Is Enlightenment Personal

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

I have fallen behind with reading the list again so apologies if this thread

has ended. In another one of those frequent examples of 'synchronicity', I

read the following extract last night from David Carse's book 'Perfect

Brilliant Stillness' in which he addresses precisely this question (his

material is specifically not copyrighted, in case anyone should wonder):

 

<<<<

 

There is a sense in which there is no 'awakening,' no enlightenment, because

there is no 'one' to awaken. Who would this be? Who is awakened?

 

'Me,' david? Of course not: david is a dream character, an idea, a fiction;

not the dreamer, and therefore obviously cannot awaken. There is no 'david'

to do anything, including awaken.

 

Or is it 'Who I Really Am' that has 'awakened;' Presence, Awareness, All

That Is?

 

But of course Awareness has never been asleep, has no need to awaken to

anything; Awareness is always already All There Is.

 

Clearly then, there is no one to awaken. 'Awakening' is only an analogy, a

concept, a pointer. The seeker community tends to take it literally, but

like most analogies it only takes you so far.

 

What has happened is more like this: in the dream, in the case of the dream

character 'david,' All That Is stops pretending that 'It' is asleep. What

has always been awake lets the misunderstanding that there is some one to be

asleep and some one to awaken, fall away.

 

That is all. And the dream continues, as before. The misundertanding has

fallen away, but the misunderstanding was not real anyway, so what has

happened? Nothing. The character 'david' now knows he is only a dream, not

'real;' knows it is all a dream. But even this dream character's 'knowing'

is part of the dream, part of the unfolding of the script of the dream for

that dream character, and nothing has happened. The dream character goes on

being the dream character.

 

>>>>>

 

Best wishes,

 

Dennis

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

Advaitin Homepage at: Terms of Service.

[Guest guest]

Oh dear Dennisji,

 

Awareness has no need to awake or be enlightened for it is the stuff

Enlightenment is made of.  But, Madathil Nair has to awake. That he is

Awareness essentially is another thing.

 

Dennisji, we need benchmarks in this very fluid area.  The nearest one

that the drowning me sees is Bh.  Ramana.  He had a terminal shoulder

carcinoma.  Yet, he went about smiling.  Its malignance did not

inhibit the glow of his smile.  I have a shoulder lipoma which the

butchers around here (they  are reverentially called surgeons) term

benign.  But, that is enough to disturb my sleep.  Now tell me if

there is any gap between benign lipoma owner Madathil Nair and the

sarcoma vanquisher Bh.  Ramana. Mind you, the former is a vociferous

advocate of Advaita!  If you say yes, then Enlightenment is a goal and

am far away from it in my assumed but unshakable mortality.

 

Please address this mortal fear to David.  Perhaps, he is a direct

path man and he takes things light like our David Cohen.

 

For Madathil Nair, the unenlightened, Enlightenment is being like

Ramana - his exalted benchmark.  For him, there is Enlightenment as a

goal and, in the tumultous moribund mortal seas of mundane existence,

he is a shaky boat in search of the shores of Immortality.  Let him go

there, Dennisji!  Poor fellow, he does have a right to.

 

PraNAms.

 

Madathil Nair

________________

 

 

advaitin, "Dennis Waite" <dwaite> wrote:

>

> Hi All,

>

> I have fallen behind with reading the list again so apologies if

this thread

> has ended. In another one of those frequent examples of

'synchronicity', I

> read the following extract last night from David Carse's book 'Perfect

> Brilliant Stillness' in which he addresses precisely this question....

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

Advaitin Homepage at: Terms of Service.