I wrote Awakening to the Obvious more than 20 years ago. Since then I have gradually become more integrated and body-centered. Even though in the book I make fun of “the stink of enlightenment,” I now detect traces of that odor here and there in my essays. If I were to rewrite the book today I would tone down the small bits of mystical language, and place even more emphasis on the fact that “The awakeness of the Buddhas is everyday awareness.”
(Incidentally, I have dropped the pseudonym, Adyashakti, and simply go by my birth name, Mark Canter. But it's too hard to republish my books, so the name Adyashakti [meaning Original Energy] is still on some of the covers.)
I just happen to be a natural-born mystic,
sensitive to energy and prone to out-of-the-ordinary experiences, but most people
are not inclined to such experiences—and certainly no one needs to be in order
to fully awaken. For example, more than 20 years ago I underwent a spontaneous
Kundalini awakening and to this day I continue to have the occasional
Kundalini-driven experience—and I can tell you firsthand that such phenomena
are utterly unnecessary. When I wrote Awakening
I was still attached to feelings of ecstasy, so I sang the praises of what I
call “the Signal” (Kundalini Shakti, the Holy Spirit, the Current of Life). Now I am released
from clinging to the Signal. Now the freedom-clarity aspect of enlightenment
has become foreground, so to speak, and the bliss-energy aspect has become
background. I recently saw a book with the title Buddha Is the Center of Gravity. I haven't read the book but the
title says it all. I have settled. I am here. I am whole.
I can only say that ordinary
happiness is more complete than bliss. People are eager to wake up, but as it happens, I awoke
DOWN. Here is an essay from Awakening that expresses such plainness:
The Awakeness of Those Who Are Awake
A Zen student asked her spiritual guide, “What
is the enlightenment of the Buddhas?” (This is the same as asking, “What is the
awakeness of those who are awake?”)
“The enlightenment of
the Buddhas,” her teacher answered, “is the nature of ordinary awareness.”
What is the
nature of ordinary awareness?
- Our real nature is not any
knowledge that must be learned.
Studying the Pali language, for
example, or learning about the “chakra system,” is not necessary for directly
awakening to our truth. Whatever can be learned (although perhaps valuable,
useful and enjoyable) is not identical to the Heart, the Real Person, who is
already present and free, depending on nothing.
- Our real nature is not
anything that is hidden or secret.
Being initiated into a secret
practice, a secret mantra, a secret text, and so forth, is not necessary for directly
awakening to our truth. Whatever can be kept secret and must be discovered or
revealed (although perhaps valuable, useful and enjoyable) is not identical to
the Heart, the Real Person, who is already present and free, depending on
nothing.
- Our real nature is not any
experience or state that must be attained.
Archetypal visions, ecstasies of energy, “rising through the lotus of
light,” and so forth, are not necessary for directly awakening to
our truth. Subtle visions,[1]
energies, inner lights and other higher psychic phenomena that may occur
(although perhaps valuable, useful and enjoyable) are not identical to the
Heart, the Real Person, who is already present and free, depending on
nothing.
- Our real nature is not any
body-mind condition that must be held in place.
Manipulating and controlling the body-mind and life-force by intellectual
effort, or by celibacy, diet, or yogic practices (such as concentration on
energy channels, or continuous prayer, or breathing techniques) are not
necessary for directly awakening to our truth. Whatever conditions
must be maintained through effort (although perhaps valuable, useful and
enjoyable) are not identical to the Heart, the Real Person, who is already
present and free, depending on nothing.
- Our real nature can
only be that which is always, already real.
We are not identical to any object
or changing state of the body-mind, no matter how subtle or glorious. Our truth
must be the ever-present capacity of all possible states of body and mind, “low”
and “high.” Our original nature is not bound to time (not a matter of
becoming), nor bound to space (not “within” or “without”—indeed, not locatable
anywhere). Our reality is the Irreducible Mystery that undermines the
seeker and all seeking. It is the awakeness of those who are awake, the nature
of ordinary awareness, the timeless conscious being, who stands already free as
the Heart, the Real Person, depending on nothing.
[1] A Zen fable goes: A
beginning meditator exclaimed to his teacher in a gush of emotion, “I had a
vision of the Buddha, seated on a lotus throne, surrounded by beatific beings!”
His teacher replied, “Don’t be concerned. Just keep on meditating and such stuff
will go away.”
No comments:
Post a Comment