Many writings and forms of literature throughout history have been done on the Buddha’s enlightenment, giving many varying perspectives on it all. But the historical Buddha is dead. The historical Buddha is quite dry and boring. Enlightenment is not special, you are already enlightened! In a theological, ideological, or philosophical point of view on enlightenment, the perspectives become quite uninteresting. The Buddha is already inside of you. The Buddha’s teachings point to a very direct experiencing of life. Not a story about your life, but the playing out of it. Thinking about enlightenment, Nirvana, kensho, satori will not get anyone anywhere. Thinking is all in your head. What are you doing-at this precise moment-is all the Buddha has ever taught us. Enlightenment is, “Who am I-what am I doing?” Zen has always posed those questions in it’s practice, “Who am I-what am I doing?” Understanding this means cultivating a rich sense of mindfulness. Without mindful action, you are headed straight into disaster at every turn. You are going 120 mph on a 20 mph pedestrian roadway towards suffering. But we have some good teachings out there to help us learn how to use the breaks a bit, to relax a litotes, to understand what all of this means. the Buddha has always given human beings a very concrete hands on approach towards life. It is up to each one of us to wake up and decide whether or not we want it. Shakyamuni Buddha was born into the lap of luxury. Brought up into a very rich family, he had the possibility of one day even being king. He had everything. But inside, he felt something was missing. he understood that on the outside he appeared to have everything anyone could ever ask for. But inside, he really had nothing at all. He had a choice at this point. He could stay at the palace in and live a life of comfort, where all of his external needs would always be met. Or, he could leave all of that behind, and answer the great questions on life and death-of the suffering of all beings. So one day the Buddha began doubting his seemingly good situation that gave the appearance that all was well from the outside. For the first time in his entire life he saw the suffering of this world. A dead person, an elderly person, and a sick person. Upon seeing the suffering of these people, and of those around them, he decided to leave the comfort of palace life and left the kingdom. He left with a lot of questions, “What is a human being? Why is there so much suffering?” This line of questioning became the only thing he cared about in life. All he wanted was to find the answers to these great questions. This is a good example of what we should be doing in our own practice. Externally on the surface everything may seem to be absolutely great. Our life seems normal perhaps. But inside there are a lot of great doubts, a lot of fear, anger, and frustration. This is how the Buddha’s enlightenment connects to each one of us, in this very moment. He searched for a very long time for the answers to those questions, “what is suffering, who am I?” then one day while sitting beneath the bodhi tree, upon viewing the morning star it cam to him-he attained enlightenment. Enlightenment is not the end to the questions, it is not the place a human being has “arrived.” It is actually the starting point, the beginning of many, many awakenings a human being will experience on their road of discovery. Enlightenment means attaining the truth, “what is suffering, who am I?” “What am I doing?”, means what is the direction of this truth, what is this truth’s function? So understanding Zen, the Buddha’s teachings, is simply the starting point. How these teachings work in our everyday life is the true role they play for us. These questions on our life, on our being, our relationship to all things point directly at us. Spanning from the Buddha’s time, directly to this moment you and I are both in. Who am I? What is suffering? How do I help all beings?
