It was always there
“Wherever your foot may fall, you are still within that sanctuary of enlightenment, though it is nothing perceptible.” Obaku
When we first start our practice it can feel like someone is showing us a beautiful picture of a paradise. This paradise is the paradise of your dreams, maybe it’s a view of the Jungle overlooking the ocean in Costa Rica. 😉 Let’s say it is a picture of the Himalayas in India and when we see this picture we think to ourselves “I must go there”. We want to go because that place represents the path of enlightenment.
So you travel to the Himalayas where the picture was taken. Going there represents deepening your studies/practice in yoga or spirituality. You arrive and there is a house you enter in order to see the picturesque view. In this house, there are 5 people who have traveled with you. These people were with you when you saw the picture for the very first time and wanted to make the travel also. When you first saw the picture there were 20 people that also witnessed the viewing of the beautiful scenery of the Himalayas. This represents that not everyone is interested in putting the effort to deepen their practice. One person leaves and says “I’ve made it! I feel accomplished. I can go now.”
There are now 4 of you. As you continue to witness the beautiful scenery, there is a screen that is blurring your vision and you decide to open up the screen. Now the vision is much clearer. Another person leaves because they believe that they have now seen the clearest version of the scenery and they have accomplished the task completely.
Now there are 3. As you are standing there looking at the scenery, you ask yourself, “Why even have the pane of glass separating my vision of this beautiful scenery?”. You open the window, feel the air and start to connect even more to that beautiful picturesque scenery of the Himalayas. Another person leaves feeling they have experienced everything there is left to know.
As you stand there with only one person left, you agree that you should walk out into the scenery, outside of the house to see for yourself and be immersed completely in the Himalayas. You are now standing, experiencing, a part of the Himalayas. You’re not separate from it. Eventually the other person leaves. This is where we, as practitioners, wonder how could we be more immersed in the scenery than what we are currently experiencing?
As you are standing there, not separate, undivided, complete in it, you discover an even deeper realization. You never needed to travel to that beautiful spot in the first place. You were always in that scenery, always in that paradise, even when you were viewing it from the picture at that first moment. The path of enlightenment doesn’t look any different from the steps and path you take everyday.
As Obaku said, “you are still in the sanctuary of enlightenment, though it is nothing perceptible.” It is not anything different, it is not anything special. Through this we learn to have the humility to lean into the teachings of the masters. There is a difference between a teacher, a great teacher, and a master, especially when it comes to self-realization.
“Be a master of Reality, and not just a master of spirituality and philosophy. A professor may teach by talking about truth, whereas a Master lives it.” - Sri Ramakant Maharaj