"Enlightenment is the moment the wave realizes it is the water. At that moment, all fear of death disappears." That is a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh. So who is Thich Nhat Hanh? He is a Buddhist Monk from Vietnam, who now lives in France. He is a peace activist and and an advocate of living now and just being present. I don't know about you, but I would always like to be at peace...and still be alive of course. Listening to Thich, you would think that he may have already achieved that.
It is rare to meet a true follower of zen. When I was younger, I enjoyed to meditate and look for my inner peace. I was only ever slightly successful at this. Usually, I'd still have thousands of thoughts going though my head, and opinions on everything. I could never truly just let everything go. Sure on occasion I would reach a state where I just let everything run its course, but it was usually after a long period of trying to fight the tide of problems that were trying to drag me under. Once I finally said, "you know, I did my best and now I just need to let actions take their course, while I do what I think is best'." did things finally start to clear. Sometimes, the worry that you have about things going on in your life, is exactly what is stopping you from resolving the issue. When you realize the worry won't help matters is when you get that zen-like peace. I have only experienced this feeling on an issue by issue basis. I would love to have this feeling all of the time. But a lifetime of worrying develops into a habit that is hard to overcome. If the wave needs to realize that it is the water to reach enlightenment, what do we need to realize about ourselves to achieve the same thing? I think the answer to this question can be different for each person that asks it. In fact, I wonder that if in asking the question at all if we can truly reach that enlightenment. Would an enlightened person spend his time wondering about who or what they are? I'd love to ask Thich Nhat Hanh that question. Unfortunately, I know that I am not yet enlightened, and a drive for answers is part of my being. I love to learn and I have an incessant urge to learn everything I can every day. Why? I don't know. But I'd like to find out. And THAT is how I know I am not yet enlightened. If I was enlightened, I would still learn things every day... I just wouldn't feel driven to do it. I would not focus my attention to learn something about this subject at this time, or that subject at another. I would just be. The wave thinks about itself as a wave yet it is water. Yet isn't it something more than just water too? To become a wave, something, somewhere, had to be added. Something started that water moving in the direction it is moving. We know that from basic science. Yet the quote ignores this external force that started the movement of the water. Yet when the force dissipates, the wave returns to its simplest form...water. We are the water. You and I. What forces set us in motion? What form will we return to once that force dissipates? Answer that question, and you are started on the path to enlightenment. Unfortunately for me, I have no real answer for that question. I am not sure Thich Nhat Hanh has that answer either. Although he is no doubt further down the path to enlightenment than I am, the fact that he has a schedule and travels to meet it points toward him not being enlightened either. Wouldn't an enlightened person not feel the need to be anywhere at any given time? Wouldn't his ability to just live in the present prevent him from making plans to be anywhere specific at any given future time in the future? How does it really work? I know that deep down, I am searching for something. Something to bring me peace within myself. What will it really take to attain that? I just don't know. I want to realize what I am, but I just can't see it. Unfortunately, I want an answer to a question I can't even form properly. I don't think any of us can. And THAT is what it's like to be human. Comments are closed.
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