Is Enlightenment Real?
How can one achieve enlightenment? What happens after enlightenment? Why should we seek it?
These are questions that intrigue anyone on a spiritual path. It's said that fewer than one in a million people on Earth achieve enlightenment. Why is it so rare?
The answer is: enlightenment is not difficult; it's too simple. So simple that it goes unnoticed, like fish in water or us breathing air. We ignore these essentials because they’re so ubiquitous.
Humans have invented atomic bombs, traveled to the moon, and explored Mars because we have the most advanced brains on the planet. However, enlightenment has nothing to do with the brain, knowledge, or experience. The challenge lies in understanding that enlightenment is achieved by ceasing mental effort. The moment we stop trying, enlightenment will naturally reveal itself.
Enlightenment exists, without a doubt. After over a decade of practice, I can swear with the highest honor of my life: enlightenment is as real as the bed we sleep in or the shoes we wear.
What is the Greatest Achievement in Life?
Author Mo Yan once said, "Human society is noisy and complicated, but when you think about it, life boils down to the poor seeking wealth and the wealthy seeking pleasure." He mentioned the four temptations of life: money, fame, power, and beauty.
While this is true, it’s only half the story. The other half of the truth pertains to those rare individuals who, after satisfying material and mental desires, long for something deeper—peace, serenity, joy. This is the spiritual awakening Buddhists refer to as finding one's "true self" or "Buddha nature."
These individuals realize there is a neglected "child" within—an inner spiritual self. Much like the late Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung, who had wealth, fame, and success yet chose to end his life. His material and mental needs were fulfilled, but his spiritual "child" was left starving and lost. He didn’t know how to nourish that child.
Achieving spiritual fulfillment is infinitely more challenging than satisfying material or mental needs because it's an entirely different pursuit. It's a journey where efforts and struggles yield no results. Instead of striving for more, you must let go of everything.
While about 5% of people globally achieve material and mental success, only one in a million can delve deep into the spiritual realm. Despite this rarity, spiritual fulfillment is the only way to transcend life's repeating cycles of dissatisfaction.
How Can We Achieve Enlightenment?
There are three primary paths:
-
Meditation: Through practices like yoga, sitting meditation, or Zen, we calm the mind and relax the body. When the mind is quiet, the door to the heart can open. This path is challenging because our minds process thousands of thoughts every second, making mental stillness rare.
-
Focus: Deep concentration is another path to enlightenment. Ironically, it's only when we reach the extreme point of focus and then let it go that we have a chance to step into the heart. In that moment of release after intense effort, the mind becomes quiet, and the door to the heart can open.
-
Love: Love is the most direct and shortest route to the heart. Unfortunately, in our material-driven world, we've lost the ability to love freely. We fear it, avoid it, and often sabotage it. But when we embrace love, whether for flowers, music, or people, we open the gateway to the heart’s beauty.
The Simplest Path: Instant Enlightenment
For many years, I was confused about enlightenment. I read countless Zen stories hoping to find the answer. I envied Zen masters who seemed to dwell effortlessly in a state of awakening. However, I couldn’t grasp that state myself.
Then, one day, a teacher startled me out of my habitual thinking with a sharp, unexpected reaction. My mind was silenced, and in that instant, I experienced something entirely new. There was no thought, no identity, only a heightened awareness of the present moment. It was pure clarity and peace, a glimpse of the awakened state.
This was my moment of sudden enlightenment, the simplest and most direct path to awakening. Yet, before this moment, I had to exhaust all possible efforts and thoughts. Enlightenment came only after I let go of everything, including the desire for it.
Now I understand the Zen stories. They communicate in the language of the heart, not the brain. Until we live in the heart, we cannot fully grasp the experiences of those who do. We must prepare ourselves so that when the moment of awakening arrives, we are ready to embrace it.