Helcat commented:

I would also add that when it comes to enlightenment, my understanding is that most often it occurs when we die.

It is often suggested that practice is to prepare for this moment in death.

Oh? Then why bother practicing diligently during one’s life for the ultimate moment of one’s personal death when sudden realization of one’s true identity is most likely (and most often) to occur at the end of one’s lifetime?

I’m not suggesting that your understanding is erroneous, but then, who, in fact, would know?

Of all prior illuminates who have left the opened secret intact and have invested their lives’ work in keeping the knowledge alive and have documented all manner of provisional and direct teachings over the ages, I wonder why I have never heard such talk that sudden realization (that has ANY power at all to transform oneself and others) is most likely to occur when you’re dead.

I wonder who those would be who would be most likely to have often suggested that the great matter of life and death would most likely (and be generally understood by most to) occur after one’s life— or at least during one’s exact physical extirpation when the root of one’s life is pulled up by its stem. If so, perhaps the great matter of life and death should be called the great matter of death? After all, seeing the nature of one’s enlightening being is going to be experienced most often at that time anyway. Just saying~ when does the part about life come into the equation, hmmm?

When one takes note that the very existence of this website is claimed to exist in order to promote the APPLICATION of such transformational experience and sharing for the benefit of the living, I am tempted to ask, just when does one hope to apply the effective enlightening experience that one has sincerely prepared for during a lifetime of spiritual practice when it is “often” understood that such enlightenment generally occurs anyway at the moment of death?

As for the conjecture that such practice is “often suggested” to be effective preparation for the moment of one’s extinction, I would counter that it is not the moment of one’s death that one is preparing for, because, simply put— when you’re dead, it’s too late. Who exactly is experiencing enlightenment at the moment of death? The person? I assure you, there is no such a one. Therefore, who, in precise terms, applies the power of nonorigination at and beyond, both entering and returning through the boundary of no return? That would be the same one who applies its power in the midst of the karmic realm. Again, it is not the person. Authentic practice is that which allows the real to be expressed in enlightening activity by virtue of the person, yet not by the person who would depend on personal intent and power of relative influence. Buddhism calls such activity “subtle spiritual adaption. Who is this adaptive element?

The point of gradual enlightening practice is to somehow harmonize and align in resonance with true inconceivable reality by one’s very approach to life, in the midst of this dream (by virtue of this dream) in order to fuse the dual by its inherent transcendent essence naturally; whereby one eventually (by failing to entertain anticipatory consciousness), spontaneously finds oneself by inconceivable penetration into a realm that has never begun. Then, after seeing its absolute nature as no different than one’s perfectly nonoriginated selflessly aware self, to once again assume the created aspect and learn to apply the inherent knowledge of selfless awareness in the midst of the realm of delusional birth and death. Therefore sudden realization during one’s lifetime does not confer buddhahood. During such experience, one only realizes the one has always been thus without beginning, and that such is the same as neither before nor after, birth nor death, person nor existence, right nor wrong, good nor bad. Furthermore, just this is not different than the nature of life and death in the very midst of our own delusions.

Again, I am not suggesting that your observation is outrightly flawed, but I must clarify for you and for those who would care to get to the bottom of the great matter, that when it comes to enlightenment, nothing is gained by its realization during one’s life. How much less is gained by “…practice to prepare for this moment…” by one’s death?

One such as the OP has gone to the “other” side. To experience an undeniably authentic moment of selfless realization and then entertain many months of doubt and self-pity in its aftermath, and not once mentioning anything relative to setting to work right away to refine that experience… such is pure folly! I completely understand it though. Sudden realization is an inconceivably huge pill to swallow. Gautama Buddha spent years in the aftermath of his experience tempering the maturation of the true teaching of Mind’s real knowledge, but hardly anyone talks about that.

Please do not assume that enlightenment at the moment of one’s death is acceptably sufficient to authenticate its application of power and then be satisfied that such experience is in any way considered to be a satisfactory endeavor to keep the knowledge alive. It must be never overlooked that seeing potential in the midst of delusional existence not only does not depend on the sudden, it is to be practically applied both before AND after the sudden. Why doesn’t enlightening activity depend on sudden realization of the absolute nature of nonorigination? It is because the knowledge of true potential is already your own mind right now; this is why the buddha said that nothing whatsoever is gained by complete perfect enlightenment.

It is necessary to get to work right away. That enlightenment is the very scene before your eyes right now makes no whit of difference from the predicament that the OP is projecting. Before or after the sudden is one continuum. Who knew?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by deci.