About enlightenment

The old Zen proverb says, 'Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.'
And Basho was right. Just because you may have experienced bodhi, kensho or satori, does not mean everything changes, life changes or otherwise. All that changes is you, or your perception of things (according to what you define as enlightenment) and what you do as a result of this.

So what's the point of it then? Arguably, there is no point. If you think have gained it, then you haven't. If you think it's yours, it isn't; and this is why one does not attain it, but merely experiences it. The enlightenment experience will be unique to each of you.

Famously, Siddhartha Gautama became Buddha after his awakening, his enlightenment. People are reported to have noticed his awakening. But was it a visual difference or something about his 'aura'? Whatever it was, people noticed it then and now due to his teachings.

There has been a long debate over whether enlightenment is a gradual or sudden process. In particular, the Zen/Chan schools debated this for years. Ma-Tsu is ostensibly the originator of the 'sudden' school of enlightenment and by use of non sequitur questioning, shouts of "Ho!" & hitting people, tried to jolt students in to enlightenment. Ma-Tsu is one of my favourite Zen patriarchs, although rather slapstick. However, his techniques do what is required to gain awakening, just as the koans do. Many people don't understand koans, especially those who have little understanding of Zen Buddhism, but they are meant to trigger a response which is inline with our original nature, or Buddha nature. However, unless you know what you are looking for, you won't find the answer, hence the general public's perception of koans. Bearing these things in mind, our original nature is said to know all things, yet not know them, which is Buddha nature. To briefly explain, we learn from a young age how to do many things which become instinctive. We are not consciously learning these things, but are aware that we know them. So enlightenment is like this; we are already enlightened yet not consciously aware that we are. So whether we become enlightened gradually or suddenly is a huge debate.

People of any persuasion can become enlightened; it's not just for Buddhists. Zoroaster had an experience of it, so did Patanjali, Sai Baba, Osho, Adyashanti, David Hoffmeister, Nirmala, amongst many others. In fact, there are many enlightened minds in the world who are not famous and live with us in our everyday lives.

Enlightenment itself is an awakening, realisation of things, understanding interconnectedness of things which cannot be translated or conferred upon someone. It is something that happens to you. Each experience is unique but they do have common traits. Amongst the metaphors to describe enlightenment, are the following:
Peace, tranquillity, insight, understanding, connection, transcendental, at-one-ness, overwhelming love.

For some people, enlightenment will be a gradual process leading to that moment of clarity, whereas others will experience it suddenly, whether it be within meditation or contemplation, or whilst involved in an activity.

It is common to think and ask, "So, what happens next?" after that experience, hence the opening quote from Basho, 'Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.' What you do as a result of that revelation is an example of how it has impacted on you. The one thing I would stress is the importance of keeping a 'beginner's mind.' Shunruyi Suzuki deals with this idea very well and I encourage you to read his work. In short, never think you know it all. If you become big headed and a show off, people won't think you're enlightened, but an idiot, because you will have increased your ego and not diminished it. By having a 'beginner's mind,' you will continue to ask questions and learn, be inquisitive, be open minded and not of fixed opinion.

If you do experience enlightenment, try to recall what was happening before that moment. Also, after the experience, you may find you have a burst of creativity.

So is enlightenment for you? It's for anyone. As a Buddhist may say, "We all have Buddha nature." As the psalmist and St Paul said, "Awake, o' sleeper..."
A Zen proverb says, "Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening," & Dogen said, "There is no beginning to practice nor end to enlightenment; There is no beginning to enlightenment nor end to practice."

If I can help, please feel free to contact me at Sougen.roshi@gmail.com

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A bit about my enlightenment.

From my experiences, I realised that what I initially considered my enlightenment, was in fact kensho, a small insight. For myself, this involved understanding the interconnectedness of things. It occurred when I was 39 years old. Three years later, at 42, I experienced satori, a deeper, more profound understanding, which was as enlightenment. It was a sudden realisation, after a series of contemplations where I asked certain questions. What was curious regarding my experiences, is that I am a Christian and I'd never heard of Christians experiencing enlightenment. So I talked to people and did research. I also asked, "So, what happens next?" and found that it took a while to find the path I should follow. For myself it related to bringing my spiritual life in to the secular environment. How I react and perform within society is a reflection of what I have learnt. It is a bit like being a doctor to humankind. Lessons from the Bible, the life of Christ, the teachings & life of Buddha, Sikh philosophy, Taoism and practicing Zen all can be translated into everyday actions. These things impacted on me and in any given situation, spiritual lessons are there to be put into practice, and this is what I do. You may think this is an obvious thing to do, but how many of the teachings you've received have you put into action? It's what I class as being a 'living word.' As a Christian may understand that Yeshua/Jesus was the, "word made flesh," so also are we called to be 'living words;' the action of compassion, love, a helping hand, benevolence, in a world where so many people hear pretty speeches but do not see them being put into action.
One of the other facets of enlightenment for myself was about accepting things as they are, not judging them. The only way I can try and explain my beliefs is relating to the term 'Zen-Christian,' although I am probably not seen as a typical Christian. I have practiced zazen for many years and see the common ground between Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Sikhism and Islam. I don't pigeon hole my beliefs in any denomination and do not preach radical ideas of say that you have to be x,y or z. What I believe is what I believe. So this is the tip of the iceberg regarding my own experience regarding enlightenment. I hope that maybe by reading this, about my own experiences, you will understand a little better.