Before Enlightenment, Chop wood, Carry water.
After Enlightenment, Chop wood, Carry water.
—Zen proverb
This proverb was the catalyst of this article on Enlightenment.
For those who are new to Buddhism or the buddha story, the word Enlightenment or Nirvana was coined when a prince attained Nirvana sitting under a Bodhi tree, who after many years of self flagellation and austerity, finally overcame all his maras (mental demons).
On one full moon night, thousands of years ago, Prince Siddhartha, sat in a meditative asana, yet once more under the bodhi tree, making himself comfortable on a seat of kusha grass and well-satisfied by a bowl of rice offered to him by a young girl and a young cowherd. When the night birthed to dawn, the prince was awakened to Buddha, the greatest Maha Siddhi, to have ever walked upon this earth.
I have been pondering on Enlightenment, and the itch kept growing. I resorted to books, and I am grateful for all the books, I read, written by many spiritual teachers, who shared their views and practices and experiences on Buddha and his Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths by Lama Zopa, was one of the first few books I purchased.
After reading the books, I was intrigued to go see the places associated with Buddha. I called it my “following the footprints of Buddha.”
From all the pilgrimages, Varanasi, India will always have a special place in my heart. As much as in Buddhism we practice non attachment, conversely I am especially attached to Varanasi (the place where Buddha first gave his sermon on the 4 noble truths to his five friends), and Boudhanath temple, in Nepal. I have an unexplainable karmic connections with these two places.
When someone mentions “Enlightenment,” usually the word is misunderstood with heavenly bodies, celestial beings, paradise or something grand like July 4th fireworks. Enlightenment simply means: Self-Realization / Awakened Mind.
Chogyam Trungpa, a Buddhist teacher, shares in his book, Meditation in Action, that one has to study the particular moment of the person, that very moment of “nowness.” And there is always a kind of spark, a kind of gap. One’s character is not just one thing. There is active behavior, then passive, then active, continuously changing. One has to learn some theory, without respecting samsara (the world of confusion), one cannot discover the awakened state of mind, Nirvana.
Silencing the mind though mediation, brings us on our mat in this present moment. When we are here on our mediation mat, we notice that all that matters at this point is right now, its not few mins or a day or a month away neither is it of what happened few mins ago or earlier this morning or yesterday or last month. It is completely now.
The thoughts which are cruising around in our heads demanding attention, if we allow the thought to just be even for a split second, we will notice that the thoughts go away without having to take action upon it or converse with it. This is what Buddha perhaps experienced, the first sentence he spoke after being “awoke":
This cannot be taught, it can only be experienced
This phrase is also mentioned in one of the Pali canons, with Buddha quoting, “Where do these thoughts come from?”
Like Zen proverb mentioned at the beginning of this post, our reference point is in our daily routine. But by relating to our “nowness” as our reference point, we can be “awoke.” It can be in eating our meals, sipping our chamomile tea or taking a whiskey shot. Whether during excitement or boredom, happiness or adversity, if we can truly acknowledge the present moment and practice to be present and explore its boundaries, we can glimpse the oneness with the life within and around us.
We can be our own Buddha simply by chopping wood, carrying water.
xx