This Journey

2024, March, Issue 90

Illumination

from within, from within

this corpse, this aging agitation

repugnance in motion festering as it ages, this body

this mind within this condition of physical mayhem impermanently disrupting its actual condition

falling apart as it takes one step into the future,

flooded by thoughts of this and of that thing

that is not true,

illumination happens all around,

and why do we miss it?

All this brightness in each moment is lost

to things that do not matter;

We look here, we look there, not finding,

not remembering what we were looking for,

not forgetting any thought which we never really had,

thinking thoughts are important, even though they served us

rarely;

Here we are

confused,

alone,

stupid,

dull,

angry,

not understanding any of it,

not

seeing,

not being aware

of this moment;

We miss it, this magnificent illumination, if

if we cannot see this moment

this moment, this moment, clearly

clearly happening;

We miss it, we miss it

altogether,

even

though

it

is

all.

A poem from, Timeless Luminosity, pp. 144-145, © 2020.

On a bright sunny day, with just enough wind to stir things a little bit, sit on the shore of a body of water, simply observing.  Pay attention to the way the light sparkles on the water.  Observe this Dharma.  Can you see the shape of each glittering appearance before it disappears forever?

In each moment, the light changes.  Pay attention to now.  Watch the light play and remain present in now.  This is your journey to awakening right here.  You don’t need to see something else.  You don’t need to travel or climb a mountain, looking here or there after a great struggle.  You don’t need to visit temples, or seek sacred palaces, or discover profound mystical texts.

See how you are not different from that appearance glimmering on the water.  See how you are able to move from moment to moment, changing completely, yet remaining the same.  This is your journey, your Spiritual Path. 

We trick ourselves into thinking that we are separate, or special, or different, or that a Spiritual Path is about changing who we really are, or finding something that has more meaning than what has habituated our ignorant perceptions of this life.  When we do that, we are cultivating the exact same ignorance that has bound us to this dark dull realm of existence, not knowing who we really are.  We perpetuate suffering this way.

All of the various meditative techniques that we can apply are secondary to simply remaining present, remaining in the direct experience of our Real Nature.  If you can observe the changes all around you while remaining present in every moment, being fully aware of this condition of Timeless Luminosity that is our real condition, then there is really not anything to do at that point.  Your mind has entered the Nature of Mind through awareness itself.  Mind merges with the Nature of Mind.  It’s very simple.

Sometimes we make things too complicated.  We go to retreats, listening to this or that great master, or maybe we hop from one teacher to another, accumulating spiritual feathers in our caps that way, maybe so that we can impress others with that.  Maybe we learn a vast number of Spiritual Practices to apply to our meditation each day, or go through many rituals and mantras.  In reality, if we cannot simply remain present, then there is no point.  We should never allow Spiritual Practice to become a distraction.  It’s not like worldly endeavors.

The very simple Dharma that unfolds in nature is enough.  Your own mind contains vastly more profound wisdom than you will be able to discover in monasteries or libraries.  Even if you manage to read all the millions of Buddhist texts, the simplicity of a moment will be more beneficial than all of that clutter you may discover on your journey.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t read texts or seek teachings from masters.  What I am saying is that you need to acknowledge your own innate wisdom.  Your own intuition, or Buddha Nature, will help you more than anything you might encounter in your Spiritual Journey.  Realized beings have revealed this to us, and we should simply pay attention to that profound teaching.

Awakening itself springs from each moment.  Everything all at once springs from enlightened awareness.  Even darkness and confusion have their origins in the infinite potentiality of each moment.  We are living with infinite potentiality, as infinite potentiality.  This becomes more apparent as your heart and mind open.

Please do not become complacent with your Spiritual Journey.  This journey, though you will not need to move from this spot, contains awakening, it contains infinite potentiality.  Can you discover that your own primordial wisdom is ready for you to tap, right now?  If you have generated Bodhicitta, this will be apparent.

I returned from death to help all beings awaken.  It is certainly possible for everyone.  Your own awakening starts with the very compassionate aspiration to meet your own enlightened mind.  If you start by gazing at mind, you will become familiar with who you are, this being that you completely forgot had ever been. 

Start with that seed of enlightened mind, then see what you discover.

Blessings in Light,               

Robert Aho