Drops of enlightenment

Published on December 19, 2004 By dharmagrl In Philosophy

When I started out on this Dharma (path, way) I was under the impression that, much like Siddartha himself, I would be meditating one day and all of a sudden, with a flash of light and trumpets sounding, enlightenment would come upon me and I would be a Buddha.

The further along this Dharma I get, the more I see that's not the way it happens.

Enlightenment, or wisdom, comes in small doses. Little drops of it fall steadily into your life. (Whether you absorb them and understand them or not is a different matter). Small incidents, little happenings, give all of us the chance to become enlightened. Occasionally we have something big happen, sometimes we have an epiphany in which things suddenly become clear...sometimes we see that what we thought was a tree trunk was actually an elephant's leg....but more often, wisdom happens upon us in very small doses.

I think that seeing this, and understanding that this is the way things are, is in itself a drop of enlightenment.

Now that I see that this is the way things are, I am content. I no longer meditate expecting a bolt of understanding to hit me. Now I meditate just to meditate. There is not ulterior motive, no hidden meaning to my sitting zazen.

I sit, just to sit.

And I hope that I can apply that mindfulness to every aspect of my life.

Comments (Page 1)

DylanZimmerman

on Dec 19, 2004

Sounds fascinating Dharma...my mom meditates and chants and things , I tried it myself but I'm too easily distracted. Seems the less I tried to think, the more thoughts I had!

Good luck!

Dyl xx

dharmagrl

on Dec 19, 2004

Seems the less I tried to think, the more thoughts I had!

Zen teachers describe the beginner's mind as a 'chattering monkey'...when you try not to think, the chattering monkey takes over and you think even more.

When I sit and the chattering monkey takes over, I simply acknowledge that I'm thinking and let it go, and concentrate on following my breath....eventually things quiet down. The key is to not get frustrated with yourself and think that you're not meditating because you're thinking....you are meditating.

SSG Geezer

on Dec 19, 2004

Taming the monkey mind is so hard it is like work! But if you concentrate on it you make it worse! Sit to sit. Yeah that's the ticket.

dharmagrl

on Dec 19, 2004

But if you concentrate on it you make it worse!

Exactly. You have to just acknowledge that you're thinking about something and, like I said, let it go. It's a question of first paying minimal attention, then ignoring it.

My monkey mind gets the better of me sometimes. But, I know seasoned zazen siters who have the same problem.

Danny Bassette

on Dec 19, 2004

Sounds like many things in life, it is the journey that is important, not so much the end result. Enjoy your sitting

BlueDev

on Dec 19, 2004

Enlightenment, or wisdom, comes in small doses.

Very true. I firmly believe that. From a book of scripture I believe in:

"thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 28:30)

We have to work a little more every day, learn a little more, strive a little more.

dharmagrl

on Dec 19, 2004

I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little

I like that. It's very true.

Now, would you say that we have to strive to be wise? That wisdom is something that has to be worked at? Or is it that we should try to look for the lesson, the wisdom in the everyday mundane things that happen to us? That we should look at every circumstance with the idea that we can learn something from it?

BlueDev

on Dec 19, 2004

I think that, following the discussion we have been having, striving to be "wise" is too far reaching. And while the difference may be semantic, I suppose I like to think I strive for wisdom, rather than striving to be wise. It seems more attainable, as I feel I have discovered bits of wisdom, but would ne'er deign to call myself wise.

Hopefully, the sum of our efforts to learn from every experience will be that we do attain a certain level of wisdom. But as a being with a finite mind, I find I need to do the latter, find the wisdom to be found in every day, taking it again, line upon line.

Great discussion BTW dharma.

dharmagrl

on Dec 19, 2004

suppose I like to think I strive for wisdom, rather than striving to be wise.

Me too. I'm not enlightened by any means....and even if other people decided that I were, I don't think that I would consider myself to be. There's too much stuff that I have yet to experience and learn.

So, I'll just look for the enlightenment in life's humdrum and common-or-garden happenings. I'll accept whatever may come from those, learn from it, and be thankful for the lesson.

EmperorofIceCream

on Dec 19, 2004

Zen teachers describe the beginner's mind as a 'chattering monkey'...when you try not to think, the chattering monkey takes over and you think even more.
When I sit and the chattering monkey takes over, I simply acknowledge that I'm thinking and let it go, and concentrate on following my breath....

You might try concentrating on the ambient sounds in your environment in addition to/as an alternative to concentrating on breath. This works best in a relatively QUIET environment...heh, but you'd be surpised to hear what you can actually hear when just sitting quietly and listening.

(btw, this post by LW...im only on for a moment and too lazy to sign Simon out.)

Phoenixboi

on Dec 19, 2004

Hey Dharma..great article!

It reminds me of discussions I had ages ago with a friend who helped me learn alot about the Dharma. Trumpets and herolds of angels for your enligtenment.. yeah i think if it were like that then we would be waiting for a long time. I think that is why the BUddha has a smile on his face. Cause I think that enlightenment is much simpler than that. I think we make it more complicated than what it really is. Sit for the sake of sitting, Eat for the sake of eating.. Be present in the moment and actually live. That is the challenge. Too often we are either living in the past or the future. When are we actually living in the now? Ive found a good book called "the power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle.

Another thing to I have found is that in order to be enlightened you have to know you are. If you think your not then your not. ( Im not really sure how to convey this in writing).

dharmagrl

on Dec 19, 2004

I think that is why the BUddha has a smile on his face. Cause I think that enlightenment is much simpler than that.

I think so too.

Mindfulness is a wonderful thing. Being where you are, doing what you're doing...nothing more, nothing less. It's easy to say, not to easy to do, especially in today's society where we are bombarded from every angle with stimulation and a 'go go go' culture. That's part of the reason I want to go on a retreat...I want to take a break, a real break from all of that.

I just ordered 'After the ecstacy, the laundry' by Jack Kornfield. It's about how we, as Buddhists, can apply our spiritual work and philosophy to our everyday lives. Actually, it's not just for Buddhists, I think that anyone would gain some wisdom from it.

I'm looking forward to reading it....

Shovelheat

on Dec 19, 2004

I've said this quote before: before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. I think that is an important concept to understand. To be enlightened does not solve your problems. To be enlightment you...what's am I trying to say? You will, as Anthony Demello put it so well, "plunge into the heat of battle while keeping your heart at the lotus feet of the Lord".

Good luck in your endeavor...

TaBoo Tenente

on Dec 20, 2004

dharma,

im more interested in buddhism as an idea or a cosmology, rather than a practice. thought i'd make that disclaimer before saying anything else.

in some ways, i find that buddhism takes nearly the opposite path toward truth than any monotheistic religion. monotheism demands some variation of faith, some variation on "Search". "Seek Ye Me and Live" is an example of the journey one might expect from christianity or judaism. one can't expect to find truth, and God doesn't ask this of you. God simply asks that you devote yourself to the journey.

buddhism seems to shy away from the concept of journey, except in the word's cyclical sense. hesse's "Siddhartha" is a brilliant example of this idea. on the one hand, the more siddhartha seeks truth, wisdom, enlightenment, the farther he takes himself away from what he seeks. on the other hand, there was no other path he could have taken. the story describes his first interactions with the river's ferryman, where Siddhartha notes some odd, saintly quality about the simple old man. but his soul is not ready to find other meaning here until later in his life.

sitting for sitting's sake is good, i think. but i also think that there is no reason why sitting is the key. the key seems to be not wanting anything else from any particular activity. when you write, that is the goal itself, to write; not to complete an article or an essay. when you cook, the goal cannot be to eat. cooking itself is the goal. likewise, enlightenment cannot be found by seeking or by meditating. seeking must only have the goal of seeking, not finding. meditating has the sole purpose of meditating.

i do not think there is any wisdom to be found in enlightenment. in fact, i think it is probably the opposite. two things i love about hesse's story are:

first, that hesse stresses the fact that the buddha is not teaching TRUTH. he teaches a path to overcome samsara, the ocean of sadness, of life; the second thing that means a lot to me is place this story ends. the story does not end with enlightenment. it ends exactly where it begins. two old friends are standing together. the first (siddhartha) has always believed he understood that teaching and paths and meditations mean nothing by themselves--though he has not found any concrete belief to fill this void. the second (govinda) continues to believe that his friend contains everything thing he ever loved, "everything that had ever been of value and holy in his life."

both forgot these beliefs and journeyed in spite of them, and both find themselves exactly where they started.

TBT

TaBoo Tenente

on Dec 20, 2004

one other thought:

it serves no purpose to try to quell the "monkey mind". every act of restriction is another step farther away from inner quiet. instead, why not accept and identify each though, understand from which aspect of samsara the thought stems, and then allow the thought to peacefully depart? my belief is that inner peace develops not from eliminating the process of thinking from the mind, but from allowing each thought to pass across your consciousness without struggle or judgment. by not forcing your consciousness to respond or attempt to isolate each thought, you will create less static in your head. when the static goes away, you will realize that there are spaces between each thought. i believe buddhist enlightenment simply means the ability to live in this quiet of in between, and to accept without judgment or attachment the moments of your your life that occupy thoughts. we are part of samsara, and it boots nothing to fight this. instead, it is best to accept without judgment. this creates the in between spaces, which creates peace.

TBT

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