Mother of four experiences the same enlightenment as Buddha
in Spirituality ·
Joseph Davis5 said:This is an interesting debate.
Buddha certainly didn't experience "Nothingness" the way hiddenpuma75 is suggesting if he meant the nihilistic negation of all things. Experiencing non-self doesn't mean shutting out the world in a conventional sense; rather, it fundamentally shifts how you perceive everything. When we talk about emptiness, we aren't talking about a void where nothing exists, but rather the lack of inherent, independent existence in things (the absence of a permanent Atman).
In Zen or Chan, this experience is called the vision of nature, and it’s really just the starting line for actual practice.
When discussing the stages of practice in Zen or Buddhism, there are several different frameworks. The Avatamsaka Sutra outlines ten stages, and someone else here mentioned the "Ten Oxherding Pictures."
It's worth noting that in both systems, only the second or third stage (if I recall correctly) actually refers to the initial vision of nature or non-self.
Similarly, initial practice can be broken down into four general phases:
1. The scattered mind of a beginner, totally reactive to their surroundings.
2. The focused mind of a practitioner actively engaging with their environment.
3. One Mind, or the Great Mind (where the boundaries between the small ego and the vast cosmic mind dissolve).
4. No-mind, or the experience of non-self.
Even though the potential within an ordinary sentient being is identical to the potential within Buddha himself, there is a massive gulf between a "regular" practitioner's vision of nature and Buddha's total enlightenment (Samyak sambodhi).
I don't get it. Honestly, I just don't get it. Where does this urge come from—to write with such absolute certainty about something nobody actually knows anything about?
I mean, look at Joseph Davis5, confidently debating what Buddha supposedly experienced??? That's like me sitting here with total authority arguing about what I felt while eating a chicken sandwich yesterday. Like, did I even eat a chicken sandwich? Was it turkey? Or am I actually a strict vegetarian or even a vegan who doesn't touch meat at all?
As if it actually matters to anyone whether this Mr. or Ms. Buddha experienced something, or will experience something, or if it was turkey instead of chicken...
For God's sake, either read what these "enlightened" people have written or don't, but why beat a dead horse this much when nobody has a clue what they're talking about??????????
ughhhhhhhhhhh...
🙂