Fri, 29 Sep 2006
Kid Kensho
Of all the ideas in Buddhism, probably the most seductive is kensho, the Japanese Zen term for enlightenment. Like most Western Buddhists, I got my first exposure to the concept through Kapleau's book "The Three Pillars of Zen." It sounded pretty amazing: sit down a find the answer to a riddle and wham bam zowie, all your problems are solved. So for a short while I was a convinced Zen Buddhist of the Rinzai persuasion, looking for the face I had before I was born. Then I met Pat, and later Khenpo, and I switched my allegiance from Zen to Tibetan Buddhism. And the funny thing was, Tibetans didn't talk about enlightenment at all, except to say Buddha was enlightened. But they did talk an awful lot about compassion. What's the deal, I wondered. How can kensho be so important in Zen and not mentioned in Tibetan Buddhism? It really wasn't until I read the Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra that I had any inkling that there was anything similar in Tibetan Buddhism. These two verses from that prayer sum up the Tibetan view of "kensho" quite nicely.
If one says, "This is it," there is nothing to show.
If one says, "This is not it," there is nothing to deny.
The true nature of phenomena,
which transcends conceptual understanding, is unconditioned.
May conviction he gained in the ultimate, perfect truth.Not realizing it, one circles in the ocean of samsara.
If it is realized, buddha is not anything other.
It is completely devoid of any "This is it," or "This is not it."
May this simple secret, this ultimate essence of phenomena,
which is the basis of everything, be realized.
So I went from being kid kensho to being a mahamudra maniac. I wish I could say, so I went home, sat on my zafu, and was enlightened, but life is never so simple. But I'm quite gratified with what I've accomplished so far.
