Lesson 9
Awakening
A monk once asked his master: “What is ‘Tzung’?”
The master said: “All Buddhas return to Tzung. Tzung is the Mind. This Mind is vast, comprehensive and empty, having neither karmic residue nor discrimination.”
However, without practice there can be no attainment of this Mind.
The sutra says: "Buddha declared that the Mind is Tzung, that without any door whatsoever is the Dharma door and that from ancient times to the present in the West and in the East, in the teaching of all Buddhas, in the transmissions of all the Patriarchs, only this Mind is the substance of Tzung.”
The substance of Mind is clean, originally perfect and bright, accords with conditions and yet is untainted. Just return to the Origin, which is neither pure nor impure, is neither less for worldly people nor more for worthy sages, does not change for different beings, is understood by wisdom, is bright and manifest, and is only One Mind.
If the mind is covered over with defilements, this wonderful substance will be hidden.”
Chan Master Fo-Yen Ch’an-Yuan 1067 – 1120
We can say then that Awakening is the discovery of the ‘vast, comprehensive and empty mind, having neither karmic residue nor discrimination’.
There are then clear questions related to that Awakening and the first is, “How does one discover that Pure and Empty Mind?” This is a good question, which we will leave for the next lesson. Here, in this short lesson, we are really interested in just what that Pure Mind is and will undertake to answer the second question, which is, “Once discovered what can one achieve with it?”
Buddha himself gave us that answer in the Diamond Sutra Part XII
Diamond Sutra Section XXII.
Then Subhuti asked Buddha: “World-honored One, in the attainment of
the Consummation of Incomparable Awakening, did Buddha make no acquisition whatsoever?”
Buddha replied: “Just so, Subhuti. Through the Consummation of Incomparable Awakening I acquired not even the least thing; that is why it is called
’Consummation of Incomparable Awakening’."
Section XXIII.
“Furthermore, Subhuti, This is altogether everywhere, without differentiation or degree; therefore it is called ‘Consummation of Incomparable Awakening’."
This, my brothers and sisters of noble family, is the truth. By Awakening, one acquires nothing. There is no great incredible rush of Supermundane Knowledge. There is no sudden accumulation of Omniscience.
How marvelous that is. Everyone who rushes around to achieve something with this Awakening will only obtain that which is called a “rude awakening,” which is worth nothing to them at all. You see, you cannot acquire anything that is altogether everywhere without differentiation or degree.
Then what is Buddha teaching? Nothing at all.
Section XXI.
“Subhuti, do not say that the Tathagata conceives the idea: I must set forth a Teaching. For if anyone says that the Tathagata sets forth a Teaching he really slanders Buddha and is unable to explain what I teach. As to any Truth-declaring system, Truth is undeclarable; so ‘an enunciation of Truth’ is just the name given to it.”
Thereupon, Subhuti spoke these words to Buddha: “World-honored One,
in the ages of the future will there be men coming to hear a declaration of
this Teaching who will be inspired with belief?”
And Buddha answered: “Subhuti, those to whom you refer are neither living beings nor not-living beings. Wherefore? Because ‘living beings,’ Subhuti,
these ‘living beings’ are not really such; they are just called by that name.”
So you see there is no Awakening, no teachings for that Awakening and no one to be taught? “But I am here being taught,” you will say.
The truth is that the concept of an existing Self that you hold is completely false. It is a delusion of the stained mind. On the other hand, the Illusion of Self is true. That is to say, the illusion certainly appears to exist. If one believes that the Self of that useful Illusion is true, then that is a Delusion. A belief in that Illusion is sufficient impediment to paralyse any advance upon the Dharma path.
You will, therefore, perhaps see that the dissolving of this Self concept is essential for Liberation. It is this very multiple self that is restrained in the first part of the path in every Buddhist approach to Liberation by various expedient means.
With regard to there being no teachings, it is clear that words cannot express the natural process which has to be followed for Liberation. The best that any master can do is present with words an approximation of what must be done and how that path must be followed and trust in the capacity of each apparent individual to bridge the gap between the words and the process. It is for that reason that several traditions of “direct” transmission evolved. To call those transmissions of the way to liberation direct is a slight misconception, for there must be a mind capable and ready to receive at the other end of the transmission and this itself requires much practice to attain the state necessary.
You will certainly have noted that I have avoided the term Illumination as much as possible and used the more correct term, which is Awakening. The problem, you see, is that that term Illumination has so many cognitive connotations. If there is true Awakening as Illumination then all is clearer. That is so, but to say that all is clearer is not to say that ALL is clear.
The word Awakening is really quite eloquent, for when ‘awakened’ one can begin to enter a stage which is not just repose and a state of dreams, (for many, veritable nightmares). Thus an Awakening means that one awakens like a child and can begin a new journey.
The question is then what is that journey? It is the travelling in the space between Birth and Death of this particular mind/body that each person can identify, with a full knowledge of the truth encountered with Awakening, while living in this world surrounded by Samsara.
In the Buddhist way called Dzogchen, this state of walking in the world of samsara is actually called living with the “Presence,” which is a marvelous way of showing what is required, for that presence of the Awakening, called the Truth of the Primordial State, needs to accompany one every waking second and even be carried into sleep.
You will notice, no doubt, that I have mentioned encountering with the Awakening, a full knowledge of truth. How can that be if nothing useful is obtained? It is because the truth obtained is a subtle truth, not the truth of the full knowledge of all things.
That truth is incomparable, because it is the direct experience of No Mind.
But one must be careful here not to equate the idea of No Mind with the state of there being an Empty Mind. In other words, we are saying, with the usual Buddhist paradoxes, that the Empty Mind is not really empty. It is really a state of being ‘not Empty nor not not Empty’. It is empty only in the sense that it has returned to its PURE state and is empty of the products created by itself.
In various parts of this magnificent dialogue written by the Chan Master, Ch’an Yuan, one gets a perfect idea of the parameters of Awakening, without getting sufficient information to permit an alert and contaminated mind to counterfeit the experience.
Practice and Attain Sudden Awakening
The monk asked: -How can one see the nature of Mind by the inside causes?
The master said: -If you see the Original Pure Mind, then you will see your own Nature, which is original emptiness.
The monk asked: -How can you say that the Mind is originally pure?
The master said: -This Mind is neither the body nor the heart. It is not the discriminating mind. It is not sophistical, but absolute; it is without birth and death; it neither exists nor non-exists. It is bright and empty. It is complete and reflects all things, is ever changing in condition yet immutable in essence, is immutable in essence yet ever changing in condition. It is eternal and immutable True Mind.
All Buddhas in the past attained this Mind, and all Bodhisattvas in the present learn this Mind. All students in the future will come to understand this Mind, and all sentient beings will be confused about the nature of this Mind. All practitioners will be enlightened by this Mind. Bodhidharma came from the West to point out this Mind directly, and all virtues, from ancient times to the present, radiate this Mind. It is wonderful Mind, which cannot be described completely here and now. I describe it only briefly to encourage people of the future to believe in the Dharma and to attain Enlightenment.
The monk asked:-What is seen to be the nature of Original Emptiness?
The master said: -The nature of the One Reality is original emptiness and stillness, without shape and form, as clear as space, immovable and unshakable, deep and permanent. It is called the Original Face and Truth. All mountains, rivers, the great earth, all phenomena in the universe, and all things pure and impure come from this.
The monk asked: -Are Original Nature and True Mind one or two?
The master said: -They are neither one nor two.
The monk asked: -What is neither one nor two?
The master said: -Original Nature is the substance, and True Mind is the function. Original Nature is like a clear, bright mirror; and True Mind is like pure, radiant light. Original Nature is bright and wonderful. Original Nature is the substance, which is deep and permanent. True Mind is the wonderful function, which is bright, perfect and illuminating, just as light illuminates a mirror. Since light and the mirror are two, you, therefore, cannot really say they are one; also, since light and the mirror are one, you, therefore, cannot really say they are two.
The monk asked: -Since this is the case - that all Buddhas and all sentient beings are one substance of Mind Nature - then why are the Buddha and all other holy and sentient beings also worldly?
The master said: -All Buddhas and sentient beings have the nature of Original Emptiness. Because the mind has both purity and impurity, there exist, therefore, the holy and the worldly.
The monk asked: -Why does the mind have purity and impurity?
The master said: -Original Nature is like a mirror that is completely still and bright. True Mind, like pure, clear light reflected in a mirror, illuminates all things without obscurity. All sages respond to things without a discriminating mind; they come and go, never taking hold of anything, like pure, colorless light. All sentient beings, on the other hand, respond to things with a discriminating mind, grasping, liking, disliking and making all sorts of distinctions, like impure, multi-colored light. However, even on this level, although the function, as in the case of light, can be experienced dualistically as pure of impure, yet the substance, as in the case of the mirror, remains one.
All sentient beings completely misunderstand the boundlessness of Mind Nature, which is neither inside nor outside the body. However, they grasp at the shadows of the six types of sensory objects and think that space includes the body and that the body includes the fleshly mind. Then they grasp at greed and love and, thus, bind themselves ever more and more to the cycle of the Wheel of Birth-and-Death. Who really, without any doubt whatsoever, knows that space, the great earth and all the other "things" in the universe are actually just false shadows and insubstantial illusions manifesting themselves in the bright and wonderful Mind Nature?
The Surangama Sutra says, "Dimness creates emptiness; and both, in the darkness, unite with it to become form. The mingling of form with false thinking causes the latter to take the shape of a body, which is then stirred by accumulated causes within and is drawn to external objects. Such inner disturbance is mistaken for the true nature of Mind, and thus arises the false view of a mind dwelling within the physical body and the concurrent failure to realize that this body - are all nothing but phenomena within the wondrous, bright True Mind.
Because I am afraid that you still do not understand, let me give you a further analogy. Original nature is like a universal mirror. True Mind is like pure, bright universal light. Mountains, rivers, the great earth and all the other phenomena of the universe - even the physical body and consciousness - are just like shadows or reflections in the mirror. Because all sentient beings recognize only these shadows or reflections, they remain submerged in and bound to the four kinds of birth and the nine states of being. However, if they can just recognize the universal mirror itself and the bright, universal light, then they will, quite naturally and suddenly, recover the Original True Mind Nature.
The monk asked: -Because vast Mind Nature, which includes all things, is not in the body, is it correct to think that it is outside the body?
The master said: -No! That is not right!
The monk asked: -Since I do not understand why it is neither inside nor outside, would you please explain it to me clearly?
The master said: -Original Nature is as omnipresent as space. Being neither inside the body nor outside the body, True Mind does not dwell anywhere. It neither is the body nor is not the body. Therefore, even though Ananda looked for Mind in seven places, still he could not locate it because it is without a basis. The second Patriarch understood this truth and so, according with the Tao, uttered only one word. However, maybe it is still not clear, so let me give you another example.
Original Nature is like the clear water of the ocean, while True Mind is like the light of that clear water. The body is like bubbles rising as wind moves over the water. Also, the ocean water is like the Dharmakaya, while the wetness of the water is like Original Nature. However, both the wetness of the bubbles and the wetness of the water are of the same nature. Therefore, there is no inside and no outside. Both the water and the bubbles have the nature of wetness, but worldly people mistakenly just grasp at the bubbles, abandoning the boundless ocean.
The Surangama Sutra says, "Like an ignorant man who overlooks the great ocean but grasps at a floating bubble, regarding that bubble as the whole body of water in its immense expanse, you are doubly deluded among the deluded. If one comes to understand that both the water of the bubble and the water of the ocean have only the one original nature of wetness, then how can he continue to cling to the erroneous notion of inside and outside? What a pity if you do not comprehend Original Nature!
The monk responded: -The substance of Original Nature is vast and includes infinite space. True Mind really dwells nowhere, neither inside nor outside. However, consciousness itself seems to dwell in the body as a prisoner. So is True Mind inside of consciousness or outside consciousness?
The master said: -As gold is bonded to minerals and water to waves, even so the Alaya consciousness, is in bondage to the Bhutatathata. Therefore, the advanced student should understand what is true and what is false, and he must depend on True Mind to attain Bodhi; furthermore, he must understand that to follow the false mind will cause him to drift in the ocean of birth and death endlessly.
The monk asked: -Not knowing just how the mind of consciousness is situated in the body, just how can we distinguish what is True Mind from what is false mind?
The master said: -True Mind is the mind of stillness and illumination. The false mind of knowledge is the mind that keeps us from causal attainment.
The monk asked: -Just what is the false mind of knowledge that keeps us from causal attainment?
The master said: -Originally the false mind was empty, but because it had the subject-object duality and discriminated outside itself - liking and disliking, grasping and rejecting - it attained only confusion, thought after thought, without ceasing. So it was born into heaven, hell and all the other states of being. Originally there was no birth to be considered as birth, and there was no death to bethought about as death. Mind was just free, like a monkey playing in a tree or like a horse running in a field; it just loafed about, without desire, in the Three Realms forever.”
The monk asked: -If the false mind has knowledge, then how can illusion arise?
The master said: -Illusory thought is like the moon in water, and false-mind knowledge is like flowers in the sky - both arise due to the perception of the duality of subject and object. Due to discrimination - the function of knowing mind using the organs - illusory thought comes from outside the body. If there is mind without an object, then there can be no substance. Objects are illuminated by mind; but if objects are destroyed, there is no more illumination. All things arise by means of thought, but without thought all things are empty. If one takes these false things for the substance of truth, one then creates false causes, which, in consequence, take the effect of annihilation. In this case, how can one ever realize True Mind?
The monk asked: -What is True Mind, and what is the Knowledge that is true and bright?
The master said: -True Mind is clear and luminous with no object whatsoever, is still and shining, encloses the Great Void, never has any purpose, and is always bright and understanding. It is open without a trace and folds with no vestige of action. It is as clear as a lake reflecting the wild fields. It is as clear as a dustless mirror in the sky that reflects within itself the infinite universe in all its variety, which is neither within nor without and which neither exists nor non-exists. All Holy Ones return there, and all Buddhas of the Three Periods are permanently abiding there. It is called Original True Buddha Nature and is also called Pure Dharmakaya. If one rejects this Dharma to follow or practice others, he can only become a demon in the end.
The monk asked: -How can you prove that True Mind has been realized?
The master said: -True Mind is still and bright as well as clear and boundless. The universal cannot cover it. Nothing can hide or conceal it. No deva or human being can see it. Demons cannot find it. The sharpest knife cannot cut it. The fire-kalpas cannot burn it. The iron-ringed mountain cannot sink it. Transmigration cannot confound it. It is perfect and completely bright forever. If you can understand the nature of True Mind, then you, also, can attain to the Complete Enlightenment of Buddha at any time.
Now if you were alert you would have seen that the Complete Enlightenment of Buddha is mentioned. Why do we not call that Complete Awakening?
It is because Buddha followed the path beyond the state of Awakening to that full Knowledge. So what is full knowledge? It is the application of the Pure Mind of Awakening which is Nirvana to the data of Samsara. In other words, when this world of the senses, Samsara, is seen with the constant presence of the Pure Mind and fully understood, then there is Full Illumination.
Thus quite often we may see a person Awakened at the age of say thirty, but not reach the state of Illumination for another twenty five years. How long does it take to reach full Illumination after Awakening? It cannot be reckoned in time. It is in the blink of an eye or timeless.
Perhaps now you have an idea about why there are those various state:, Srvaka Buddha, Pacceka Buddha, and Bodhisattva. The two former have an incomplete Awakening. They both Awaken clinging to Identity, while the Bodhisattva does not.
Guidance is then presented in a way that allows one to travel the path that leads to Awakening, but prepares one to receive that Awakening without Identity. The Bodhisattva state is the product of that preparation for Awakening.
Those who advance upon the path using only texts and teachings are not prepared for Awakening. Those who advance upon the path by their own means are not prepared for Awakening. That is precisely why one needs guidance from a Master who has experienced that Awakening as a Bodhisattva.
Sudden and Gradual Awakening
Naturally, with Awakening unfortunately in full focus, one hears about two ways of awakening: Sudden Awakening and Gradual Awakening. Let me make it clear that there is only a Sudden Awakening. There is no other.
But we can say that there are two paths to Awakening; one is Gradual and the other is Direct. Lest all now scramble to get upon the Direct path, let me also make it clear that the Direct path is no faster than the Gradual path.
The Chinese Ch'an Master Tsung-mi in his “Notes on the Sudden Awakening/ Gradual Awakening Distinction”, classified the relation between the two citing the following:
Sudden, major awakening followed by smaller gradual awakenings integrated over time.
Smaller, gradual awakenings culminating in great awakening.
We can understand the paths if we imagine a mountain peak which can be climbed from four directions. From one direction the traveller follows a beautiful meandering path enjoying as he does so the beauty of the path without haste, knowing that his mountain climbing skills are minimal. When he gets close to the peak, however, there is no meandering path; one has to make the last assault upon the peak directly.
This is the Gradual path to Awakening. It is the path of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism; the Ningmapa school, the Sakya School, the Kagyupa school and the Gelupga school.
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Nyingma-pa Tracing its origin to the Indian adept, Guru Padma-Sambhava, who went to Tibet in 817 C.E. at the invitation of King Trisong Detsen (742-797) in order to subdue the evil forces then impeding the spread of Buddhism. This lineage of Buddhism is uniquely Tibetan in that many aspects of the traditional Bon religion are mixed together with Buddhist beliefs and practices to form a unique expression of Buddhism. This lineage emphasizes the move towards more advance stages of enlightenment through "preliminary practice" that comprises the beliefs and practices of Buddhism before the advent of Tantra, and through the "higher practices," which involve the attainment of enlightenment through Chanting, Mudras( hand gestures) and Mandalas (transcendental diagrams). The head of the Ningmapas is called Sakya Trizin. The present Sakya Trizin is the 41st in line.
Sakya-pa The lineage has descended intact up to the present time from Khon Könchok Gyelpo(1034-1102), founder of the Sakya tradition. From the doctrinal point of view the tradition traces its origins to the Indian Yogin Virupa through Gayadhara. His disciple Drogmi Shakya Yeshe (992-1074) travelled to India where he received teachings on the Kalachakra, the Path and its Fruit, and others from many Indian masters and returned to Tibet. Later, Khon Könchok Gyelpo, one of his main disciples, built a monastery in the Tsang province of central Tibet and named it Sakya, or Grey Earth monastery. So the school took its name, Sakya, from the location of the monastery. The central teaching and practice of the Sakya-pa, called Lam-dre (Lam-bras), the Path and Its Fruit, ultimately leads a practitioner to the state of Hevajra. The Path and Its Fruit is a synthesis of the entire paths and fruits of both the exoteric and esoteric classes of teachings. The head of the Ningmapas is called Sakya Trizin. The present Sakya Trizin is the 41st in line.
Kagyu-pa The lineages of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism derive primarily from two sources: Marpa Chökyi Lodro (1012-1099) and Khyungpo Nyaljor (978-1079). . The Karma Kagyu was founded by the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa (1110-1193). The spiritual leader of this tradition is called the Karmapa. The present Karmapa is 17th in the lineage.
Marpa received the lineage of tantric teachings concerning Six Yogas from Naropa the great Indian mahasiddha (1016-1100), who had been given them by his teacher Tilopa (988-1069). These are the most important Tantric practices and unique to Kagyu tradition. (mahamudra).
. They are the Illusory Body and Consciousness Transference, Dreams, Clear Light, and Inner Heat directly from Naropa and together form the unique feature of Kagyu tradition, which can be explained according to interpretations of sutra and tantra. Both aspects of the teachings are aimed at direct understanding of the real nature of the mind.
The approach to Mahamudra, which differs slightly within each Kagyu school, follows through the stages of foundation, path and fruit. In the context of tantric practice, the application of Mahamudra becomes much more profound and sophisticated
Gelug-pa Founded by Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419) as a reform movement within Tibetan Buddhism, followers acclaimed the third teacher as an incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, thus inaugurating the line of the Dalai Lama. The present Dalai lama is the 14th Emphasis in this lineage is on a strict monastic discipline and on the conviction that the bodhisattva, a Buddha who has foregone final nirvana out of compassion for all sentient beings, is continually present.
When one travels this path, one is fully prepared for the final assault without any doubt at all. This is Chan Master, Tsung-mi ‘s “Smaller, gradual awakenings culminating in great awakening”.
Completely on the other side of the mountain there is another path. This path requires different climbing tools. There is a Gradual path which goes halfway up the mountain and then one has no alternative except to follow a direct and difficult path up the slopes of the mountain and then make a final direct assault on the peak.
But there are available two short cuts, -one close to the beginning, where with correct effort one can directly climb to the midpoint and then continue; -and the other, where one can gradually move up on the meandering path until one is a quarter way up and then take a direct shortcut to that halfway mark, thus continuing to the peak, like all others upon this path, for the final assault.
This is the Theravadin Path and the path of others with various different maps of the way.
On one of the remaining sides of the Mountain, there is no alternative. There is just a most difficult direct path directly to the peak. On the journey, which is exceedingly difficult, there is a high probability that one may get to the top and find one has lost one’s shelter and food and thus must make a variety of trips down to recover the lost items. This is Tsung-Mi ‘s, “Sudden, major awakening followed by smaller gradual awakenings integrated over time.” With diligent application to the path and correct preparation, the small returns are unnecessary.
This is the Direct Path of Chan, Zen, Pure Land and other schools.
Finally still, on the fourth approach, there is a path which is, like Chan, a direct path to the peak. But those who teach this path know well that not all are prepared for such a difficult approach. Therefore, they have made a special map which allows one to start with the direct path, pushing forward to the top, but also gives one the option of sliding back down to that place where one is capable of and then taking a meandering path upwards. At any point, whenever one is again prepared to do so, one can always return to the short cut direct path to the peak
This is the multiple path of Dzogchen.
All these four paths are directing their efforts up the mountain. All require a final direct assault upon the peak, which is the peak of Awakening. All must go back down the mountain again and return to the plains below where life is samsara, keeping the experience of both their voyage and the final view with them. Those who carry the full memory of the voyage with them pointed out by their guide are Bodhisattvas and may then teach others how to climb that mountain.
Those who have the spirit for such voyages may climb by other routes and thus see with clear perception that the differences are only in the tools required and the energy necessary, there being just one mountain and one peak.
Lest we believe that Buddhists are alone in climbing that mountain, let us briefly make a quick review of other cultures.
In the West (pagan Neo-Platonism, Hellenistic Judaism, and Christianity), the gradual path is characterized as three stages of purgation, illumination, and union.
The early Christian representatives of this gradual path are Dionysus the Areopagite, John the Silent, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila.
The representatives of the sudden path, in the West were some of the later religious Stoics (following Poseidonis); the Pythagorean forerunner of Neo-Platonism, Numenius of Apamea; the Hermetic school of Alexandria; Evagrios, R. Bacon; and Eckhart.
In Sufi circles, the gradualist approach is the inner way (tariqah) within the Law of Life (shariat) that is comprised of progressive "states" (ahwal) and "stations" (maqamat), that become permanent states of being.
In the sudden approach (al-haqq - the Truth) is immediately touched as a state and the main task is to convert that state into a station. These are the Sufi lineages of the Naqshibandi and in the illuminationist (Israqi) school of Suhrawardi.
Early Theosophy, in practice, appears to have been a gradual path, while the famous Krishnamurti, followed that early gradualist form of practical theosophy, and then rebelled and took the sudden path.
Then, of course there is the Taoist path, which is direct like the Chan path, and the Hindu Path, which is a variable path.
One must ask then why the Buddhist path is not the same as all paths?
Looking at our mountain once more, we can see the difference. The Taoist path indeed goes to the summit, although there is no clear map of the path available, and there is great peril of falling into theist traps. All other non Buddhist paths, which are the religions of the world, stop before the final assault and thus do not reach the top of the mountain. They remain at the level just before the final peak looking around at the magnificent and glorious world below, filled with devotion for the God they meld with.
This is best seen in the Hindu way, where climbing the mountain peak to the pre peak point indeed presents a full view of all below, which is a “oneness with Brahma”, but he does not go beyond Brahma. Thus he has reached the point of Absolute Duality (God and the rest) and not the Non Duality of the Buddha Dharma.
It is thus with all the Non Buddha-Dharma groups which assault the mountain. They may indeed find their Supreme Being but with limited vision, go no further.
The Lower Slopes
Now we must touch an important issue. In the non Buddhist groups which are religions, except perhaps Taoism (also not a religion) and Hinduism, there are no great teachings which urge all to get to the top of the mountain. In Buddhism, however, we do urge all to get to that final peak and make the assault.
But that Awakening has consequences. When you return to samsara, you can walk with the “presence” among those within samsara, you can help those within samsara, but you cannot truly enjoy or partake of samsara in the same way as they ever again. Thus your way of life completely changes. Your occupation may be left, the relationships with your friends and families will be different. You will not be in any way the same person who began the journey.
Can you then, as in all religions, climb up the mountain a way and then having eliminated many impediments return again to Samsara? Yes you can, but you will, of course, be open to the constant temptations of Mara and not be relieved from your suffering. You will change, of course, and see life in a different way and, if you are sincere, follow a path of Buddhist virtue. You will be a lay Buddhist. There is nothing wrong with that at all. It is better than swimming in the mire of ignorance.
You have another alternative, which is to be a lay monk who lives within Samsara while metaphorically continuing his path slowly up the mountain. Thus you follow a true Bodhisattva path. Indeed, this is a viable alternative to the “Monastic path” or the “Homeless path” which is a dedicated assault upon the mountain using any of the routes.
I must give you all fair warning, however. Upon the lay path eventually you will reach that state where you see the importance of full sincerity, thus the lay monk’s life may call. Then too, as a lay monk, there is also a further danger, -that being a true follower of the Bodhisattva path, you will encounter an irresistible urge to climb upwards to that final peak.
Thus it is better from the beginning to set no objectives and just follow the mountain path to where it takes you.
Exercise 9
Decide which path most suits you (Gradual, Mixed or Direct) and describe why you believe that you are best suited to that path.
Explain in your own way what you believe a state of No Mind is.
You do not have to be correct, but I would like to see how you sensibly discuss the topic, trying to avoid an academic treatment of the question.