Enlightenment

Blessings,

Starting this New Gregorian Year I am doing a series of meditations on Enlightenment ? that mysteriously simple subject/state/experience/process/? My hope is to gain some insight that will help me towards Awakening. I’m a householder wanting to wake up ? whatever that means:}

For the next week or so I will post one of my poems from my nightly meditations. I will expound on the poem in my Sacred Yoga Forum. Here is my first poem.


There’s a lot of hang ups:

How it should be?
What conditions are right?
What needs to be done?
What to let go of ? what to think/feel/etc?
When is the right time?
Where will it happen?
Why?

There’s just the Here and Now -
it really is that simple

Day Two.

At first, I considered meditating on Enlightenment to be silly. It’s not as if I expect to be Enlightened after this 7+ day meditation: I just yearn for it ? whatever “it” means. So, what better way to get to know something than to think about it, study it, contemplate and meditate upon it, infuse ourselves as fully into it as possible. So here I am doing that, and here is one of the insights that arose in last night’s meditation. I expound on this pithy poem in my Sacred Yoga Blog.


Everything touched,
be it with body or mind,
has the seed of Samadhi within it:

How could anything be boring?

[B]Day Three[/B]

Every time I think i know what to expect, a whole new perspective arrives. I learned years ago to enter my Yoga rituals with openness. I use to be rigid, whatever my chosen meditation topic was, I would never veer from it. Then one day it all changed. I came into ritual with my intention, but something in my life was so overwhelming, that it took over my ritual. Since then, I go into a meditation ritual with an intention to focus on a specific topic, but always beginning the meditation with openness, allowing whatever to come, to come.

This series of meditations on Enlightenment has been open-ended. I research as much as possible and then sit down, smoke some Herb, and listen. While I have many preconceived notions of what Enlightenment is, more times than not, I find myself in unknown territory.

I expound on the poem in my Sacred Yoga Forum


There’s a tendency to think of Enlightenment from the mind’s perspective,
rarely giving thought to the Earth’s perspective.

How the feet tread lightly
leaving no sickness,
only fertility and life.

How the animals come out of hiding
feeling no threat within the Garden:

No Separation.

[B]Day Four
[/B]
Last night’s meditation focused on the Buddhist’s concept of the [I]Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination/Causation[/I]. In this particular poem craving was the main focus: what is it, when does it stop, and what is its relationship to Enlightenment? I expound on the poem in my Sacred Yoga Forum.


Craving is like
grasping for the next potato chip
even before
we’ve finished the current one.

Being full is when
we’ve stopped reaching -
stopped consuming.

That’s what we do 2 B Full-filled as well

[B]Day Five[/B]

Even though I have no clue what Enlightenment is, there is just something about me that keeps me from it:) Last night was all about confronting some of the things that keep me from fully opening and dedicating myself to Awakening ? whatever that means. I expound on this pithy poem in my Sacred Yoga Blog


You say,

“I don’t deserve it.”

It’s not a deserving issue -

there’s just some things the “i” cannot see.

To deserve something

is to become it.

Day Six

Last night’s meditation focused on the Tao Te Ching. I had full intention to read through the whole text, extracting the quintessential practices necessary to be in the Dao.

I smoked some Herb, set the intentions, lit a candle and incense, and open the text. An hour passed and i had finally read the second chapter. Two hours after that i woke up from my nap. There was no way i was going to “just” read through the text. The first chapter alone should be at least a week’s worth of meditations.

Anyhow, below this line is everything i gained from last night’s meditation.



and that is actually more than i should say:)

Day Seven

Well, this was my planned end for this meditation series. I still have a few days of contemplating and researching this topic before getting back to my pranayamic studies. I want to thank everyone for giving me the chance to share and reflect. It has truly helped me with my focus and given me encouragement and energy. Last night was about finding my way - this is what came:


Honest Inquiry
Genuine Intention
Clear Seeing
Cultivating
Dissolving or Extending Self
Witnessing and Enjoying
Letting Go and Sharing/Illuminating

Process:

Take the Time
Create the Space
Invite the Energy -
for it Matters

These are the building blocks
4 Consciousness
2 Experience
1’ness


Here’s another poem from my series of meditations on Enlightenment. In particular, this one emphasizes the importance of processing through our issues, the experiences we have, and the practices we work with. In the Lam Rim traditions one important facet of practice is to recall/recollect the energy, insights, and experiences of our meditations and rituals. By doing this we, in a very real way, condition ourselves to have these experiences more and more in our daily lives. Those peak moments, while not as intense, do arise in my experience when we consciously invite them into our lives. We only need to give time for it, open the space, invite the energy, and experience matters as they are right here and now.

Harder said than done. But that is the point of recollecting. We are literally trying to re-invite the energy into the daily grind of our lives. Doesn’t that sound nice?

I personally like the idea of the mundane blah moments of life to sparkle and shine. The idea of finding tranquility and insight even in those moments of pain and loss sounds much better than wallowing and suffering through 'em. Experiencing the depth and connection in life is a lot more appealing than walking around lost and separate.

Anyhow, enough of my preaching. Just thought I would share a cool little poem…

Be Blessed Everyone
Suba

I have been compiling my pithy poems and sayings from my 8 day meditation on Enlightenment, and after organizing them into groups, i found myself with many more questions.

For the next five days i will be talking about some of those questions. I would be grateful for any thoughts regarding these questions as i genuinely do seek Enlightenment and any help or different perspective you can offer is appreciated.

One question i had was what leads us towards searching?

What stone,
What pebble
Stubbed our toe
Shifting,
But for a second -
The direction we go?

I look back at my life and see many different moments that could have led down a completely different road than the one i am on. While there were many defining moments in my life, one that stands out is when i was locked up in Ventura Schools Youth Authority.

During this time of incarceration i had two cellmates that not only directed me towards the magical wonders of life, but also pointed me to the road which brought me here.

Leading up to this i consumed an unimaginable amount of drugs, LSD, and anything else that would shift my thinking, creating the mental and emotional conditions for my cellmates to impact me.

As i look back into my history i remember the peak moments, not the factors leading up to them. It’s those factors we seek to remember in order to invite more peak moments into our lives ? moments of clarity, great joy, and understanding. We have all had those moments of complete awareness, a taste of oneness, we just need to recall them, see into their essence, and then invite them to arise as often as possible ? continuously even:)

That would be awesome!

What things do you feel trigger our search for Enlightenment?

My second meditation focused on the obstacles we face. Obstacles can be anything from the very mundane to the highest spiritual aspirations. One of my many obstacles is waiting:

waiting to reach a goal
to finish a book
find the right person
the right moment
get the best tools
the best practices ? right practice
and so on…

The right moment being the most insidious. Don’t get me wrong, i practice a lot. Even on the worst day i still study an hour or two and meditate at least once. It’s not practice necessarily, but this weird underlining resistance towards fully committing myself because i am waiting for the right conditions/moment to arise.

It use to be an undisturbed three year stretch to study and solidify my work. Then it was just one year. Now I just want enough stability and security so that i can practice without anxiety of financial troubles. To have some consistency.

Another aspect of waiting is to be ready. I am just not ready to wake up. I am waiting to be ready. Is that weird? I am not waiting to wake up, i am waiting to be ready to wake up.

That is a strange aspect of my personality. Like telling children they have five minutes left to play, i prepare myself for change by setting in my mind that change is coming. I like the idea that on December 18th, 2015 I will Wake Up! That would be cool. I remember the first time i heard someone say, “My baby will be born on this day.”

“What do you mean” i asked, “is that around the time the baby is likely to be born?”

“No” they respond, “I am having a cesarean. My baby will be born at 11:34 AM.”

Anyhow, recognizing that i am waiting has helped me to let go and be open to what is. The underlining resistance, while not gone, has definitely soften.

Seeing the dream as a dream nothing is left to be done.

This gentleman fancies this board as his own personal diary, no doubt.

Blessings,

Not a diary, but a means to share my experiences with others in the hopes that it will inspire others to share in return.

And of course, there is a desire for constructive, insightful, deep dialog that helps all involved grow and become more awake.

As for seeing life as a dream. Sounds good, but it doesn’t do it for me. I have found investigating the “I” as a more fruitful process for me. Shedding the layers so that more light can shine through.

I am interested though if you actually work with this practice throughout your day. Do you, while in the moment of anger tell yourself life is a dream? Or when you stub your toe, having an organism, eating, brushing your teeth, etc?

Do you find this practice inspires you to be more compassionate, and if so, how? What about being connected, patient, happier, and so forth? I imagine that it could, as when we gain a deeper and more encompassing perspective we might be inclined to express these qualities. Have you found it to be so? Please share an experience or two?

I can also imagine this practice would make us less involved with reality, less compassion, more disconnected, as everything is a dream, nothing really matters anyways ? it’s not real. We might as well enjoy ourselves, take what we want, do what we want, and so forth.

Setting aside karma for a moment, we can see the world as a dream and be the most hideous person in the world. I cannot see how just seeing the world as a dream would inspire us to be loving, caring, enlightened people, for we are no longer bound to the world because we see it for what it is: an illusion.

I think that is why Buddha taught us to balance compassion and wisdom practices. In order for balance, a state i believe to be connected with Enlightenment, there needs to be more than just clear seeing. Reason without compassion can be a very dangerous thing.

Blessings Be

I have had lucid dreams in the past, those experiences of knowing that i am dreaming and being able to control the dream to some degree. This experience is very similar to that of being fully present within the awake state.

One thing we can do to help us wake up in the dream is to condition ourselves to pay attention to our hands or some other object in the dream and try to focus and stabilize it. Another thing i have worked with over the years is just asking myself throughout the day: “is this a dream?” Through consistent practice this simple question has a way of popping up in the dream itself. When that happens i become aware of being in a dream and so become lucid.

In the same way, i have from time to time worked with the practice of just stopping whatever i am doing for a moment and just being fully present with what is. Not connecting with the thoughts, emotions, feelings, or anything else: just witnessing. Being fully infused within the moment so as to lose the sense of self. A powerful state, i must admit, but a very hard one to retain. In that sense, it is very much like remaining lucid throughout a dream.

Perhaps you are so close to what you are seeking that any effort to obtain it simply drives a wedge of separation.

Blessings Ray_Killen,

The idea definiely appeals to my desire. If i am near or far, i really cannot say. To be truthful though, most of the time it feels far away. One thing i have learned is not to stress or worry about it.

It reminds me of a Buddha story, where the Buddha was walking down a Path when he came upon a great yogi who had forgone everything of the world and who has committed the most intense tapas. When the yogi asked the Buddha how long it will be until he reaches Enlightenment, he was told, “Three more lives.” The very thought of having to do this again for three more lives wrecked him, so he gave up.

Unaffected, the Buddha continued down the Path when he came to a Bhakti yogi celebrating life and enjoying herself. The Bhakti yogi almost didn’t see the Buddha, but once she did she asked, “Buddha, when will i fully awake?” The Buddha pointed to a large tree and said, “As many leaves on that tree will be the number of lives you will have to live before you awake.”

The Bhakti yogi looked up at this vast tree with thousands of leaves and smile. “That’s all” she laughed. In that moment, she awoke.

Some Signs of Enlightenment

Knowing
Flowing
Growing

There’s a sense of knowing
themselves
others
reality

There’s a sense of flowing
seamless movement
still
powerful
eternal
empty, yet whole

There’s a sense of growing
for everything around them
breathes
expands
comes into focuss
widens
deepens
rises
opens…


This comes from a group of poems/sayings investigating the different signs, characteristics, traits, and qualities of an Enlightened person.

I hear and read time and time again that there are no qualifiers for Enlightenment, that we cannot say what it is, or for that matter, even ascribe qualities and states to it because to do so only takes us away from it.

At the same time, there does seem to be a lot of finger pointing. It is not this or that. It can’t be spoken of, and yet, why do so many great teachers give thought and words to it. Why are there so many similarities between their stories, experiences, and embodied qualities.

I do not pretend to know what Enlightenment is, nor do pretend to know what giving birth is like, being a man and all, but i am trying to understand, to open myself to these many qualities, that if not a manifestation of Enlightenment proper, they at least invite more peace, understanding, wisdom, joy and other such things into my life: and i do want these blessed things. If the desire for these things shows me to be a fool, that is okay with me. At the very least i know what i truly want…

I write in notebooks,
all my thoughts
understandings
problems
excuses
successes and failures
et cetera?

I had a thought
an idea ?
insight into the nature of being.

“I need to record this,” crosses the mind’s screen of consciousness.

Looking for a pen ?
none to be seen.

"I gotta capture this."
I get up,
stumble to the kitchen,
and get 1.

[U]Going[/U] back to capture the moment,
much like a photographer, only,
so very much more.

On the journey back
my little girl needs her hair combed.

I get the comb,
call her over.
We brush
talk
share
and open to each-other:

The Moment is Won/One.

I get back
sit down
open the book ?
and there B a Pen/Pin.

Pulling it out,
the moment/tapestry unravels.

I Laugh


This is a spontaneous poem arising from/within the moment…

Blessings Everyone,

I’m unplugging from social media for a while. Before going I wanted to thank everyone in this forum for the opportunity I’ve had to share, learn, grow, and get to know some of you. My life has been chaotic lately, so I have decided to go inside myself for a while to find some ground. If you’re interested in what I’m working on, please feel free to visit my diary page on my website. You can get there via my profile page or signature below.

Thanks again.

May wealth, health, happiness, longevity, and wisdom arise within your lives.

Be Blessed,
suba