The Sky is Blue

Anything which is created must, sooner or later, die. If enlightenment were created in such a way, there would always be the possibility of ego reasserting itself, causing a return to the confused state. Enlightened is permanent because we have not produced it; we have merely discovered it. In the Buddhist tradition the analogy of the sun appearing from behind the clouds is often used to explain the discovery of enlightenment. In meditation practice we clear away the confusion of ego in order to glimpse the awakened state. The absence of ignorance, of being crowded in, of paranoia, opens up a tremendous view of life. One discovers a different way of being.

Chogyam Trungpa;

Cutting Through

Spiritual Materialism

~

If I am truthful, I can admit that I don’t really know what is meant by “enlightenment”, nor do I believe I have experienced a permanent state of awakened consciousness. I read what those, I suppose, have experienced it have written and wonder whether or not they are blowing smoke up my ya-ya. Then I think of the experience I had myself when the obsession to drink seems to have been permanently lifted, I can understand that this was a glimpse at enlightenment. I don’t have to make up anything about that experience. I can look at the singular event and break down the essential elements that had been there in the beginning. I can make as much sense of it as I can but, the reality is, everything I might say about my experience that comes from analyses is purely conjecture. If I testify that I came to know God in some intimate way in that moment, I know in the depths of my heart that I am making stuff up to explain what just might be impossible to explain. I suspect that the Heart of Compassion put a foot in the door of my consciousness. I take from this experience tremendous encouragement to open that door a bit further to allow the light in. I stop asking myself; will it come flooding in at once in a singular, cataclysmic, ego smashing, event or does it gradually enter as I patiently practice? 

The sky is blue above the clouds. It is here and it is now.

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