I would have to say both. I find, not surprisingly, that any experience which comes, also goes; that is, if it is temporal, it is also temporary. For me, real Awakening consisted of this realization, or understanding, which forced me to reach deeper and find That permanence which has always been here: a radically different thang than any experience could ever be.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > On another forum, some are discussing a topic that I find interesting, > so I'll echo it here. Many on that forum believe in the Big Flash Theory > Of Enlightenment. That is, you have one big awakening or realization > experience, and then you're enlightened. No going back. Game over. Home > free. > > Then there are others, like myself, who swing more behind the theory > that there can be Many Awakenings, pleasant while they're going on but > temporary, and then they can fade, leaving one decidedly NOT > enlightened. > > What do you guys think? > > My feeling is that a lot of us *brought with us* when we came to the > spiritual path a belief in the Big Flash Theory. It was just part of the > environment, in every image of enlightenment you'd ever seen. It was > even in cartoons about enlightenment. You had one Big Flash and that was > it -- you were enlightened from that moment on. I know that I believed > this, long before I ever met Maharishi. > > Imagine my surprise then when in Fiuggi I had me a Class A awakening > experience. One of my one-hour meditations one morning turned into a > six-hour one. And when I opened my eyes, the transcendence (thoughtless > samadhi) I had been experiencing for those six hours didn't go away. I > got dressed and walked to dinner, and it still didn't go away. It didn't > go away for two weeks. Classic MMY description of CC. I thought I was > home free. Game over. Enlightened. > > And then it went away. To this day this is probably the spiritual > experience I am most thankful for. That was a wake-up call for me, > spiritually. It taught me that many of my assumptions about this whole > "enlightenment" thang were false, and that maybe I ought to go back to > the drawing board with some of them. > > I see the belief in the Big Flash Theory at the heart of many of the > ills we've discussed in the spiritual marketplace. It is so prevalent > that we see far too many have a flashy realization experience, feel that > it's the Big Flash, and declare themselves enlightened. A few go on to > do justice to that claim. Others, not so much; they descend into > charlatanry or worse. > > I'm thinkin' therefore that the Big Flash Theory Of Enlightenment, while > possibly true for a few individuals, is a less productive meme to spread > than the Many Awakenings theory. The former, if believed, can lead to > hubris. The latter, if believed, tends to be a finger pointed at the > moon of humility. >
