how to become an enlightened master

[Aakash]

Does anyone have any material/ know any material or how to become an enlightened master. 

for examples questions like what this means or any books etc, 

any practical ideas like watching how other enlightened beings react to questions. 

[Shin]

If you want to become one, you will become a zen devil cult leader ?

[Leo Gura]

Step 1: do the fucking practices

Step 2: for 20-40 years

[Aakash]

@Leo Gura Thank you, clear and simple. 

ps. i know better than to take the 20-40 years literally, just a long long long time 

Edited February 9, 2019 by Aakash

[Aakash]

@Shin ahhh wants i forgot! the first devilish desire of ego , that would literally send me right back to the beggining. thanks for the reminder 

[sleepyj]

@AakashHi Aakash, becoming an enlightened master is a long and complicated process. The only way to reach the pinnacle of spirituality is to follow the eightfold noble path. This is the path laid out by the Buddha which created the most arhats (enlightened people) in modern history. Right view is to keep adjusting your image of the world to see it in a genuine fashion. Basically, people push certain aspects of the world away because they are uncomfortable to look at. The enlightened master acknowledges all aspects of the world, good and bad without creating subconscious walls around certain uncomfortable sights. Also its very important to let yourself feel your emotions in a genuine way with right view. You’ll be hurting yourself if you try to look at everything but also numb yourself at the same time. So if you see a video of an animal being slaughtered for example, its ok to feel sad about it. If you look at the situation with the right view, the sadness will go away shortly and your perspective and depth about life will have increased. An enlightened master is someone with way more perspective and depth about the way life really is. If you’re curious about my opinion on the other aspects of the eightfold path, I can answer. It seems to me that right view is the first for a reason, because it is the most important. The other folds to the path seem like supplementary pieces to right view. For example, meditation is the best tool to process an aspects of life that you are starting to acknowledge. It is the best tool to process your emotions in a healthy and helpful way. Hope that was helpful, best of luck friend.

[Aakash]

@sleepyj this was most certainly helpful, and i am definately interested in your view, please continue. 

[ajasatya]

@Aakash read this book 4 or 5 times. it will certainly cover the most meticulous details about the Practice. 

from my experience, reading one chapter of zen literature after every meditation session is GREAT.

[sleepyj]

@Aakashcool, which other aspect of the eightfold path would you like to hear my view on? I could write a lot about each one, so I'm curious which one you are most curious about first.

[Aakash]

@ajasatya Thank you dear friend 

i will most certainly read it as much is needed to understand the book genuinely. 

[Aakash]

@sleepyj i am leaving the forum to master the presence of awareness/nothingness ( i am pure awareness, but more i mean master a particular lifestyle) after today for a good while, i have been on here for 2 months daily. so i would like to hear your opinion on each of them to soak up as much wisdom as possible if you have the time. the first one i would like to hear about is correct speech and correct mindfulness

Edited February 9, 2019 by Aakash

[Joseph Maynor]

I think the way to be an Enlightened master is to aid others on the Path in useful ways: the emphasis is on helping others not on aggrandizing yourself.  I think it's also about being humble too, to not be too bought in to any theory of Enlightenment, and to impart without imparting if that makes sense.  At the end of the day your own personality and energy as a guide is much more useful than what comes out of your mouth in the form of theories.  It's who you are that matters not what you say so much.  Enlightenment should be changing who you are -- the kind of person you are.  And that's what people can spot and say, "This person has done some Enlightenment Work, maybe I should ask them if they might have a tip for me on my Path."  You're not pushing yourself on other people saying -- I am the master, no.  People come to you because they can see that (if it's the case), they don't need you to tell them anything.  It's like that famous quote: "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."

Edited February 9, 2019 by Joseph Maynor

[isness is my bizness]

Enlightenment is the master, working through the person.

[sleepyj]

@Aakash Right speech is different from right action in a key way. If you just look at right speech as not trying to hurt other by lying, then it could be grouped in with right action. The reason that it is its own part of the path is due to the effect that telling the truth has on you. If you push yourself to tell the truth as often as possible, it will help you grow in a very unique way. It will force you to start seeing yourself how you really are. Everyone has delusions about themselves and how they are, so by telling the truth, it forces you to see beyond those delusions fully, because the world will judge you for how you actually are. Imagine those uncomfortable truths that you don't want to tell. In many cases, being honest in those situations is what helps you grow spiritually. The advice people will give you will also get better and better if you are completely honest in all ways. A big part of the path is accepting your faults and being ok with your issues. Ok in the sense that you can be honest and admit that you have them to yourself and to others. 

[Aakash]

@Joseph Maynor i agree, its like the end of the hero's journey returning back home, 

I couldn't see this part of the journey whilst i was wound up trying to save the world, and rid the world of its low consciousness. i used to think that it was the job of enlightened people to do something extraordinary like the buddah. as for the hero's journey part. i always wondered why the hero never went back to the village and spread the word about this amazing adventure and the trials and tribulations a person went through. but now i understand better after leo's video of what a cult is and i'm much better off for it. 

the end of the true hero's journey was at the end of the journey. when he went back to the village there was no need for him to start another journey because he became fulfilled and content with the journey he had already been on , he had fought the dragon or found the holy grail. this is synonymous with the master then returning to normal life and then as the master of his skill set. if a student were to ask for help, he would guide them. not because he knows best and went and sought out the opportunity to teach the younger generation but because the younger generation helped seek him out or he sets up a dojo a place for those who seek to come to him in guidance of the skill. 

[Aakash]

@sleepyj wow those were very nice insights, i tried to follow the eight noble paths just for the past week, there was an incident where i had been lying (a very old lie from months ago) that became back to haunt me. i told the truth for this very reason of the path and i came to understand that i didn't have to worry about it anymore, 

you articulate your words very wisely, you must really have studied buddhist tradition wholeheartedly. are you by any chance an arhat yourself? 

[sleepyj]

@Aakash  I am not an arhat yet haha. I'm still on my path, but it is going well. Thanks for the complement though. Right mindfulness comes down to being aware of your behaviors and even your subtle reactions to things. Looking at the ten fetters can both explain why I'm not an arhat and explain right mindfulness. The ten fetters are the ten major factors that prevent one from being an arhat. Fetter number 4 for example, sensual desire. I personally do not have much sensual desire, but I get tempted sometimes by things like cheese or sugary things or yogurt. Whatever it is, cheese and yogurt being bad for me to eat because I think the conditions that cows are put in to produce those products is pretty cruel, any spark of craving for those things shows me that I still have a fetter there on some level. Even if I don't act on it, the spark of desire shows that I have work to do there. This is exactly what mindfulness is, being aware of all your not compassionate impulses (impulses that harm others or even yourself). Being aware of your fetters. Once you are aware of these things, they will really start to dissolve. What matters is that you are aware of them and you try to do the right thing. Conceit is a big fetter, number eight. The ten fetters go really really deep for each person, what's important though, is being aware of the most obvious ones in your life at that time, and being self honest to see the areas where you have these fetters. Almost everyone on the planet has fetters 4 through 10 on some level.

[Aakash]

@sleepyj THANKS i've always been wondering the dynamics of the fetters, i couldn't grasp them but now i totally understand, its amazing the realisation your giving me right now and how deep the attachment to things can go. i guess arhat means perfect buddah then, just like enlightenment and then theres enlightened masters. 

the buddah himself had to make a path to perfect his enlightenment 

would you say a person can become enlightened without going through a complete ego death or reaching the stage of arhat? by enlightened i mean understand the true nature of self

i think i also magically understand why leo goes through so much self-deception checks to make sure he's not creating any

Edited February 9, 2019 by Aakash

[sleepyj]

@Aakash You can understand it more and more as you progress, but full understanding only comes once you are an arhat. Anyone who says they understand it fully who isn't an arhat, is missing parts of it. It's impossible to understand the full thing unless you are an arhat. The Buddha gave a speech about the 64 spiritual views of the world (by non arhats) and pointed out how they were all missing parts. Thats why ignorance is the tenth and final fetter. It seems like you've had nondual experiences, am I correct? If so, that means you have dropped the first fetter, but the true nature of the self can only be discovered by the death of the self into the deathless state of arhathood. The death of the ego as you said or the death of the individuated self.

[Aakash]

yes i have cleared the first fetter, many people on this forum have. 

personally, i have realised the true self. 

however, if i had to put it in fetters terms, no way have i cleared many of the fetters and still ignorance will get me at many turns. but either way in the end the delusion is still a delusion and the self remains the self ... hence the reason i wrote this post on how to become an enlightened MASTER.

i haven't embodied the values really well on my journey, still remanents of the self remain but i don't doubt that i have realised buddah nature so to speak. 

maybe that makes me a bodisattva. 

question: can you explain the 2nd fetter to me. 

Edited February 9, 2019 by Aakash