Enlightenment Continued..

[Guest guest]

I recently was educated on this all important question. Not to claim

that I am 'Liberated' but I certainly have gained enlightenment

through hard work in courses in the dhamma taught at

http://www.dhamma.org 10 day charity meditation course (I go each year

now, and I believe this technique is the key to true happiness).

 

I learned the technique taught by the Buddha during his lifetime in

its purest form, handed down 2500 years. It is the technique to

alleviate human suffering, very scientific . It recently came full

circle as it was told in oracle after 2500 years the dhamma in its

pure form will come back after being lost to India and then spread

around the world. My teacher is S.N. Goenka, he was the first to

bring Vipassana back to India from Burma in its purest form where it

was kept by monks since the death of Siddhartha. Buddha taught from 35

years to well over 80 years old, his teachings are well documented and

come from the first person and were written down immediately after he

spoke or taught. These teachings are pure.

 

To understand how mind and matter interact to create suffering-- and

how to not only not suffer yourself, but not to take anyone else's

suffering into your heart and how not to pass suffering along. How to

become a saint-like person so that the rest of the world can benefit

from your merit. How to be balanced in your mind in ANY situation,

even death.

 

It is said that " everyone loves a man who can smile on a sunny day,

but the true worth of a man is a man who can smile when NOTHING is

going his way " .

 

This is enlightenment. To know how to not create negative karma and be

aware of that in most situations is being enlightened. When you have a

totally clean spirit, and are able to not react with negativity in any

situation, that is liberation. The goal is to be liberated at your

time of death so that you can pass on with pure mind and the next soul

does not have to suffer. You can see death only as a 'promotion' and

not as something sad. Nothing is permanent that is the first rule.

Annica. (the Pali word for impermanence). So why create negativity or

clinging to something so impermanent.

 

Second Rule: Right thought, right action. Negativity begins in your

mind, and your thoughts are the first thing that lead to vocal action,

that lead to physical action. WIthout proper mindset liberation cannot

be obtained. Without negative mindset bad karma cannot be created. I

can only pass on intellectual knowledge, not experiential. I know the

path, each person must walk the path, each person must do the work

themselves. It is a lot of work these retreats, these courses. It is

the hardest thing I have ever done, and I have recovered through

cancer at a young age and a broken back, tailbone, pelvis, etc, etc at

an even younger age.

 

If you are a seeker you are more concerned with bigger questions and

success can be measured not in dollars but in happiness. I learned how

to be happy when I was at the darkest time, shortly after being

married and diagnosed with invasive cancer. I feel that cancer was

what the universe handed me because I needed to understand in this

lifetime, the path that I was close to finding in other lifetimes. I

have never been truly happy or balanced until cancer became my ally.

 

You can only learn Vipassana and become established on this path at

the dhamma.org centers worldwide, most people would never take 12 days

to work on mastering the mind, but those that do get more work done in

this course then the rest of the year sometimes the rest of their life.

 

What is necessary for the mind not to become confused, unbalanced and

begin to suffer?

 

Suffering arises when the mind is in contention with unfolding

experiences. To resist the present moment is to begin suffering. Use

'right effort. When you begin to feel depressed, anxious, fearful

negative. Ask yourself " Do I want to go down that road of resistance

to the present moment? " , STOP yourself, just make a decision and put

up a stop sign, sounds easier then it is, but I learned how to do just

that after diagnosis.

 

Notice and cultivate wholesome states of mind and wholesome actions.

Notice the presence of unwholesome states of mind and when your mind

is rehashing, spinning and planting negative seeds -- make a conscious

decision to GO ELSEWHERE. Be aware of the seeds (thoughts) you water,

and those that you plant. Only tend those that will bear SWEET fruit.

 

To resist is to suffer. To have attachment, clinging will cause

suffering, we all must die someday, don't be attached to the when. It

is as it is, and no one and no amount of suffering, raging about the

" unfairness " can change that, only it can make it much worse. Someone

once said that the three words " its not fair " caused more suffering

then any words in any language.

 

Aversion will cause suffering, when you become angry, hostile, lie,

steal, cheat, gossip or harbor any negative emotion or action, then

you will begin to suffer. Understand that actions of others HAVE

NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU, and learn to not react with negativity to

other's negative seeds, this is how you stop the wheel of negative

karma from spinning and spreading. Its not about you its about their

own fear and their own isolation and their own aversion or clinging or

negativity (or even bad driving). Leave it with them and wish them

happiness instead of becoming unbalanced yourself. This erases

negative karma and creates positive karma. Smile like a wise old man

when someone does something to hurt you or seemingly to hurt you. Do

not put energy into 'he/she wronged me'.

 

When we can meet each moment with BENEVOLENCE and non-contention we

can attain wisdom. Wisdom leads to Enlightenment leads to Liberation.

 

Because, there are only two choices in life:

 

1. You can fight with the present moment.

2. you can kiss it.

 

This moment is the only karmic absolute and if this moment SUCKS just

allow it to suck and know that it will pass because that is the LAW of

the UNIVERSE. Try not to react with anxiety, fear, torment, and all

those other negative emotions. In doing so you will acquire GRACE,

both the grace of your higher power leading you to the lightness of

being we all desire, and the GRACE to get through anything without

creating a cartload of misery for yourself.

 

You deserve to be happy and to be strong and to be truly ALIVE

everyday, and you should accept nothing less. This is the intellectual

path of enlightenment, however the experiential path is gained by

those truly dedicated to mastery over the mind and through mediation,

and after one 10 day course you will see a major change in your life.

 

Be happy, be well.

Luana

http://www.bcprf.org