MooNiNite Posted May 28, 2014 Accept being normal until becoming enlightened. or live a spiritual life while searching for enlightenment Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MooNiNite Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) . Edited May 28, 2014 by MooNiNite Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
子泰 Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) or pure land (✿◠‿◠) Edited May 28, 2014 by dazed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
idiot_stimpy Posted May 28, 2014 Accept being normal until becoming enlightened. or live a spiritual life while searching for enlightenment Searching for and becoming is an illusion. A mind created story that is just a fiction. When you drop all the story, what is left. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seeker of Wisdom Posted May 28, 2014 Accept being normal until becoming enlightened. You have to cultivate, or the same habitual patterns and delusions just keep spinning round. But... live a spiritual life while searching for enlightenment Is there really a difference between 'spiritual' and 'mundane'? What is there to find? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jetsun Posted May 28, 2014 Accept being normal until becoming enlightened. or live a spiritual life while searching for enlightenment Probably somewhere between the two Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted May 28, 2014 Accept being normal until becoming enlightened. or live a spiritual life while searching for enlightenment Get to know your fears, resentments, jealousies Make amends to those you have wronged. No enlightenment without the inner journey. This is the most spiritual life I can imagine. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) Live a normal life plus cultivate, every flippin' day. Cultivation is what it is. There's nothing much else besides but anything beyond or as a spin off from cultivation is an unsought- for bonus. Not to generalise, but anyone claiming to be enlightened quite possibly isn't. Edited May 28, 2014 by GrandmasterP 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spotless Posted May 28, 2014 Accept being normal until becoming enlightened. or live a spiritual life while searching for enlightenment It is not possible to not live a spiritual life. In searching you will come to know and you will transcend that knowing and again you will know, and yet once again you will transcend that knowing and finally you will against all odds - know - and then.................you will again transcend that knowing and so on and so for through all the bong water until you come to the release that you know nothing. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LAOLONG Posted May 28, 2014 when your mind stop making distinguish between normal and spiritual you are enlightened Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) when your mind stop making distinguish between normal and spiritualyou are enlightened Or 'lost'. For example driving to some new place. Maybe best be all 'here' and follow that road map. "As for enlightenment, that's just for people who can't face reality. (Brad Warner: Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate: A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce, and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma). Edited May 28, 2014 by GrandmasterP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nononothing Posted May 28, 2014 It is not possible to not live a spiritual life. In searching you will come to know and you will transcend that knowing and again you will know, and yet once again you will transcend that knowing and finally you will against all odds - know - and then.................you will again transcend that knowing and so on and so for through all the bong water until you come to the release that you know nothing. Love this one. I guess in the end, I will look at everyone and everything with a stupid grin on my face. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChiDragon Posted May 29, 2014 when your mind stop making distinguish between normal and spiritual you are enlightened I would say that is only falls into the concept of emptiness rather than enlightenment. Enlightenment is beyond normal and spiritual. In the philosophy of Chinese Buddhism, enlightenment is attained only by religious cultivation through 禪定(Zen and stillness). Of course, the western philosophy about enlightenment is different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LAOLONG Posted May 29, 2014 in zen the normal is the spiritual , no distinction. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LAOLONG Posted May 29, 2014 and in zen also the spiritual is the normal. there is a zen story of a zen monk who burned a wooden Buddha to heat up in winter time. wooden Buddha is wood. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted May 29, 2014 It is not possible to not live a spiritual life. In searching you will come to know and you will transcend that knowing and again you will know, and yet once again you will transcend that knowing and finally you will against all odds - know - and then.................you will again transcend that knowing and so on and so for through all the bong water until you come to the release that you know nothing. This is just perfectly wonderful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChiDragon Posted May 29, 2014 and in zen also the spiritual is the normal. there is a zen story of a zen monk who burned a wooden Buddha to heat up in winter time. wooden Buddha is wood. Yes, that was the story; but what is the philosophy behind it.....??? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 29, 2014 If cold burn wood? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted May 29, 2014 No tummo in Zen? No idea. When our driveway is icy in the depths of winter I put salt down. That shifts the ice. Indoors, if it turns chilly we crank up the furnace. Seems sensible, as does burning a lump of wood to keep the fire going. Sitting outside in a snowfield meditating whilst surrounded by a gently steaming circle of snow free if somewhat soggy earth ... For those who enjoy that form of cultivation then that is the form cultivation that they enjoy. It takes all sorts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChiForce Posted May 29, 2014 Yes, that was the story; but what is the philosophy behind it.....??? That was another story about a boy monk peeing at the foot of a Buddha statute because he was told he should be peeing at the Buddha. The boy said that it didn't matter where he pees because the Buddha is everywhere. For the other story, it is about unclinging, not even clinging onto a Buddha statue itself. The significance of the other story is that it was about a monk. For lay persons like ourselves, it may not mean much since we may not grow attached to a Buddha statue to begin with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChiDragon Posted May 30, 2014 (edited) The Zen monk told his master that he would burn the statue of Buddha to keep warm. All others might think that would be disrespect to Buddha. However, the Zen monk didn't think so. It is because that the statue of Buddha is only a wooden idol but not Buddha himself. Spiritually, he knew Buddha is within his heart. Hence, his thoughts are beyond normal and spiritual; and that is enlightenment. Edited May 30, 2014 by ChiDragon 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jschultz Posted May 31, 2014 It is not possible to not live a spiritual life. In searching you will come to know and you will transcend that knowing and again you will know, and yet once again you will transcend that knowing and finally you will against all odds - know - and then.................you will again transcend that knowing and so on and so for through all the bong water until you come to the release that you know nothing. What is "spiritual" though beyond just another word, definition, and a belief? Isn't it not possible to not simply be? (Even as nothing) The reason I say this is because too often anything, thoughts/ideas/beliefs, considered to be spiritual, religious, or metaphysical are then just grouped in another division of things and become another attachment which then conflicts with thoughts/beliefs/ideas that are considered to be "opposite". Many scientists seem to completely ignore anything that anyone considers to be spiritual/religious/metaphysical outright, and without any investigation or contemplation simply because of that definition, no matter how correct, "observable", or "real" it may actually be. The same can be said of those who consider themselves to be spiritual and their views towards science even though some of the "conclusions" or "observations" may actually be the same. By becoming attached to any word, term, or definition negatively or positively we can sometimes focus exclusively on it, or dismiss it's "opposite", whereas if we were simply open without choosing a "view" (word/definition/belief) we'd have all of everything available to us. Enlightenment - In my own current perception I would personally say it's when you come to the realization that you are infinitely everything. Knowing/not-knowing, being/not-being, all light/all dark, etc, everything. You are always infinitely alone in your perspective, and infinitely surrounded by yourself in infinite "other" perspectives that are also you. You are me, I am you, right now with unique (because there is only one everything) perspectives and "experiences". The one infinite everything, dreaming infinite dreams of "itself"/"yourself"/"myself" that "Is" individually and inseparably us. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Posted May 31, 2014 I am he as you are he as you are me And we are all together 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted June 1, 2014 A zillion-eyed entity. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
