I recently participated in a mindfulness training program and some of my peers shared their insecurities around teaching others because they feel incompetent.
I love to challenge the status quo so I said, “Well, Buddha didn’t have a teaching certificate.”
Some of them looked at me in shock, like I said a forbidden word.
My teacher collected the energy and replied, “Yeah but Buddha had enlightenment.”
I saw the sense of ease in everyone’s eyes while nodding in agreement. But I wasn’t satisfied so I asked, “how do you all know you are not enlightened?”
Silence fell in the room. No one had an answer. In fact, I sensed that they were almost terrified to discover that they are already enlightened even though they are seeking it. The mind is terrified to discover that the very thing it is ever seeking is the only thing that is ever-present.
Joy, peace, and freedom are your true nature, do not seek it elsewhere.
Success is only experienced in the present, do not try to achieve it in the future.
Life is not a journey of accumulation but a journey of growth and expansion.
Enlightenment is a choice, not a requirement.
What do you think?
“Insist you are in bondage, and you are in bondage. Insist you are awake, and you are awake.” — Ramana Maharshi
With heart,
Gil·ad (eternal-joy)
