On The Aim of The Path

Just because we can say the word “enlightenment”, it does not logically follow that we understand what it means. Just because we can say the words “Buddha”, “3rd-eye chakra”, or “inclusivity”, it does not mean that we have experienced direct insight into the layers of reality that those words are attempting to convey. It can be very detrimental to our practice to assume that, just because we are reading some advanced, esoteric material, we must also have a clear grasp of what that advanced material is referring to. 

This is an invitation to forget everything you think you already know, especially about Buddhahood. Buddhahood, “enlightenment”, is only possible through an authentic concern for others. That deep concern first manifests as “spiritual sensitivity”, which is basically the heartfelt wish to see all beings happy and free from suffering and its causes, to phrase such sentiment traditionally. Later, that concern manifests as “spiritual maturity”, which is the knowledge of how to actually benefit the beloveds – that is, what actions to take. Maturity and the ability to execute appropriate actions are directly related. 

Simply stated, the aim of the path is to become enlightened. Therefore, it is essential to have some sense of what enlightenment actually is. Enlightenment itself includes two additional concepts that are also very difficult to wrap our heads around, namely, “consciousness” and “omniscience”. So traditionally, before attempting to arrive at a clear definition of “enlightenment”, we engage philosophically with the concept of “consciousness” – and then move into the quite controversial territory of the possibility of “omniscience”. Omniscience, properly understood, is a “primary marker” of enlightenment or Buddhahood. 

“Consciousness” should be thought of as that which makes it possible to “possess” the sense of self (or a time-space position, i.e. in the case of rocks) that always appears to be on the receiving end of information or phenomena (that can be interacted with). What this means is that any type of experience is a two-way street. Therefore, anything that can be experienced is called “relative” or “relatable”. “Consciousness”, is not “an absolute phenomenon” – nor is “omniscience” or “enlightenment”. We are only able to “identify” that we are somehow “conscious”, because consciousness itself is bouncing off of and interfacing with other phenomena. Consciousness, too, arises in dependence upon phenomena. This indicates that Buddhahood also is not an absolute phenomenon, but a type of maximum relationality, or an all-inclusive understanding, so to speak.

When we say “relative”, we mean “dependent”, not that events are qualitatively or morally relative. As stated above, Buddhahood Itself depends on the existence of all beings and phenomena. Without all those “things”, there is nothing to relate to and care for, and without anything to relate to and care for, there is no compassion. If there is no compassion, there is no Buddhahood. 

Back to topic and to clarify, by “relative”, we simply mean that in order for any event or experience to “happen”, there must be at least two points of reference that “set up poles”. Between these “poles”, the experience itself arises and affects or informs each pole accordingly. Thus, we can begin to see “how” Buddhahood actually “happens”. The Bodhisattva who is practicing Tantra represents one end of the pole, and all beings to whom that Bodhisattva is dedicating her or his life represent the other end of the pole. Between those two poles, “the Buddhahood event manifests”.

Every time an event manifests, those individuals that are present and whose consciousness is capable of perceiving the event are offered the opportunity to integrate and learn from that event. This is how Bodhisattvas “become” Buddhas – by refining their consciousness to such a degree that they are able to perceive “the bond event” between all time, space, and phenomena – “a bond event” that has always been present, is always present, and will always be present. The ability to perceive – and therefore experience and integrate – “the bond event”, is what produces the “omniscience” of the newly born Buddha (the experience of “the bond event” is the “birth” of a Buddha). 

In “the bond event,” a Buddha’s  “consciousness” becomes “omniscient”, because that Buddha is on the receiving end of and “informed by” all phenomena that have ever been, are, and will ever be. That is, omniscience is the result or “the third thing that happens” when, simultaneously, one point of consciousness interfaces with all points of consciousness throughout time and space. This “realization” is akin to a literal compression of time and space into a single moment of awareness. 

This “realization-experience”, like all experiences, is impermanent, but the “knowledge” extracted from or revealed in the experience remains – in the same way that the knowledge that 2+2=4 stays with us, once we “know that”. We carry with us, forever, what we “know” – or what we “distortedly project”. Most sentient beings carry around the distorted projection of “baggage” in thinking that they exist apart from others, mistaking “baggage” for “knowledge”. A Buddha’s “knowledge” includes the realization that there was never any need to carry around that “baggage” in the first place. 

From the experience of omniscience on, Buddhas are motivated solely to assist their beloved friends and family in also understanding that there is no need to continue burdening themselves with baggage – and a Buddha’s training as a Bodhisattva (in wisdom and skillful means) has equipped Her or Him with the ability carry out that motive naturally and effortlessly.

It is vital to understand that there is no end to life, consciousness, or the manifestation of experiences and events. There is nothing that can be achieved as “a finality” – no action that does not lead to another action. “Enlightenment”, and especially “Buddhahood”, is a starting point, rather than a final ending of “ultimate peace”. It is a conclusion of one chapter and the beginning of another. The beginning of the new chapter marks the starting point for real service and purely motivated collaboration to happen. The “liberation” of enlightenment is not an escape from the world, but a type of graduation into the freedom to constructively innovate without limitation. Traditionally, we call this type of freedom “working to educate others how to eradicate their suffering with maximum skill and artistry”. 

Buddhahood is a job title, so to speak, and not a personality.