On Enlightenment. Excerpt from the lecture.
Enlightenment is not a thing to strive for. So, on the principle of «don't be grasped by this, be grasped by that». Here, you have an ordinary life, it's not like that. But here I'll give you such a good, good thing, look, Enlightenment. That's what you have to strive for. No, it's not like that. Enlightenment is not like that. What is it?
This is where the example of disease comes in. That is, Enlightenment is like health. That is, the original state of the physical body is health. And spiritual practice is such a perfect medicine that brings us back to the original healthy state.
And there can't be any double interpretation. There can't be such a thing: well, listen, Enlightenment is great, but I'm interested in other things. You see, I am doing this, this, this, this, and I don't think I need your Enlightenment yet.
But it is absolutely the same as to say, well, I have a pain here, I have a pain here, my blood pressure is 200 over 150, I have a pre-infarction state. But I don't need your health. I think that overpressure is quite a working pressure, and I live with it. That's roughly the reasoning. No, Enlightenment is not a thing you can argue about or get. We return to Enlightenment, we return to our original state.
Also, Enlightenment is not an effort of will, not an act of will. I've talked about this, but I have to repeat it. I often hear it, but I don't get grasped. The main thing is not to get grasped. I have many, many things, but I am not grasped. Well, if it is really a spiritual practitioner who exercises such a clear control of his consciousness and really uses things but tries not to get attached beyond the necessity, it is, of course, praiseworthy. But Enlightenment is a little bit different.
Let's say you're walking, or you're taking public transportation, or you're taking a cab, or you're driving your car. Your car is very old, bad, and uncomfortable, and it breaks down all the time. Or you have a luxury executive car. Enlightenment is when your feelings, the state of your consciousness, are absolutely identical and unchanging in all these cases. That's when it's called non-attachment. This is called Enlightenment. Then it's called not duality. The original state of consciousness.
In all other cases, it is an act of will. If it is done based on true Dharma, then yes, it is okay. It's control, it's discipline, but it's a little bit different. Enlightenment is an absolutely natural state of our consciousness. If at least the first Enlightenment is realized, that's when we start to understand how to use things. Then we begin to understand what this very eradication of worldly desires means. Only then. Because, as you understand, it is impossible to simply eradicate desire. You get something like a prison. You can't go there. You can't eat it, you can't watch it. Prison is not Enlightenment. If it were Enlightenment, then all the prisoners would be enlightened.
