Sudden Enlightenment, Gradual Cultivation

A new quarter has begun at Buddha Dharma University. This semester there are several students taking the class on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment.

The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment is interesting for many reasons. One is because everything one needs to wake up is present in the first two chapters. These basically fall under the category of Sudden Enlightenment. The rest of the Sutra can sort of be categorized as Gradual Cultivation. Though really it is more like painting legs on a snake. It is almost as if each subsequent chapter could be started with "So you didn't quite get the previous chapters, so..."

That is not to put subsequent chapters in a negative light! How many people read the first chapter, get it, wake up and don't need any more reading? This is only anecdotal evidence - I haven't heard of any. In fact, what happens is upon different readings of the Sutra, different chapters hit home.

What is Sudden Enlightenment? Have you ever had a moment of before thought mind? Zen Master Seung Sahn used to ask questions like: You, me, this wall, same or different? Have you ever had a moment where, without thinking, that made sense? The Zen cannon is full of stories with the final paragraph being something about enlightenment. E.g. Wonhyo's enlightenment story:

He was super thirsty in the middle of the night, felt around with his hands, found some water and drank it - how refreshing. In the morning he woke up and saw it was the skull of a dead animal and very gross. He threw up. Upon seeing the power of the mind he was enlightened.

Of course, we have to take these stories with a grain of salt. Is it true as written? I've read several versions of the story, so most likely no. Did something like that happen? Possibly. Anyway, there are many stories like this and maybe you even have your own.

So maybe something is attained. There are a couple of issues here. The first is that experiences pass fast. Trying to hold on to them is like trying to hold water in your hands. The second is the mind instantly starts to create a story about what happened. After a time, is the experience remembered? Or the story about it? Again, something is attained. Maybe we begin to see we are all one. (Please don't make this into a concept - it is easy to chew this up with the mind.)

So maybe we see the folly of our selfish ways. Even dropping the mind's idea of a separate self. Wonderful! Do our actions change all at once? Are we suddenly calm, peaceful, considerate drivers? Are we happy for others when they get what we want? These are broad examples, it could be more subtle. Do we give freely of our time? Gossip about others? Listen to the thoughts going on and continue to believe them? Think that we have some spiritual weight now?

Maybe. Maybe not. Instead of focusing on any experience or event. We return to this moment. What is in front of us? Can we help someone? We return to the practice. We may have fundamentally changed. Yet, more work is likely necessary. Be it more practice, changing our actions, breaking our habits, breaking our addiction to the mind. We must cultivate our experience.

You Are Already Dead!

In the class on Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, we cover the following interview between Zen Master Seung Sahn and a student:

SS: Do you have any questions?
Student: Yes, what is death?
SS: You are already dead.

Why would he say this? Clearly this student is sitting in front of him, still breathing. In the last post, we looked at how Zen Master Seung Sahn responded when asked "What is Zen?" One of his responses was, "Keeping the mind that is before thinking."

Here is how the interview continued:

Student: I'm only dying. I haven't really experienced death yet. I don't even understand what that would mean.
The Zen Master hit him
The student became confused and couldn't answer
SS: When you think death, you make death. When you think life you make life. When you are not thinking, there is no life and no death. In empty mind, is there a you? Is there an I?

First off, what is this hit? When Zen Master Seung Sahn "hit" somebody, it was usually a light tap with his Zen stick. It wasn't an act of violence! In this instance, the student was lost. So many words, so much thinking.

Next, what about this line: "When you think death, you make death?" In the history of Zen, there are many enlightenment stories. As part of these stories, there are some capping verse or phrase that the newly enlightened person writes or says. Several of these stories end with a line or phrase similar to "Mind makes everything."

So, if we keep the mind that is before thinking. We will not have life and death, like or dislike. It is possible to end suffering in this lifetime.

Blissing Out

Events come and go with amazing speed. Life is kind of like a train that just keeps rolling. Sometimes it seems to go fast, sometimes slow, sometimes it slows down to the point where we seem stuck. Regardless of how it feels, time/life/the train just keeps going. Often, the scenery is beautiful, breathtaking even. Other times it is just blah or even ugly. And, of course, the same awesome scenery can fade into the background after we are used to it.

Using this metaphor, events are like passing through states, or cities, or even by signposts. Looking forward to a movie, then seeing it, then looking forward to the next movie would probably be like passing signposts. A city or a state could be like high school or college. The metaphor keeps on a rollin'.

As Zen students, we keep returning to the here and now. Events come and go, we watch them come and go without attachment. If we find ourselves getting attached, we can even use a mental exercise like trying to live the idea of "don't make where you want to be more important than where you are."

With Zen and the idea of events, what is likely to come up? The e-word. Is enlightenment really an event? Is it something that changes everything? A favorite quote is "If enlightenment isn't in this moment, where is it?" Can you find it?

Coming back to the context of this post. Here is a situation to consider. Suppose you have a moment where things become clear. Maybe everything in the Heart Sutra makes complete sense. Please do not think I am describing enlightenment - enlightenment is beyond words. Yet people before us tried to come up with teachings to help us and that is why I am referencing the Heart Sutra. Or maybe sunyata makes complete sense (as discussed in a previous post). Now lets look at a situation. Suppose a moment like this occurs and life makes complete sense, yet the person you are having dinner with is very upset about something.

Do you laugh and tell your friend to relax, that they have a perception problem? Do you tell them how great it is that you have seen the truth? Or do you put down this experience, return to the present moment and try to help your suffering friend the best you can?

Bodhidharma was a great monk who brought Buddhism to the east. A great teacher who probably could have lived his life as a blissed-out hermit, instead decided to share what he had found. Hence we say that Bodhidharma's family motto was "How can I help?"

No attainment, with nothing to attain. We return to this present moment.