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Taoshobuddha
ON ENLIGHTENMENT
ON ENLIGHTENMENT
© 2010, Taoshobuddha
Photography: Taoshobuddha
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T
he word Taoshobuddha comes from three words, ‘tao,’
‘sho,’ and ‘Buddha’. The word Tao was coined by the
Chinese master, Lau Tzu. It means that which is and
cannot be put into words. It is unknown and unknowable. It
can only be experienced and not expressed in words. Its
magnanimity cannot be condensed into finiteness. The word
Sho implies, that which is vast like the sky and deep like an oc
carries within its womb a treasure. It also means one on whom
the existence showers its blessings. And lastly the word
Buddha implies the Enlightened One; one who has arrived
home.
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But they are all interconnected and all the devices and matters
are to discover in you, something which is simply
watchfulness. For example, I can watch my body—certainly
I'm not the body. I can watch my hand: it's hurting, but I'm not
the hurt—I'm the watcher. I can watch my thoughts, then I'm
not the thought. I'm the watcher and I can watch even the
watcher. That is the moment beyond which you cannot go and
enlightenment comes.
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God has never been missed. Maybe, you have forgotten and
that is all. Maybe you have fallen asleep, this is the reason.
Maybe you have gotten lost in many, many dreams, that is all.
However you are there. God is your very being.
This has been happening for millions of years but again you
start hoping, again you start thinking that this new desire that
is arising, sprouting in you, will maybe lead you to paradise.
That this will give you what you have longed for, that it will
fulfil you. Again and again hope arises.
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from the future while the color and brush and technique, all
comes from the past. When you are not going to paint you can
throw away the canvas, you throw away the brush, and the
colors too then suddenly you are here now.
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and sincere and serious seeker. He practiced all that was told
to him. He visited many masters, and lived in many
monasteries. He did all that was humanly possible. He
practiced yoga, he practiced Zazen. He did this and that but all
to no avail. Nothing was happening; in fact, his frustration was
growing more and more. The more the methods failed, the
more and more frustrated he became.
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The moment you drop the search, you drop the ego also. The
moment there is no seeking, the seeker cannot exist. Just
visualize this poor monk who was no longer a monk instead
living in a ruined temple. He had nowhere else to go. He was
just clearing the ground maybe to put some seeds there for
vegetables or something. He came across a tile, threw it away,
and was taken unawares. The tile clattered against the
bamboo tree and with the sudden clattering, the sudden
sound, he becomes enlightened.
Upon the clatter of a broken tile the monk said all I had
learned was at once forgotten.
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the more he jumps and the more he tries and the more and
more bizarre he becomes.
Life is wasted in the pursuit of longing. You think this will give
you what you have longed for, and that it will fulfill you. Again
and again hope arises. Enlightenment is when all hope
disappears. Enlightenment is disappearance of hope.
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There is no special time for it, there is no special posture for it,
there is no special place for it -- it can happen in all kinds of
situations. It has happened in all kinds of situations. All that is
needed is that for a single moment there should be no thought,
no desire, and no hope. In that single moment, the lightning....
What is enlightenment? Coming to understand, coming to
realize that you are not the body. You are the light within; not
the lamp, but the flame. You are neither body nor mind. Mind
belongs to the body; mind is not beyond body, it is part of the
body—most subtle, most refined, but it is part of the body.
Mind is also atomic, as body is atomic. You are neither the
body nor the mind—then you come to know who you are. And
to know who you are is enlightenment…. Enlightened means
you have realized who you are.
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even with the rocks, with the mountains, and with the stars
too. Except this, there is no enlightenment. Let me define it:
Enlightenment is to be in tune with existence.
To be in tune with nature—the very nature of things—is
enlightenment. Against nature there is only misery—and
misery created by yourself. Nobody else is responsible for it.
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