Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing (The Enlightenment Trilogy Book 1)

by Jed McKenna

“Enlightenment isn’t when you go there, it’s when there comes here. It’s not a place you visit and then remember wistfully and try to return to. It’s not a visit to the truth, it’s the awakening of truth within you. It’s not a fleeting state of consciousness, it’s permanent truth-realization; abiding non-dual awareness. It’s not a place you visit from here, this is a place you visit from there.

Sarah labors under the same misconception everyone does. She believes, in the broadest sense, that something is wrong and that she can make it right. What that something is, what’s wrong with it, and how it can be fixed all differ from person to person, but the general pattern is always the same: The truth, though, is that nothing is really wrong. Nothing is ever wrong and nothing can be wrong. It’s not even wrong to believe that something is wrong. Wrong is simply not possible. As Alexander Pope wrote, “One truth is clear, whatever is, is right.” Wrongness is in the eye of the beholder and nowhere else.

The perception of wrongness, however, is absolutely critical to the perpetuation of the human drama, right up there with the illusion of separateness and the certainty of free will. Drama requires conflict; no conflict, no drama. If something isn’t wrong, then nothing needs to be made right, which would mean that nothing needs to be done.

Where, then, does wrongness reside outside of our physical organism? And the obvious answer is; nowhere. But if this whole existence thing is to have any dramatic element to keep it interesting, it needs conflict, and so an artificial wrongness must be inserted into the mix: Fear.

Placid and Self-Contained I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained. I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition. They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. Walt Whitman

Done Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams, Now I wash the gum from your eyes, You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life. Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore, Now I will you to be a bold swimmer, To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair. I am the teacher of athletes, He that by me spreads a wider breast than my own proves the width of my own, He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher. Walt Whitman

You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books, You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self. Walt Whitman

It’s amazing how desperately we cling to our beliefs. As history shows, the fastest way to reduce otherwise decent people to a state of savagery is by tampering with their belief system. The word for someone who does so is heretic, and historically the punishments reserved for him are more brutal than for any other class of offender.

Neither Holy nor Wise When the mind is at peace, the world too is at peace. Nothing real, nothing absent. Not holding on to reality, not getting stuck in the void, You are neither holy nor wise, just an ordinary fellow who has completed his work. Layman P’ang

Here’s the most directly I am able to say this: The one and only truth of any person lies like a black hole at their very core, and everything else—everything else—is just the rubbish and debris that covers the hole.

“The universe will give you whatever you want, Marla. That’s how it works, even if you don’t know it. It can’t be otherwise. You don’t have to be worthy, but you do have to know what it is that you want. You have to focus. Try to do that. Try writing out what it is you want and condensing it down until you’ve reduced it to a concise statement of desire or intent. Your path can only be meandering and your life a blur until you do that. Come talk to me when you have something, okay?”

The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue. Antisthenes

The reason for writing it down on paper or on a computer where you can see it is because the brain, unlikely as it may sound, is no place for serious thinking. Any time you have serious thinking to do, the first step is to get the whole shootin’ match out of your head and set it up someplace where you can walk around it and see it from all sides. Attack, switch sides and counter-attack.

You can’t do that while it’s still in your head. Writing it out allows you to act as your own teacher, your own critic, your own opponent. By externalizing your thoughts, you can become your own guru; judging yourself, giving feedback, providing a more objective and elevated perspective.”

The thinking is simple: Wake up first. Wake up, and then you can double back and perhaps be of some use to others if you still have the urge. Wake up first, with pure and unapologetic selfishness, or you’re just another shipwreck victim floundering in the ocean and all the compassion in the world is of absolutely no use to the other victims floundering around you. Resolve your own situation first, and then maybe your compassion will translate into something of value to others.

A poem by Ryokan comes to mind: Too lazy to be ambitious, I let the world take care of itself. Ten days worth of rice in my bag; a bundle of twigs by the fireplace. Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment? Listening to the night rain on my roof, I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

Kill the Buddha Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought. Basho

I always have the feeling that storms are spectacles for my personal entertainment and I feel a pang of guilt if I don’t pay attention to them. It’s no hardship to pay attention to them though, since they provide me such pleasure. I think of storms as boisterous sound and light shows put on by the universe for those who have the sense to appreciate the majesty and grandeur of them. Nothing to do with enlightenment, just something I like.

“This is a very common error that’s found throughout the world’s teachings and religions,” I continued. “They’re often one hundred and eighty degrees removed from the truth. It’s the belief that if you want to be Christ-like, then you should act more like Christ; as if the way to become something is by imitating it. If you want to be an enlightened person, the thinking goes, you should act like an enlightened person. Utter nonsense, of course, but widely accepted. Once you’re able to recognize this fallacy, you’ll be amazed by how common it is.

Say I’m well fed and you’re starving. You come to me and ask how you can be well fed. Well, I’ve noticed that every time I eat a good meal, I belch, so I tell you to belch because that means you’re well fed. Totally backward, right? You’re still starving, and now you’re also offgassing like a pig. And the worst part of the whole deal—pay attention to this trick—the worst part is that you’ve stopped looking for food. You are now programmed to fail; your starvation is assured.”

I let that one sink in for a few moments. There were important lessons here and I didn’t want to race through them too quickly. The little questions are always portals into larger answers.

“The non-attachment thing is the same,” Is continued. “If you’re looking at it as a key to peace and happiness, then I can’t discuss it with any authority except to say that it’s actually a little dull. However, if you’re looking at it as an important step on the path to awakening, then I can assure you that you’ve ...

“As to suffering,” I continued, “forget it. It’s a non-issue. Suffering just means you’re having a bad dream. Happiness means you’re having a good dream. Enlightenment means getting out of the dream altogether. Words like suffering and happiness and compassion are just bags of rocks. Eventually, you’ll have to set them down if you want to keep going.”

When I went through it all, I did it without a teacher or guru, but I had the help of many previous travelers who had taken the trouble to leave signs and warnings and hints along the way. Poets, philosophers, sages; serious people. People who took the time to set down what they knew for those that would come after.”

One Truth In all ten directions of the universe, there is only one truth. When we see clearly, the great teachings are the same. What can ever be lost? What can be attained? If we attain something, it was there from the beginning of time. If we lose something, it is hiding somewhere near us. Look: This ball in my pocket: can you see how priceless it is? Ryokan

I was dreaming that I was a butterfly fluttering happily. Suddenly, I awoke— Now, I wonder who I am— A man who dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming it is a man. Chuang Tzu

The Willing Suspension of Disbelief Let us forget the lapse of time; let us forget the conflict of opinions. Let us make our appeal to the infinite, and take up our positions there. Chuang Tzu

I’m big on analogies. In fact, here’s an analogy about why I like analogies: If you’re trying to explain fire to someone who’s never seen it or felt it, then you’re pretty much stuck with comparing it to things they’re already familiar with. Of course, it’s no substitute for the direct experience of fire; it’s just the best you can do under the circumstances. It serves the additional purpose that when they come across real fire, they’ll know what they’re looking at.

“Just a little heads up, Jolene. People don’t like to have their version of reality fucked with. Try it if you still need to get it out of your system, but prepare yourself for unpleasant results.”

The Harmony of the Spheres This journey then, is nothing more, yet nothing less than a period of acclimating to a new way of seeing, a time of transition and revelation as it gradually comes upon “that” which remains when there is no self. This is not a journey for those who expect love and bliss, rather, it is for the hardy who have been tried by fire and have come to rest in a tough, immovable trust in “that” which lies beyond the known, beyond the self, beyond union and even beyond love and trust itself. Bernadette Roberts

Enough! I’m tired of thinking about it. Words are a lousy means of communication, brains are no place for serious thinking, and indescribable experiences are silly things to try to describe.

“The answer is yes because the question says so. The question establishes that the tree and the forest exist without being seen, so it naturally follows that any sounds would exist without being heard.”

Before enlightenment, you’re a human being in the world, just like everyone you see. During enlightenment you realize the human being you thought you were is just a character in a play, and that the world you thought you were in is just a stage, so you go through a process of radical deconstruction of your character to see what’s left when it’s gone. The result isn’t enlightened-self or true-self, it’s no-self. When it’s all over it’s time to be a human being in the world again, and that means slipping back into costume and getting back on stage.”

Julie seems to have that ability to relax into the moment and let the universe do the driving. If there was a secret to happiness in life, I’d say that was it.

The Unlocked Cage If you’re not amazed by how naïve you were yesterday, you’re standing still. If you’re not terrified of the next step, your eyes are closed. If you’re standing still and your eyes are closed, then you’re only dreaming that you’re awake. A caged bird in a boundless sky. Jed McKenna

“Very much so. Basically, the act of faith in something other than self allows you to release the tiller; to surrender. Whatever the reason for doing it, whatever name you give to the new steering agent or agency, it’s going to be a very positive change because it’s going to be the infinite and unerring intelligence of the universe that takes over.”

“Right. They have abandoned the illusion of control. It doesn’t matter why you do it, just that you do. This is the point of distinction and the root teaching of all major religions. Christians say, ‘Not mine, but thy will be done.’ Hindus say, ‘Brahma is the charioteer.’ Muslims say, ‘It is the will of Allah.’ It’s all the same thing. Fear and ego—in other words, ignorance—are keeping your hand on the tiller. Release the tiller for whatever reason, and the steering takes care of itself.”

Here’s all you need to know to become enlightened: Sit down, shut up, and ask yourself what’s true until you know.

Sit down, shut up, and ask yourself what’s true until you know. In other words, go jump off a cliff. Don’t go near the cliff and contemplate jumping off. Don’t read a book about jumping off. Don’t study the art and science of jumping off. Don’t join a support group for jumping off. Don’t write poems about jumping off. Don’t kiss the ass of someone else who jumped off. Just jump.

“It means that you’re playing your role on the stage, but you don’t confuse your role with yourself or the stage with reality. It means you know that you’re playing a character in a staged production. To switch analogies, it’s like lucid dreaming. You achieve normal waking consciousness within the dream so that you’re in the dream but not of the dream.”

“If you mean, can you get a deal on enlightenment—can you be awake without having to wake up—the answer is no. If you mean can you live a spiritual, compassionate life and still raise kids and have a house and a stock portfolio and a demanding career and all that, I assume the answer is yes, but it’s really not my thing.”

“Imagine you’re in the audience watching a play, and you slowly come to realize that the actors don’t know they’re actors. They think that they’re normal people going about their normal lives, unaware that they’re on a stage, performing. You could never even believe such a thing would be possible if you hadn’t been up there yourself believing the same thing.”

The truth is identical for both of us. I haven’t achieved a better status than you. When you hear someone say that searching for enlightenment is like fish in the ocean struggling to find water, this is what they mean. One fish may know it and another may not, but they’re both swimming in an ocean of water and always were.”

All forces have been steadily employ’d to complete and delight me, Now on this spot I stand with my robust soul. Walt Whitman

“This is a poem by Rumi I’ve been carrying around.” I clear my throat and read: I said Oh no! Help me! And that Oh no! became a rope let down in my well. I’ve climbed out to stand here in the sun. One moment I was at the bottom of a dank, fearful narrowness, and the next, I am not contained by the universe. If every tip of every hair on me could speak, I still couldn’t say my gratitude. In the middle of these streets and gardens, I stand and say and say again, and it’s all I say, I wish everyone could know what I know.

“You’re looking for an exact map and these great texts are thick bundles of pages covered in scribble. Yes, some of the lines in all that scribble are actually somewhat accurate, as far as they may go, but you’re not going to have any way of knowing which ones are right until you’ve made the journey yourself, by which time, of course, you’ll no longer need the map.”

“You’ve all heard the saying ‘When the student is ready, the teacher appears.’ Well, that means a lot more than just the mysterious arrival of gurus in a timely manner. It means that the knowledge you need will appear when you’re ready for it. The ability to open the next door is never denied, but the ability to open the door after the next is never granted. In this sense, you’ll have many, many teachers. In this sense, a passage from the Bible might be exactly the right thing at exactly the right time, but that doesn’t mean the entire Bible is the right thing all the time. Even the books and teachings I like the most I consider ninety-nine percent useless.”

The Golden Rule The great path has no gates, thousands of roads enter it. When you pass through this gateless gate you walk the universe alone. Mumon

I wish someone had told me that there wasn’t something wrong with me and that I shouldn’t be trying to make it right; that I should stop trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. I wish someone had told me that I wasn’t like everyone else not because I was defective, but because I was designed for other things. Being different might seem like a curse, but the important part is that it’s also a blessing. I wish someone had told me to stop trying to fix the curse part and start figuring out the blessing part.

The Uncherished Sword This sword is an ugly, meaty tool. Not one for pageants and ceremonies, not one for a collector’s wall, not one to show the grandkids. It has no scabbard, no tassel, no craftsman has left his mark. The handle is cracked and dry, the metal has lost its shine. Dull and dirty, pitted with age, dried blood caked at the hilt. Once it held a razor’s edge, and shone with the light of the sun. But now it sits unused, forgotten. When beheading time comes, I know right where it is. But beheading time is over. Why read about another’s sword? It’s your head that’s still attached. Jed McKenna