In just a blink of an eye, pure knowledge emerges from the mind that is pure. With a "pop" or a "ping", and your intuition will tell you that your goal has been reached. At that instant, the whole world is shaking and rumbling all over. The knowledge that emerges is so pure and very unique. It is pure because it has no tie to the world and it will not incline toward anything worldly. In short, the bridge that connects you to the cycle of rebirths is completely destroyed and the infinite cycle has been broken, once and for all.
An old Zen student called Hsiang-yen went to dokusan with Kuei-shan Ling-yu (771-853) , the T'ang dynasty master, and Kuei-shan gave him a koan, of which over and over he was unable to see into it's mysteries.
Hsiang-yen decided that it was all too much for him and he would surrender. He went away and found a sacred site, the grave of the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese Zen, Hui-neng, and maintained it as a shrine. Day in and day out he had no thought about the world except his sweeping. Then one day, sweeping away, he swept a pebble into a bamboo grove beside the shrine. The pebble hit a piece of hollow bamboo and went "ping!" and he jumped up and down.
The "ping!" shook him to pieces and he said, "One ping! and I have forgotten all I knew!" and he composed a poem in his excitement: "Last year's poverty was not true poverty, this year even the wind can get through". Hsiang-yen was Enlightened (source)
The wisdom, gained from contemplating something mundane in order to get to the truth from the very beginning up to now, is just a mean to get you to this purity. The messages, "Enlightenment has been achieved because the mind has been freed from desires. Enlightened mind knows intuitively that it has been freed. Through discipline the mind is now pure. Hence, its duty to eradicate sufferings has been completed" will be declared from the mind that is pure. Any doubts about oneself will be wiped out automatically by the mind that is pure. It is natural for a pure mind to know by itself, not from mental messages or nimitta.
From now on, the duty to contemplate in order to learn what is bad so you can refrain from doing so will be the thing of the past. Even for the merits that one has accumulated, they are being useful only when they can get you to where you are now.
Since the fire of sufferings has been put out completely, whatever you do or wherever you go, your duty to search for water to extinguish the fire is now over. People will invent names for what you have just achieved--- mind with immunity, lust-free mind, defilement-free mind, mind with pure view, mind with pure knowledge and insight, mind that knows and sees the Enlightenment; or words, "Complete cessation of defilement brings happiness and the happiness it brings is an everlasting happiness". They are just something that people made up so they will be good enough to describe purity.
During this same period, a lingering thought seems to pass through the mind. It is a yearning to go and see Lord Buddha. Even though you know that the physical Life and Teaching of Lord Buddha has passed into another era, the yearning is so strong that you can hardly contain it. If the Buddha were still alive, no matter how far away, you would be on your way to pay homage to him.
You did not intend to tell him about your purity and you did not hope to hear the Buddha's words about your achievement. You did not want to learn from the Buddha whether what you knew was right or wrong. You did not intend to ask the Buddha what level your achievement was. You did not intend to compare what you have achieved with the purity of the Buddha. You did not intend to compare the Buddha's purity with that of your own. You did not intend to compare your purity with descriptions from the scriptures and you did not want to compare the purity described in the scriptures to that of your own.
But if the Buddha asked questions, you would be glad to tell him privately. In the case that the Buddha asked questions in an assembly of monks, you would be ready to tell him anything boldly, no anxiety nor fear. But if the Buddha did not ask, you had no intention to reveal anything at all.
When you can be very certain about your own purity, why must you ask anyone? Whether it is the Buddha's purity or purity of other Enlightened ones, they are all the same. Whether it was in the old days, at the present, or in any other times, purity remains purity. Cessation of sufferings will be cessation of sufferings regardless of then or now. Nirvana then and Nirvana now will always be the same place. Hence, it is the reason why Enlightened ones do not need to ask each other about purity. It is like when people are sharing the same food and dessert; there is no need to ask each other about the tastes of the food or dessert. The food and dessert are all the same. When they are full, there is no need to ask each other whether one if full or not, each one of them should be the first to know.
In the Buddha's time, when a monk achieved Enlightenment, even though he was far apart from the Buddha, he would make a journey merely to pay homage to Lord Buddha. Anybody who is Enlightened must have entertained such thought in his or her mind but soon after it has entered the mind it would fade away. Then one would think of one's mentor. If you go and see your mentor, it will be because you want to pay respect, not because you want to hear your mentor talking about your achievement. If your colleagues asked how things were, you would find something interesting to talk about because as a person who is full of mindfulness you would know when it was proper to reveal the truth and when it was not.
You would know how to behave in the company of others and you would know how to behave when you were by yourself. You would know how to behave as what Venerable Pra Maha Khajjayana (in Buddha's time) was saying, "Even though you have eyes, behave like people who are blind. Even though you have ears, behave like people who are deaf". You would try not to arouse any suspicion. In fact, you do not need to do anything at all because you are like water without ripples already and the things that will create ripples in you are not there any more.
Soon after the last thought, another thought comes to the mind. This thought concerns reluctance to teach this knowledge to others. You think the knowledge that you have discovered is so refined and so profound that ordinary people will find it too difficult to comprehend. As soon as this thought comes into the mind, you will try to kill it right away by reasoning to yourself that you are not any different from everybody else. You come out of your mother's womb just like anybody else. You have to eat, sleep, or do other things just like anybody else. Your body is made out from earth, water, wind, and fire; just like anybody else. When you make merits, it is the same as others when they make merits; what we all want is to enter the stream of Enlightenment; what we all want is to be happy, pure, and immune from sufferings.
Others have the rights to their shares of Enlightenment. If you think you are so unique, then there will be no other Enlightened ones, so, do you want the world to be without Enlightened ones when you are gone? If you can achieve the Enlightenment, surely, others can do it too. So, why must you feel so discouraged about teaching others? Are you trying to imitate the Buddha with such thought? After you relinquish the thought, such thought will fade away as if it has never happened before. Anyone who has trodden down this path before will attest to this.
Later on, your mind will enter into a period that it feels so powerful, a mind power in the Zen tradition sometimes refered to as Joriki. This mental energy is unlike anything that you have ever experienced before in this world. It is a manifestation of purity that transforms into energy. If this mental energy were channeled into muscles, you would have enough strength to lift the whole mountain and toss it into the air as if it was a rattan ball. Or if you want to, you could crush the whole mountain into dust in just a split second.
When this purity-induced energy reaches its peak, it will stay inside the mind for days and then it will drain away gradually until the mind becomes normal again.
Even though the mind becomes normal, the purity attained remains so pure as if there is no change in time. Your knowledge and insight will remain very pure as long as you live. This purity will never burn out or decay; it will never become more pure or less pure; it will never come one moment and gone the next moment; and it will never be drawn into the wind of changes of the world. The purity will remain purity no matter what. It will be out of reach from any emotions in the world.
This is the mind with its fire completely extinguished. It is the mind that is immune to the three worlds. It ceases to be subjected to intangible forces that result from your own past actions. It is cut off completely from anything that will reconnect the mind to the cycle of rebirths. Therefore, when you have arrived at this final goal, whatever you do or wherever you are, you will always retain the purity within yourself.
At times, some people may look at you with pessimistic views; they can think what they like but your pure mind will always remain pure. With the purity, you adapt even better among your peers. You will continue to act the way you used to act before because characters are not something that anyone can change at will, except the Buddha. A reserved person will remain reserved and a funny one will remain funny. But it is just physical appearances only.
SEE
Please see also:
ENLIGHTENMENT AND KARMA: Their Role in the Awakening Experience
SMASHING THE BLACK LACQUER BARREL
AWAKENING 101
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The above is excerpted from:
TRAVERSE THE CURRENT
By Venerable Ajarn Thoon Khippapanya
Translated from Thai by
Asvin Nimmanheminda
Revised in part and edited
for our purposes here by
...the Wanderling
