Why awakening is so worth it

From time to time, people ask me why should they seek awakening. I say, awakening will be the best thing that happen in your life, I guarantee it. It is worth whatever effort you put into it. You won't regret it. Or as Daniel M. Ingram said, "Would I trade this for anything? Maybe world peace, but I would have to think about it. Until then, this totally rocks, and missing out on it would be barking crazy from my point of view."

What is it like? I can only give a little preview, an excerpt of what I wrote taken from the AtR guide:

"Personally, I can say from direct experience that direct realization is completely direct, immediate, and non-intellectual, it is the most direct and intimate taste of reality beyond the realm of imagination. It far exceeds one’s expectations and is far superior to anything the mind can ever imagine or dream of. It is utter freedom. Can you imagine living every moment in purity and perfection without effort, where grasping at identity does not take hold, where there is not a trace or sense of 'I' as a seer, feeler, thinker, doer, be-er/being, an agent, a 'self' entity residing inside the body somewhere relating to an outside world, and what shines forth and stands out in the absence of a 'self' is a very marvellous, wondrous, vivid, alive world that is full of intense vividness, joy, clarity, vitality, and an intelligence that is operating as every spontaneous action (there is no sense of being a doer), where any bodily actions, speech and thoughts are just as spontaneous as heart beating, fingernails growing, birds singing, air moving gently, breath flowing, sun shining - there is no distinction between ‘you are doing action’/’you are living’ and ‘action is being done to you’/’you are being lived’ (as there is simply no ‘you’ and ‘it’ - only total and boundless spontaneous presencing).

This is a world where nothing can ever sully and touch that purity and perfection, where the whole of universe/whole of mind is always experienced vividly as that very purity and perfection devoid of any kind of sense of self or perceiver whatsoever that is experiencing the world at a distance from a vantagepoint -- life without ‘self’ is a living paradise free of afflictive/painful emotions, where every color, sound, smell, taste, touch and detail of the world stands out as the very boundless field of pristine awareness, sparkling brilliance/radiance, colorful, high-saturation, HD, luminous, heightened intensity and shining wonderment and magicality, where the surrounding sights, sounds, scents, sensations, smells, thoughts are seen and experienced so clearly down to the tiniest details, vividly and naturally, not just in one sense door but all six, where the world is a fairy-tale like wonderland, revealed anew every moment in its fullest depths as if you are a new-born baby experiencing life for the first time, afresh and never seen before, where life is abundant with peace, joy and fearlessness even amidst the apparent chaos and troubles of life, and everything experienced through all the senses far surpasses any beauty previously experienced, as if the universe is like heaven made of glittering gold and jewels, experienced in complete gapless directness without separation, where life and the universe is experienced in its intense lucidity, clarity, aliveness and vivifying presence not only without intermediary and separation but without center and boundaries - infinitude as vast as an endless night sky is actualized every moment, an infinitude that is simply the vast universe appearing as an empty, distanceless, dimensionless and powerful presencing, where the mountains and stars on the horizon stands out no more distant than one’s breath, and shines forth as intimately as one’s heartbeat, where the cosmic scale of infinitude is actualized even in ordinary activities as the entirety of the universe is always participating as every ordinary activity including walking and breathing and one’s very body (without a trace of an ‘I’ or ‘mine’) is as much the universe/dependent origination in action and there is nothing outside of this boundless exertion/universe, where the purity and infinitude of the marvellous world experienced through being cleansed in all doors of perception is constant. (If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern. - William Blake)

You know all the Mahayana Sutras (e.g. Vimalakirti Sutra), old Zen talks about seeing this very earth as pure land and all the Vajrayana talks about the point of tantra as the pure vision of seeing this very world, body, speech and mind in its primordial unfabricated purity as the Buddha field, palace, mandala, mantra and deity? Now you truly get it, you realise everything is really just like that when experienced in its primordial purity and perfection, and that the old sages have not been exaggerating at all. It is as much a literal and precise description of the state of consciousness as it is a metaphor. As I told John Tan before, Amitabha Sutra’s description of pure land resembles my living experience here and now. “To me it just means anatta. When what’s seen, tasted, touched, smelled are in clean purity, everywhere is pure land.” - John Tan, 2019. "If one is free from background self, all manifestations appear in clean purity in taste. Impurities from what I know come from mental constructions." – John Tan, 2020

This is a freedom that is free from any artificially constructed boundaries and limitations. And yet, this boundlessness does not in any way lead to the dissociation from one’s body, instead one feels more alive than ever as one’s very body, one grows ever more somatic, at home and intimate as one’s body. This is not a body normally conceived of, as the boundaries of an artificially solidified body that stands separated from the universe, dissolve into energetic streams of aliveness dancing and pulsating throughout the body in high energy and pleasure, as well as sensations of foot steps, movement, palm touching an object, where the body is no longer conflated with a constructed boundary of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, ‘self’ or ‘other’, where no trace of an ‘inside’ and an ‘outside’ can be found in one’s state of consciousness - there’s only one indivisible, boundless and measureless world/mind - only this infinitude of a dynamic and seamlessly interconnected dance that we call ‘the universe’. This is better than any passing peak experiences be they arisen spontaneously, in meditation or through the use of psychedelic substances. And yet, despite experiencing life to it fullest every moment without any veils, in complete openness and utter nakedness, nothing gains a foothold in consciousness, for as vivid as they are, they leave no trace just as a bird leaves no tracks in the sky, an empty and lucid display such as a gust of wind and the glittery reflections of moon on the ocean waves - appearing but nothing ‘there’ or anywhere. All these words and descriptions I just wrote came very easily and spontaneously in a very short time as I am simply describing my current state of experience that is experienced every moment. I am not being poetic here but simply being as direct and clear as possible about what is immediately experienced. And this is only a figment that I am describing. If I were to tell you more of what this is like, you would not believe it. But once you enter this gateless realm you shall see that words always pale in comparison."

Labels: Anatta |

It’s Probably the only way or method that works to drop my suffering

Total removal of all suffering is also possible but you must reach arahant stage. Or eighth bhumi or buddha

The teachings are fundamentally built on impermanence. Understanding the fact of impermanence is part and parcel of understanding emptiness. From a metaphysical standpoint, no impermanence = no emptiness. So to throw that out at some point and just say "No, now permanence IS possible, because we can be happy and blissful 24/7" is a huge contradiction. This is also addressed well by Ingram in MCTB.

It's the same problem that he brings up when talking about the emotional perfection models. The false idea that somehow enlightenment will make one completely morally pure and perfect and never able to do anything bad again. Well we know that's not true just by looking at all the supposedly enlightened masters who have done horrible things to others in their personal lives. Perfection in any sense, emotionally, psychologically, morally, is imo a misguided goal.

So do you then not believe Daniel Ingram when he says he's an Arhat?

I have also expressed my skepticism about Trungpa, i doubt he even reached stream entry. He described no mind experience but not anatta realisation

It clarifies much misunderstandings.

Even though to realise anatta is also not an end

“Though buddha nature is plainness and most direct, these are still the steps. If one does not know the process and said ‘yes this is it’… then it is extremely misleading. For 99 percent [of ‘realized’/’enlightened’ persons] what one is talking about is "I AMness", and has not gone beyond permanence, still thinking [of] permanence, formless… ...all and almost all will think of it along the line of "I AMness", all are like the grandchildren of "AMness", and that is the root cause of duality.” - John Tan, 2007

To believe that there is a possible permanent, unchanging state of being that can be attained in any sense is to go directly against the Buddha's foundational teaching of impermanence, which is at the very core of the dharma.

And my other point is that having insight into the nature of reality does *not* make one perfect in any way - morally, psychologically or otherwise. I know that because I have personally had deep insights and I am in no way perfect.

And it isn't just that if I had more insights I would be perfect, or if I trained or practiced and meditated more then I would be perfect at some point. None of us can ever achieve complete perfection because of the fact that life moves in cycles and, again, everything changes.

We make mistakes, we fail, then we succeed, then we fail again. Just like Summer changes to fall and fall changes to Winter and Winter changes back to Spring. We don't control that process of cycling because we *are* the process. That's why mental suffering can never be completely removed. Whatever bliss we might be experiencing will cycle and transform back to suffering at some point.

Even enlightened people who have seen directly into dharmata, suchness, with the light of non-conceptual wisdom are still subject to this impermanence simply because they still live in the relative world where change is a brute, unavoidable fact.

Realizations and attainments are permanent: they permanently put an end to fetters and tendencies.

For example, stream entry puts an end to the first three fetters permanently. This is why realization is not an experience.

Even if you are talking about permanent realizations, that still d…

All of this - non dual wisdom, the appearance which is being cognized, and the agent which is doing the cognizing, are relative (and ultimately empty) phenomena. Being empty, all of them are impermanent and conditioned.

Nibbana may not be conditioned, but the relative agent who knows Nibbana is completely conditioned, impermanent, and transitory in every way. And since the agent only approaches or knows Nibbana through his or her Wisdom, and since that Wisdom is conditioned and impermanent, it cannot be so that that person can possibly remain permanently in an unchanging state of non-dual equipoise.

If the entire path, which takes places on the relative level, were realized to be a cognitive error upon seeing the ultimate beyond fabrications, what incentive would the Buddha have had to teach after his awakening?

If the relative did not retain it's validity after one's seeing the ultimate, then to talk of only being able to approach the ultimate through the relative, as is asserted by Nagarjuna and many other masters, would be nonsensical.

Saw this on my newsfeed, just gonna say one or two words.

U seem to be closing ur door to a place where complete liberation is possible.

Realisation is a permanent shift in perception. It is not a myth for me.

Suffering can drop. Massively.

But no one can convince u, not even the buddha himself.

It’s up to u to work hard and find out. hope u don’t close ur doors too early. Just a light comment, I don’t want to debate.

Well said.

Also I was just reminded of an explanation by Kyle Dixon, I liked it including Tsele Natsok Rangdrol's analogy.

User avatar

level 1

krodha

·

3 yr. ago

·

edited 3 yr. ago

Nirvana is a species of cessation, and is defined as a total cessation of cause for rebirth in the three realms. Once the cause of affliction is exhausted there is no longer a means for it to re-arise, hence buddhahood is irreversible and permanent.

Nirvāṇa is the total exhaustion of one's ignorance regarding the nature of phenomena, and for that reason nirvāṇa is described as a cessation. What ceases is the cause for the further arising and proliferation of delusion regarding the nature of phenomena, which is precisely the cessation of cause for the arising of the cyclical round of rebirth in the three realms we call "saṃsāra."

For this reason, nirvāṇa is said to be 'permanent', because due to the exhaustion of cause for the further proliferation of saṃsāra, saṃsāra no longer has any way to arise.

Tsele Natsok Rangdrol:

You might ask, 'Why wouldn't confusion reoccur as before, after... [liberation has occured]?" This is because no basis [foundation] exists for its re-arising. Samantabhadra's liberation into the basis [wisdom] itself and the yogi liberated through practicing the path are both devoid of any basis [foundation] for reverting back to becoming a cause, just like a person who has recovered from a plague or the fruit of the se tree.

He then states that the se tree is a particular tree which is poisonous to touch, causing blisters and swelling. However once recovered, one is then immune.

Lopon Tenzin Namdak also explains this principle of immunity:

Anyone who follows the teachings of the Buddhas will most likely attain results and purify negative karmic causes. Then that person will be like a man who has caught smallpox in the past; he will never catch it again because he is immune. The sickness of samsara will never come back. And this is the purpose of following the teachings.

and from Lopon Kunga Namdrol:

Buddhahood is a subtractive process; it means removing, gradually, obscurations of affliction and obscurations of knowledge. Since wisdom burns these obscurations away, in the end they have no causes for returning; and further, the causes for buddhahood are permanent leading to a permanent result.

11

Give Award

Share

Report

Save

User avatar

level 2

unkeptzen

·

3 yr. ago

Nirvana is a species of cessation

I guess you could say that nirvana is the cessation of conditionality which reveals the unconditioned.

1

Give Award

Share

Report

Save

Nirvana is defined as pratisaṃkhyā-nirodha or “analytical cessation.” Which is the total cessation of cause for rebirth in the three realms.

As for “unconditioned,” there is an unconditioned nature of so-called conditioned existents, specifically; that they are figments of ignorance and are therefore non-arisen and free from extremes. But there is no "the unconditioned" as a stand-alone separate capacity.

From Nāgārjuna:

Since arising, abiding and perishing are not established, the conditioned is not established; since the conditioned is never established, how can the unconditioned be established?

1

Give Award

Share

Report

Save

User avatar

level 4

unkeptzen

·

3 yr. ago

I would just add that in the Pali discourses the only dhamma that is unconditioned is nibbāna (nirvana). All other dhammas are conditioned.

Also to help you on your journey, Zen Ma-tsu says:

The conditioned is the function of the unconditioned; the unconditioned is the essence of the conditioned.

Both the Buddha and Jesus understood that the universe and everything in it, even our thoughts, are only the "shape of spirit" (shape being conditioned; spirit being unconditioned). But the shape hides the spirit if one is not, personally, awakened to the spirit. God too is spirit (Jhn 4:24). For those of us who have meditated in deep forests and in caves, setting the books aside, the unconditioned has to be personally witnessed. Peace to you pandita

1

Give Award

Share

Report

Save

User avatar

level 5

krodha

·

3 yr. ago

"I would just add that in the Pali discourses the only dhamma that is unconditioned is nibbāna (nirvana). All other dhammas are conditioned."

In Mahāyāna there are three unconditioned dharmas, which are space and two forms of cessation, nirvana is one of those cessations.

1

Give Award

Share

Report

Save