tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986548.post4425653788674834113..comments2023-10-21T03:56:17.837-07:00Comments on Zen Buddhism Dogen and the Shobogenzo: Dogen: Qualifying Ancestors, Qualifying EnlightenmentTed Biringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00497538623775589400noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986548.post-31348492671745303042010-08-02T02:53:30.208-07:002010-08-02T02:53:30.208-07:00That a person is enlightened or not is void as a p...That a person is enlightened or not is void as a person is a collection of ideas and concepts. The person only appears separate from reality due to these very concepts and is not in fact real but for mind made ideas. <br /><br />To take an undivided whole and split it with the mind into people, environment, enlightened and unenlightened and then spend time trying to reconcile the split is the farce of seeking enlightenment. <br /><br />There is not actually a person with the qualities of enlightenment as that would simply be a further idea or concept attached to the person who is already only a separate person due to a set of ideas and concepts. <br /><br />Removing all concepts then there is no separation, no separate being or person, and so no one to have this quality of enlightenment applied to them. <br /><br />The only title a person may have is 'unenlightened' and that is the case of the seeker, one who has separated themselves, and is now seeking to reconnect with, that which they could never be separate from in all of infinity. <br /><br />Enlightenment is not the state of a person but a state free from the concept of the separate person.Ta Wanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15141579756370194801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986548.post-39867027373254084482010-07-30T23:32:39.083-07:002010-07-30T23:32:39.083-07:00Hello Ta Wan,
Thank you for your comment.
I am n...Hello Ta Wan,<br /><br />Thank you for your comment.<br /><br />I am not sure if I accurately understand your meaning here.<br /><br />If you are pointing out that duality "at play" is an important aspect of the Buddha Dharma, I agree.<br /><br />If you mean that Buddhism (and/or enlightenment) minimizes or denies the role of duality (in the nonduality of "duality/nonduality") then I would strongly disagree---without duality, nonduality is meaningless.<br /><br />Having said that, I would add that "duality" is often confused with or mistaken for "dualism" which, of course, is strongly refuted in Buddhism.<br /><br />Thanks again for your comment.<br /><br />Peace,<br />TedTed Biringerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00497538623775589400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986548.post-9216653216783811622010-07-30T03:15:54.764-07:002010-07-30T03:15:54.764-07:00I would agree that a person can express truth as c...I would agree that a person can express truth as can the wind or a tree. <br /><br />That a person can be enlightened or not is null as if we say there is a separate person then this split position of us them, enlightened or not is duality at play. <br /><br />Enlightenment is non-I, it is the tree and the environment as one.Ta Wanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15141579756370194801noreply@blogger.com