How do you become enlightened? Have fun, meditate, don't take yourself too seriously, brush between incarnations and have a good teacher.
If you have humility, you are willing to undertake anything to spread the dharma.
Some people like a harsh teacher. They feel the demands make them learn more quickly. Some like a gentle teacher because they feel that makes them learn more quickly.
Flaky devotionalism, bowing and scraping and sucking up to the teacher is very phony. It is counterproductive to enlightenment and spiritual development. What is necessary is mutual respect.
The more moral you pretend to be, the less moral you are; the less moral you try to be, the more moral you are.
Without humility, all spiritual progress stops.
It takes tremendous self-restraint on the part of the student not to want to monopolize the teacher's attention, to live a very controlled life and a happy life, and of course, be dedicated to the cause.
Studying with a teacher doesn't simply mean going to an occasional seminar or Zen retreat. It means fully applying yourself to what the teacher says, most of which is not verbal.
Don't judge others. Always be open to them. Avoid the cult mentality, you know, the super-slick, "I'm superior because I meditate, because I'm on the pathway to enlightenment," the subtle ego nonsense, terrible trap.
If one thinks of an enlightened person in a negative way, as it hits their aura, it returns very strongly.
We must control the tendencies within our being that are destructive, when we want to slam somebody else, hurt them, injure them, or push them out of the way. A reverence for life needs to be developed, in which all things are sacred.
If you can't think of an enlightened person positively, don't think of them at all.
It is very important to always hold the thought of an enlightened teacher in your mind in a very positive way. When you direct negative energy towards someone who is powerful, it has a terrible bounce-back effect.
There is enough room in eternity for everyone to be enlightened. We gain or lose nothing by the success of others.
If you become obsessive in spiritual practice, if you just try and try, you are not going to be happy. You are going to be obsessive.
Can you control your anger, lust, frustrations, and jealousies? Those are the only people worthy of the higher teachings. By worthy, I mean that they are the only ones capable of it.
People over-focus on teachers as an excuse to avoid their own life, and that way they fail to take responsibility for themselves. They have this feeling that the teacher will just take care of them.
Emotional control is essential for attaining higher levels of mind. The thing that the teacher looks for in a student is the degree of self-control, not coldness that someone has.
You need to have the humility to accept your limitations as long as they're there, and have the humility to accept their end when that time comes.
Simplify your life and your mind. Think more of infinity and less of yourself.
As a student of enlightenment your attitude should not be to become enlightened. It should be to learn.
Love makes you wise. Love unites. Pain divides. Hate divides even more. Hate separates and brings us down to a very physical plane. Love elevates us to a plane of spirit.
You have to come to the world of enlightenment with open hands, not clinched fists, without an agenda.
An enlightened teacher simply expresses enlightenment in their life by living. It is the student's job to gain the teachings. The teacher's job is just to be perfectly enlightened.
In America people have this funny idea about enlightenment and money. Money expresses a level of commitment. Studying enlightenment is like going to a university.
