How to Recognize Enlightened Beings

[@mitchellaquilino7832]

This channel ROCKS.. all the comments are intelligent too

[@thatdude_93]

It's interesting that we expect 'enlightened beings' to conform to ideas or modes of behaviour, that fit a certain image in our very unenlightened minds. If an 'enlightened being' would be anything, it would certainly be nothing that we could conceive of. Though I like what Alan Watts says about this in regards to zen 'masters': "A zen master is a human with the same conviction with which a tree is a tree". There's no fault in our nature, no need to trancend it, no need to do anything special. Just be as you are. But that 'just'...that 'just'.

[@nettinetti8465]

There are sutras that record the manifold teachings of the Buddha Gautama where he taught to transcend the poisons that defile our true nature. Our true nature is different from our current state. That is why we all need to be enlightened, aame as the historical Buddha was. Otherwise, let's just "realize" we are buddhas and have a happy free willy life regardless if we fuck and fuck up others. A buddha is practically a master of the truth, dharma, someone with whom you can leave your wife or daughter learning about the dharma without worrying tgat such master or buddha will not molest them. Otherwise, such self-proclaimed enlughtened master is just like others who fucked up in the name of self-proclamation for being enlightened in mind only but not in life. A buddha is a human being. No animal can be a buddha in spite of having the buddha nature. Those two are different. Same thing that no person can claim enlightened if he exhibits all human aspects without exhibiting enlightened qualities that makes him indeed an enlightened being.

[@thatdude_93]

@@nettinetti8465 a snail exhibits it’s nature without fault and preaches the truth with every fibre of its being. Also it won’t molest my wife and daughter. I guess we found our Buddha.

[@Teller3448]

@@nettinetti8465 "Otherwise, let's just "realize" we are buddhas and have a happy free willy life regardless if we fuck and fuck up others." Yes...otherwise known as 'hippy zen'.

[@nettinetti8465]

@@Teller3448 Precisely. 👍

[@blorkpovud1576]

I gave up the idea of "enlightened" beings or enlightenment years ago. Maybe a good criteria for who to trust as a teacher is someone just ordinary and authentic.

[@Rich-Oh]

Someone like, say... I dunno... Brad here?

[@blorkpovud1576]

@@Rich-Oh He's one of the few I trust and has convinced me that there is something "true" about Buddhism. Whatever that "truth" may be.

[@Teller3448]

@@blorkpovud1576 "Whatever that "truth" may be." What if the truth turned out to be something quite unpleasant and disagreeable. Would you still want it?

[@johngrunhard9939]

I say I occasionally have enlightment experiences. The experience is that this very moment is the enlightened state. I realize this many times in a week.and I have many faults and would never say I’m enlightened

[@mattrkelly]

I always thought it was pretty obvious my zen teachers had something different going on ... especially when they were next to people that never meditated.

[@williamcallahan5218]

"an enlightened being is a kind of fiction." perfect.

[@bronsonmcnulty1110]

To me ziggy is an enlightened being , all love an compasion

[@seaweedhero1707]

1:15 Words Begin

[@lorenzo112358]

Very nice conclusion. Certainly correlates well with suttas from early buddhism that repeatedly state that arahants are irrecognizable and cannot be found even by the highest gods

[@danielbowman7226]

Eckhart Tolle is good example of real life Yoda. Sadhguru certainly looks the part, when not in bike gear.

[@tyscam]

At this point, I believe that enlightenment is another term for someone who has recovered their authenticity. Authenticity being the mental state we have when we are born. We are pulled away from it through childhood as we are forced to fit in and go along to get along. It is a profound forgetting and religion is our (often poor) attempt to remember. Enlightenment will be as unique as the person who achieves it. The best teachers were the truly gentle babies though.

[@macdougdoug]

I'd go with : enlightenment is insight into the process of self. Resulting in clarity as we are freed from conditioned belief.

[@Teller3448]

@@macdougdoug What is it that is freed?

[@macdougdoug]

@@Teller3448 Yes good question that should create doubt - but answers like "intelligence" or "dunno'" are fine by me.

[@williamcallahan5218]

@@Teller3448 Who's asking? Freedom isn't as the questioner, freedom is from the questioner." to paraphrase Nisargadatta ;)

[@robertelliot4196]

To me, a necessary though maybe not sufficient sign of an enlightened being is that his/her words regarding the human condition go beyond virtue signaling, contain original insights/truths and resonate deeply with all who have ears to hear them.

[@philgundy4798]

Nobody is an 'enlightened being' as a label. There is an enlightenment experience, but after that we are merely people living after having such an experience. What we do with it is up to us, when we eventually come to terms with it. Unfortunately the whole world tries to impose what it should mean, so we almost always keep quiet about it and blend in with the rest

[@philmcdonald6088]

cool. my ass is wiggling bebops in my chair. love the front end music. 81 year young crazy hermit here out of maurine stuart (r.i.p.). i love you brad. remember that time 👽 buzzed you during a program? they like you.

[@HardcoreZen]

I do remember that!

[@Tsotha]

I love your T-shirt of Gamera as a baseball team mascot in this video!

[@hoogreg]

I heard someone say recently in a dharma talk: "What if you didn't even like being enlightened?"

[@Rocky-pc1bj]

As for how I’d recognize an enlightened being? I don’t know because I flat out don’t give a crap about enlightenment. It’s just not why I practice. I think ethics is more important and we really shouldn’t even talk about enlightenment. Just my two cents. 🤷‍♂️

[@zenjazzplayer]

There are no beings (static self). There are only enlightened actions (I read that somewhere).

[@Teller3448]

A world without nouns...thats Buddhism.

[@lukemantzouranis5864]

I found a copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Teachings of Love in a free book box outside a gas station last week. The book uses the Brahmavihatas as a template for employ and developing love. My background is mostly Soto, so I found this Vietnamese Zen perspective (if this is typical) very interesting. Japanese Zen might be more free/open? Thanks for the video!

[@GregMilner]

An enlightend being walks about .001 nanometers above the ground at all times.

[@sawtoothiandi]

That would be handy for skipping

[@sawtoothiandi]

With dental floss..

[@nettinetti8465]

In the Lakkhana Sutta, the second discourse of Buddha Gautama, he described that there are 32 marks of a buddha. Enlightenment = Buddha Enlightenment is not just "realization" or just affecting the mind only, ie clarity. It involves the whole totality of being. A buddha is someone who has transcended or overcame the 3 poisons of greed, ignorance, and hatred - this is the best marks to tell if one is enlightened aka a buddha. If one claims or projects to be enlightened but in a single event suddenly exhibits greed or hatred (though he claims he overcame ignorance of mind), then he is not enlightened at all. Enlightenment is not an "Aha!" or "Eureka!" moment. It's far more than that. Look at the Buddha Gautama's life and compare it to him to gauge someone who claims to be enlightened.

[@thatdude_93]

And in the diamond sutra he says that a buddha is not to be recognized by the 32 marks of a buddha. So who's right?

[@caseyfay9620]

Maybe enlightenment is just recognizing your faults and fixing them.

[@bjscorpio4041]

If you think enlightened beings are a fantasy then you've admitted defeat that you will never become one.

[@E_free90]

an enlightened person is a person who is filled with light, not something vague, but more like mana which sorcerers use in video games to cast spells, that sort of "light" (chi). only with chi and its regenerative property on your atrophied, occult senses beyond the 5-6, can you recognize another enlightened person, but that requires you to be enlightened in the first place. in other words, a normal human lacks the faculties to discern an enlightened person. to them, they look and behave like normal humans. hence, we may entertain angels (enlightened beings) unawares... this light develops with true meditation (qigong), which is becoming aware of energy feeds in your system. with chi or chi control or prana and prana yama (control), you can withdraw it from the 6th sense, which is mind, and achieve single pointedness. buddhas anapanasati sutta has been perverted to mean you focus on breath. its not breath. a na = yes / no or rather, in / out pana = energy sati = awareness buddha taught qigong or pranayama, not sitting idly and wasting time.. and you can not sense chi or prana, if you are not celibate because orgasms desensitize your nervous system for this very subtle feeling or energy which needs cultivation. anyway, this is the reason true enlightened beings and saints have halos around their heads because they awakened their energetic system they are regenerates or whole ("holy") they have accepted their cristos (seed, oil, sexual essence, jing, aka celibacy/brahmacharya), led it up the 33 vertebrates of the human spine and crucified it in their golgotha (place of skull), so that chi can descend through the 12 apostles, the 12 cranial nerves... thats when you put it in a western, abrahamic type of way, which also has been perverted beyond recognition... by whom? those whi cling to OG desire, aka lust and therefore interpret in a twisted manner due to false worldview! so pretty much 99.999% of all humans...

[@rikcoach1]

The way I can tell is by the uniform they wear. Especially if they are white but dress up as an oriental monk or an Indian guru or even an Native American even though they look ridiculous. That’s commitment!

[@macdougdoug]

Hoping to be able to recognise Enlightened beings after this - but once again giving a 👍 already based on the musical intro

[@michaelh2935]

I think both obsessing over and disregarding the concept of enlightenment are both mistakes. But as the man Dogen said, practice is one continuous mistake.

[@Teller3448]

This is how Buddhism began...with an obsession for enlightenment.

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

Grew up next door to you in PA and am only 4 years younger … we used mosquito coils all Summer for much of my childhood! 😬

[@macdougdoug]

Mosquito coils are easier to describe than enlightenment - I'd go with : Green spiral disks of Chrysanthemum based incense.

[@djfailure0]

I think that killing parasites like mosquitoes is following the middle way.

[@elzoog]

I can speak from personal experience about Tim McCarthy. He got pissed off at me, poured beer on my head, and kicked me out of his house. Maybe you were there when it happened? As far as being able to tell if someone is enlightened, what would you say about Shunryu Suzuki giving dharma transmission to Richard Baker?

[@Ferovka]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@Rocky-pc1bj]

always love palm mutting the top note. Just left over from my Metallica days.

[@One.Flower.]

"A day without work is a day without food" Brad seems to be a very self sustaining wave in an ocean

[@Teller3448]

An ocean of what?

[@pearlyung168]

Everything is impermanent, so there is no enlightened being

[@purpleglobethistle4448]

It's possible an enlightened being is someone who has very little ego. An enlightened being person with no ego senses the reality of their position in the universe and experiences their equality and interdependence with all beings. It would not make any sense to kill people or animals that disagree with them or inconvenience them. It would perfect sense for such a person to donate a kidney to a complete stranger because the stranger's life is an important as their own. An enlightened person might observe a mosquito, feel the itch, and genuinely not feel the urge to kill the creature. If a person cuts them off in traffic or if they encounter other petty things, since they have no ego, they simply observe it but getting angry makes no sense at all...it would make about as much sense as getting angry at the wind blowing. There is joy in expressing one's Buddha nature! I do think enlightened beings exist at times, but I think they are very rare, probably not celebrities , but maybe so. An enlightened being has probably gone through tremendous suffering to gain the wisdom and clarity that allows the ego to fall away. All that being said, there are many wise people who are growing, learning, teaching, and filled with compassion and lovingkindness....but probably not quite enlightened at this moment.

[@Teller3448]

Enlightened people are very STILL by nature...both physically and psychologically. Even while sleeping there are no dreams and therefore no rapid eye movements or restless tossing and turning. Their eyes dont wander around like a dog looking for a place to pee. They are not easily distracted or moved by praise and blame. You can see these qualities in characters like Adi Da Samraj, Ramana Maharshi, David R. Hawkins or Rupert Spira...all right here on youtube.

[@HardcoreZen]

You believe that?

[@Teller3448]

@@HardcoreZen Yes but you never will...you want to be Cosmo the cat. "And even though Cosmo has gone maybe ten or fifteen feet into the outside, going any farther is just too scary for him. Ultimately he’s happier in the apartment. It’s familiar to him. It’s home."

[@HardcoreZen]

@@Teller3448 You would know!

[@Teller3448]

@@HardcoreZen I dont want to be Cosmo...that's for sure!

[@WJSpies]

Enlightened beings don't see things as right wrong, good bad, etc. That's why they are enlightened in the first place! No hang ups on morality at all since morality is never pinned down by any judgement. There is no right or wrong, only what is. Non duality; you wouldn't know an enlightened being if you saw one, and no enlightened being would ever say he or she or it was enlightened. It's a nonstarter. Why start that conversation? We're all enlightened; we just don't know it. Simple!

[@d2dolan]

That vibe might be called Faith

[@benhorner8430]

I don't know why this just occurred to me, but have you done Rock Lobster in an intro? That has a cool bass line. :)

[@Nooneself]

Best guess from neuroscience is an enlightened being would have have persistent high gamma brain waves. Best wishes

[@zacharythax]

I LOVE Radio Birdman!!! My kids destroyed the CD I had when they were little, though. You say zazen is a goalless practice, but the Journal of Chinese medicine has published a paper which shows that zazen strengthens the telemeres, like the caps on the ends of the chromosones. This prevents cellular degeneration and prolongs lifespan. Enlightenment seems to be a construct because it seems to be impossible to know whether you're enlightened or not. I have developed a joy and wonder in the ordinary things of life, but I'm far from thinking of myself as enlightened. Maybe Dogen had it right saying that zazen ITSELF is enlightenment.

[@Teller3448]

"Enlightenment seems to be a construct because it seems to be impossible to know whether you're enlightened or not." Then why did Buddha start teaching?

[@Teller3448]

"Maybe Dogen had it right saying that zazen ITSELF is enlightenment." If that were true there would be no need to travel...abandoning his phantom body to the billowing waves.

[@niven7019]

Maybe Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj was a true Bodhisattva. Maybe his Skillful Means was fulfilling the role of elderly abrupt admonisher....The Reason the Skillfull means is called skillful Means is because it's dedicated to being awake and being support to awakening others .... For instance just because he may have appeared cranky to some doesn't mean he didn't possess strong faculties of compassion ,wisdom,parience and equanimity....He may have seen deeply into the disciples conditioning so responded compassionately with a veil of impatience....But in Reality infinitely patient

[@adamdacevedo]

OFF TOPIC: is Brad now living in Texas? What was with the California references recently? Didn’t he move?

[@John-uw7wd]

He moved from L.A. but is still in California

[@TheTarutau]

Wierd can't find my previous comment wanted to edit it. Let's see. That guru viking podcast you did was awesome. You said a day came when your teacher realized you became his equal. Your experience is called stopping the world to carlos Castaneda. A day when you stand on your head. This means everything about your demeanor changes that day. You did not elaborate but I like to think he noticed the change as opposed to you told him of an experience. Your teacher let you know. I was stuck in that ordinary day for 6 months since there was no one to tell me. But when I noticed six months later it came as great surprise to learn that whatever happened during that time it had a profound effect on my community at that time. So it benefits all. That much I learned. You don't even have to speak of it. The pores of your skin are enough. Equanimity is like gears grinding without lube they grind with lube they turn easier akin to removing friction from a system. It's what allowed that ordinary experience to occur. Without pull or push from the external world view or ones own limited perspective. Returning to the previous world view is a choice. One could choose to turn into a crow and see through different eyes. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3uTaqOJqqZsntk

[@TheTarutau]

26. Trading Dialogue for Lodging Provided he makes and wins an argument about Buddhism with those who live there, any wondering monk can remain in a Zen temple. If he is defeated, he has to move on. In a temple in the northern part of Japan two brother monks were dwelling together. The elder one was learned, but the younger one was stupid and had but one eye. A wandering monk came and asked for lodging, properly challenging them to a debate about the sublime teachings. The elder brother, tired that day from much studying, told the younger one to take his place. "Go and request the dialogue in silence," he cautioned. So the young monk and the stranger went to the shrine and sat down. Shortly afterwards the traveler rose and went in to the elder brother and said: "Your young brother is a wonderful fellow. He defeated me." "Relate the dialogue to me," said the elder one. "Well," explained the traveler, "first I held up one finger, representing Buddha, the enlightened one. So he held up two fingers, signifying Buddha and his teaching. I held up three fingers, representing Buddha, his teaching, and his followers, living the harmonious life. Then he shook his clenched fist in my face, indicating that all three come from one realization. Thus he won and so I have no right to remain here." With this, the traveler left. "Where is that fellow?" asked the younger one, running in to his elder brother. "I understand you won the debate." "Won nothing. I'm going to beat him up." "Tell me the subject of the debate," asked the elder one. "Why, the minute he saw me he held up one finger, insulting me by insinuating that I have only one eye. Since he was a stranger I thought I would be polite to him, so I held up two fingers, congratulating him that he has two eyes. Then the impolite wretch held up three fingers, suggesting that between us we only have three eyes. So I got mad and started to punch him, but he ran out and that ended it. " kzbin.info/www/bejne/havGkpJrnsuqh5I There are just chemical reactions occuring in an organism. These experiences are spaceless and timeless because they don't actually exist as things. The brain does. The experience doesn't. So I think of it as a pocket dimension and fill it with shit as I go. One day I open my bag for now just crumbs. It's a big bag. Rivers should be dammed until discipline and control is achieved. To carlos knowing my source is everyone source is clarity. Clarity begins power. But power comes quick and before you know it has set itself upon you. So I build up my resources. Resources are limited by the age we live in. Not only that but we only have access to some of it. So exhausting ones resources is inevitable. And these resources can only reach so far.

[@TheTarutau]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZmUpqKNgNSlmtU A man of great controversy. Wrote a book from his bag and bagged himself a PhD. Then starts a community and makes the biggest mistakes out there. But all in all it only shows how human we all really are. I get the impression he loved every minute of it. He learned a lot from it and passed it on. But his face... smeared in shit. The price we pay. 😅🤣 kzbin.info/www/bejne/opDUlY1neNCSgaM

[@joeg3950]

I only felt the ‘vibe’ from a couple of people. Enlightened beings: ha!

[@Teller3448]

"Both of my teachers would not qualify..." Dont look so surprised...there are very few Buddhist teachers even close to the historical examples of enlightenment. This is why one should only study the classics...as opposed to modern writings on the subject.

[@shrektemgood9407]

So i recognize them through sick guitar solos?

[@jonwesick2844]

According to the Pali Sutras, arahants and never returners aren't supposed to feel anger. I've never met such a person and am not sure they even exist. If anybody knows one, please introduce me to them.

[@Weirduniverse2]

melvin belli was jack ruby’s lawyer, and also an actor. so nothing unusual going on there…

[@huntertony56]

When people think of enlighten beings they think of some "God in human form" in reality we are all enlighten but choose to not recognize it An example of an enlighten being When life gives them lemons they make lemonade

[@4imagesmore]

J.Krishnamurti was also regarded as "a cantankerous old man" by some.

[@kevinmai2947]

Thats should be how you recognize an enlightened master!

[@4imagesmore]

@@kevinmai2947 Ha ha. I like your thinking.

[@ZenAndPsychedelicHealingCenter]

Except that Krishnamurti was an entirely manufactured so called enlightened being.

[@danielbowman7226]

High level of authenticity is required minimum.

[@stjeromewells]

i got covid and fell asleep listening to you on a podcast . . . then i had a really long dream about getting dharma transmission from you . . . so i'm just going to accept that as dharma transmission, because, why not? besides, i'm enlightened as fuk--

[@bronsonmcnulty1110]

who recognizes an enlightened being ? another enlightened being ?

[@osip7315]

the gullible

[@eliilu]

Regognize

[@HardcoreZen]

Thanks! Fixed!

[@eliilu]

@@HardcoreZen np Brad, keep up the good work!

[@revdrjon]

Radio Birdman WooHoo!!! 🤟🏻✌🏻👍🏻

[@adamdacevedo]

Folks…How close does the current Dalai Lama fit these criteria?

[@Nooneself]

If the enlighten being is a fantasy...then why meditate?

[@HardcoreZen]

Why indeed? And yet I have done it every day for almost 40 years.

[@dougbanner6165]

Also I think Nisargadatta Maharaj smoked cigarettes. Does an enlightened being smoke cigarettes?

[@HardcoreZen]

Nisargadatta Maharaj smoked cigarettes.

[@walterforsyth1414]

no bad karma for killing mosquitoes

[@Sand_Bank_]

💡🧘

[@zylxtv]

The gods of war are enlightened warriors, it's not always compassionate, only encouraged.

[@bokidimi5215]

u r ok...ok..ok..i like an lv u...no prb, zen..fk dat...u r ok

[@randyklutts3495]

I saw zen master John Daido Loori give a dharma talk at Naropa years ago. He gave the impression of being a powerful evolved human being. After the talk, Loori was in back of the building sucking down cigarette smoke as if nothing else mattered. 🚭

[@ZenAndPsychedelicHealingCenter]

So what if he smoked? Did you even watch this video?

[@osip7315]

@@ZenAndPsychedelicHealingCenter he died of lung cancer, also due in part to his asbestos exposure during navy days

[@osip7315]

john had charisma which i have learnt to be very suspicious of its not strictly sane

[@adamdacevedo]

Hmmm, an interesting point. Some people, apparently, can “fake” enlightenment…?

[@osip7315]

@@adamdacevedo the concept itself is "fake", there's no such thing, life and people are too uneven, its "hagiographical fiction" actually, ontologically speaking, its to jump from "god-like" to god, a tall claim, even for ontological logic

[@cyrilgcoombsiii]

I accidentally clicked the dislike and recorrected to like; talk about perfect karuna 🤣 DOH!