Sun, 29 Aug 2010
Stages of the Path
I'd like to wrap up what I was writing on enlightenment and move onto another topic. But first, I want to explain the stages of the path. The are many levels of understanding on the Buddhist path. Different levels all get labeled enlightenment and people get confused. I've met more than one person who thought they were a stream enterer or on the first bhumi after their experience. There are many different explanations of the levels of enlightenment. I'm using a poem by Jigten Sumgon that isn't explicitly about that, but does describe these stages. Here is the first part:
In the unborn Dharmadatu
abides the Reverend Mother, the deity Tara.
She bestows happiness on all sentient beings.
I request her to protect me from all fears.Through not understanding oneself as Dharmakaya,
one's mind is overpowered by kleshas.
Our mothers, sentient beings, wander in samsara.
Please protect them, Deity Mother.If the meaning of dharma is not born in one's heart,
one just follows the words of conventional meaning,
some are deceived by dogma.
Please protect them, Perfect Mother.It is difficult to realise one's mind.
Some realise, but do not practise.
Their minds wander to worldly activities.
Please protect them, Deity Mother of Recollection.
The first stanza is the introduction, The second stanza describes the problem of the ordinary person not interested in spiritual practice. Because they have not yet seen their mind as Buddha, they are overwhelmed by negative emotions. The solution is to take up the practice of dharma. The third stanza contrasts the practitioner who has understood the meaning through their own experience versus one who only understands it intellectually and for whom it is only a dogma and the living truth. So this stanza points out the need for practice to realize the truth. Even after realization, there are still many problems, as the fourth stanza describes. Though one has had a glimpse that the mind is Buddha, through force of habit one still acts in the old egotistical manner. One needs further practice to stabilize the understanding one has gained. When teachers behave badly it's because the teacher is still at this level, enlightened but not yet fully enlightened.
