Table of contents hide 1 transcend the veil of mental afflictions. 2 things as they are… not as we are… 3 nothing is solid… everything is composed… .. 4 subtle karmic trails… .. 5 benefits on the path….
This is a common question when we are starting on the spiritual path, in fact in conferences or events with teachers from the East it seems that when they speak they use them interchangeably and it is not so in fact there is a difference between the two.
transcend the veil of mental afflictions ...
When talking about Enlightenment they refer to all those beings who have transcended the veil of mental, physical afflictions and that of omniscience.
For example, when it is said that a teacher is an enlightened being, they mean that he has freed himself from the suffering caused by the three poisons that plague cyclic existence or Samsara : attachment, ignorance and aversion.
In the same way there are no karmic or gross or subtle remnants in them. Also these beings have stopped generating contaminated karma and their activity is pure .
Enlightened beings are known as Budhas, to a large extent when they tell us about someone who reached the status of a Budha or Bodhitsatva we can understand that they are beings whose activity of mind, word and body is not inked by any affliction, not they get carried away by attachment or aversion and have ended ignorance through the cultivation of discriminative wisdom "Pragna" that understands things as they are.
things as they are ... not as we are ...
It is said that ordinary beings like most of us still generate polluted karma and our activity is impure, we do not see things as they are but as we are .
But then how are things really?, they are impermanent, changing and unstable, they are composed of parts, they have no intrinsic identity or substantial qualities and ultimately they are the cause of Nirvana which is peace.
If we think a little, we routinely attribute permanence to everything around us, we do not conceive of a world with imminent death because we are not pleased to think so and it scares us. In the same way we think that our loved ones will always be with us and in perfect condition… .this is not reality as it is.
nothing is solid ... everything is composed ...
We also experience what surrounds us as solid and the reality is that it is composed of parts, the result of this appreciation also arises the claim that nothing has intrinsic identity.
For example, if we have a sweater and we remove the sleeves it becomes a vest, if we put a rain lining it is a raincoat and if we cut it into only one piece it becomes a small blanket or cloth. This is a clear example that nothing has an intrinsic identity, it depends on the use and divisions of its parts, so the attachment to what surrounds us generates suffering, when we do not understand that everything depends on the condition and circumstance of the one who experiences it. and has no unique or absolute identity.
This is how the Buddhas or enlightened beings understand the world around them and therefore do not generate contaminated activity. They have transcended the root of all suffering and fear.
This does not mean that the Buddhas do nothing or do not move, the reality is that their activity emerges from the understanding that things have no objective reality.
subtle karmic traces.
In the case of liberation it can be said that it is the closest step to enlightenment and in the liberated beings there are still subtle karmic traces that have to be purified.
There is an anecdote of the Budha who, in the state of samadhi (deep meditation), in the middle of the forest glowed or shone, a monk approaches and asks him `` what are you? '' .a daka, a yaskha, a naga .a god ??? .and the Budha answers I am an enlightened being.
It is said that the Budhas and Bodhitsatvas are among us in multiple forms, that is why in many Eastern traditions, care is taken not to kill animals because it is thought that sometimes these enlightened beings appear in animal forms in order to help us or guide us on the path.
benefits on the trail…
This is how the goal of enlightenment and liberation is not easy, in the best cases it can take four lives to obtain it. However, the benefits found on the trail are equally incalculable.
When someone assures that it is a Budha we must observe the most important thing that is not to display activity contaminated with anger, ignorance and attachment ... but the most important thing is that if it is presented as an enlightened being it is already questionable .... the Budhas, Bodhitsatvas and enlightened beings do not present themselves as such because they have also demolished the ego building or personal importance, conceptuality and dualism ... if someone says Budha ... we must analyze and doubt. So is.
AUTHOR: Pilar Vázquez, collaborator of the great family of the White Brotherhood
