With this simple choice to awaken,
And we do have this simple choice,
by looking within, we touch
upon all that we will ever need;
Here we touch upon all knowledge,
beyond the constraints of belief and doubt,
this bright light in our heart essence,
All that we will ever need!
Here we have discovered a seed,
Call it Dharma!
that seed of Ultimate Truth,
that Enlightenment Mind,
that which is beyond our relative point of view,
call it Ultimate Reality,
even though we have not recognized what that is,
even though it does not make sense to our deluded mind,
even though we cannot see that
through the clutter and chaos
of an insane world,
a world remaining in pain, stupidity and angry dysfunction,
Walk away! Find peace in each moment;
A lunatic can’t help other lunatics by shouting loudly!
Find your own space to awaken!
Leave the cares of the world behind!
It is obvious that awakening is the only thing you can do!
You can never hope to help the world by remaining in delusion!
Discover reality, young seeker, stop seeking!
Choose now to awaken!
A poem by Robert Aho © 2025
When we are on the Spiritual Path, the whole point is to discover reality. Unfortunately, people have no idea what reality could possibly be, even though everyone will tell you that they know what that is. We all have an understanding of relative reality, which is anything we think, feel, believe, conceptualize or sense, something that our imagination supposes is real because it seems real from our unique point of view at the time that we perceive an appearance. Relative reality is always dependent upon ignorance and our own egotistical engagement, which is always judging whether something is good or bad, whether it is real or not, whether it agrees with our narrative and our wildly inadequate human perspective.
Dreams, in this case, are just as real as our daily life. Both seem real while we are engaged in our deluded view of just what is going on here. We have no idea that we are lying to ourselves when we engage in the fantasy of relative reality, because we work very hard to keep ourselves attached, grasping at what is not real, wishing and hoping that it must be real. We work very hard to keep ourselves from awakening.
Awakening means we remove all obscurations that have prevented us from knowing reality in a true way, without deluding ourselves. If we are simply interested in discovering new beliefs, then we’re really not on the Spiritual Path, which means doing absolutely nothing that will help us awaken. Awakening is really pretty simple. We could effortlessly do that any time we choose, except that we prevent ourselves at every twist and turn in our lives from taking that first step. Even people who have been on the Spiritual Path for many years or decades find ways to become distracted or step into traps that take us off the Spiritual Path.
Discovering reality is difficult for all sentient beings in this way. When I refer to reality in this way, I’m really talking about Ultimate Reality, which is beyond such things that constrain us, such as ignorance, judging, thinking, believing, conceptualizing, intellectualizing and ego.
With the aspiration to awaken, we decide to become fully committed to discovering reality; however, this discovery seems elusive as we examine just what that is. It seems to shift. It seems to fall apart, just when we think we know what that is. Perhaps this is why people cling to belief, rather than deciding that they must awaken. Sometimes people choose to gather a big mess of Spiritual Practices together, an assemblage of various philosophies and viewpoints, hoping that that might help in some way. Although receiving empowerments and transmissions can be extremely beneficial, having no rhyme or reason to our Spiritual Practices will only create more confusion. It’s better to keep things simple and manageable, keeping things solidly built upon the aspiration to awaken. If our Spiritual Practice starts to shake and shudder, it is time to rebuild it from the foundation up. Discovering Ultimate Reality requires great courage in this way.
If we are remaining in a state of confusion, which is exactly what we are doing when we have not yet decided to awaken, then we can never know if we are creating benefit for ourselves and others, or if we are causing extreme unending suffering. We must find some way to discover this elusive thing that we call reality.
Sometimes people think that doing battle with the world will help in some way. If you think this, try yelling at someone. What happens? Do they see the light and change their ways? Or, do they push back, tremble in fear or plot to overthrow your authority? Engaging and becoming embroiled will never lead to Ultimate Truth. It only creates more of the same chaos and confusion as before.
We must remain committed to awakening or there will be no hope whatsoever. The turmoil that causes suffering has been going on forever. It’s always been this way. If you look back in history, turmoil is the constant. We must become committed to awakening, then discover reality.
Blessings in Light,
Robert Aho