Chapter 46 Chapter 4 Nirvana Beyond the Concept-9

If we are serious about attaining enlightenment, we need the strength to let go of things that are very important to us, and a great deal of courage to walk the path alone.People who don't seek praise and gain, and avoid criticism and loss, can be branded abnormal or crazy.From a worldly point of view, enlightened people may seem abnormal because they do not negotiate, are not induced or swayed by material interests, are not bored, do not seek excitement, have no face to lose, do not follow etiquette, and never They will not be false for personal gain, will never do things to win the favor of others, and will not show their strengths and abilities for the sake of showing off.But if it's in his interest, these sages will do whatever it takes, whether it's following perfect table manners or leading a Fortune 500 business.In the 2,500-year history of Buddhism, there may have been countless enlightened beings who were never discovered, or who were exiled because they were considered mentally insane.Only a very small number of people are appreciated as possessing the so-called "crazy intelligence".But if you think about it carefully, we are the abnormal people, who are dizzy for echoed praise, sad for criticism, and clinging for happiness.

Not to mention transcending time and space, it seems difficult to achieve just transcending reputation.But if we start to understand—not just intellectually, but emotionally—that everything and everything is impermanent, then our attachment will decrease.Our conviction that our thoughts and possessions are valuable, important, and permanent also begins to wane.If someone tells us we only have two more days to live, our behavior changes.We're no longer obsessed with putting our shoes in order, pressing our underwear, or hoarding a pile of make-up.We might still go shopping, but with a whole new mindset.If we understand a little bit.A more humorous attitude develops when certain familiar ideas, feelings, and things exist only as dreams.Recognizing humor in life can avoid pain.We still experience emotions, but they no longer play tricks on us, blind us.We can still fall in love, but without the fear of rejection.We use our best perfumes and face creams instead of saving them for special occasions.In this way, every day will be a special day.

* * ** The merits and virtues of the Buddha are indescribable, as endless as space.Our verbal and analytical faculties can only reach the concept of the universe.A bird that flies higher and higher, trying to find the end of the void, can only reach its own limit after all, and must return to the ground. The best metaphor for our experience in this world is like an epic dream, in which there are complex and intertwined stories, highs and lows, plots, and suspense.If there is a dream full of devils or beasts, we are trying to escape.We only breathe a sigh of relief when we open our eyes and see the fans spinning on the ceiling.To communicate, we say, I dreamed that the devil was chasing me, and we were relieved to have escaped.But here, it's not that the devil is gone.The devil never came into your room at night, and he wasn't there when you were having a devil experience.When you wake up and become enlightened, you have never been a being, you have never struggled.From then on, you don't have to worry about the return of the devil.When you become enlightened, you cannot think back to the time when you were an idiot in your life.You no longer need meditation.You don't need to remember anything because you never forget anything.

As the Buddha said in the Prajna Sutra, all phenomena are like dreams and illusions, even enlightenment is like dreams and illusions.If there is anything greater than enlightenment, it is also a dream.His disciple, the great Nagarjuna, wrote that Buddha never said that Nirvana is there after you have renounced samsara.The absence of reincarnation is Nirvana.The profit of a knife comes from two kinds of wear and tear—the wear and tear of the whetstone and the wear and tear of metal.In the same way, enlightenment is the result of the exhaustion of defilements and the exhaustion of their antidote.Eventually, we have to abandon even the path to enlightenment.If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, then you are not yet a Buddha.