Вадим Сычевский
Absolute freedom and happiness – our true essence
Hate, dissatisfaction, dislike
Further, if there is something that brings us, even if temporary, pleasures, there is necessarily at the same time something opposite to our pleasures – something that brings us suffering. In addition, the greater the pleasures, the greater the suffering. This is a very precise and rigid formula, operating impartially and without regard to our will, wherever there is a process of our perception and discernment. If there is a plus, there will necessarily be a minus; how much stronger is the plus, so much stronger is the minus-they are equivalent.
«When everyone in the Celestial Empire learns that the beautiful is beautiful, the ugly also appears. When everyone learns that the good is good, evil also arises. Therefore, being and non-being generate each other, difficult and easy create each other, long and short are mutually related, high and low are mutually determined, sounds merge into harmony, and the previous and the next follow each other. Therefore, the Perfectly Wise One, when doing deeds, prefers Non-action; when teaching, he does not resort to words; when causing things to change, [he] does not realize them himself; when creating, he does not possess [what is created]; when setting things in motion, he makes no effort to do so; when successfully completing [something], he is not proud. Since he is not proud, his merits cannot be discarded» (Lao Tzu, «Tao De Jing»).
If we dislike a perceived object and we experience unpleasant feelings when we come in contact with it, hatred arises in us. Hatred has many derivatives: it can be dislike, anger, rage, fury, and the like. Having a negative attitude toward an object, we try to get rid of it in some way. For example, if we dislike some person, we try to avoid contact with him. Of course, when we hate or dislike an object, we suffer physical or mental pain. Mental pain is stronger than physical pain: physical pain can be controlled at least for a while with painkillers, but mental pain can torment us even in our sleep. So, the negative distinction – hatred, dislike, discontent – is physical or mental pain.
Greed, attachment, cravings
If we have experienced something pleasurable, we want to experience it again. This is how greed (attachment, addiction) comes into being. If we get what we want, it either ends or we get bored and we start a new search. This is the action of our Formed experience. That is, past experience (karma) leads us to experience and, accordingly, to an accumulation of new experience (karma). Often we cannot get what we desire or we get the opposite of what we desire. In either case, we suffer from dissatisfaction.
In addition, there is bound to arise in us an unconscious fear of losing what is dear and pleasurable, a fear of not getting what we want, and a fear that something bad will happen – something opposite to our desires and expectations, something we do not want.
No pleasure lasts forever: any object that brings us pleasure changes and/or disappears, or our consciousness changes, we become satiated with the object, and it no longer satisfies us. As a result, we necessarily want more, i.e. we have to «increase the dose». Precisely because of the impermanence of any external and internal objects that we perceive and distinguish, as well as because of the impermanence of our consciousness, the satisfaction of worldly desires always turns into drug addiction – allegorically and sometimes, unfortunately, literally. We cease to be satisfied with the amount of money, the size of our dwelling, and the comfort and speed of our car, we become satiated with our sexual partner, wife, or husband, we endlessly demand something more from people around us; we want to eat even more delicious food, and so on. Worldly desires based on greed and attachment and suffering from dissatisfaction are exactly the same thing. Worldly desires cannot be satisfied: trying to satisfy one's desires is the same as alcoholism or drug addiction. Worldly desires are endless if one tries to satisfy them: the result is nothing but suffering. However, the amount of experience that gives rise to worldly desires is fixed, and if practiced spiritually, it can be stopped. In this sense, worldly desires have a limit.
The world around us is a manifestation of our dissatisfaction. When we fail to get what we want or lose what we used to enjoy, we have hatred along with the frustration of not being able to satisfy the desire. In addition, if we also «found someone to blame» for not being able to get what we want, then our anger and hatred will be just limitless. Moreover, the stronger was our desire, the stronger will be our hatred. That is, when we suffer from dissatisfaction or impermanence, we simultaneously suffer from pain caused by our negative attitude (hatred, or anger) towards the situation.
Therefore, movement – identification – discernment – hatred, ignorance, and greed – pain, impermanence, and dissatisfaction, respectively. All phenomena in our world necessarily fall under one of these categories of pain, impermanence, or dissatisfaction. As I said earlier, there is not a single phenomenon that does not initially correspond to or eventually turn into one of these three afflictions.
Here again, it should be noted that all of the above processes occur in our consciousness so quickly, and we are so much accustomed to them, that separately we simply do not notice them, do not see them, and think that «this is the way it should be», endlessly labeling «good» and «bad» initially empty objects and phenomena, endlessly blaming other people for our own suffering caused solely by our dual thinking.
Denoting the causes of suffering and the original state
In this chapter, we have briefly considered the causes that cause us to regard illusion as reality. This unenlightened, ordinary state of our consciousness can be explained in different ways, indicating seemingly different causes of our suffering. For example, hatred, ignorance, and greed are the suffering of pain, impermanence, and dissatisfaction. Or the cause of suffering is our worldly desires. Or the cause of our suffering is double-mindedness, the discernment that causes our desires and no desires to arise. Or the cause of our suffering is the workings of past experiences that make perceived objects seem pleasant or unpleasant to us. Or the cause of our suffering is the movement of consciousness and identification with objects. Or the cause of our suffering is a lack of self-awareness and an attempt to find ourselves in external objects and phenomena. However, all these causes are linked in the same process. In other words, these causes look and seem different, but in reality, they are the same process of perception and discernment, which simply involves different elements and has different stages.
Our original state is manifested when the action of the above causes ceases. Here, too, definitions arise that seem different at first glance. For example, Enlightenment and Emancipation are the cessation of hatred, ignorance and greed, or worldly desires. Or it is the cessation of double thinking. Or the stopping of past experiences. Or the return of consciousness to a state of Calmness and Contemplation. Or self-awareness. Here, as in the first case, the definitions seem to be different, but in reality, they all point to the same original state, which, as stated earlier, can be conventionally called Atman, or Nirvana: «When all obscurations are eliminated, the true nature of the mind, unrestricted by anything, is unhindered» (Kalu Rinpoche).
Chapter 3
Enlightenment and Emancipation
If we try to explain Enlightenment logically, we will always get entangled in a web of contradictions. No amount of verbal explanations will help us to see our own nature. The more you explain it, the further it eludes you.
You can talk about food all day long and still end up hungry. You can interpret philosophy of Shunyata[17] for ten thousand years, but as long as you do not see your own nature, it is useless.
D.T. Suzuki.
In the previous chapters, we have discussed in general terms what we usually call our self, and talked about the structure of the universe and our multi-layered consciousness. The question may arise here: «Well, I generally understand this worldview, but what should I do to overcome my suffering and return to the original state of my consciousness?», and also: «What happens to a person when he starts spiritual practice? What path does he have to travel? What will he experience along the way?».
The keywords in answering these questions would be «Enlightenment» and «Emancipation». Unfortunately, nowadays Enlightenment and Emancipation are often either confused, synonymous, or very vaguely defined, making the purpose of the practice unclear.
The difference between Enlightenment and Emancipation
First, Enlightenment and Emancipation are not the same thing; these states should not be confused.
Second, Enlightenment and Emancipation are processes. Enlightenment is the process of returning our consciousness to the original state of Calmness and Contemplation. Emancipation is the process of transforming the heat energy of worldly desires and freeing ourselves from the false «self» through energy elevation.
The ultimate goal of any authentic spiritual practice is the realization of one's original state. This is the only unconditioned state in which all previous experience and information stored in our Five Aggregates has been terminated. We need to free ourselves from the Five Aggregates – body, senses, images, formed experience and information, and their functions: physical activity, sensations, perceptions, desires/no desires, and distinction. We need to do this in two ways: by using consciousness and by using energy. The way in which consciousness is used leads to Enlightenment. The way in which energy is used leads to Emancipation. Let me give you an example. We have a physical body. It is clear that it not only gives illusory pleasures but also brings suffering: illness, old age, and death. Suppose a person becomes seriously ill. If he has attained Enlightenment, even the worst pain in the body will not affect him – no suffering will arise in his consciousness. This is so because his consciousness and, consequently, his past experiences are stopped, so sensations are not divided into good and bad – they can only be strong, weak, or absent. Thus, suffering does not arise because consciousness is stilled by Enlightenment and past experience does not cause illusions of suffering or joy. If that person has attained Emancipation, he simply leaves his physical body due to the ascending energy, thus emancipating himself from suffering. In the same way, one has to get out of the control of all the Five Aggregates – by stopping the consciousness and raising the energy.
Let me give you another example. Greed leads to the suffering of dissatisfaction and causes us to be born in the six worlds of the Passion World, time after time.
Following the process of Enlightenment, the practitioner completely stops the workings of his consciousness. Then, in this state of perfect calm, he observes the objects of his grasping, as well as his past experiences that cause him to seek joy in those objects. At some point, the practitioner sees that all objects and all past experiences are empty and are not his true essence. Thus, greed falls apart and ceases to exist. Only past experience remains, but it no longer forms worldly desires because it is completely stopped. This process applies to any worldly desire or movement of the soul.
How does a spiritual practitioner get rid of greed in the process of Emancipation? First, greed arises from the blockage of energy in the Manipura chakra, the energy center located in the navel region. What blocks the energy is the past experience of satisfying desires originating from greed. Secondly, greed itself, like any worldly desire, is heat energy. In the process of Emancipation, we transform this heat energy into ascending spiritual energy. The ascending energy destroys the blockage in the Manipura-chakra and the consciousness, which moves with the energy, rises higher. At the same time, the energy of greed itself is completely sublimated. Thus, a state is reached in which greed cannot arise, even if the object of desire appears.
Thus, the processes of Enlightenment and Emancipation are directed in the same direction and have the same goal, but the means of achieving this goal are different.
The main points concerning Enlightenment and Emancipation:
1. Enlightenment and Emancipation are not one and the same thing; there is no need to confuse these concepts. The highest stage of spiritual practice realized, for example, by Shakyamuni Buddha, includes both Final Enlightenment and Final Emancipation. However, if we are talking about the initial levels of Enlightenment, it does not mean the realization of Emancipation at all.
2. Enlightenment is a process of consciousness. It is necessary to elaborate here. It is usually considered that spiritual practice and its ultimate goal – Enlightenment – is a process of perfection, development, or evolution of our consciousness (soul). At the initial stage, this is exactly so: we do change the data of our Five Aggregates, because of which they move to a higher state. However, Enlightenment is not a development, but a perfect transformation. For example, if we plant a sapling, after some years it will grow, or develop, into a tree. That is development. However, if we heat ice, it is transformed, transformed into water. That is, the basis of the substance (H2O) will remain the same, while the aggregate state will become completely different. This is the transformation. Thus, Enlightenment is the process of transformation of our consciousness from the ordinary clouded state (which can be compared to ice) to the true original state of Calmness and Contemplation (like pure clear and completely calm water that reflects everything as it is without changing).
3. If only one thing is attained, Enlightenment or Emancipation, then such an attainment cannot be considered perfect.
4. Enlightenment is achieved first, then Emancipation. If the opposite happens, it is dangerous (more details in the next chapter).
5. The process of Emancipation includes the process of Enlightenment, so true Emancipation always includes Enlightenment.
6. Enlightenment and Emancipation have many levels, the realization of which occurs sequentially in the course of spiritual practice. The highest level of Enlightenment and Emancipation is the level reached by Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha.