Attaining Enlightenment – A Child's Fantasy Or A Realistic Aspiration?

byDzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

The notion of enlightenment means, “not bound”. Not bound to what? Not bound to one's own mind in ordinary ways; not bound in confusion to all the suffering that one's mind has produced and is experiencing. So the notion of enlightenment is not something outside of one's own mind.

We cannot imagine achieving enlightenment, let alone perfecting any of the qualities of buddhahood, if we hold to ourselves as who we think we are right now—with the way we think and the validity that we give to our own mind and its existence.

Unless we're caught up in arrogance or negative emotions, most of the time our self-confidence is a lot like that of a rabbit, with so many insecurities of all kinds crowding our mind. We have so many thoughts of the world as solid and intrinsic, that we see ourselves and our well-being as constantly threatened by the world and by others. So we live in this state known in the teachings as, “the whole phenomenal world becoming one's enemy.”

When feeling threatened in one way or another—by our notions of existence, our feelings, our thoughts,  or our different reactions and behavior—our mind creates scenarios that are totally contrary to how things truly are. These ordinary kinds of self-projections about phenomena or one's own existence need to be cleared up in order to develop genuine faith in the aspiration to attain enlightenment.

Otherwise our "aspiration" remains merely a good thought but it will be impossible for it to be a realistic aim. You might cultivate a good thought such as wishing to “wear the sky as your clothes, and have the sun and moon as your crown jewels,” or something like that, but these will always just be unrealistic and impossible aims. Since there is no genuine belief that such things are possible, its just like a child’s fantasy.

Likewise our aspiration to attain enlightenment can be something like this, unless we give up our current notions of what phenomena are and what the self is. When we do not examine the movement of our mind and its functions closely, reflecting carefully with an appropriate view, then the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of others is just a child’s fantasy, unattainable and unrealistic.

Now, with some understanding of the absolute nature as well as a personal conviction in this absolute nature or absolute bodhicitta, it is possible to cultivate an aspiration that is realistic—one that becomes a genuine, heartfelt pursuit of freedom, happiness and peace for the benefit of oneself and others. This is possible due to the blessings of one's own hearing, contemplation and meditation, along with a deep personal connection to the path of enlightenment, to something other than what is causing our suffering right now.