STAGES OF ENLIGHTENMENT

WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT?
Enlightenment has come up a few times recently in various FaceBook discussions. First, let's put one thing to rest right here: this blog post is not actually about the "stages" of enlightenment. That was hook title I selected to entice you to read further. Enlightenment by its very nature is impossible to discuss in words since by very definition it deals with the ineffable. It is also not some "thing" that you can attain, or that once attained you can then "lose."

But there was a method in my madness in selecting the title, and in selecting the above image of what is known as the "staircase illusion" since this all relates to what we call enlightenment, as I hope to clarify here.

I should say first that I am writing this part of this blog from the perspective of Zen Buddhism, and some of the ideas and views are not accepted even in other branches of Buddhism. 

In Zen we have a term "kensho" which can be variously translated as "seeing into nature" or "seeing into essence," and is most often used to describe a glimpse of enlightenment. Some may say it is a glimpse of your Buddha Nature or a glimpse of emptiness. Yet others -- and I would say they are mistaken -- equate kensho with enlightenment as such, and then proceed to conclude that having had a kensho experience the person is thus "enlightened" or now qualifies to become a teacher, senior teacher, Zen Master or Roshi. Indeed, we've had some lively discussion recently on FB as to the importance of verifying a kensho experience as a precondition to granting dharma transmission, and if so how many kensho experiences must be affirmed before transmission is granted (or if already granted, is recognized as "valid"). Yet to play devil's advocate, one might say do you wish someone who has only had a glimpse -- a kensho experience -- teaching others as if they have some deep appreciation? I'll return to this below.

Then there is the term "satori" which some equate to kensho, and yet others equate to enlightenment. Other still draw a distinction and say that satori, like kensho, is a glimpse of non-duality, of emptiness, but is not a complete enlightenment, yet is a deeper state or experience than kensho. Already we are splitting hairs, counting angels dancing on the head of a pin, and being drawn into the very condition that "enlightenment" is meant to be freedom from. Oh the irony! The idea thus arises in discussions and attempts to define these terms of levels of enlightenment, or stages of it, or degrees of it. Hence my title for this blog post. But all this itself is illusion, all is construct and condition: the mind doing what it does best.

But to complete this summary of terms, some then might say that beyond kensho and satori is daigo tettei, which is the true, final, enlightenment. This, they would say, is the final and absolute enlightenment, from which the person does not go back. It is the "great realization." So, to summarize, there are no levels of enlightenment and these levels are kensho, satori and daigo. Welcome to the wonderful world of zen.

Yet there is something to what these terms refer to: experience and listening to the experiences of those following the Zen path, reveals that there are commonalities of experience that in some sense align with terms such as these. That is, the term "kensho experience" to identify a glimpse of non-duality or emptiness seems to be a valid term with genuine usefulness.

THE ILLUSION
In simplistic mass market discussions of Zen its not uncommon for people to talk of overcoming the ego, defeating the ego, of realizing non-duality as the only true reality, of everything being illusionary, and so on. As many have pointed out before, realizing the Mack truck hurtling toward you on the road is in a sense an illusion, a fabrication of mind, is all very well, but if you step out in front of it you'll soon have a serious teaching moment about what illusion means. In this instance, one might say you get the 1, but not the 2. Getting the 1, getting non-duality, getting a glimpse of emptiness, is all very well and good but then you need to get the 2. Then both 1 and 2, and then neither 1 nor 2. Let me expand on that.

As I mentioned above, enlightenment is by its nature ineffable, and neither words nor pictures can do better than a finger pointing at the moon. But perhaps the staircase illusion can stand as a reasonable metaphor. Most people looking at the illusion tend to see a set of stairs that goes down from the top left to the bottom right. A simple staircase, nothing special.

But then when you are asked to try to see the upside down staircase that goes from a low step on the upper left to a high step on the lower right, for many you transition to seeing this alternative. Again, it is often the case that when you concentrate you can switch back and forth between the two views of the staircases, and eventually you may be able to see both at once, or perhaps even see neither. But I get ahead of myself. Suffice to say, here we have a parallel to 1, then 2, then 1 and 2 then not 1 not 2.

Consider everyday ego-based, dualistic reality as the regular staircase most people see on first looking at the illusion. Then consider that having a glimpse of emptiness and non-duality is like momentarily being able to see the inverted stairway. It flashes before you, but then you cant grasp it again. Kensho can be exactly like this.

Satori, by contrast, might be likened to being able to switch back and forth at will between the two views of the staircase, switching between ego based, dualistic perception and non-dualistic direct perception of emptiness. And for some it is rather like this: in every day life they find the slip back into an ego-based dualistic worldview, and then while sitting zazen, or perhaps for some period of time after sitting, entering a deeply peaceful, centered non-dualistic state that then dissipates over time. Perhaps it rises to a kensho glimpse, perhaps its just samadhi (yes, I know I said "just" -- this is a topic for another blog post).

In this analogy, letting go and just being in the moment = fully embodying "what's this? don't know" - is a parallel to both being able to see both versions of the staircase at the same time, and seeing neither staircase (1 and 2, neither 1 nor 2) and that this then equates to daigo.

There is some merit to this analogy or metaphor since like the visual illusion, equally the self is an illusion just as the non-self is. 

CONSEQUENCES
I have watched as those who have had kensho experiences, or perhaps satori, have got stuck with "So this is it? That's all there is to it?" What ensues in too many instances is a cynicism or resort to alcohol, drugs, or in some cases it seems to aberrant sexual relations with students. They get the 1 and get the 2, they intellectually grasp 1 and 2 as well as not 1, not 2 (e.g. Alan Watts), but the feeling that "Is this really all there is?" consumes them. Perhaps not publicly, but privately.

But this too, along with samadhi, are topics for further blog posts. A Christian version of this blog post based on Jesus' non-dual teachings will follow.

do well, do no harm, do what you can, remember to truly love yourself, and above all help others.

bows