Enlightenment as an Empty Shoe

I've been speaking with a number of people about transparency and clarity. These days, our intuition is operating at such a peak level (and rising) that individual deception--self or otherwise--is just a waste of time.

Of course, the embarrassment of full disclosure is also a necessary and natural result of these times. As we realize that we are the masters--that there are no more gurus, no more geniuses--well, there's bound to be blushing at just how collaborative we've become.

For a beautiful enunciation of this feeling, please read:

Is Einstein the Last Great Genius?

http://www.livescience.com/culture/081205-science-genius-einstein.html

No more secrets.

I'll give two examples of this collaboration as I see it. These are ancient in precedent and modern in expression:

1) In my yoga studio, we're seeing more and more foot related injuries from people who live in urban ares. It's really sad but it's also a literal opportunity for satori.

The Buddha (who probably never wore shoes after the age of 29) once described enlightenment in this way: when you're an adult, you put on sensible shoes, and, inevitably, a small stone gets stuck inside. At first it hurts, it really hurts. But after a while you get used to it. You come to expect the pain. One day, the stone falls clear out of the shoe and you are in a state of bliss. You say, "I never knew!"

Enlightenment!

These days, cosmic consciousness isn't achieved cosmically so much. Now, it's manifested more prosaically and, I believe, honestly. Just clean house (and sneakers). Let emptiness do the rest.

Today, in Zen and Kundalini Yoga and everything, people's higher minds are investigating so fast that all we have to do--our entire responsibility--is just to help people take off their shoes. But just their shoes... the rest they must do.

2) In Japan, you can see how important it is to people to be of physical assistance to each other. There are these really amazing "wrathful bodhisattva" guarding the Buddhist monasteries. Their responsibility is to protect the meditators inside and adventurers outside. They're incredibly loyal lions and their hearts never give out... but their backs and feet can become very tired and strained.

Every morning (very, very early), the monks convene with local businessmen on their way to the Nikkei. Together, they tie red and pink ribbons around the lions as signs of love and gratitude for their compassion. Also, it is said that the purpose of the ribbon is to support the lions' backs and feet. They're very old. The monks call this give-and-take "karma yoga" or the practice of taking care of those who take care of us. And so it goes. Everybody and everything is gathered into a reciprocal state of equality and mutual support.

This is the ideal. Bodhisattvas taking care of bodhisattvas. I mean, here are human beings taking care of statues for goodness' sake! You can imagine, then, how loving the practice makes them towards living, breathing things.

Mãĩ tumse pyār kartā hū