Instant Enlightenment
 

I am starting to hate the sound of the word E N L I G H T E N M E N T.
Which I don't think is a bad thing. Probably in the same spiritual bag as KILL YOUR IDOLS. As the more the carrot it shoved in your face, the more it starts to loose its flavour. Die carrot die!!!!
It seems the last couple of years we have had offers ot instant enlightenment coming from all quarters of the spiritual market place.
One that springs to mind is BIG MIND which I don't know much about but apparently Zen koans are used in such a way as to stimulate a liberation through confounding the mind. I have a slight understanding & appreciation of Koans but from an outside point of view the process appears contrived & shallow.
Or that could just be sour grapes having spent most of my life discovering through misadventure & not finding an easy way myself. I do wonder though if the term enlightenment is being used flippantly to describe any form of realization & shift of conciousness.
Anywho why do you think these avenues for instant enlightenment are appearing & do you feel there is any validity to them.
I personally don't have a experience of enlightenment & am not drawn to it. I did have it as a goal in my early days of meditation but realized that trying to instill any change was taking me away from acceptance.
If I don't get any postings here I can't blame you ...you are probably over it as well :)

I have also never had a goal to be 'enlightened', though I have had (and still do have to some degree) goals that are linked to 'enlightenment'. I would like to be a very joyful, loving, light, compassionate, honest, peaceful, playful and happy person. I would like to be living a very fulfilling and happy life. I would like to be living life with clarity and ease. Maybe this is sour grapes from me too, but I dont think there is a quick and easy way currently to achieve this with consistency, though I am open to the possibility that quicker shifts in the future might happen. At the moment, I think its a case of doing the work for most of us.

Me too Andrew. Whats that story about the 100th monkey? That 99 monkeys put in the work & the 100th monkey crosses over effortlessly...or something like that. Want a banana?

My house

burned down


Ah, The Moon.



Just wanted to make you mad, nothuman.

The dew was heavy on the leaves this morning Audrey.......at least I found my house keys

Hehe yes please. I also think it could be a 100th monkey kind of situation.

If he crosses over on my watch ...I'll 'ave him :)

OK Miss Hep.... Ikkyu was breaking walnuts with a rock. Crows kept stealing the nuts. He turned his robe inside-out.

KA CHING !!!!

i'm with you on this NH.

Enlightened, dunno really what that refers to... am favoring realisation simply because it sorta carries the meaning of some knowledge connection applying to life questions.

By last count i came up with 5 of them, and maybe those realisations are mistaken, each one, to be the only one, or the last or whatever. It would serve no purposful meaning to deliberatly claim any realisation, so am thinking there are prolly honestly mistaken people who think they've arrived.

Years ago under a guru's tutalage there were criteria for determining realisation.

I always thought "why did the chicken cross the road" good zen. Kids are very good at koans..."why mommy why, why mommy why" :smile: