Saturday, August 22, 2015

Aimlessness

The followings are important messages from Thay in this video.

(Watch from 57:04 to 1:00:22)

So, to be there, to have mindfulness, and to be truly there, and to know what is happening in the present moment, is enlightenment. I am enlightened on the fact that I'm alive. I am enlightened on the fact that there is fresh air for me to breathe. (True self (non-separate self) can recognize what is going on in the present moment, but ego (separate self) can't recognize it because ego can't touch the reality as it is.) Enlightenment is always enlightenment of something. The fresh air is available. The mother earth is there as a wonder. My body is a wonder. Eternity is possible. Enlightenment is possible. Brotherhood, sisterhood is available. So, everything is available in the here and the now. That is aimlessness (apranihita). 

The other day, we talked about a wave, searching for water. It is silly for a wave to look for water. She is water already. If the wave does not know that she is water, she is scared. Going up, she is scared. Going down, she is scared. She is afraid of beginning, of ending, of being, of non-being, of being high, of being low. But the moment when she realizes that she is water, she loses all this kind of afflictions. And she doesn't have to go and look for water. She is water right in the here and the now. (A wave is liken to ego and water is liken to true self. True self knows that s/he is the same as everything else as the whole cosmos that will continue by changing forms. So, true self has no fear.)

So, with mindfulness and concentration, we don't need to go and look for anything, including the kingdom of God, including enlightenment. Because every in-breath can bring enlightenment. Every step can bring enlightenment, joy and peace and compassion. That is why you are already what you want to become. (Such every breath or every step is the action of true self. It is not the action of ego.) You don't have to become a Buddha. You are already a Buddha. When you breathe in, you know that you are breathing in. (When you recognize true self who is breathing in, you are already a Buddha.) Enlightenment is there. Enlightenment is awareness, is concentration. And Buddhahood is your nature. 

And it would be silly if you discriminate between you and the Buddha. (If you think that you are only an ordinary human and can't become an enlightened Buddha, you separate yourself from the Buddha. But the Buddha is already in you.) And the safest place to find the Buddha is (within) you. And that is the meaning of aimlessness (apranihita). And when you stop running, you have peace right away. (The person who is running is ego. Ego always keeps running day and night, aiming for happiness in the future. But happiness is available in the present moment.) And you have happiness right away. This is the wonderful door of liberation.

(Notes) The descriptions in the parenthesis are my commentaries.