Some of you know one of my hobbies is water gardening. This is something I’ve done for more than 20 years - long before it became popular. This year I have a beautiful lotus that has continued to bloom all summer. Lotuses like other water lilies are rooted in the bottom of pond - in the mud and muck. But unlike common water lilies that bloom on the surface of the water, for the lotus to bloom it sends forth a shoot - high above the water - usually 2 - 3 feet - with this incredibly beautiful bloom. For this reason the lotus is often used as a metaphor for enlightenment. The following quote about the lotus expresses this beautifully….

“The lotus has its roots in the mud,

Grows up through the deep water,

And rises to the surface.

It blooms into perfect beauty and purity in the sunlight.

It is like the mind unfolding to perfect joy and wisdom.”

So the lotus is the metaphor for enlightenment. Buddhism talks a lot about Enlightenment. But what exactly is enlightenment? It is often easier to say what enlightenment isn’t rather than what it is. For example enlightenment is not a thing, a place or a state of mind to be attained. Further, an individual self cannot attain it.

In looking for enlightenment the famous Zen Patriarch Po Chang said:

“Looking for enlightenment is like riding an ox in search of an ox.”

The essential point is that one doesn’t obtain enlightenment by pursuing it elsewhere, but by discovering it within oneself. Enlightenment is here and now in every moment.

It is said, the Buddha taught three different turnings of the wheel of Dharma. His third and final turning of the wheel of Dharma was concerning “Buddha-nature.” Buddha-nature is the teaching that within each of us, our fundamental nature is already enlightened. It is our birthright. It has compared to: butter within cream, gold within gold ore, or the oil within sesame seeds.

So, if enlightenment is not a thing or place, and it is not a state of mind to be attained by individual self - but then what is it? The term “nirvana” translated means extinction - as in putting out a flame. In this context nirvana means the extinction of the cycle of re-birth. So nirvana ends the cycle of re-birth - and thus ends suffering. Enlightenment is the wisdom of emptiness. It is the wisdom that arises from the direct experience of all phenomena being empty of independent existence. It is knowing through personal experience (for example, meditation) that all things are interconnected and interdependent. And that nothing in this world exists independently - by and through it’s own merits. All things are connected and conditional. In other words, all things exist because of other things. For example I am here because my parents came together and because of my karma. If both conditions hadn’t come together in a very special way years ago, I wouldn’t be sitting here today, but that’s only half the story.

In order for me to live in this world, the Buddha said, I need… “food, shelter, clothing, and medicine.” These are the four major conditions necessary for me to subsist. Some conditions were necessary for me to be born, other conditions are important for me to stay alive.

But as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story” is certain conditions got me here, other conditions keep me here, and when all the necessary conditions come to an end, so do I. I do not live independent of conditions. This kind of causality is what we call “dependent origination.” The great 2nd century Buddhist philosopher, Nagrjuana, said dependent origination and emptiness is essentially the same thing. It is this realization that leads us to enlightenment.

Nagarjuna also asserted that enlightenment is not something separate from our own experience. In fact Nagarguna asserted that since samsara and nirvana are both empty of self-inherent existence, then in an absolute sense, there is no difference between them. Therefore, samsara and nirvana are not two separate realties, but in fact they are one vast field of empty arising. It is said that samsara properly understood is nirvana. The absolute reality of our world is nirvana, but we are unable to see it properly because of the delusions of our mind. The great religious scholar Huston Smith in his book on Buddhism said, “As long as we think of nirvana as a ‘thing’ that is separate and distinct from our own reality and that it can only be achieved by individual egos, then it will remain hidden from our experience.”

So, what must we do to be able experience nirvana as part of reality? To experience nirvana we must change how we see the world. We must learn to view ourselves and the entire phenomenal world as empty of self-inherent existence. This can only be achieved through the persistence of both study and practice.

In the Zen tradition they have a saying:

“Before enlightenment

Chop wood, carry water

After enlightement

Chop wood, carry water.”

The point is that enlightenment is here and now - in every moment. It is not somewhere outside of our experience - all we have to do is open to it. However, realizing emptiness that will lead to enlightenment can’t be accomplished only through intellectual study. Study is important but it will only get you part of the way there. It is only through the meditation practice that you will begin to directly realize emptiness.

So, I encourage you to continue your meditation practice. As the Buddha taught, meditation is the path that leads to the end of suffering - and eventually to enlightenment. Enlightenment which is here and now and in every moment.