Wesak: Enlightenment

Full Mind,
empty and clear.

Full Moon,
you can see it.

Gautama, you reached it
without a rocket.

NOW,
here you are.

Gautama: Insight against dogmas

Usually, we think that if many people follow a special method,
that method MUST be right, just because so many people can
not be wrong. And we are wrong.

Life is about QUALITY, not quantity.

We have many examples of great masses of people following
specific religions, but not becoming free of ignorance.

We find a kind of security when becoming part of a group,
but we pay with DEPENDENCY, if not submission, to the
DOGMAS created by the leaders.

And if we disagree with these dogmas, usually we must do
it in low voice, or we get in trouble with the AUTHORITIES.
This has the inconvenience of turning us into hypocrites.

Hui Neng had to deal with a bunch of fanatics and hypocrites,
and we will have to do the same.

In fact, all this external "enemies" are just a reflection of
our own fanaticism and hypocrisy, and it is part of the
path to FACE them.

Fanatics can be dangerous, but usually you can see them
from afar, and you can easily take preventive measures.

Hypocrites are more dangerous, because they disguise
themselves under the mask of compassion and tolerance,
or whatever mask is convenient for them,and unless you
have a good intuition, they can be lethal.

A fanatic hypocrite is the most dangerous.

The trick is becoming WISER, which will turn you
STRONGER. If you defeat your own fanaticism and
hypocrisy, you will become wiser and stronger,
and nobody will be able to injure you.

Today, as yesterday and tomorrow, the key success
factor is being HONEST and PRACTICING GENUINELY:
To face your own wall with honesty, and if you need
help, to be able to be HUMBLE and look for somebody
wiser than we are.

This is very simple, but the problem is that we are
under the control of EGO, and ego does not know
about honesty or humbleness, just because they
mean its own destruction.

Sitting like a rock as preached by Dogen or Deshimaru,
it only reinforces EGO, so the more we practice in this
flawed way, the more we become entangled in samsara.

But this assertion of mine, based on my experience
and insight, must be investigated by you, the genuine
zen practitioner, in order to discover its truth or falsehood.

This is the only way to progress. Do not turn my assertions
into DOGMAS. Gautama, a genuine practitioner himself,
never wanted to replace the hinduist dogmas of his time by
a new set of dogmas. He just wanted people to investigate
by themselves, and find their own truths.

Zen is about getting to know yourself in more depth,
making your own working hypotheses and proving
or disproving them by practice.

So please, before rejecting or accepting any opinions or assertions,
put some effort and investigate, because you never know
the level of insight of the person who made that assertion.

Potentially, we are all buddhas, but in practice, we have
different levels of insight, depending on the Right effort
we have put on the practice.

Namaste

Gautama: Enlightenment

When your heart burns with the fire of compassion,
and your mind shines with the light of unborn wisdom,
then you can call that buddha.

Daughter of light,
do not forget that you came out
of the darkness of emptiness.

Change your old skin,
and let Mind just be:
NOW

Utterly releasing: Gautama and buddha

Hey you! Yes, you.

Drop your fantasy world,
created through your ego´s
imagination.

If you can do that,
you will discover a new
earth and a new heaven.

Hey you! Yes, you.

Gautama is not buddha;
Gautama is not no-buddha;
Gautama is not buddha and no-buddha;
Gautama is not neither buddha nor no-buddha.

Wake up from your dream,
shake up your mind,
and release utterly.
Do it NOW.

I´m talking to you.

Bodhi tree: bodgaya

Under the tree of awakening
you practiced zazen.

Under the tree of emptiness
you realized the two truths.

Under the tree of clarity
you ate the leaves of prajnaparamita.

You, Gautama, elder brother,
under the tree of enlightenment.

Gautama: Who am I?

More than 2500 years have passed since Gautama asked himself this same question, and it took him, the future Buddha, a few years to find the answer to this simple but essential question.

Today, all of us, at some point in our lives, put this same question to ourselves, and consciously or unconsciously we find an answer, and that answer affects our whole lives.

Usually, we ask ourselves this essential question more than once during our lifetime, and the answer is different each time, because we go through changes and experience different things during our life.

The problem is that very often, our answer to this crucial question is relatively superficial, and therefore, our perception of the world is very superficial as well.

Gautama did take his time to find the RIGHT answer to this question. He spent many years learning yoga with different masters, and because of his DILIGENCE and INNATE WISDOM,he found out the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, which are his answer to this question.

He found out that living a confused life is SUFFERING.

He also found out that this SUFFERING has a CAUSE: not knowing who we really are.

He also discovered that this SUFFERING CAN COME TO AN END.

And finally, he showed the way to put an end to suffering: the NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH.

Unless we take seriously this essential question, we won´t find the right answer and our mind will keep turning around the axle of IGNORANCE, in the wheel of confused life.

The Zen method starts aknowledging that the most important thing you can do with your life is to find the RIGHT ANSWER to this question, and the first step is to DOUBT about the validity of ALL your present CONVICTIONS, or FIXED BELIEVES. Usually, our convictions CONVICT us.

This first step is the KEY SUCCESS FACTOR of the whole ZEN process.

All this convictions are ONLY ASSUMPTIONS we make in order to diminish our anxiety and create a safe view of the world, but they are not CERTAINTIES. In ZEN we look for CERTAINTIES, not convictions or assumptions. We don´t care if it takes a short or a long time to find the RIGHT answer. We don´t copy other people´s answers, not even the Four Noble Truths. Gautama found out CERTAINTIES, but if we take his certainties and BELIEVE in them, that will not help us: we will only replace our CONVICTIONS with another set of convictions.

So, please, if you want to practice true Zen, don´t BELIEVE: just FIND OUT for yourself the RIGHT ANSWER, which is ALWAYS A CERTAINTY, your certainty.

You can say: but in the past I already did that, and later on I found out that I was not right, that my answer was not the right answer.

And I will tell you: No, my friend, you didn´t do that. Your level of INSIGHT was not deep enough, because you did not generate the GREAT DOUBT, and consequently, your answer was just another BELIEF or CONVICTION, based on your own past experiences, prejudices and expectations, but not a CERTAINTY resulting from SEEING.

The difference between a FANATIC and a WISE man is that the fanatic has only CONVICTIONS, and in order to protect himself of anxiety does not listen to others and tries to CONVERT everybody to his DOGMAS in order to protect his illusory world. On the other hand, the wise man has CERTAINTIES, and he tries to help everybody, BUT DOES NOT WANT TO CONVERT anybody, and is not scared to be among people who hold different opinions.

Zen is not for the parrot-like people, or for the cowards, but for the ones willing to face his WALL, with all the selfish habits that usually contrive them into the world of suffering.

Zen is not for the "saints", "respectful pretenders" and "dummies", but for the warriors, willing to face his own ignorance and vices and find out who they really are.

This is not a path for everybody. It is not the only path, or the best path, but if you REALLY get into it, and practice it CORRECTLY, it will lead you to wake up the PATRIARCH within yourself, to SEE your real face.

So, my friend, WHO ARE YOU?