What exactly is Enlightenment?

[FilipinoTianXian]

Before a person knows exactly what is a full unsurpassed enlightenment, he has to first achieve what is called the initial enlightenment. Initial enlightenment is what is called the path seeing. It is when a person sees the bodhi mind. When a person achieves it he is a Bodhisattva on first Bhumi. I posted a method for all sentient beings to be able to achieve it but unluckily it did not pass the screenings of the moderators. It is a very high level stuff after all as it tackles the mind as a house where all the parts of the house are examined and compared with the mind. When all are finished, the enlightened mind can be seen. It is very rare for people to have knowledge of the inner workings of the mind, that is why even though the post is pure Mahayana, it did not pass. Now, when it comes to actually knowing if a person achieves the bodhi mind/ mind ground / rigpa or not is very delicate. Normally,it needs the guidance of a genuine master. It is very rare nowadays for a person to actually attain it himself, unless he be a person who constantly looks at his mind and examines it together with the teachings of a Buddha. And it may take years of hard work. But I assure you that if a person attains the path of seeing perfectly, he can teach it to others.

Master Tian Xian, also called Master Son of Sun Buddha.
Bodhisattva on First Bhumi.

[ECS]

Perhaps as one awaken to Buddhism , he no longer hold on to the mind , he realize he is the mind and the mind is constantly travelling in a natural process of Buddhism . As he awaken to this , he realize that holding on to mind is suffering and all emotion will naturally / gradually forgotten.

So in my current mind , " Enlightenment' is a condition of mind being less attached or being less hold on to emotion "

[White Lotus]

mind is this. this is always enlightened, but not recognised just as it is.

[White Lotus]

mind is this. this is always enlightened, but not recognised just as it is.

[Natan]

Hi all,

I have been wondering for quite some time what exactly Englihtenment is? Is it just the cessation of the Ego or rediscovering that there really was no Ego to start with? Do Enlightened beings never feel anger, hatred, or attachment and such or have they now been able to not let emotions affect them as we ordinary beings do?
When I've asked masters how one can help others when one has achieved Enlightenment, no one really gave me a clear explanation. I've been told "well when you get there then you'll know..." Or "you can help in any way..."
Any explanation would help....Thanks!

A Buddha means one who has stopped falling into emotions by seeing impermanence and emptiness, etc. They help beings by unleashing an unbiased compassion that reacts automatically to the needs of beings using the five wisdoms and the four activities of a Buddha.

[Kim]

Hi all,

I have been wondering for quite some time what exactly Englihtenment is? Is it just the cessation of the Ego or rediscovering that there really was no Ego to start with? Do Enlightened beings never feel anger, hatred, or attachment and such or have they now been able to not let emotions affect them as we ordinary beings do?
When I've asked masters how one can help others when one has achieved Enlightenment, no one really gave me a clear explanation. I've been told "well when you get there then you'll know..." Or "you can help in any way..."
Any explanation would help....Thanks!

It is not so easy to give a precise and pragmatic answer to this question. The answer depends greatly on who is asking it.

Recently in another thread it was mentioned that many times it is said that one can recognise buddha nature (rigpa) in the space between thoughts. To give an answer to a beginner, for sure, a beginner finds a relief to his scattered state of mind by making notice of the thoughtless awareness. One has to get insights (vipashyana), one way or the other, about the empty nature of our thought/self-based mind to realise that mind phenomena aren't actually a problem. With these insights you see through the self, "me" or "I" and all the thoughts and emotions it becomes identified with. It is a turning point to get to a stage when thoughts are always nominal. Just thoughts without any power to create confusion.

But thoughtless awareness is not our buddha nature (rigpa) because biased mind goes deeper than the superficial mind made of thoughts and emotions. Thoughtless awareness is still subtly obstructed by a heavy cloak of subtle ignorance. There is substrate consicousness (alaya vijnana) which is not so easy to differentiate of free awareness (rigpa). I think it is quite difficult to really understand this point until one gets to the above mentioned stage of selflessness of thought and emotion. Many people simply get stuck here because the usual thought-stuff is no longer a problem.

So, our enlightened nature is buddha nature. What an idiotic sentence, isn't it? Such a sentence has never helped a person without familiarisation. That is a pity. How to recognise free awareness (rigpa) and be sure that it is what you really are recognising or have recognised? Terms like "enlightenment" or "buddha nature" or "rigpa", leave beginners cold. And if no one explains in clear language and demonstrates in practice what it is and what the terms point to, one can actully become bound and stuck by these terms. I think this is pretty common.

So... Not so easy question to answer. The answer depends on the capacity of the questioner. To a person who has zero familiarisation, I'd answer:

Buddhahood means being clear minded and unceasingly loving at all situations, even when raising voice. To be enlightened means never being narrow minded, self-biased or confused.

And before anyone asks if I am talking of my own experience, I certainly am not.

[Tao]

>But thoughtless awareness is not our buddha nature (rigpa) because biased mind goes deeper than the superficial mind made of thoughts and emotions. Thoughtless awareness is still subtly obstructed by a heavy cloak of subtle ignorance. There is substrate consicousness (alaya vijnana) which is not so easy to differentiate of free awareness (rigpa). I think it is quite difficult to really understand this point until one gets to the above mentioned stage of selflessness of thought and emotion. Many people simply get stuck here because the usual thought-stuff is no longer a problem.

Very well expressed for not being your experience...

Usually we attain first somekind of thoughtless awareness. This is what "neo masters" (neoadvaita, mindfulness masters...) call the witness and yes, it's still a "self" looking silently and believing in him-self as existing. So it's still quite of ignorance at work. A pity many people mistaken this as somekind of liberation when it's fully embodied and stops.

But through later observation and release of attachment to content, no-center awareness may arise. I cannot know if it's rigpa as stated in dzogchen. At that point no subject for the emotions can be found so they become quite spontaneous and they dont last in time.

If one keeps abiding in this no-center awareness it starts to reveal somekind of no-context mind, a mind that works without apparent context at all. Everything arises out of sunyata. Dont know if this is what some teachings call "spontaneous presence", it's like an empty blissful presence acting out of nowhere.

[florin]

To be enlightened means never being narrow minded, self-biased or confused.

I've been told that confusion is a manifestation of the ever present enlightenment.

[Tao]

>I've been told that confusion is a manifestation of the ever present enlightenment.

Not-knowing is different from confusion...