I find that as I contribute to blogs such as this (or at least my ego has me convinced I’m contributing, laughs) I must work at improving my skills at the language of awakening. The content may suck but the words are more precise, I hope. Face it, we are trying to describe a non-linear reality with linear thought systems. Someone said that reality can only be described in terms of what it is not. And it is not the concept of The Buddha but yet the only way we can hold The Buddha in our minds is as a concept. So we are not killing The Buddha but only the concept.

Wow, that confused even me. But I hope you get what I mean. I, too, get frustrated. Looking for a technique yet intuitively knowing that awakening is not about technique. I will not read or think my way to enlightenment. So what’s a boy (or girl) to do? We read. We think. And we hope that such endeavors will somehow “push” our psyches in the right direction and momentum will take it from there. I like the saying that all we can do is set the table and hope the guest shows up.

I trust I have sufficiently muddied the waters…………Peace to All

And yes, sometimes one can pinpoint at least a few origins and causes – but no, the resulting insight is something creative that goes beyond those origins and causes.

The words ‘go beyond thought’ have been just words to begin with, haven’t they?

Can you reconstruct an insight, revelation, moment of enlightenment you experienced (or the current enlightened state you’re in ;- and pinpoint its origins and cause?

In the self-improvement arena, the idea is to become something new that you aren’t already, to develop new qualities and characteristics that you do not currently have. Spirituality is a bit different. It’s the path of no path, which is paradoxical and thus easily misunderstood. Yes there is a “path”, but ultimately you find that it’s not about going somewhere new, but rather realizing what already exists within you, your true nature that is already here and always was the whole time.

The saying to “look within” points to this. It’s not about looking outside yourself to find a target destination at the end of a path. It’s about going within and recognizing who you truly are. Yes there is work to do. Yes it’s necessary to let go of identification with all false senses of identity. Yes teachers like the Buddha are obviously going to be very helpful and thus serve a useful purpose. Ultimately, however, after you do all the reading and intellectual studying, there comes a point where you must let go of EVERYTHING, including all your beliefs that you’ve picked up along the way. This is a very challenging step for most people and something that actually holds them back until they’re ready for it.

If we were to be totally honest with ourselves, we don’t know for SURE whether or not God exists, if we are truly one, if this world is an illusion, and so on. Yes we can buy into the belief system intellectually which can serve us in many ways. But to find out of it’s true, we must first let go of the belief and find out for ourselves. Borrowed wisdom is not enough. We must find out for ourselves and experience what reality is always here when we stop making up stories about the way things are: separate and disconnected, for example. Spiritual growth is experiential, not a belief system.

Is the map useful? Certainly. Is staring at the map all day going to get you to where you’re going? No. Eventually you must one day set aside the map altogether, thank it for serving you this whole time, and experience the world for yourself.

Hope that clears things up.

Ariel