Test Your Enlightenment

[oushi]

From the Mirror of Seon:

"Empty your mind and reflect with clarity. You must have faith in the fact that the causal arising of each thought is actually non-arising." (32)

With all respect to the author. If mind is empty, where is the "fact" kept? Either you have empty mind, or mind holding the fact that "that the causal arising of each thought is actually non-arising". The order should be reversed. First, have faith in the emptiness of thoughts, then, and only then, you will be able to empty your mind and reflect with clarity.

And here few words from Bodhidharma:
"A Buddha doesn't observe precepts. A Buddha doesn’t do good or evil. A Buddha isn't energetic or lazy. A Buddha is someone who does nothing, someone who can’t even focus his mind on a Buddha. A Buddha isn't a Buddha. Don’t think about Buddhas. If you dont see what I’m talking about, you’ll never know your own mind. People who don’t see their nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are lairs and fools."

[zAnt]

First, who are you to tell whether someone has attained enligghtenment. How can you ask someone if they have reached it, when you haven't reached it yourself

And if one where to say yes to all of those, they wouldn't be enlightened, but delusional. I am sure if you asked someone who is truely enlightened those questions, they would say neither yes or no, but laugh and say "who knows"

But what do I know, I'm not even Buddhist

[Luke]

(The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood in "A Treasury of Mahayana Sutras", p. 33)

Resolute Mind asked, "Have you, sir, attained the Surangama Samadhi?"
The Indra king replied, "Could the characteristics of 'attain' and 'not attain' exist within this samadhi?"
Resolute Mind said, "No."
The Indra king said, "Good youth, you should understand that when a Bodhisattva practices this samadhi, there is nothing that is attained in any of the dharmas."
Resolute Mind said, "Since your understanding is like this, you must have already attained the Surangama Samadhi."
The king said, "Good youth, I do not perceive that the dharmas have any place of residence. He who has no residence in all the dharmas has attained the Surangama Samadhi. Good youth, to reside in this samadhi is to be completely without residence in all the dharmas. If one is without residence, then one is without grasping. If one is without grasping, one is also without preaching."

Whoa! What a cool excerpt!