Falling Into Wells

There is a little Zen proverb that I often quote. I first heard it about twenty years ago and it often comes to mind.

"A clearly enlightened person falls into the well. How is this so?"

Perhaps some would see this as a koan, in zen a paradoxical phrase that has no logical answer, seeking to tease us out of logical "answers" to life's conundrums and thus trigger enlightenment. 

Falling into the well. But is all "illusion"?

But I think "proverb" is correct. Nothing truly paradoxical here, just a question that can in fact have a reasonably rational answer. 

As I see it the proverb questions a commonly held view of what "enlightenment" is. The view that it would elevate us above others, confer complete freedom from suffering (as commonly understood), even confer supernatural powers. 

The fruits of enlightenment?

Just to digress slightly, there are two main trajectories in Buddhism. The first, associated with Theravada, the Southern School, is "up and out of this world", out of samsara - our world of birth and death - and into nirvana. The second, found in Mahayana, the Northern School, is of "up" but then back into the world, where samsara and nirvana are "one". Here, in the name of wisdom one leaves the world, and for the sake of compassion one returns. 

Maybe a slight digression but these two ways are, in my view, associated with this particular blog. 

Anyway, to illustrate the proverb, there are various stories to be found in the Buddhist tradition. There is the rather short one, where a holy man following 30 years of meditation and study, walks upon water to cross over a river, and is then told off by the Buddha:- "The ferry only costs a penny". 

Perhaps he should have taken the ferry

Another goes like this:- A holy man meets the Buddha and says:- "Look here at my miracles" He then proceeds to float up into the air and dives about, up and down, somersaults and circles. The Buddha is unimpressed:- "My miracles are greater than that". The holy man then picks up a stick and begins writing upon the air, but 50 yards away, upon a rock, the words appear. Once again the Buddha is not impressed. "My miracles are greater" he says again. "Then show me your miracles" demands the holy man. "My miracles are these" responds the Buddha, "when hungry I eat, when tired I sleep, when happy I laugh, when sad I cry." I'm not sure just how impressed the other guy was, but each to their own.

 There is a story from another tradition, of a novice being pointed out by the head of the monastery to a visiting monk :- "He is so despondent. He has been with us for 30 years and has still to attain pure prayer". The visiting monk says:- "The real  tragedy is that after 30 years he is still seeking for pure prayer."

Well, enough stories. So what is "enlightenment"? Possibly there is no such thing. But there can be acceptance. We can stop searching for "somewhere else", we can have gratitude for what we have. Maybe this will lead to the "end of all exploration" as T S Eliot says, and we "shall know the place for the first time". And know ourselves. We could also find that pure acceptance, rather than being a state of compliant resignation, is, paradoxically, the catalyst of genuine transformation. In Pure Land Buddhism this has all to do with grace, gratitude and trust. To say:- "whether going to hell or to the Pure Land, all is in Amida's hands. Thank you". 

Did I say "a reasonably rational answer"? 😏