, this experience does not discard or disown the transients -- forms, thoughts, feelings and perceptions. It is the experience that thought thinks and sound hears. Thought knows not because there is a separate knower but because it is that which is known. It knows because it's it. It gives rise to the insight that isness never exists in an undifferentiated state but as transient manifestation; each moment of manifestation is an entirely new reality, complete in its own. This brings about the insight of non-duality but the experience of ‘impersonality need not necessarily arise.
My experience is fusing and stabilizing these 2 experiences are necessary to help further dissolve the ‘I’. With the dropping of the 'I' , experience whole-heartedly and dropped the experience immediately; then nothing will imobilize the flow.
PS: By the way, any idea what give rise to the sense of impersonality?