Enlightenment and the Paradox of the One Path

We have all been confronted by religious fundamentalists maintaining that there is only one set of answers (which of course is their belief system). It is an odd phenomenon to witness… the enthusiasm of their sharing. There is an obvious opening up, but it is partial… like they have woken up, but with their eyes closed. They are open but very protective of their philosophy. In fact there is a truth, to this “one way” belief but one can only see it if one does not believe it.

This is a paradox. How is it possible to arrive at the truth if we do not believe? This paradox of “belief” is one that we will all constantly face if we want to make progress on the spiritual path for it is not possible come to new awareness if the mind is filled with what has been believed in the past. We must question the second-hand answers we have been given by others; to be open anew in each present moment, to be “willing to suspend our belief” or as is said in Zen, to have “a beginners mind.”

If we are able to climb the slippery hill of staying open in the uncomfortableness of not knowing, we will eventually find, that on the other side, our experience of life becomes fresh, pristine and new. As we notice the individual character of experience unfettered by the past, life becomes more intriguing and richer.

The interest to know the true nature of Self and Life will arise as a natural search not something to protect us from not having answers. Out of this will come new insights, realizations and knowledge originating not from books, teachers or religious belief but from ourselves, the only source. (After all where did Buddha, Jesus and all the other great spiritual guides find truth?) We’ll find that the fundamentalists were partially right, that there is in fact only one path…the path that each individual is on, the path of each individual opening up to and directly contacting Life… ultimately to realize and experience its true nature.

Russell Scott

Some Fill With Each Good Rain

There are different wells within your heart.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far too deep for that.

In one well
You have just a few precious cups of water,

That “love” is literally something of your self,
It can grow as slow as a diamond
If it is lost.

Your love
Should never be offered to the mouth of a stranger,

Only to someone
Who has the valour and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife

Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you

There are different wells within us
Some fill with each good rain,

Others are far too deep for that.

 

- from "The Gift"  by Hafiz

Life Is Boundless Joy

Ah, life. I can't live without it! You probably feel the same way. What is this stuff called life that we long after? Well, life is not meant to be analyzed, dissected with logic, or torn apart with questions. After all, "By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower" (Rabindrath Tagore, 1861 ~ 1941). Like the beauty of the flower, life needs to be experienced.
 
About 40 years ago I read a poem by the Japanese haiku poet Basho (1644 ~ 1694). It translates to something like this: into the old pond / a frog jumps / the sound of water. I understood the poem intellectually, but the intent of the poet to share his experience with the reader was unsuccessful in my case. I didn't FEEL anything. That is, until recently.
 
You see, I was admiring a lone, pink lotus blossom in the middle of a small pond encircled by lily pads. The following day, I returned to see the lotus blossom once again. But when I arrived, the blossom was closed. I stood at the edge of the pond silently. When suddenly — plop! — there was a splash, the sound of water. Looking down I saw a frog. At that moment I understood the experience that Basho had more than 300 years earlier. It was the surprise and delight of life expressing itself. Life jolted me from my slumber with a splash and said, "Here I am! Stay awake!"
 
How about you? Have you ever walked down a path, oblivious to the beauty that surrounded you? If you are like most people that probably has happened to you. You see, we become so involved in our thoughts, concerns, and plans that life slips by unnoticed. When we are lost in our thoughts, we are lost, not living. People who are bored, unhappy, or angry are also examples of those who are lost; they are among the living dead.
 
However, if we take the time and make an effort, we can reawaken to the joys of life. Perhaps writing a little about its experience may help rekindle it in others. With that hope in mind, I'll begin.
 
What is life? It is the power that created our home, a universe of unfathomable size. This incredible power is surging through you at this very moment. If you listen attentively you may hear its faint voice. It is calling. Listen as it speaks to you:
 
"I want you to become all that you can be. I want you to become all that you were meant to be.
 
"I want you to do those things you would like to do, but are afraid of doing. For it is only by relentlessly smashing through your fears that you will be able to experience me fully. Only then will you know exhilaration. Only then will you exalt me.
 
"Turn your eyes away from yourself and your fears. Focus on me. Feel me. Sense me. Can't you see I am here to support you? Don't you realize that with the power I freely give you, you can be and do anything?
 
"I want you to share in my grandeur. I want you to do great things. Great things need not be big. The smallest of acts can be great. Acts like patience, kindness, and generosity are small yet have lasting impact.
 
"I want to express my glory through you. But when your attention drifts away from my presence, my expression and your growth are impeded.  Just as trees stretch their limbs to touch the sky, I want you to stretch yourself and awaken to your limitless potential.
 
"Please... I'm pleading... Awaken to my presence. Embrace me. Become overwhelmed by my majesty. Drink of the boundless joy I have to offer and share it with others. I am a treasure waiting to be discovered. When you embrace me, you have everything, for I am all that is."
 
Did the pleas of life resonate with you? Some of you may be saying, "I felt a little inspired, but I don't feel the fire. I wish I could believe it is all true."
 
Well, it's not about belief; it's about experience. Once you dive into the depths of life and experience it fully you will know the truth. From ancient times to the present moment, many men and women have experienced their true selves and the true nature of life. They include poets, Sufi mystics, yogis, saints, Zen and Buddhist monks, and seekers of every tradition.
 
What they all shared in common was a direct experience of their true selves and life. By direct experience I mean knowledge that doesn't flow from our mind (concepts, assumptions, beliefs, opinions, conclusions), but wordless knowledge that springs from the very essence of life itself. After experiencing it, however, we need to use words when we speak about it to others.
 
The direct experience is usually referred to as Enlightenment, Awakening, Satori, Kensho, Self-Realization, or Nirvana. Until recently it took many years of meditation to experience enlightenment. However, in 1968 Charles Berner, who died in 2007, established a new process called the Enlightenment Intensive. In this intensive workshop ordinary people experience enlightenment in just 3 ~ 4 days.
 
Today, Enlightenment Intensives are regularly held in as many as 20 countries. You can learn all about the intensives in the book: The Enlightenment Intensive by Lawrence Noyes, 1998. It is available at Amazon.com.
 
In Ontario Canada, the next Enlightenment Intensive will be held in February 2008 at Orangeville and led by Russell Scott, Owner of True Source Seminars. Contact information: 1-800-486-5460, www.TrueSourceSeminars.com, info@TrueSourceSeminars.com. If you want to experience the magnificence of life or the breathtaking splendor of your own true self, consider taking this workshop.
 
The more curious you are and the more you stand rapt in wonder and awe at the mystery of life, the more you will gain from enlightenment, for as the Japanese Zen Master, Calligrapher, and Poet, Muso Kokushi (1275 ~ 1351) taught, "There is great enlightenment where there has been great wonder."
 
There are two other books dealing with this subject that you may find helpful: Instant Enlightenment, by David Deida, Sounds True, 2007 and Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present, by Thomas Cleary (translator), North Atlantic Books, 1994. You can read customer reviews of both books at Amazon.com.
 
We cannot fully express the joy of life without humor, so I'll end with some Zen humor (you may have to think about it for a moment before you get it):

Q: What does a Zen monk say to a hot dog stand vendor?
A: Make me one with everything.
Q: What does the vendor say when the monk asks for change for his twenty dollar bill?
A: Change comes from within.

Chuck Gallozzi,
- writer and E.I. participant (Sept.2007)

To Be or Not To Be (part 1)

There are many paradoxes along the spiritual path and invariably the one that many will meet will be the question of whether or not the self exists. This is not a paradox that can be solved intellectually, through logic or any superficial affirmation; nor can it be solved taking on a belief purported by a philosophical system. In fact any of these attempts to solve the paradox only trap us into more delusion.
 
The only way to solve this dilemma of the existence or non-existence of the self is through one’s own concentrated inquiry into the nature of self (“who am I?”) and the grace of direct consciousness or the timeless union with self that results. Even the author’s articulation of this subject could serve as a potential barrier to this spiritual search if one takes what is being said as “truth” rather than attempting to gain the spiritual experience on her/his own.
 
If one, in a focused way, in a supportive system of inquiry, works on the question “Who am I?” long enough one will eventually notice that behind every experience one has had, is having and will have, there is an observer behind all these. There is one who is noticing it all, and it is the same one, all the time. If one does not stop here and questions “who is observing” one will wake-up to the undeniable fact that it is the Self itself. “It is me” that is observing. This realization is freeing and often accompanied with tremendous laughter as one recognizes that the one, the person has been looking for, is the same one who has been searching. It’s as if one has been playing a circuitous hide and seek game on oneself and when the individual wakes up to this fact there is much peace and joy. The neurotic search to be someone other than oneself ceases and total self-acceptance results. One comprehends that the prolonged history of self-denial is “much ado about nothing” because no matter how hard one tries to be different than who she/he is, it is still the self doing at all. There is no way of getting away from being the self.
 
One gets, that the one who one is, is one’s self. This is often articulated, as “I am me” with various corollaries of: “I exist”, “I am”, and “I am real”. It is at this point in the inquiry that problems can occur. If the individual is involved in a particular belief system that the Self does not exist and has invested her/his whole philosophical system in this belief, the mind will come in conflict and deny this experience and unfortunately one will stop any further spiritual advancements that are necessary to solve the dilemma of “Self or non-self”. I have seen this tragedy occur all to often on workshops and retreats, when someone on the verge of awakening closes off to divine experience because it does not fit with the pre-conceived notions of her/his belief system.
 
What is helpful is to realize that the notion of “non-self” particularly in the east became established as the result of conditions within the culture of that time: Buddha emphasized this experience of non-self as a reaction to corruption among the Vedic priests of the time who preached the concept of a supreme self as the fundamental basis of Hinduism. By disputing this basic idea and offering the viewpoint of “non-self he had hoped to liberate those who suffered under the control of the priests.  “The notion of Atman, Self, which was at the center of Vedic beliefs, was the cause of much of the social injustice of the day – the caste system, the terrible treatment of the untouchables and the monopolization of spiritual teachings by those who enjoyed the best material conditions and yet were hardly spiritual at all. In reaction, the Buddha emphasized the teachings of non-Atman (non-self)…The Buddha did not present an absolute doctrine. His teaching of non-self was offered in the context of his time.” Thich Nhat Hanh, “Living Buddha, Living Christ” pg. 54
 
Evidence of this cultural basis is clear when Buddhism, migrated to Japan where Hinduism did not exhibit such an influence (and adapted to the Japanese culture by becoming Zen). There was more openness to the experience of the existence of a self and enlightenment experiences of an individual self were accepted as an awakening. Witness this interaction of a Zen master working with a student in his attempt to bring his student to satori (awakening)
“Roshi: (sharply) Who are you?  (no answer) Who are you?
Student: (pausing) I don’t know
Roshi: Good! Do you know what you mean by “I don’t know?”
Student: No, I don’t
Roshi: You are You! You are only You – that is all”
The Three Pillars of Zen – Phillip Kapleau pg. 164
 
In fact later on in his teaching as he saw that his students were becoming attached to the concept of emptiness Buddha warned them of the pitfalls “ it is worse if you get caught in the non-self of a flower than if you believe in the self of a flower.” Thich Nhat Hanh, “Living Buddha, Living Christ” pg. 55
 
Buddha was making the point that there is something more important than belief in non-self. It is the freedom from the notions of both self and non-self…what is important is our insight into the nature of reality and our way of responding to reality. And this is where the focus should be. Rather than becoming evangelical about emptiness/non-self, one should satisfy the debate by setting aside one’s intellectual concepts and resolve the search through one’s own direct insight. Only by opening up to the same source of truth that is perennial to all teachings, can we understand the deeper reality expressed by great teachers in history.

Russell Scott