Episode 16 - The Form of the Formless

 

          I entered college in the fall of 1967 as a pre-law student at American University in Washington DC. Then, as a junior in its School of Government and Public Administration, I was admitted to an honors program that placed me in the office of a US Congressman on Capitol Hill, where I served as a full-time intern three days each week. It was a great opportunity to get an up-close and personal view of what has come to be known as “the sausage factory.”

          But the 4-month experience didn’t further my proposed career path. Quite the contrary. Once the glitz of being on the Hill wore off, the whole thing was pretty disappointing. The halls of congress just seemed like a giant breeding ground for the burgeoning egos of ambitions politicians, who seemed ready, willing and able to do anything and everything they could, just to get ahead.

          So, I changed my major to Literature. It seemed that the written word was a much more effective vehicle for exploring and influencing the human mind which, I had come believe, was the root of all our personal as well as societal problems.

          But you have to take all this within the context of its times. The sixties had just turned into the seventies, the personal growth movement was in its early stages, and I had gotten a good whiff of it, along with whatever else was blowing in the wind.   

          Before I knew it, my little spark of interest in the higher understandings of human consciousness exploded into a wildfire and I started studying everything I could get my hands on. As soon as I looked into Eastern Philosophy, I quickly came upon the idea of inner enlightenment.  

          Now, as odd as it may sound, the concept was completely new to me. The idea was that you could actually have a direct experience of God, infinite consciousness, the Indwelling Divine Presence, or whatever else you might want to call it. And this higher awareness would elevate your being and transform your entire life.

          All of the prior religious ideas I had been exposed to seemed more related to externals, with the main focus being on getting to Heaven and avoiding Hell. It seemed like if you followed a bunch of rules, the Big Guy’s Chief of Security would let you into the front gate at the end. But you hadn’t changed. You were still the same you. You had just run the gauntlet successfully and were about to reap some great rewards. 

          But this new idea about elevating your consciousness was a complete revelation to me. You didn’t have to die to get to heaven.  That’s actually what your life was for. And a whole new world was waiting if you just opened up to it. I guess I shouldn’t have been all that surprised. The Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues had all been singing about it for a few years.  

          Anyway, this enlightenment thing really had me going.  And at one point, a hippie, this total freak, avant-garde musician who lived across the street, gave me a small book about Buddha. With a quirky and bemused expression on his face that made him look like a cross between John Lennon and Arlo Guthrie, he also gave me some sage advice. “Hey man, if you’re into enlightenment, you gotta check out Buddha,” he said emphatically. “He’s the enlightenment guy!”

          That’s about as deep as things went in those days, at least in my world. I tried to give the book a read, but it was way over my head. To me, it could have been written in Greek.  So, I put it aside.

          But I never get rid of books that have anything to do with personal growth and I revisit them from time to time. So, I kept the book and opened it every now and then. But it would be another twenty-five years filled with life lessons before the stuff started making any sense to me. 

          The book describes several short meetings between Buddha and different seekers. It’s broken down into brief chapters and the first one is about enlightenment. Although the passages are brief, they’re power packed. And even though I’m still in the early stage of beginning to grasp their meaning, I find that just hearing about the enlightened state does me a lot of good. If you give them a chance, maybe something positive can happen for you as well.  

          As an aside, I’m by no means a Buddhist. But then, neither was Buddha. Same thing with Jesus. Jesus wasn’t a Christian. Krishna wasn’t a Hindu and Mohammed wasn’t Muslim.  All of that came later. These were the masters and the people who came after them, the ones who shaped the religions, were all followers or disciples. And as every authority on the master-disciple relationship will tell you, there is a vast difference between a true master and a disciple.  

          So here is a quick overview of the discussion between Buddha and some seekers of enlightenment. For what it may be worth, I’ve taken the liberty of adding a few personal comments here and there.

          In case you’re not aware of it, Buddha was a traveling teacher who lived in India over 2,500 years ago.  In this meeting, he was seated under a tree near a river, with a small group of about 10 people.

          By most accounts, Buddha was quite an impressive figure to meet in person. He had a powerful presence of peace and wisdom about him, but it was also mixed with a noticeably cheerful joy, like he was tapped into the actual source of happiness. Or something like that.   

          “Are you an angel?” one seeker asked him.

          “No, I’m not an angel,” Buddha replied.

          “A spirit, then?”

          “No, indeed,” said Buddha.

          “Are you a god?” the seeker wondered.

          “No, I’m not a god,” Buddha answered.

          “What are you then?”

          “I am awake,” Buddha said simply.

          Someone in the group then asked Buddha how he became enlightened.

          “I know what should be known,” he answered.  “What should be cultivated, I have nurtured.  What should be abandoned I have let go.  In this way, O my friend, I am awake.”

          Now, this idea of being awake has always been a bit of an enigma for me. Aren’t I awake? I mean I’m not in my bed sleeping and having a dream. I’m up and about, living my normal waking life, involved with its endless processions of this and that. What does he mean, he’s awake? What’s the big deal?

          In this regard, Buddha told them that there is an enlightened state of being, an elevated level of consciousness and next to it, our ordinary life, which is filled with its never-ending stream of thoughts, is but a passing dream. And this enlightened state is beyond the ordinary mind’s ability to comprehend. You can’t get there by thoughts, concepts and ideas. It’s beyond all that.  

          Someone then asked him, “You talk about reaching the unreachable and attaining the unattainable. Is that so? And if it’s beyond thinking, can it still be done?”

          “Yes, it is exactly so,” Buddha replied. “And why is perfect wisdom beyond thinking? One factor is the disappearance of the self-conscious person into pure presence.  Another is the knowing of the essence of all things. And another is the luminous knowledge that knows without a knower. But basically, it is the simple awakening to reality.  

          “None of these understandings can be grasped by ordinary thought because they’re not objects or subjects. They can’t be imagined or touched or approached in any way by any ordinary mode of consciousness. Therefore, they are beyond thinking.”

          He was then asked about the nature of the enlightened state.

          “Just as space reaches everywhere, without discrimination, just so, the essential nature of mind is present in all,” he replied. “The mighty ocean has but one taste, the taste of salt.  Similarly, the true way has but one savor, the savor of freedom.”

          Someone asked about how to approach this higher state of awareness.

          “Overcome your uncertainties and free yourself from dwelling on sorrow.  Delight in existence,” he responded. “For those who are ready, the door to the deathless state is open. You that have ears, give up the conditions that bind you and enter in. But you must do the work yourself, for buddhas only teach the way.”

          “Is an ordinary person capable of enlightenment?” someone asked.

          “What I call a self is essentially not a self in the way that an ordinary person thinks of it. But neither do I think of anyone as an ordinary person,” he answered.            “But I declare that the overcoming of clinging to the impurities of the world is possible for a person who knows and sees. But not for a person who does not know or see.”

           “In the person who knows and sees, the dustless and stainless Eye of Truth arises.  Seeing the truth, he sees things as they are.  Seeing the truth, the eye is born, knowledge is born, wisdom is born, science is born, and light is born.

          “Like entrusting yourself to a brave man when greatly afraid, by entrusting yourself to the awakening mind, you will be swiftly liberated, even if you have made appalling errors.”

          I have to admit that I’ve always loved this particular part. When it comes to making appalling errors, I’m a pretty heavy hitter. And one of the hardest parts about making a big mistake is that you don’t know you’re making it when actually you’re making it. You don’t find that out until later, sometimes much later and sometimes too late.

          But even so, according to the Enlightenment Guy, by entrusting yourself to the awakening mind, “you will be swiftly liberated, even if you have made appalling errors.” And in my understanding, that means you don’t have to be fully awake to be able to trust it. You can trust it even if you’re just awakening. That’s a real ray of hope for the seemingly hopeless.  

          Then Buddha went on to urge them to seek freedom because the thirst for inner freedom will open the way to the enlightened mind.

          “If you really want freedom, happiness will arise,” he explained.  “From happiness will arise tranquility. And when you are tranquil, you will know bliss. Because you are blissful, your mind will concentrate easily. Being concentrated, you will see things as they really are. In so seeing you will become aware that life is a miracle. And being so aware, you will lose all your attachments.  As you cease your grasping, you will be freed.

          “There is freedom from desire and sorrow at the end of the way,” he continued. “The awakened one is free from all fetters and goes beyond life and death.  Like a swan that rises from the lake, with his thoughts at peace, he moves onward, never looking back. 

          “The one who understands the unreality of all things, and has laid up no store – that one’s track is unseen, as of birds in the air. Wanting nothing, storing nothing, like a bird in flight, he takes an invisible course, returning to the form of the formless.”

          Then he went on to speak a little about the goal of the path, which is to enter a state known as “nirvana,” which is an intriguing term which literally means “blown out.” The idea is that we have these raging fires within - anger, greed, lust for power, envy, pride, self-centered ego and all the other inner blow torches that can turn life into a living hell.

          But nirvana refers to the inner state where all these fires are blown out. And once we’re in that blown-out state, we naturally flow into the higher levels of enlightened happiness. And in that regard, here is the way Buddha ended his teaching for the day.

          “By watching keenly and working hard, the wise one may build himself an island which no flood can sweep away.  The thoughtless man does not care, but the attentive man looks on wakefulness as his greatest treasure. 

          “Awaken and rejoice in watchfulness. Understand the wisdom of the enlightened.  Meditate, and in your wisdom realize nirvana, the highest happiness.

          “The nature of the absolute is total enlightenment,” he concluded.  “It is beyond name and form, and beyond the world and all its living beings.  Ignorance creates an illusion of birth and death but when ignorance is dispelled, the supreme and shining absolute is there. Then suffering is changed into insight and death is transmuted into nirvana.”

          Well, as I said earlier, there’s quite a lot to digest here.

          Personally, even though I’ve been exploring the growth of human awareness and enjoying mediation for over fifty years, I still feel like I’m just starting to scratch the surface. But even if I’m as far away from it as a shadow is from the sun, just hearing about enlightenment from people who seem to know what they’re talking about, expands my horizons and makes me feel inspired. And supposedly, in the inner world, what you feel is what you get.

          So, that’s it for this episode. As always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened, and let’s get together again in the next one.