Why it is Called Enlightenment

In the analects of ancient Zen we find recounted the satori of a young monk. Discouraged by lack of progress in his pursuit of Enlightenment he resolved to repair to a secluded mountain hut and there pursue his illusive quarry. In tidying up around his hut a rock tossed off to the side struck a stalk of bamboo and suddenly all became clear to our young monk. 

This move to Enlightenment did not happen in a vacuum. This young man was steeped in in the silence of meditation and saturated with the spirit of inquiry resulting from the koan exercise. He recognized in the sound of the struck bamboo a mirror to the receptive emptiness of Awareness: the true Self behind the noise of mind. He saw his "true face before born of his parents" and awoke to the the fact that his Awareness was "the sound of one hand clapping"

The receptive stillness of the eardrum is the source of sound, and a cacophony of noise breeds incoherence. Just so the effects of consciousness upon that Awareness which is the signal characteristic of all life. Throw some thought into the mix and we find a humanity hypnotized by the noise of existence and therefor living in darkness.

And that's why it's called Enlightenment.

Mass Hypnosis and the Disciplines of Zen Buddhism

"When the people of the world look apon these flowers they see them as if in a dream" these words were spoken to the Emperor of Japan by the national teacher many centuries ago. 

The hold of consciousness over Awareness amounts to a form of hypnosis, and the disciplines of Zen Buddhism are intended to break this tyrannical spell, thus bringing to flower in the garden of animal proliferation the Pristine Awareness which is the essence of all life. 

The emergence of the formal pursuit of Enlightenment resulting from the efforts of the historical Buddha is a landmark event in life on Earth. 

The hypnotic trance which is the normal state of consciousness has been infused with destructive capabilities unimagined by the hostile fascinations of past generations. Hypnosis has once again past into hysteria, but this time we are courting a slap in the face from which the world as we know it may not recover.

Only Enlightenment can save the world.

Cognitive Readiness and the Mysteries of ZEN

 

The compost pile of scientific inquiry has made inevitable the flowering of global cognitive readiness. There are so many nexus, so many data points of mutually supporting facts, that connecting the dots to produce a startlingly clear realization of the true nature of consciousness and its emergence from Pristine Awareness is in many individuals a synaptic inevitably.

The esoteric realities uncovered by centuries of religious geniuses no longer require brilliant exercises of intuitive discipline, and most any reasonably intelligent person can connect the dots that circumscribe the true nature of their existence. 

So humanity has entered the phase of cognitive readiness, and perhaps it's not too late for the mysteries of Zen to save the world.

Here's to those great historic individuals who kept the flame alive.

The Repository and the Fact of Life

 

The mind is an interface, and the senses of the body act as a system of antennae. Exactly like a satellite TV antenna, the eye is sensitive to specific wavelengths of electromagnetic energy, and the eye is not sensitive to the barrage of other wave forms. Hearing, seeing, feeling, etc. are all forms of touching, and what is touch but the outside world acting upon the antenna which is the nervous system.

The nervous system mechanically transmits this "information" to the brain where Awareness assembles these mechanical stimuli into representations. The outside world is really there, and it is really as it appears to be. There's just a lot more of it than we need to access in order to get by.

Meditation is the exercise by which we awaken Pristine Awareness: the repository and the fact of life.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

The Womb of the Self

 

The receptive emptiness of Awareness

is the womb of the Self

Descartes' Conundrom

 

Rene Descartes' (died 1560) famous dictum "I think, therefor I am" was contrived to answer the question: might there be an incontrovertible proof of the existence of a reality: any reality. Reversed upon itself the statement will render "I am, therefor I think". And what might the churning maelstrom of thought fix upon.

Creatures with no nervous systems at all exhibit incontrovertible evidence of awareness, yet lost in thought we ask if other creatures are "conscious".

The eye can not see its self.

Awareness can see only its self. And as the Self is formed by touching the Universe, the Universe is known.

Self Inquiry

 

It has been said "There is no insight. There is only out-sight": be that as it may.

Insight? or Out-sigtht? It matters hugely when we observe the phenomenon which we might call the "Self", whether we are on the outside looking in, or if we are on the inside looking out.

If Awareness is identified with, and believes its "Self" to be the animal and the personality: we will call this "The Outside Looking In." If Awareness is the seat of the identity then the "Self" perceives the workings of its animal creature-ness, and the corresponding personality, the same way one might look at the workings and character of an automobile. 

This is called the "Inside Looking Out."

Volition

 

If we are prepared to be frank about how we spend our time here on Earth, then it is only fair to question how much of that time is spent in the exercise of volition. With regard to the time spent satisfying our needs as animals: could that really be considered voluntary? And then if we consider the time we spend satisfying the circumstances necessary to the satisfactions of those needs, can that really be considered voluntary? Perhaps as swimming is voluntary with regard to drowning.

Modern political science speaks of "Labor" and "FIRE" as sectors of commerce. But what is described as "Labor" is actually the marketing of volition. And all executive functions are no less exercises in volition. And all of these fall under the auspices of sink or swim.

There exists an infinite variety of access to the goods and services produced by the necessary subordination of volition to nature, and on that sliding scale all creatures will find their place.

So the will finds its volition, will-he or nihil-he, bending in servitude to nature.

In the Enlightened Being nature has awakened, and that is the dawn of true volition.

Chop wood, carry water.

The Body

 

The body is an apparatus. 

Be it whale or butterfly, male or female, Awareness has no color.....no flavor, but experiences its existence and naturally forms an identity through the limits and the opportunities found in form.

This is why it is said that for the Enlightened being the body is filled with light.

The Problem With Systems

 

The problem with systems is that they usually work through and attempt to restructure the personality. While this can result in beneficial posturing it does nothing, and in fact can make it all but impossible, to effect the change of being known as Enlightenment.

"If in your travels you meet the Buddha, slay him." (Lin-chi died 866)

Transition

 

The transition from a mind captured by consciousness to a mind informed by Awareness is as remarkable as that of a caterpillar to a butterfly.

Life Forms

 

Awareness is the essence of life - independent of form.

ZEN

Zen has achieved it's purpose when we have absorbed our illusions and become what we were to begin with.