You are already enlightened. All you’ve got to do is stop blocking yourself and get serious about attending to what’s going on. You are not lacking a thing. You only need to stop blocking or interpreting your vision.
pg. 21, Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steve Hagen
When you really wake up, what appeared to be real before is now recognized as the idle dream that it is. Then it is forgotten, or at least rendered meaningless. There are dreams you had last night that you can’t remember. Your present lifetime and all of the others will disappear, and when everyone reaches the same state of enlightenment, the universe will disappear – leaving God’s Universe of Heaven. Pg. 263, The Disappearance of the Universe
One day, soon after the Buddha’s enlightenment, a man saw the Buddha walking toward him. The man had not heard of the Buddha, but he could see that there was something different about the man who was approaching, so he was moved to ask, “Are you a god?”
The Buddha answered, “No.”
“You’re a magician, then? A sorcerer? A wizard?”
“No.”
“Are you some kind of celestial being? An angel, perhaps?”
Again the Buddha said, “No.”
“Well, then, what are you?”
The Buddha replied, “I am awake.”
The Buddha never considered himself to be something other than a human being – only someone who was fully awake. He never claimed to be a god, or to be inspired by God, or to have access to any occult or supernatural power. He attributed his realization and understanding solely to human endeavor and human ability.
We call Gautama “the Buddha”, but many other buddhas, many other awakened human beings, exist, and have existed. And every buddha – past, present, and future – is a human being, not a god.
Buddha is not someone you pray to, or try to get something from. Nor is a buddha someone you bow down to. A buddha is simply a person who is awake – nothing more or less.
Pg. 7, Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steve Hagen
When you really wake up, what appeared to be real before is now recognized as the idle dream that it is. Then it is forgotten, or at least rendered meaningless. There are dreams you had last night that you can’t remember. Your present lifetime and all of the others will disappear, and when everyone reaches the same state of enlightenment, the universe will disappear – leaving God’s Universe of Heaven. Pg. 263, The Disappearance of the Universe
One day, soon after the Buddha’s enlightenment, a man saw the Buddha walking toward him. The man had not heard of the Buddha, but he could see that there was something different about the man who was approaching, so he was moved to ask, “Are you a god?”
The Buddha answered, “No.”
“You’re a magician, then? A sorcerer? A wizard?”
“No.”
“Are you some kind of celestial being? An angel, perhaps?”
Again the Buddha said, “No.”
“Well, then, what are you?”
The Buddha replied, “I am awake.”
The Buddha never considered himself to be something other than a human being – only someone who was fully awake. He never claimed to be a god, or to be inspired by God, or to have access to any occult or supernatural power. He attributed his realization and understanding solely to human endeavor and human ability.
We call Gautama “the Buddha”, but many other buddhas, many other awakened human beings, exist, and have existed. And every buddha – past, present, and future – is a human being, not a god.
Buddha is not someone you pray to, or try to get something from. Nor is a buddha someone you bow down to. A buddha is simply a person who is awake – nothing more or less.
Pg. 7, Buddhism Plain and Simple, Steve Hagen
Many people are attracted to Buddhism and A Course in Miracles to feel peaceful, or happy, or to relieve stress, or to deal with the world. There are many people who will use Buddhism and A Course in Miracles in a 100% secular way, and not think themselves as spiritual or religious in any way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It matters not how the practitioner defines him or herself, as long as he or she keeps practicing principles in line with the Course or Buddhism.
However, it must also be emphasized that Buddhism and A Course in Miracles are, ultimately, paths to enlightenment.Before I get beaten with a nondual stick, eg. “You just contradicted yourself, because you said that we are all already enlightened, if duality is an illusion, then enlightenment doesn’t exist!”, please read what I have to say on the topic of enlightenment in this article: Enlightenment and Paradox.
For most purposes, although saying ‘there is a path to enlightenment, this is how to do it’ versus ‘you are already enlightened!’ is less true, it is often more helpful, for the reason that most of us are still firmly entrenched in the belief that the illusion is real.
Speaking of enlightenment (or salvation / nirvana / awakening / Christ-identification / Buddha-identification / <add your favourite synonym here>), it is undoubtedly necessary to reference our two principle protagonists: Siddhartha Gautama and Jesus of Nazareth.
The Disappearance of the Universe says something interesting about Siddhartha’s enlightenment, which might come as a surprise to many Buddhists:
The concept of oneness is hardly an original one. However, the question few people ever ask is: What am I really one with? Although most of those who ask this question would say the answer is God, they then make the error of assuming they and this universe were created in their present form by the Divine. That is not true, and it leaves the seeker in a position where even if he masters the mind, as Buddha certainly did, he will still not reach God in a permanent way. Yes, he will achieve oneness with the mind that made the duality waves. The mind, in a non-place that transcends all of your dimensions, is completely outside the system of time, space, and form. This is the logical and proper extension of non-duality, yet it is still not God. It is, in fact, a dead end. Or better yet, a dead beginning. This explains why Buddhism, which is obviously the world’s most psychologically sophisticated religion, does not handle the issue of God. It’s because Buddha didn’t handle the issue of God while he was still in the body you call Buddha. It’s also the reason we’ll be making distinctions between non-dualism and pure non-dualism. When Buddha said, “I am awake,” he meant he realized that he was not actually a participant in the illusion, but the maker of the entire illusion.
Still, there is another step required, where the mind that is the maker of the illusion chooses completely against itself in favor of God. Of course someone of Buddha’s tremendous accomplishment had a snap of it, quickly going on to the exact same awareness as J. But this was done by Buddha in a lifetime the world doesn’t even know about. It’s not unheard of for people to achieve J’s level of enlightenment in obscurity, and for the world to think they achieved it in a more famous lifetime when they really didn’t. Most people who approach true spiritual mastery are not interested in being leaders. At the same time, there are people who are highly visible when, rather than being true masters of spirituality and metaphysics, they are merely exhibiting the symptoms of an extroverted personality.
The Disappearance of the Universe, Pg. 33
Personally speaking, I have no verifiable way of knowing if this is true, and neither is it something I am overly concerned with. If we are driving from London to Manchester, there is little point quibbling over which street in Manchester we want to arrive at, when most of us haven’t even left London yet!
However, when I read that passage, it rang true and made complete sense to me. It explained perfectly why Buddhism, as sophisticated a path as it is, always seemed to me like it was missing something. That something, as Pursah says, is God. I would go further to say that it is importance of the memory of God – the Holy Spirit – as is stressed repeatedly in A Course in Miracles, that makes the Course a ‘quicker’ path than Buddhism. Through working with the Holy Spirit: listening to his guidance, giving one’s perceived problems to him, and trusting in him, one saves much time in the Atonement process. Although a parallel arguably exists in Buddhism – the Dhamma – this aspect of reaching out to a higher force is certainly less emphasized in Buddhism than in A Course in Miracles.
T-18.VII.4. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy.
Conclusion
This has been one of the longest articles I have written, and certainly one of the most challenging. Throughout the article, I have been forced to study both the Course and Buddhism more intensely, and I am grateful for needing to think about aspects of both systems more carefully.
There are many opinions throughout this article which are of my own, and I have no doubt that there are many who have different opinions. I am only too happy to hear and to learn from you – I am a student as much as anybody else.
However, if there is one thing I have learned on this path – is that I should not be afraid to speak my Truth, based on my experience, regardless of what anybody else thinks. The impetus for this website and writing is from Spirit – I am merely fulfilling my role in the Atonement process.
I think A Course in Miracles and Buddhism are both spiritual paths which are tremendously effective. I also believe that it is no coincidence that there are many similarities between them. Both paths have been close to my heart and have been great help to me, and I hope to see in my lifetime that A Course in Miracles brings inner peace to as many people as Buddhism has.
Namaste
Ken
August 2011
Back: A Course in Miracles & Buddhism – Part 7: Forgiveness, kindness and unconditional love
Back to ACIM & Buddhism: Introduction and Table of Contents.RESEARCH BUDDHIST DHARMA BY BACH LIEN HOA.( TAM THANH ).NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).9/2/2012.
The Disappearance of the Universe says something interesting about Siddhartha’s enlightenment, which might come as a surprise to many Buddhists:
The concept of oneness is hardly an original one. However, the question few people ever ask is: What am I really one with? Although most of those who ask this question would say the answer is God, they then make the error of assuming they and this universe were created in their present form by the Divine. That is not true, and it leaves the seeker in a position where even if he masters the mind, as Buddha certainly did, he will still not reach God in a permanent way. Yes, he will achieve oneness with the mind that made the duality waves. The mind, in a non-place that transcends all of your dimensions, is completely outside the system of time, space, and form. This is the logical and proper extension of non-duality, yet it is still not God. It is, in fact, a dead end. Or better yet, a dead beginning. This explains why Buddhism, which is obviously the world’s most psychologically sophisticated religion, does not handle the issue of God. It’s because Buddha didn’t handle the issue of God while he was still in the body you call Buddha. It’s also the reason we’ll be making distinctions between non-dualism and pure non-dualism. When Buddha said, “I am awake,” he meant he realized that he was not actually a participant in the illusion, but the maker of the entire illusion.
Still, there is another step required, where the mind that is the maker of the illusion chooses completely against itself in favor of God. Of course someone of Buddha’s tremendous accomplishment had a snap of it, quickly going on to the exact same awareness as J. But this was done by Buddha in a lifetime the world doesn’t even know about. It’s not unheard of for people to achieve J’s level of enlightenment in obscurity, and for the world to think they achieved it in a more famous lifetime when they really didn’t. Most people who approach true spiritual mastery are not interested in being leaders. At the same time, there are people who are highly visible when, rather than being true masters of spirituality and metaphysics, they are merely exhibiting the symptoms of an extroverted personality.
The Disappearance of the Universe, Pg. 33
Personally speaking, I have no verifiable way of knowing if this is true, and neither is it something I am overly concerned with. If we are driving from London to Manchester, there is little point quibbling over which street in Manchester we want to arrive at, when most of us haven’t even left London yet!
However, when I read that passage, it rang true and made complete sense to me. It explained perfectly why Buddhism, as sophisticated a path as it is, always seemed to me like it was missing something. That something, as Pursah says, is God. I would go further to say that it is importance of the memory of God – the Holy Spirit – as is stressed repeatedly in A Course in Miracles, that makes the Course a ‘quicker’ path than Buddhism. Through working with the Holy Spirit: listening to his guidance, giving one’s perceived problems to him, and trusting in him, one saves much time in the Atonement process. Although a parallel arguably exists in Buddhism – the Dhamma – this aspect of reaching out to a higher force is certainly less emphasized in Buddhism than in A Course in Miracles.
T-18.VII.4. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy.
Conclusion
This has been one of the longest articles I have written, and certainly one of the most challenging. Throughout the article, I have been forced to study both the Course and Buddhism more intensely, and I am grateful for needing to think about aspects of both systems more carefully.
There are many opinions throughout this article which are of my own, and I have no doubt that there are many who have different opinions. I am only too happy to hear and to learn from you – I am a student as much as anybody else.
However, if there is one thing I have learned on this path – is that I should not be afraid to speak my Truth, based on my experience, regardless of what anybody else thinks. The impetus for this website and writing is from Spirit – I am merely fulfilling my role in the Atonement process.
I think A Course in Miracles and Buddhism are both spiritual paths which are tremendously effective. I also believe that it is no coincidence that there are many similarities between them. Both paths have been close to my heart and have been great help to me, and I hope to see in my lifetime that A Course in Miracles brings inner peace to as many people as Buddhism has.
Namaste
Ken
August 2011
Back: A Course in Miracles & Buddhism – Part 7: Forgiveness, kindness and unconditional love
Back to ACIM & Buddhism: Introduction and Table of Contents.RESEARCH BUDDHIST DHARMA BY BACH LIEN HOA.( TAM THANH ).NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).9/2/2012.
A Course in Miracles
ReplyDeleteA
Course in Miracles by David Hoffmeister communicates that everybody is God's holy child. We are all equal. Even Jesus is our equal. A course in miracles message is that the physical world we seem to be in was not created by God, but is a delusion of our own making.