Enlightenment

For the first nine years of my practice, I gathered the idea that enlightenment was nearly impossible for the likes of me, and that it was taboo to talk about the possibility of becoming enlightened. It wasn't until I edited the book Wisdom Wide and Deep for my friend Shaila that I learned some details about enlightenment. First, there are various stages of enlightenment. It's not like there's just one big bang and you're done! Second, it's entirely possible for a Western layperson to attain at least the earlier of these stages. Zounds!

After that, I found the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingram. Ingram claims to have gotten through all four stages of enlightenment, meaning that he's seen completely through the illusions of permanence, satisfactoriness, and self. And Ingram describes what he did to accomplish this, and there is a web forum full of people who are following his teachings and making their way through the stages. This is very enticing! He recommends focusing on practices that let you power your way through the stages so you don't waste your time on practices that don't move you forward.

Since my 2-month retreat, my meditation has been very strong, and lately I've been following some of Ingram's advice. Why not get through the stages of enlightenment sooner rather than later?

I can think of a possible answer, though. I've seen hints in several people's writings that it's not enough to attain a stage of enlightenment. One must integrate the experience properly, else one's ego will seize the experience, build itself up around it, and make it way less beneficial than it otherwise could be. Perhaps by practicing in a more well-rounded, less driven, manner, one ultimately benefits more from the attainment of each stage.

There is a big clue in Ingram's own writing. The folklore is that, after attaining the third stage, one has completely eliminated greed, hatred, and delusion. And that after the fourth, one has eliminated all suffering. Ingram has not eliminated any of those. Either he hasn't attained the fourth stage, the Buddhist texts are wrong about the kinds of freedom that come with the attainments, or else one doesn't get the freedom unless one practices properly along the way.