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ISAN02
Audio: Yes
Video: Yes
Length: 117 mins
OUR BELOVED MASTER,
ON ONE OCCASION, A MONK ASKED ISAN ABOUT THE NEED FOR CULTIVATION OF ONE'S SPIRITUAL LIFE AFTER ENLIGHTENMENT. ISAN RESPONDED THAT IT WAS NEEDED BECAUSE OF THE "INERTIA OF HABIT." HE THEN WENT ON TO SAY:
"WHAT YOU HEAR MUST FIRST BE ACCEPTED BY YOUR REASON; AND WHEN YOUR RATIONAL UNDERSTANDING IS DEEPENED AND SUBTILIZED IN AN INEFFABLE WAY, YOUR MIND WILL, OF ITS OWN SPONTANEITY, BECOME COMPREHENSIVE AND BRIGHT, NEVER TO RELAPSE INTO THE STATE OF DOUBT AND DELUSION. HOWEVER NUMEROUS AND VARIOUS THE SUBTLE TEACHINGS ARE, YOU KNOW INTUITIVELY HOW TO APPLY THEM -- IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE OCCASION.
"IN THIS WAY ONLY WILL YOU BE QUALIFIED TO SIT IN THE CHAIR AND WEAR YOUR ROBE AS A MASTER OF THE TRUE ART OF LIVING. TO SUM UP, IT IS OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE TO KNOW THAT ULTIMATE REALITY, OR THE BEDROCK OF REASON, DOES NOT ADMIT OF A SINGLE SPECK OF DUST, WHILE IN INNUMERABLE DOORS AND PATHS OF ACTION NOT A SINGLE LAW OR THING IS TO BE ABANDONED."
Maneesha, it is one of the most important problems for any seeker, to understand a clear distinction between cultivation and enlightenment. You can cultivate enlightenment, but that will be only phony. You may believe in it, but your belief cannot make it true. Even if the whole society supports it, it does not matter.
Truth needs no support; it has to be self-evident. And how can you cultivate enlightenment if you don't know it? You will simply imitate other enlightened ones. But every enlightened person has a unique character of his own. Nobody can be another Isan. However hard he tries to cultivate, imitates every action of Isan, every word, still he cannot be Isan. He will remain himself, only with a cultured, cultivated layer around his mind. It will remain a mind act, and certainly enlightenment is not a mind act. So nobody can cultivate enlightenment.
But after enlightenment...
Enlightenment happens suddenly. You can follow a device, with no guarantee that it will lead to enlightenment. But if you have a living master with you, watching step by step where you are moving, supporting
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