Bodhi☯️ on Nostr: From a friend: Perfect Wisdom and The Vehicle to Enlightenment The Buddha says that ...

From a friend:

Perfect Wisdom and The Vehicle to Enlightenment

The Buddha says that enlightenment is an understanding of the present moment. If everything in life is transitioning, that which is pure unalterable truth is that the here and now always IS. If one were to try to describe and define it in names and terms, ONE would ultimately fall short. Why is this? Because the here and now quite simply is the source of all names and terms. How then can something which is the leaves of the tree then ever be its defining roots?

All that IS always exists NOW. This is always undeniably so. For that reason, if one were to try and define any one aspect of reality, one would always fall short. Why is this so? Because anything in existence exists in this NOW. As a consequence, such as this is, it too is an embodiment of the here and now. We as well as all fundamental phenomena in existence are just the here and now playing with itself experiencing itself.

Those who understand the now are styled as Buddhas. One of the ten titles of the Buddha is Tathagata. This is translated as thus come one or abiding one. It is to implore that a Buddha is one that has fully understood that their original nature ever abides in this one moment.

Just like the present moment our enlightened nature and by extension the enlightened nature of all things ever IS. It is always there right in front of us. Though for those of us that are not aware of it, we are styled as blocked from awakening. Enlightenment or rather enlightened nature is not something one can lose and likewise not something one can take. Why? Because enlightenment is just this NOW. It is always there. The notions of taking or giving are just aspects of it. Trying to catch it then is like trying to catch empty space. One can imagine doing so but in truth it cannot be done.

What is the reason for beings to be unenlightened and for suffering to exist?

The Buddha explains that life is suffering. The present moment is ever undeniably changing and transitioning. As a consequence, there is no way to avoid moments of happiness and moments of sadness. “There is no suffering and there is no end to suffering. There is no ignorance and no end to ignorance.” Suffering will always be there; however, the Buddha styles the cycle of conditional suffering as for those who suffer being attached to the states of mind and, being so, are led astray from the original truth that the here in now is what’s truly ultimately real.

Conditioned suffering in Buddhism is explained as originating from craving attachments. Due to these attachments beings associate what is real with their states of mind and not with the here and now. The result is cycling life after life chasing after what is originally always there right in front of you. A person who has attained enlightenment will not cease to suffer, however they will always be fundamentally aware that their true home is always with them in this here and now. Such people are a refuge to themselves as well as all beings.

One may ask: How does one find enlightenment if they do not understand enlightenment? The answer is a simple one. The original enlightened masters are as those who built great ships to ferry us across to the other shore solely by our own efforts and practices. For those of us that practice the proper spiritual paths, in time we will awaken to an awareness of what unreal attachments we were holding onto we were not originally aware of. At such times beings naturally make practice abandoning a truth which was partial for a more complete one. The notion of the vehicle to enlightenment is sometimes explained as a raft used to cross a stream of suffering. Even after the stream is crossed the raft too is a burden and must be abandoned.

What is the nature of true understanding? True understanding embraces the here and now. Anything that has its basis on assumptions, mental states of mind or any other form of conditioned attachments is imagined or illusory understanding. All that is based on illusory notions that do not embody the here and now are impermanent and subject to change and transition, ending and beginning. How then can they ever be the root of true understanding? A mastery of any one trait skill attainment or understanding then can never ever truly be one which is masterful if it is based on such conditioned cravingly attached notions to a mental state, disposition, opinion or notion.

The Buddha in the Diamond sutra offers the Gatha for contemplating illusory causes and conditions. For those who are aware that craving attachments are unreal, such people are as those who have a light that illuminates the unreal from the real. For those who do not, they are stuck mired in the darkness not knowing how to distinguish the good from the bad.

The four line Gatha in the Diamond Sutra:

All conditioned Dharmas
Are like Dreams, Illusions, Bubbles of Shadows;
Like Drops of Dew or Flashes of Lighting;
Thus Should they be Contemplated

One more and awareness of our original nature is a priceless gift. It is understanding that is timeless beyond all change, not subject even to the notions of ending, beginning or conditional value. This is as a priceless truth one cannot ever quantify. When one knows it, it will forever be with oneself. It is as merit equivalent to packing all of empty space with jewels from moment to moment.

Anyway, Thank You