|
Message |
| Posted By: |
Fellow Monk |
| Response to: |
What does enlightened mean?,
Posted by: Deva's Advocate |
| Date: |
February 4, 2000 |
| Subject: |
From the "Daphne" thread but relevant here |
I honestly do not believe that there is any walk that an enlightened being can be expected to walk. This is based on things I have heard from teachers I respect, my personal experience with them, the rare book written by someone experiencing enlightenment, and my own fleeting but fascinating personal experiences with higher states of consciousness.
To me, there is one and only one criterion for enlightenment -- the ability to directly experience the transcendental, eternal, non-changing aspect of life 24/7, *while* other ever-changing experiences are going on. The former does not necessarily overshadow the latter; sometimes the light wins, sometimes the Maya wins. That's really how I see things, and I don't really believe that's cynical, just non-judgemental.
I defy anyone to come up with a set of behaviors that someone enlightened "should not or could not do," without someone else being able to come up with an example of a supposedly enlightened being in the past doing just that. I really believe that it's a trap to base one's judgement of who is enlightened and who is not on behavior.
In my experience, you can meet a supposedly enlightened teacher who is benevolent, even-tempered, in control of his or her "inner demons," and everything spiritual literature tells us they should be. The next day, you can meet one who is a roaring asshole. But does the assholiness mean that they aren't enlightened? Not to me. In my opinion, all that has happened is that you ran into two people with two very different residual personalities.
One of the bases of my conclusion here is that I really don't believe that personality is affected by enlightenment. Everyone who realizes it is pretty much who they were before they realized enlightenment, but with the addition of a 24/7 direct connection to the infinite. I also don't believe that enlightenment, once realized, need be permanent. One can flip in and out of that 24/7 connection to light for years before it becomes firmly established.
The ONLY level on which I might presume to judge another human being's state of consciousness is on the level of meditation. If I meditate with them and can feel neither them nor me, only unbounded, undifferentiated light with no trace of either personality, then I might suspect that enlightenment has something to do with it all. I would never assume that either of the above characters' behavior had anything whatsoever to do with their enlightenment.
While I respect the experiences and approach of those who have higher expectations of the enlightened than I have, I don't think the approach works for me. Higher expectations are still expectations, and according to the original Buddha, therein lies sorrow. These days, I am trying to go for non-expectation as much as I can, in my personal relationships and my spiritual ones. As a writer I love once said, "Though chains be of gold they are chains all the same." |
The messages posted hear are those of the specific individual and may not represent the policies of Lila Publishing, the ideas of any other member of this bulletin board community or the teachings of Dr. Frederick Lenz. All copyrights are maintained by respective contributors and may not be reused without permission. By posting on this board you grant Lila Publishing a non-exclusive royalty free license under your copyright to use, store, display and reproduce your messages in whole or in part. All site assets, including these Perl scripts copyright © 1999-2002 Lila Publishing. These Perl scripts may not be directly linked to.
|
Communication Center - Version 3.50
© 1999-2002 Lila Publishing
|
