Seeking enlightenment

For the past few days, the author is having the most fortunate experience to visit and volunteer for a Buddhist centre in the South of France. 

Being here, the author had the opportunity to speak to some people and also to observe some people, doing their spiritual practices, and so forth, which is of course very admirable. Some people do silent retreats, sometimes for months or even years! In the past, the author has seen people doing retreats where they do hundreds of prostrations daily or fast for certain days or even sit in meditation for extremely long hours!

Without a doubt, this is truly admirable, but are these kinds of extremes truly necessary? In general, we do these things to attain some sort of insights or to attain something, such as 'enlightenment' which is normally used in Buddhism. We can also use other words. We are seeking Moksha, wanting to attain Nirvana, liberation, etc.

As said, these straining practices are truly admirable. This kind of devotion towards finding internal peace, or wanting to be a better version of ourselves, Nevertheless, we can maybe approach all of this a different way. In a way that does not involve straining our minds and bodies and suffering to be liberated. Maybe there is a different way. Maybe. 

Creating an idea

It seems like we sometimes have this idea that we need to put ourselves through tough spiritual practices, endure physical or mental suffering, to get 'stronger' spiritually. To gain insights or realizations. Some of us may have seen this before.

Is it not funny how some of us do this for years and years, without ever getting a spiritual realization, while some of us are not even seeking realizations, yet it happens spontaneously? And of course, it happens the other way around too. The question we can then ask, is if any of these strenuous practices are truly necessary?

Let's use the term 'enlightenment' for the sake of this article. Some of us are seeking enlightenment. First of all, why are we seeking it? And, do we know what it feels like to be enlightened? If yes, it obviously means that we are already enlightened! If no, well, how shall we know when we are enlightened?

Did anyone say that we are not enlightened already, and now we are seeking this? Or, do we just think that we are not, and therefore the seeking happens? Furthermore, when we maybe find 'it', how will we know it is 'it' when we do not know what we are looking for? Do these questions make sense?

It seems like we are seeking something, but we are not quite sure what we are seeking! Seeking an idea or concept. Chasing our minds. 

Let's consider how the mind works. We briefly addressed this in previous articles. We tend to label things, to make them exist. Or at least, in general, we do this. We see a flower, and the mind says 'flower'. So, the moment we label it 'flower' it means it is not part of us, but a separate object from us. Even when we express the concept of 'me', this 'me' can not truly be defined, and we may just end up describing it as everything that we are actually not.

We are constantly objectifying everything by labeling it. Flower. Car. Him. Her. Others. Self. So it goes...

Are we not maybe doing the same when we are labeling something 'enlightenment'? As soon as we place a mental label on something, objectifying it, we are making it separate from ourselves. 

Holy ideas, empty ideas

We know that mental objects or ideas are bound to impermanence. Everything we think of, everything the mind projects, depends on a previous set of circumstances to exist. We addressed this in previous articles. So, when seeking through means of mind or mental activity, how can we mentally attain enlightenment when we know that everything the mind creates, is impermanent or empty? And, if mental phenomena are impermanent, it means that the idea of enlightenment is also then just temporary. Does this make sense?

Further, is it not our mind itself that is causing us the constant suffering? The mind is the reason for our suffering, not being in peace, or being happy. Yet, we seek mental methods in order to seek liberation from the very same thing that is causing our suffering!

Wanting to perform prayers, mantras, recite long texts, etc., and then waiting for something magical to happen. Wanting to be rewarded with mental liberation, while all the time using mental activity to seek it. Are we not contradicting ourselves? 

Of course, with the greatest respect to all the spiritual practices, they can have great effects on our minds and make us reevaluate our way of thinking and living. They allow us to be more mindful, to consider others, and so forth, but we should not fall into the trap of eventually sitting with a lot of 'spiritual baggage' we carry around. If we are not mindful, spiritual practices can become a spiritual hurdle. Performing long prayers, meditations, etc. thinking that if we continue to say this mantra or do this specific prayer, we shall attain what we are seeking. Without knowing it, we may become attached to our practices, and this may defeat the very purpose of the practice itself.

So, what we want to make clear is that when we take on a spiritual practice, we do so skillfully.  

We can use practices to show us the freedom within ourselves, but never seek freedom in any spiritual practice. 

In the end, we may be looking for something we actually already have, but we are just too caught up in mental activities to realize it. Perhaps we should focus on something that lies beyond mental activity. Focus on the light which illuminates the mental activity. If not... well, then we are probably going to run around in circles, like a dog chasing its own tail!

A photo taken at the Buddhist Institute, which we may see symbolically as a 'spiritual path'.
Photo taken in March 2020, France.