Awakening is our Birthright

       Imagine a world in which every new baby was immediately strapped into a wheel chair shortly after being born. Every person in this strange world uses a wheel chair. They take perfectly good legs, strap them down, and pretend that they don’t exist. Sounds a little crazy, doesn’t it?

People there have heard of a special thing called “walking” (awakening), but it is far removed from their experience. There are some ancient books that talk about the virtues of walking, but no one believes they can do it. They believe that walking is for special people, walking Buddhas, if you will. The wheel chair is all they know. It can be very useful, granted. It can also be a big hindrance.

            We are a lot like the people in that imaginary world. We are born awake. We live in the moment, paying attention to what is going on without judging our experience.  We don’t distinguish between self and other. We are full of wonder, seeing reality as it is without covering it up with our opinions. Everything is one, not two. It is our natural state. Unfortunately in our crazy world it is natural, but not normal.

            

            We are born awake like we are born with legs. In both cases we have to learn how to use our natural gifts. Our parents patiently mentor us in walking. No matter how many times we fall down, they keep helping us until we learn to walk for ourselves. A spiritual mentor does the same.  

            There are two aspects of mind. One is pure awareness without thinking, and the other is the story telling mind which is always judging and comparing. When we come to believe that our thoughts are who we are, we give up our unlimited Self, trading it for a limited, lonely, and fearful self. Our thinking mind is like the wheel chair. We are taught to rely solely upon it. We ignore our pure awareness which is before and beyond thinking. Once we regain our unlimited Self, walking is how we live. We use the chair only when necessary.

The awakened nature was there from the beginning. It is not something that we can get in the future because we have it now. Because we were not taught about our true nature, we develop the habit of using the mind to interpret reality rather than seeing it as it is. Not understanding our true nature in Buddhism is called “ignorance.” To awaken, we must develop the habit of using awareness without thinking, also called, “don’t know mind.” That is where practice comes in.

Walking is a metaphor for awakening. How do you learn to walk? You were born with legs but you still must learn to use them. Get out of the chair and stand on your own two feet. Then take a step. That step is like our first remembered experience of don’t know mind.

Walking is all bliss now, right? Sure it is, until you fall down. People forget that falling down is part of learning to walk. In the same way, the path of awakening is not all bliss. What do we do when we fall down? We get up again. Eventually we will be able to walk without too much trouble. We won’t even have to think about it. Don’t miss this point. Falling down is essential to learning how to walk. Likewise, understanding dukkha (suffering) is essential to awakening.

            

             Awakening is our birthright. We are born perfect and complete, and then we screw it up. We learn to separate reality. We are encouraged to form likes and dislikes. “Those toys are mine!” Then these toys aren’t so interesting anymore. “Now I want your toys!” “I’m good at this, not good at that.” We acquire labels and ideas, then concepts. We form opinions and we begin to believe that these opinions are reality. They become our identity. This is how our sense of self arises, and how delusion begins.

            

            Teaching our children to separate reality is like those folks in the other world who strap their kids into a wheel chair. Sure, it’s normal. But it is not natural. Let’s be clear though. Separation is not really a problem in and of itself. It comes in handy to have the ability to make distinctions. The problem is that we lose touch with oneness and only see two-ness. When we focus only on one aspect of reality, things get out of balance.

That is the meaning of samsara. A wheel in balance rolls comfortably down the road. A wheel out of balance goes thumpety, thumpety, thump. It makes the journey unpleasant and uncomfortable. That is dukkha.

Spiritual practice properly understood and applied brings us back into balance. We start out seeing two (duality), then we learn to see one (the absolute, nirvana), and then we integrate one and two into a seamless whole. In a nutshell, that is the process of awakening.

So why does it matter? Wanting reality to be other than it is the source of suffering. The Buddha called this “desire”. It is like trying to paddle a canoe upstream on a big river.  Doing so is difficult and most likely you won’t make any progress because the current is pulling you back as fast as you can paddle forward. You will be constantly struggling and frustrated.

Awakening is realizing the mistake and turning the canoe around. Instead of resisting reality you go with it. You bring your life into accord with Dharma, with truth. Traveling on the river then becomes easy and joyful. Instead of struggling all of the time, you enjoy the ride. Occasionally it will rain, or you might get caught in a boat’s wake, but you ride it out until things change back to clear sailing. Just experience and let go.

This is your fundamental choice. Do you want to be 1) aggravated and struggle for your whole life, or 2) enjoy the awesomeness of being alive? If number two sounds better, then awakening is your best option. It is really your only option, because claiming your birthright requires you to let go of your small self, and become your big Self. So the question becomes “How long will it take you to turn the boat around?” The great teachers have said that we must die before we die. This is what they are talking about.

When you make the decision to wake up to reality you will stumble and fall like a person learning to walk. To the wheel chair people, walking people may seem pretty weird. Will you let other’s opinions stop you? Will you be more concerned about someone seeing you fall, or about the quality of your life? Waking up to reality, to your true nature, is the single most beneficial thing you can ever do. It will revolutionize every moment of your life, and as a bonus, it will positively affect everyone around you.

-Haeja