Illuminating Silence

 From “Illuminating Silence”, Sheng Yen

Many people are confused in thinking that enlightenment as a state implies some continuing ecstasy of bliss and awareness such as may be experienced in kensho [Japanese, “seeing one’s nature”, ie, initial enlightenment experience]. This does not appear to be a correct understanding. The fully enlightened practitioner may be said to be ‘one who lives from a perspective of a wisdom-understanding which functions without ego concern under all circumstances’. Such a realized person lives normally in the world, simply lacking habitual self-concern. He or she will have a mirror-like quality in which others see themselves, rather than seeing the reactivity of ego in the one before them. A brief enlightenment experience may be the origin of such a condition but the majority of such experiences are not followed by the persistence of an enlightened state; rather selfish vexations return but with a reduced vigor. It may be that some individuals develop a capacity to generate the experience of selfless bliss, others may find themselves there more frequently, but for most the condition is a short-term blessing. Since the experience does not ensure the emergence of the state of being an enlightened person, further practice is the essential norm.

Yet there is another way of envisaging this condition, not so much as ‘an’ experience, but more as a form of knowledge. In the Caodong [Japanese: Soto Zen] tradition, enlightenment is said to be no different from practice. This view focuses on the meditative fading away of categorisations of all kinds, time, space, self, until a residual nothingness is discovered in which everything is nonetheless mirrored. Such an approach does not, therefore, emphasise the sudden experiential, revelatory aspect of enlightenment, but rather the discovery of an underlying condition of mind implicitly always present. To know this state is thus more a type of knowing than an experience of insight of limited duration. Some may argue that this Caodong approach is the more mature perspective and it is the deep view of Silent Illumination.

Anyone who has ‘seen the nature’ is unlikely to claim to be an enlightened person, even when a master has confirmed the experience; he or she simply knows what a glimpse of enlightenment entails. Indeed, anyone claiming to be enlightened is probably acting erroneously from an inflated ego, which a teacher has been unable to contain. Simple humility alone will normally prevent any such claim. People may consider another person to be ‘enlightened’ on observing an exceptional being who seems truly to have transcended the vexations of this world. It is doubtful whether there are more than a handful of such persons alive in any one generation. Some may become great lamas, masters, or teachers; others may remain entirely unknown, except perhaps to a few. 🕊

Jnana and Vijnana

 “The jñānī, according to Ramakrishna, is the traditional Advaitin who has attained the spiritual realization that the impersonal nondual Brahman alone is real and the universe is unreal. The vijñānī, however, first attains knowledge of Brahman and then achieves the even greater, and more comprehensive, realization that Brahman 'has become the universe and its living beings.' For Ramakrishna, then, both the jñānī and the vijñānī are Advaitins, since they both maintain that Brahman is the sole reality. However, while the jñānī has the acosmic realization of nondual Brahman in nirvikalpa samādhi, the vijñānī returns from the state of nirvikalpa samādhi to attain the richer, world-inclusive nondual realization that the same Brahman realized in nirvikalpa samādhi has also manifested as everything in the universe. Hence, unlike the jñānī, the vijñānī combines knowledge and devotion by worshipping everything and everyone as real manifestations of God.”

 ~ Swami Medhananda, Swami Vivekananda’s Vedantic Cosmopolitanism

SINLESS

“The Vedanta recognizes no sin;  it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta, is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that.” 

― Swami Vivekananda

The Light of All Lights

One day a group of musicians came to play for Ramana Maharshi. The instruments included flute, violin and harmonium.

Afterwards there was a discussion about the various instruments and which was the most pleasing. The Maharshi said that he himself listened to nothing but the harmonium as its steady, monotonous, one-pointed rhythm helped to keep one centered in the Self.

Q: What is the significance of the spot between the eyebrows?

RM: It is a reminder not to see with our eyes. The mind functions both as light and objects; if divested of objects the Light alone will remain.

Q: But must we know that there is such light?

RM: Sight or cognition pertains to the present state because there is light. Light is the essential requisite for sight. It is plain in our daily life. Among the lights, the sunlight is the most important. Hence they speak of the glory of millions of suns.

Q: I cannot go within sufficiently deeply.

RM: It is wrong to say that. Where are you now, if not in the Self? Where can you go? All at is necessary is the stern belief that you are the Self. It is better to say that the other activities throw a veil over you.

- Conscious Immortality (Roy Eugene Davis)

The Best Asana for Self-Realization

 

Q: Is it good to devote some time to stay healthy?

Annamalai Swami: "It is difficult to do sādhana if the body is not in good condition. Hatha yoga is one way of staying healthy. Bhagavan (Ramana Maharshi) used to say, however, that of all the different āsanās, nidhidhyāsanā is the best. He would then add that nidhidhyāsanā means abidance in the Self.

"Don’t pay too much attention to the body. If you worry about the well-being of your body, you identify with it more and more. Look at it as a useful vehicle: maintain it, fuel it properly and repair if it breaks down, but don’t become attached to it. If you can keep your attention on the Self without being distracted by unpleasant bodily sensations, you are healthy enough to do sādhana. If you do your meditation earnestly and continuously you will begin to find that health problems will not distract you. When your abidance in the Self is firm and strong, you cease to be aware of the body and its pains.

""   "We must take care of the body by giving it food, shelter and clothing. This is necessary because the journey to the Self is only easy when the body is healthy. If a ship is not in need of repair, if it is in good condition, we can easily use it to go on a journey. But we should not forget the purpose for which we have been given this body." 

ALL ONE

Question: Is it necessary to renounce the world?

Anandamayi Ma: "No, why? Where is the place where God is not? The natural way of life itself could be transformed into the spiritual way of life. In fact, there is nothing which can be 'other' to God; so properly speaking, to live in the world is to be on the way to Self-realization. Since this perspective has been lots to us we perforce speak in the language of  'otherness to God'. To realize one's self means to discover that there is naught else except God, God alone is, and all else is God only."

The Path to Self-Abidance

 “Fold back the speech into the mind. Fold the mind into the intellect. Fold that intellect into the ‘witness’ of the intellect. After gaining perfectly the attitude of a witness to one’s own thought processes, this witnessing faculty also should be folded into the tranquil Atman, the Supreme Self.”

 

-Kathopanishad 1.3.13