What is Enlightenment?
It is hard to say what it is, Buddha said it was beyond words
We can be sure it is very far beyond where we are now
Even though the Buddha also said all can attain it who make the effort
But we can say something about an important staging post
When we develop insight, knowledge and vision of things as they really are
One becomes Arya, noble,
One enters the stream leading to Enlightenment
From that moment we can’t fall back, E is assured if if not in this lifetime
So how to we become Arya, Stream Enterants, important question
By breaking the first three fetters, which bind us to Samsara, conditioned existence, the W of L
In all ten fetters to break to reach E
What are they?
1/ Satkaya Drsti, literally true/real body view
Usual translation, personality view
Я такой человек, always have been and will be
Such views can be individual and collective, I’m Russian, we are like this
S calls this the fetter of habit, living on autopilot, doing what we know, not trying anything new
Antidote, be creatively minded
2/ Vicikitsa, doubt and indecision
Not a sincere doubt when we want to find the truth
But refusal to make a decision, to commit (to GFR to a teacher and path)
S calls this the fetter of vagueness, wilful ignorance
Antidote, commitment, GFR
3/ Silavrataparamasa, dependence on ethics and religious observances as ends in themselves
They are necessary, but depending on them is a fetter, building your ego around themselves
Also doing outer form of practice as enough without recourse to personal experience
Examples, you must sit in a particular posture for meditation, or recite an exact number of mantras
That in itself ie enough for effective practice, no regard to personal experiences
S calls this the fetter of superficiality, on the surface, no depth, no personal experiences
Antidote, clarity, clear thinking, self knowledge and awareness
Summary; we need creativity/trying something new, commitment/GFR, clarity/self knowledge
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