06-17-2010, 12:00 AM
Perhaps it means there's no such thing as "awakening". Gonzo.
Yes ultimately speaking in an absolute sense, there is no awakening, no attainment, no Buddha, no samsara, no nirvana etc, but relatively speaking there is, and since words and their meanings have been used to obscure awareness, relatively speaking words and their meanings can be used to awaken us.
When we read in Buddhism or in particular Zen literature words that “suggest” there is no awakening and nothing to attain and no one to attain it, these are words directed to students who have sincerely been wrestling with enlightenment. So often when passer-bys read, hear such words they breath a sigh of relief and think, “Thank God I don’t have to struggle with that issue or meditate for hours on end like ascetic monks,” and then remain unawakened.
So we are fond of saying, “This is all a dream”. We know from our own experience with lucidity in dreaming, that we can awaken in a dream and be aware that we are dreaming. Then we awake in our beds and know that our “waking” life is but a dream. We may wander around saying to ourselves, “This is all a dream” and then nothing really changes. The dream of waking life continues. You see that is jumping to the realization without first doing the work. What is the “work?” It is the troublesome step when we ask, “if this is a dream WHY is it a dream?” The implications must be engaged if we are to make progress. And yes there’s no such thing as progress. There’s no such thing as a car yet we drive them anyway? The question is why is there no such thing as a car?!
Yes ultimately speaking in an absolute sense, there is no awakening, no attainment, no Buddha, no samsara, no nirvana etc, but relatively speaking there is, and since words and their meanings have been used to obscure awareness, relatively speaking words and their meanings can be used to awaken us.
When we read in Buddhism or in particular Zen literature words that “suggest” there is no awakening and nothing to attain and no one to attain it, these are words directed to students who have sincerely been wrestling with enlightenment. So often when passer-bys read, hear such words they breath a sigh of relief and think, “Thank God I don’t have to struggle with that issue or meditate for hours on end like ascetic monks,” and then remain unawakened.
So we are fond of saying, “This is all a dream”. We know from our own experience with lucidity in dreaming, that we can awaken in a dream and be aware that we are dreaming. Then we awake in our beds and know that our “waking” life is but a dream. We may wander around saying to ourselves, “This is all a dream” and then nothing really changes. The dream of waking life continues. You see that is jumping to the realization without first doing the work. What is the “work?” It is the troublesome step when we ask, “if this is a dream WHY is it a dream?” The implications must be engaged if we are to make progress. And yes there’s no such thing as progress. There’s no such thing as a car yet we drive them anyway? The question is why is there no such thing as a car?!