How Do You Know When You're Enlightened?

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[@benhorner8430]

"The thing you're seeking is the thing that is seeking the thing you are seeking." I just thought that deserved to be written down. lol

[@pajamawilliams9847]

I had a weird experience while looking around inside my experience for the thing that was experiencing my experience. Suddenly I clicked into something and subject and object fused. I was there for about an hour. I could barely move. I managed to get myself arranged onto my back on the floor and then was kind of lost in this feeling of bliss and connectedness. Also there was this sense that I had discovered something true about the universe and that I needed to share it and I had acquired something special. Eventually it wore off and all the mystical feelings disappeared. Except for an ineffable sense everything is fine and this life is not all that important and that struggling against everything only creates more misery. So now I'm getting much better at dropping the charade and being spontaneous in a way that is pleasing to me and doesn't cause problems for other people (but if it did I wouldn't worry too much about it). I can put what I experienced into words. It's this: "everything is me and I am everything, there is no separation between anything". Therefore, *I* don't die. I never existed to begin with. This existence is as real, permanent, and important as a rain cloud. Does that mean I stopped desiring things? Does that mean I wouldn't be shattered if my children died? No. It just means that, barring something cataclysmically terrible happening to me, everything else is just what it is, and im free to just be what i am. Is this enlightenment? I don't really think so. I think enlightenment is all that practical stuff you work on so you become a person that inspires others to be their best selves. The fun visions of God thing is 1. A signpost that you're on the right track 2. An unimportant distraction. Don't try just be good namaste

[@mitchstacey34]

If you’re enlightened and you know it clap your hand ✋🏻

[@Blandle2424]

The "opening" or blossoming experience that you were talking about sounds like the mind/body feeling that comes with the realization of love. "God is love", "high on love" and such like; these are sayings that try to sum up the experience but fail because nothing can describe it. You only know it if you've experienced it, and even then it's different for everyone. You also said that pain and adversity are necessary parts of the path. That's true, and I really believe that the more time that passes and the more difficult the journey is, the more powerful and lasting the enlightenment experience is. It could never be forgotten nor would anyone want to, it couldn't be ruined either because it's intangible and out of anyone's control. The intensity of course will be fleeting, as it should be, no one could live in such a state. Then you have a permanent notion or presence, forever burnt in your brain and part of your soul. If you're into that sorta thing. Ok, I think I'll go clip my toenails now.

[@gunterappoldt3037]

Not only is "love" talked about a lot, it is also institutionalized in a many different ways. That´s the other (or at least one other) side of the story, I would say.

[@guido3771]

It's interesting to see that in another tradition stemming from the Sawaki influence, Antaiji, Muho never speaks of anything like that in a similar way. The reason may be that you come into obvious contradictions with Dogen. On the one hand he insists that enlightenment and practice are one, thus you don't have to (and actually shouldn't) aim at anything, just do zazen. And that is the focus of Muho and Antaiji. On the other hand Dogen himself was very eager not only to get a confirmation by a master (actually, more than one because when he went to China he was already confirmed in the Rinzai lineage) but even to receive a document as proof.

[@HardcoreZen]

I think it's interesting how people talk about this stuff. I don't remember exactly what I said in the video. But I do remember that when I first started talking about so-called "kensho experiences" I was worried that my teacher would disapprove because he never spoke about them. But actually he was very supportive. So I think a wide variety of different ways of expressing things can be accepted in the same tradition.

[@ldydyk]

Me: I have sat for 20+ years. I no longer care about enlightenment. ;) I had to let go of such a desire. I sit to sit. This is the only way I can face life. Teacher: Are you sure? :))))))

[@HardcoreZen]

HA! Good one!

[@hautsausmusic7314]

Your guitar collection is stunning.

[@bojay68]

I had a couple of really big "Ah-ha!" moments in this one! It seems really obvious but the part when you talked about perception and how the mind categorizes things. "That's a Squire Bass 6, that's the guitar stand, that's the ground..." It seems so elementary but when you spell it out, I just thought "Ooooooh, right!" And how that apparatus can't perceive something that is not a something that can't be categorized, that being Truth/Enlightenment. Gassho.

[@gypsy4932]

Awesome job wrangling the unwrangable Brad! Look forward to you circling back to this topic again sometime. And would enjoy hearing more about the content of that jettisoned book you mentioned!

[@trevorjones8737]

Different forms of Buddhism will give oppositional answers to this question, of course. Also, the not-knowing is a tough sell when multiple sutras say the individual “directly knows” when suffering ends and Nirvana is reached.

[@Teller3448]

'Not-knowing' in this context refers to ontology. The end of suffering is not an ontological matter.

[@StephenWenninger]

Your ordinary mind is the Buddha, and your everyday life is Enlightenment. When you see this (What is this?), you can't unsee it. It has sometimes been compared to surfing. You always want to catch bigger, more exciting waves, but all you need to do is fall into the water and realize that all waves are equally Wet. I think Ken Wilber might have said that, but that analogy has been thrown around a bit. "It is like an Eye that sees, but cannot see Itself. It is like a Sword that cuts, but cannot cut Itself!" -the Zenrin

[@mantistobogganm]

Hey Brad. I was wondering if you could comment on the constant feeling a lot us have that we need to compare ourselves to others? I was born poor and from the looks of things will always be so and Buddhism certainly helps me come to terms with that because it feels like those material things aren't necessary for a happy life. Yet in our modern age of consumer culture and social media you can't help but occasionally compare yourself to others and feel a bit like a failure or loser. I know I shouldn't feel that way and that that line of thinking is probably detrimental on the path but what are your thoughts? Big fan of yours and absolutely loving the new book so far, mate.

[@Teller3448]

"I was born poor" You were born rich compared to the vast majority of our ancestors. I own a toaster...Julius Caesar didn't even have matches.

[@kneesturnedvelvet3725]

​@@Teller3448 You're right about Caesar not having the luxury of a toaster, or maybe even matches, but who needs those when you're Caesar? The truth is, yes, we have more cool gadgets and money now, but only because these things are more necessary than they ever have been. It's not necessarily a sign that we're better off now than we were. (though in some ways, we certainly are; and vice-versa.)

[@Teller3448]

@@kneesturnedvelvet3725 In my grandparents time people were embarrassed to have patches on their clothes...now people deliberately rip their jeans so they can look edgy. What happened...what changed? My great-grandparents didn't even have shoes when they were children, or clean water to drink. And yet, in spite of the poverty, disease, famine, no basic healthcare, slavery and endless wars of ancient times a few still struck out even further as a sacrifice for spiritual goals.

[@bronsonmcnulty1110]

"rich is the one who doesnt need anything" , who is the one that needs or desires ? another quote that i read from another youtube video : "god is the end of all desires"

[@Teller3448]

@@bronsonmcnulty1110 Dead is the one who doesn't need anything. If God is end of all desire...why did God create a world of desire?

[@DavidJones-bl5wu]

I'm afraid of taking in any answer to a question like "How will I recognize my enlightenment," because it seems like it any answer that you could say "now this is what enlightenment or truth looks like" then it becomes an expectation that will keep us from finding it. It's like having a photo of someone you're looking for. Even if you find them, if they don't match the photo, you'll shrug and keep looking for the guy in the photo. If true truth exists, it needs no be experienced and not looked at.

[@adamdacevedo]

Seems like some people are confusing “Buddhism” with “Zen”. For example, in Buddhism you have the “Four Noble TRUTHS…” Truth is more well defined in Buddhism, but more amorphous in Zen…

[@jesuisravi]

it is reported that somebody asked Nisargadatta how he would know if he had understood what Nisargadatta was saying and Nis replied: You will have no more fear. Really, asking someone else if you have become enlightened is like asking someone as you are walking out of your favorite restaurant:" Have I satisfied my hunger??"

[@Teller3448]

"somebody asked Nisargadatta how he would know if he had understood what Nisargadatta was saying and Nis replied: You will have no more fear." Yes...great answer!

[@t.c.bramblett617]

Well said. Realizing there is nothing more to search for.

[@joeg3950]

Wichita Line Man… I remember hearing that song though an AM radio station back in the day. Plus, I love the shirt. Like you said, the Subject/Object thing and the use of conceptions/perceptions are fraught. Also, Western intellectualization leads to a perceived idea of separation that the person perceiving that notion does not realize that. Also, the level of knowing that you speak of is a point that most Westerners fall into the trap of a trope: Question everything. While that is a good thing in a few circumstances, it is not a good idea in other circumstances: the experience of enlightenment being one of them. I fell into that trap and had to put in the ‘cushion time’ to work through what was actually self doubt. Again, thank you for the videos. The Squier Bass 6 is a damn fine bass.

[@gunterappoldt3037]

Was Samuel Beckett pre-enlightened, just-now-enlightened, post-enlightened, or what else, or what else not, or ... , when he wrote "Waiting for Godot"?

[@jurafa]

Also, has any one here ever gotten the song "war, what Is it good for" stuck in their heads but instead of war you sing "zen"? I can't seem yo get it out of my head, it just started again when i saw the notification for this video 😂😂😂

[@tedbonnot8910]

god i want a brad warner alien book so bad

[@jamesiandoli4993]

I may grab a snippet of this for a video!

[@mgrayta]

Well, you answered my question! "What is that weird-ass guitar?"

[@jeremyfirth]

In Orthodox Christianity, there is a word: "nous". It's sometimes translated as "mind" or (more accurately) "heart", but neither of those translations really get to the full meaning. The "nous" can be understood as an "organ" that is capable of "perceiving" and "participating" or union with God. The main practice in Orthodox Christianity is hesychasm, which is stillness that comes from practicing the Jesus Prayer. Perceiving and participating in God is of a different order than "knowing" with our rational mind or "perceiving" with our senses, and it takes many years of hesychasm before one's nous is cleansed and begins to function properly, and one experiences union with God beyond words, beyond conceptions. At that point, one learns that all their conceptions, ideas, and knowledges about God are mere idols and do not compare to the reality.

[@quigon6349]

Bass VI for the win. I have the same bass.

[@pearlyung168]

Sounds like Twin peaks music

[@kitsvn]

Awesome Bass VI. This time it really is a 6 string short scale piccolo bass haha. Do you tune BEADGC or BEADF# B? Thank you for this video. For some reason, I just really don’t care about the concept of “enlightenment” or looking for some kensho experience. I apologize if that’s a flippant thing to say, but sitting zazen feels like enough.

[@jurafa]

Ahh but the real question Is, WHO Is the one that would know he or she is enlightened?

[@Teller3448]

Buddhism doesn't believe in WHO. The Mahayana doesn't even believe in WHAT.

[@jurafa]

@@Teller3448 Amen!

[@Teller3448]

@@jurafa When water becomes still clear and transparent...does that mean it no longer exists?

[@JimTempleman]

A being who hears me tapping The five-sensed can of mind Amid such greater glories That I am worse than blind. - Arthur C. Clarke

[@tanko.reactions176]

cant capture the ineffable with reason, speech or the senses... but only with awareness somehow self-imploding on itself spontaneously, an accident of some sort, which meditation makes one prone to?

[@peteainsworth294]

I've been doing this Zen thing for around 8-10 years now, and I still don't get it... 😆

[@HardcoreZen]

Sounds like you get it!

[@bsjeffrey]

i'm sure there are appropriate bells, whistles and heavenly horns, so you know.

[@mattycreative]

Love those trousers! What are they? Where did you get ‘em? (Hello from Akron)

[@HardcoreZen]

They're shorts. I believe I got them from Ross Dress for Less.

[@je.1525]

Hey Brad, have you ever used loop peddles? I see alot of artist using loop peddles and stations creating awesome music by themselves these days. I don't know if your into reggae but Mike Love is an amazing artist that just loops, also there's this Zen monk named Yogetsu Akasaka that beat boxes, plays a Han pan and chants with a loop station. Pretty cool stuff. I'd like to get me a loop station and loop all my percussion instruments together.

[@chadkline4268]

I am not sure if people that think they are enlightened actually are. I am not sure if totally disconnecting from mind+body consciousness and realizing pure emptiness is enlightenment. I am not sure if realizing the true Self, or 'suchness', is enlightenment. I think it is what they call Cessation/death. But I can see how many would think these things to be enlightenment. But it is not ultimately satisfying. It does not signal any satisfying terminating ultimate destination.

[@holoarcade]

I love your bits of playing. :) Ha, enlightenment is like having an orgasm, when you have it, you'll know it! Cheers!

[@alextrusk1986]

Is enlightenment “the ego wave” trying to identify with “the ocean true self” the ocean living in the body of a person just is and the ego steps in to claim it which any claim of truth is not. Hence the saying the dao that can be name is not the true dao

[@gunterappoldt3037]

The saying in Master Lâo´s "Dàodéjing" (Verse 1) rather goes as follows (in a quite literal translation of 【道可道非恒道，名可名非恒名】): "Wayable way(s): not eternal way(s); nameable name(s): not eternal name(s)." Which leaves ways for interchange between the "realms" of transcendence and immanence -- lingual communication inclusive -- open (and, thereby, the writing of the DDJ is not as self-contradictory, as it might seem at first glance).

[@Teller3448]

"How do we know its the TRUTH?" Buddhism didn't start out seeking ontological truth...the founder only sought the end of suffering. Its not the presence of knowledge...its the absence of feeling. The Zen Master Hakuin wrote that he experienced many great satoris, but he had not yet reached the end of the path until a state of perfect equanimity...when he was no longer compelled to pick up one thing and put down another. He wrote... "Then one night, everything suddenly fell away, and I crossed the threshold into enlightenment. All the doubts and uncertaint­ies that had burdened me all those years suddenly vanished, roots and all-just like melted ice. Deep-rooted karma that had bound me for endless kalpas to the cycle of birth-and-death vanished like foam on the water. It’s true, I thought to myself: the Way is not far from man. Those stories about the ancient masters taking twenty or even thirty years to attain it-someone must have made them all up. For the next several months, I was waltzing on air, flagging my arms and stamping my feet in a kind of witless rapture. Afterwards, however, as I began reflecting upon my everyday behaviour, I could see that the two aspects of my life-the active and the meditative-were totally out of balance. No matter what I was doing, I never felt free or completely at ease. I realised I would have to rekindle a fearless resolve and once again throw myself life and limb together into the Dharma struggle. With my teeth clenched tightly and eyes focused straight ahead, I began devoting myself single-mindedly to my practice, forsaking food and sleep altogether."

[@gunterappoldt3037]

Interesting quotation. Thanks!

[@Teller3448]

@@gunterappoldt3037 What do you understand of it?

[@JimTempleman]

Who would presume to join their voice with someone who has surpassed “there is” and “there is not”? Everyone longs to leave the mundane stream, yet finally you return to sit in the charcoal heap. Rank #5 - Ross Bolleter (2014) "Dongshan’s Five Ranks"

[@JimTempleman]

Yes, the Buddha sought the end of suffering & discovered the Four Noble Truths: the truths of suffering & its cessation. Hakuin applied the Five Ranks to refine his classification scheme for koans. Once Hakuin achieves Buddhahood he’s apt to aspire to become Vairocana & likely to go onto achieve it. My point being, that Hakuin is not a good example of someone who was contented to ‘retire when the work is done.’ Is Vairocana absent of feeling?

[@Teller3448]

@@JimTempleman "Who would presume to join their voice with someone who has surpassed “there is” and “there is not”?" 'There is' and 'is not' are words from the realm of ontology...which Buddha rejected. Its not a matter of surpassing...just walking around it. Like the dangerous forests in Tolkien's Middle earth....where fell things creep beneath the trees. And what a great book by Ross Bolleter..."Dongshan’s Five Ranks"!

[@DTmishine]

Great use of the word hornswoggle

[@t.c.bramblett617]

"I am a Zenman for the county...."

[@HardcoreZen]

HA!

[@bsjeffrey]

some perceive reality in dorothy instead of in toto.

[@Teller3448]

I'll get you my pretty...and your little dog too!

[@huntertony56]

If u become enlightenment is it possible to become un-enlighten or are u stuck

[@christopherjordan9707]

The "answer" is at 17:50. I guess enlightenment doesn't help with ADD.

[@kneesturnedvelvet3725]

The answer is not so much the point; the things he discusses are very relevant to the question at hand.

[@christopherjordan9707]

@@kneesturnedvelvet3725 ahh of course

[@mattrkelly]

my teacher used to say you get 'dipped in mu'... and you only notice after the fact...

[@ppfuchs]

Is it unenlightened to say that I could do without the guitar playing at the beginning of every video lately?! Playing the Koto would be better!

[@Teller3448]

Eliminating the guitars and t-shirts would eliminate most of the viewers.

[@ppfuchs]

@@Teller3448 Brad Warner has sometimes had very interesting and thoughtful things to say about Zen. And sometimes has struck very principled stances in opposition to a lot of New Agey crapola that plagues a lot of Buddhism in the Western countries. So I don't think most people are here for the guitar riffs or modeling of t-shirts. At the same time, I do get the sense that his approach has quite a lot to do with striking a cultural note Baby Boomer rebellion mixed with cool-guy exoticism. So maybe he does need the extras. I can only say he has brought up some things I was not quite aware of in Japanese culture and the American desire to learn something from it. So that is why I watch, and not for his musical ministrations, though perhaps I am in the minority!

[@Teller3448]

@@ppfuchs I have no doubt that if Brad shaved his head, wore monk's robes, and talked about nothing but Buddhism his viewership would drop off a cliff...to the levels we see in youtubers who do exactly what I just described. You can tell by the comments people make...about Brad's dog, his haircut, his guitar collection. There are very few comments about Buddhism.

[@ppfuchs]

@@Teller3448 LOL! Well, I like his dog! And dogs of course have a Zen pedigree even with the famous Mu Koan. I don't know what to say about the music. I suppose, at bottom, I go with De Gustibus. But I can't help saying my also deep feeling that such music is more a hindrance to a real spiritual life than a help. In Chinese medical terms, it disturbs the Shen. Hard to have real peace with disturbed Shen.

[@Teller3448]

@@ppfuchs Aside from Chinese medicine, you're right on board with Plato who felt that certain musical modes had a distorting influence on the human psyche. The punk rockers invented a genre out of dissonance and got some attention out of it...but they are really just mentally ill. John Lydon of the Sex Pistols wrote a book called 'Anger is an Energy'. Yes its an energy but where does it take you...to hell?

[@Weirduniverse2]

is it really a problem if things are “too good” such that you are mired in ignorance. frankly i can see an upside.. x)

[@stjeromewells]

Stunningly Obvious ---yes

[@jheffer8200]

Enlighten me..... How many axes do you have?

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

People want certainty … but Zazen has no use!

[@osip7315]

declamations don't make a thing so, the modern disease is the pretence it does

[@gunterappoldt3037]

Some supplementary remarks, if I may: (a) The Zen-system seems to include, strategically, the double-mode of the de(con)struction--reconstruction of the "life-world". Master Dôgen, for example, seems, on the one hand, to preach "vanitas" (i.e., by stating "Non-duration is Buddha-nature!", and so forth), and, on the other hand, seems to re(con)stitute some "eternalism" by installing the "mountain-posture" and "kingly way" of "just" (zhî, shi), and only just, "minding" (guân, kan) "sitting" (dâ zuò, ta za). The emotional roller-coaster set in full swing, to be "tamed"... (b) Read in a Daoist fashion, the "no use" can be understood in a quasi-dialectic way, in the vein of Master Zhuang (paraphrased): "Average people know the usefullness of >functionnon-function

[@osip7315]

@@gunterappoldt3037 nonsense about nonsense is not nonsense doubled but squared

[@gunterappoldt3037]

@@osip7315 So even nonsense makes some sense.

[@osip7315]

@@gunterappoldt3037 well, i suppose it does, but its hardly a commodity in short supply

[@TomDavidMcCauley]

Nice axe

[@curtisnowitzky3344]

Re; the question - Okay, so the question isn’t relevant .

[@bigdaddyfilmmaker]

Short answer. You don’t.

[@huntertony56]

I watched this video and I ended up reaching enlightenment thanks alot ....smhhhh

[@illegalpets]

I hope one day aliens will help you to finish that UFO book

[@potato_420_69]

sigh.... the blind leading the blind....

[@alextrusk1986]

Imagine if Alex jones became enlightened lol

[@Teller3448]

Are you saying gay frogs aren't real?

[@alextrusk1986]

@@Teller3448 no of course not lol

[@rocketfromthecrypt2000]

Brad is not much of a gardener...

[@c.s.842]

Brad you ramble too much. Pressure to fill 10 minutes postings on a regular basis. Idle chatter kills the spirit. Don’t diminish the rare gift you were given. Give yourself some silent time and space.

[@Teller3448]

"Idle chatter kills the spirit." Brad is easily distracted...and doesn't believe in spirit.