Attainment Through Self-Realization

While the attainment of Buddhahood was the ultimate goal of his teachings, the Buddha was practical and always close to the facts of life and insisted in his ordinary sermons on a life regulated by moral rules.

Nor had he any desire to disclose intellectually or metaphysically the content of enlightenment which must be experienced but cannot be explained. He never neglected to emphasize the significance of self-realization for enlightenment was to be attained personally through one’s own inner consciousness.

D.T. Suzuki's 1927 essay, History of Zen, explains how Buddha founded a non-religious belief system free from spiritualistic superstitions. His beliefs found root in the Fourfold Noble Truths and the Twelvefold Chain of Causation. Professor Suzuki is an expert in translating Zen doctrine. Suzuki explains Buddha never thought his followers would use his teachings as the foundation for a religion without considering the support of an inner spirit or consciousness. Buddha's teachings only reflected one side of his beliefs, not the whole field of his awareness.

Identifying an aspect of a whole and calling it a complete truth has roots in a specific belief structure that dominates the expression of physical thoughts. There is a greater field or identity independent of the focused self. And it is very much alive and aware of all realities. We all have been mentally, biologically, and spiritually prejudiced against recognizing this field as part of the self. Enlightenment is the awareness of this field, but the expression of that field varies according to the individual belief.

Some touchy aspects of the field start to press inner buttons. We keep those unpressed in our belief system. Then, most of us train ourselves to ignore them. The universe within us is in motion thanks to the action of consciousness. Our consciousness sees itself as the center of our world when focused. The units of consciousness that emerge into electromagnetic energy units express themselves in the moment using the cells.

The illusion of separation creates an inner chasm, but it disappears when we view our reality from another perspective. We do it every day in the dream state. We enter the non-physical and build a bridge. On that bridge, enlightenment can express itself physically using units of consciousness not restricted by beliefs. The innate awareness of our duplicity expands conscious ideas displayed by the physical expression of experiences.