Ordinary Mind: Session 7

In the final session of the Ordinary Mind Meditation Course, we get down to the question of Enlightenment. We explore the different ideas that exist about it, and look at different aspects of Enlightenment and awakening experiences. We practice a version of Silent Illumination, a technique through which we provide the space for an insight into the nature of Mind to take place.

Transcript

C wrought by the Welcome to the Ordinary Mind Meditation podcast,

Where we explore the principles of Buddhist meditation both in theory and in practice.

Now that we have a general overview of emptiness and compassion,

We have both wings so that we can fly to the shore of so-called enlightenment.

If you haven't checked out the previous episodes dealing with these subjects,

This is a good time to go back and listen to sessions 3 and 6.

This current session will mark the end of our overview series.

We will be going into much more detail about single topics as opposed to the very broad strokes with which we have presented the subjects thus far.

And so this time we ask the big question.

What is enlightenment?

A short disclaimer.

I do not claim any degree of enlightenment,

And all the maps and pointers that I provide here are simply the understanding I have based on spending time with people who I understand to encompass the qualities which are indicative of enlightenment.

Although this is a rather contentious topic,

And on a theoretical level some differences exist between the presentations of enlightenment in different schools,

Let us first look at the common ground.

The first thing to understand is that the Buddhist concept of awakening does not entail becoming something we are not.

The logic of this is simple.

If you see a tomato plant,

It must have come from a tomato seed.

If you see an enlightened person,

They must have come from a seed of enlightenment.

In fact,

The name it is given in Sanskrit is the exact opposite of seed as it is called the womb of the Buddha,

Or the womb of suchness.

This is what is commonly translated as Buddha nature,

Tatagata garba.

Even schools that do not explicitly speak of such an enlightened nature do rely on the understanding that the mind is plagued by conditioned habits of ignorance,

Attachment and aversion.

But as you work to transform these negative habits into positive ones,

Awakening is simply the state of being free of these afflictions.

And the work to get there is not some fit of endurance or a punishing labor,

But a long process filled with joy,

Ease,

Restfulness and wakefulness.

Most of the usual incentives of our everyday life push us in the direction of dullness,

Of numbing ourselves,

Of turning away from the mind as it is,

Of reality as it is,

With the pain,

Sickness and death,

The myriad joys and sorrows of life as it is in each moment.

And simplicity is of course highly discouraged,

As consumption is the method of choice for numbing the pain of reality.

So the process of awakening might be one filled with the development of many positive and pleasant qualities,

But the process of waking up entails stopping the autopilot mode of living,

Like a societal zombie of sorts,

And this of course includes much vulnerability and tenderness.

At this point,

It's rather important to say what enlightenment isn't.

It is not a state,

It is not an experience,

And it is not an attitude or a type of personality.

Enlightened beings can be as diverse in personality as any other people.

In fact,

If someone is indeed enlightened,

You probably wouldn't be able to tell if you walked past them in the street.

And if you could,

That normally means they aren't it at all.

Enlightenment can also be said to be the manifestation of spontaneous wisdom and compassion,

A sort of complete unconditional love coupled with the ability to perfectly discern reality exactly as it is without projecting any habitual delusions that are typical of the mask of personality that we carry with us day to day.

In the view of many,

There is a distinction to be made between an awakening experience and complete enlightenment,

Which traditionally means that one becomes completely freed from cyclical existence and stops being tossed about in the world of conditioned living upon one's physical extinguishment.

What all this actually means is left to be discovered,

But is of very little importance to the important point of living an awakened life right now.

The classical definition of an awakening experience would be to say that one has an insight into the nature of reality,

That is the insight into not-self,

Interconnectedness,

Impermanence and the basic unsatisfactoriness of conditioned life.

Such an insight has very little to do with an intellectual grasp of the subject.

It is more like having walked all your life with a pair of foggy glasses and then suddenly taking them off.

In the same way,

When we first experience such an awake moment,

It's quite scary to feel the enormity of all of life,

To come face to face with the lack of control and vastness of reality.

This can all be rather overwhelming.

Our habitual tendencies or so-called ego will be quick to want to react against this experience,

Because ego is afraid of silence.

We can very easily find ourselves jumping back into delighting in our mental activities as we're scared of the vastness of this very moment,

Pristine,

Without adding or taking anything away.

The ego pumps out distraction after distraction to divert us from this fundamental clarity,

An openness of experience.

In the aftermath of such an experience,

One might look back and find there were no lights and fireworks and you still have to wash the dishes and do the laundry.

But now,

Perhaps there is no more distance between me,

Here on one side,

And the experience there on the other.

As the Zen masters say,

Not even a hair's width of separation.

It's all just a mental trick of language.

We say things like,

In the mind,

And the mind makes this and that.

But there is no object which we can call mind.

This full totality of experience,

All of it,

Just as it is,

Is the mind.

It is all just mind,

And frankly,

Quite an ordinary mind.

This week's practice will be rather different.

You will notice that there is no talking on my part as you meditate.

I will give some instructions right now,

And then you will spend the next ten minutes doing the practice.

When the practice is holding the intellect,

In the brain,

There is a huge gap between me over here,

And the meditation over there,

As if those are two things.

When we open the heart and fully rest in experiencing,

There is no me doing a meditation.

We just really become the meditation.

So for the next ten minutes,

I'd like you to just hang out,

Experiencing everything as it is.

Whenever the attention gets pulled into something or other,

You simply recognize it,

Relax any tension in your head,

Smile,

And zoom out.

Zoom out here means you include the specific distraction also into the full field of experience.

Recognize,

Relax,

Smile,

And zoom out.

One thing about this smile.

Smiling is not done with your face.

It is done with your mind.

So really bring to mind the attitude of a genuine smile.

So once again,

The instruction today is to rest in all of experience,

All the physical and mental sensations,

And then when the attention gets pulled into some detail,

You recognize,

Relax,

Smile,

And zoom out.

Repeat this as often as necessary.

Start by doing some healing breaths,

Breathing in for five seconds,

Holding for five seconds,

And breathing out for five seconds.

After you've done this,

Anywhere from three to five times,

Simply let go of everything and rest in experience.

Take a deep breath.

Here we go.

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Amitofu.

Thank you.

Reviews

I've enjoyed the clear instruction and meditation of this whole series. Hope there will be more. Thank you.

i really enjoyed this 7 part class and have begun listening to your older podcasts. will you be recording any new content?

Loved this series, easy to comprehend & a good balance of teachings and meditation. Thank you🙏

Thank you for this series. I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to your explanations of Buddhism. I found your explanation helpful and I look forward to your future podcasts.

Loved the water very peaceful felt I was in nature