“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?” – Dogen (13th century Founder of Soto Zen)
20th century consciousness teacher Eckhart Tolle tells us “The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some superhuman accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it that way, but it is simply your natural state of felt oneness with Being.” When Tolle or another consciousness teacher uses the word Being with the “b” capitalized they are attempting to point to the state of the ultimate origin and nature of all things, which, of course, includes human beings. Yet, our modern mind breaks everything into hierarchies of value – amongst people, and then in Nature, all broken up into their thingness and value. Yet, here we are, right in the absolute nature of all things, except that the human mind causes us to stray from this absolute off into virtual realities, fantasies ABOUT our ideas ABOUT the nature of things. People are full of ideas, and they contradict one another all over the place. No wonder we are confused; no wonder life keeps being difficult and illusive, leaving us constantly, to some degree, dissatisfied. Buddhism calls this dukkha, a kind of unnatural suffering unique in Nature to humans. Enlightenment within these Eastern systems is the cure, it’s, as the Buddhists refer to it, “awakening” into our simple, yet infinitely mysterious and wondrous, natural existence here-and-now.
Enlightenment is Truth – again with the capitalization – and we would be right to ask, “truth according to whom?” Well, it is truth as the Universe manifests it. And you would be right to question whether we can know what that is absolutely. No, we cannot, but what Zen tells us is that we can know the truth of this immediate moment as it is arising and passing, and we can, when we become exquisitely, deeply present, realize the truth that is our infinite origin. Buddhism insists that everything we need, and insight into The Absolute, is already within us, for we are an expression of that Absolute. Enlightenment is enlightening. Enlightenment is bringing the light of applied open awareness into this moment unfolding. It is realizing we ARE the awareness within which this moment unfolds and all within it are expressions of and channels for the Universe expressing itself as this moment in awareness. Here we are. There is no absolute separation into this and that, into me and you, into the “ten thousand things,” as ancient Eastern philosophies call this fragmentation of Life into objects we call this and that. We are all the one This. It is the light of consciousness channeled into manifestation through us.
The Chinese cousin to Zen, Taoism, names this ultimate truth Tao, or “The Way,” this term being synonymous with Buddhism’s Dharma, teachings into Ultimate Reality. And the principle book describing the philosophy of Tao is titled The Tao Te Ching, written about 2500 years ago, purportedly by the sage Lao Tzu, and it begins, “The Tao that can be named is not the Tao.” So, it contradicts itself right out the gate. Truth is elusive – yet – as Dogen said, it is happening right where we are. How could it not be? Truth is everywhere. Truth is the Universe unfolding in its absoluteness here and now and enlightenment is being present for this unfolding, realizing we ARE the unfolding in connection with all that co-arises and passes with what we experience as “me.” It sounds so complex, yet it is the simplest of all things, for it is who/what we and everything are. We are here to simply live “this.” For a bird or a squirrel, “this” is no task at all, but for a human being, it is the endeavor of a lifetime (lifetimes) should one feel compelled to pursue it.
Enlightenment for a modern human is very difficult because to be enlightened is to be where and when you are where and when you are, to be present in the deepest possible way, no past, no future, “just this,” as the Zen Master says. Our problem is that we moderns are all over the place, time and space and dimension traveling in our minds, filled with judgments about good and bad. Enlightenment is here and now without judgement yet experienced with deep discernment. Judgement is our projecting our ideas about things and situations upon them, and we have so many judgments, cutting up the world into our likes and dislikes, our identifications and our alienations. Discernment is deeply seeing into the nature and rhythm and subtlety of things and situations. “What is this?” asks the student. “This is this,” answers the teacher. How deeply can you see into this? There are no valuations, for it is all the sacred unfolding in ten thousand variations. This is Zen. Seeing deeply is Zen. Seeing deeply that the many are One, that there is only the unfolding, moving inextricably toward deep understanding of inherent perfection in everything is enlightenment.
“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.” “You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.” – Alan Watts (20th century spiritual philosopher)
I understand this may seem all very esoteric, yet it is opening us to realize how enlightenment can function in our day-to-day lives. Amidst all the ugliness and divisiveness, the prejudice and harm done by those caught in what Buddhism calls egoic delusion, amidst the blows to our well-being that life can deliver, small and great, the sicknesses and losses, the disappointments and frustrations, the aggravations and grievances, enlightenment awaits for us to make our path the path of whatever may arise, beautiful or challenging – to be one with our life, with Life.
Enlightenment is the realization that the world is passing phenomenon, what we judge to be good and bad, yet, there is, beneath all the comings and goings, the light of Being, that which does not pass, untouchable and only good. It is our essence, it is the essence of all things, it is the One Essence. To see this, to live this in this moment, is enlightenment, for enlightenment is this moment of absolute reality. When the unshakeable goodness of existence is clear, even in the midst of the confusion and harm done by human ego declaring itself above all else, this is enlightenment. We are here to be awake in as many moments as we are capable of, and if, like a Jesus or a Buddha or a Dalai Lama, or the innumerable saints of human existence, we can string together enough of these moments, to others it appears as an enlightened being, but it is just a human being knowing who they are and living this knowledge the majority of their moments.
20th century Japanese Zen master Takashina Rosen explained, “The real Buddhism… rests in the everyday, in the ordinary, without anything abnormal about it. The ordinary person suffers because they cannot be at rest in ordinariness… From the viewpoint of enlightenment, truth is normal. It is not something special. The willow is green, the flower red, the fire hot, and the wind ever moving… The truth is not outside daily life… but, the unenlightened person has not realized their self. Because they lack self-realization, their ideas are at the mercy of every fluctuating fashion, and they are swayed by every rumor. Their object in life never goes beyond pleasure. But the disciple who earnestly seeks truth steps outside that routine and realizes the self; then the immortal truth arises in what is mortal. This is the real life. Finally they reach the ultimate goal of Zen, to adapt freely to the world… The willow is green and the flower red… When each is at peace in their own part, they can contribute to the glory of life. We call it ordinary life, and it is, but this is also the Truth unchanged throughout the ages… There is no better or worse because there is no inequality. Where there is no inequality, the heart is tranquil and the world radiates the light of peace.”
A human being is a human being, not a race or nationality or political party or sexual orientation or socio/economic class. Animals and plants are beings of another order, yet still beings. The soil and rocks, the waters, the sky, this planet are still other orders of beings. To be enlightened is to see all as the Great Being manifesting in the myriad beings, all deserving of honoring and treatment with care and respect. We, ourselves, are expressions of this Great Beingness, and any diminishment you may have had imposed upon you is a violation of Dharma, of Tao, and is to be disregarded as ignorance, the great defiler and obscurer of the One True Nature, the One True Being. Do not allow this defilement to become how you defile yourself, nor ought you project it onto others. Enlightenment is freedom from ignorance. It is seeing and experiencing how Sacred Life unfolds as you and as all.
You have experienced enlightenment in rare moments of clarity, when for whatever reason, by sublime wonder, or life-shattering event, the shallow story of yourself in time stopped, and there you were, no separation between you and the circumstance. American Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck described enlightenment as when there is no distance between you and your circumstance, when there is no resistance to what is. Enlightenment is a practice – over and over, endeavoring to live an optimal human life. It is here. It is now. We must get our ignorant opinions out of our own way to allow the light of Being which shines through us to become unobscured by all our egoic misperceptions. Awaken! The Universe is expressing itself through us and all around us. See this and you become profoundly real and true in such a moment. Take this lesson and apply it over and over and over until the absolute truth of it is permeating your everyday life. This is the road of enlightenment. Seek the light of Truth.
The 20th century French existential philosopher, Albert Camus, while the shadow of fascism stained his Europe, once wrote, “In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that… In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.” The light of Being and Truth is that invincible summer, clearing away prejudice, fear, and indifference. This is enlightenment. Our society and most of us have a long way to go. Yet, there is comfort in knowing enlightenment is the ultimate direction and destiny for us all. We must do our best to walk it in our everyday life. An individual, a group, a nation that moves toward the light is fulfilling the promise of invincible summer, while those who move against it into divisiveness, greed, prejudice, domination, and chaos move toward the darkness, and suffering is the cost. Each day, every day, seek to move toward the invincible summer, the perfect light beneath all form, and know you are doing your part in the Universe’s, the Dharma’s, God’s, if you will, intent and purpose. Then, no matter who casts the shadow of ignorance, or for how long, you can have faith that “invincible calm” can be yours while living your not so ordinary, ordinary life.