" ........ the unconditioned."
"That Cessation, Passion free, Immortality Supreme.
Through concentration, the tranquil sage of the Sakyas realised :
There is nought comparable with that Dhamma.
Truly, in the Dhamma is this precious jewel.
By this Truth, may there be Happiness !"
- The Buddha, The Ratana Sutta
There are people who say that in order to be enlighten, you must/have to make a vow to be a Buddha.
Or, they keep asking people to make vows to be a Buddha.
If not, they say you can't be enlighten.
There are also people who say Enlightenment is no longer possible.
Yet there are others who say if you're a woman, or belong to a certain category of people, you can't be/attain enlightenment.
People who say that to be enlighten you have to be a Buddha, or make vow to be a Buddha,
Or ask people to make vows to be a Buddha,
Is because they don't want people to be enlighten - To know The Truth,
So that they can continue to be in power, to control and delude others with False Dhamma.
(Read "Why Like That?" - http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-like-that.html )
Why do I say that ?
To be a Buddha takes eons of lifetime of practice and cultivation so as to perfect the 10 paramitas (read "Buddhahood or Arahantship", http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2009/07/buddhahood-or-arahantship.html ).
And, as The Great Teacher Buddha Himself said,
"Rare is the appearance of the Buddha."
(Dhammapada verse 182)
Perhaps there may be people who whatever reasons, wants to be a Buddha, despite knowing that they'll have to suffer through eons of lifetime of countless births and rebirths,
That's fine.
BUT, there are also others whose sole concern and primary objective is to get out of suffering/samsara, and never to come back to this worldly life of pain and suffering,
Of birth and rebirth ever again (i.e. they want to be Enlightened) -
Who wants out, who's tired and weary of being born and reborn - of life -
Who saw and realised that Life is suffering.
People who say Enlightenment is no longer possible is because they do NOT know the Truth themselves.
(read "Talk Talk Talk" - http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2009/01/talk-talk-talk.html, and "Saving Others" - http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2008/07/saving-others.html)
And, people who say Enlightenment is only for certain category of people, and/or is exclusive only to certain people,
Is because they are conditional, and conditioned by their own fixed, wrong and false views.
(read "Perception and Perspective" - http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2008/06/perception-and-perspective.html, and "Just Yoga" - http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2009/01/just-yoga.html )
A Buddha, and a true practitioner of the Buddha's Teachings, is one who encourages, and who wants to get, and help, as many people out of the cycle of samsara, as possible.
Important point we have to realise, and remember is :
Just as The Dhamma is for everyone and anyone who truly desires it,
So is Nibbana.
In Nibbana, there's no gender, no status ........
Nothing.
There's really no need to make (any) unnecessary vows, if you don't want to. ( Refer to "Buddhahood or Arahantship" - http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2009/07/buddhahood-or-arahantship.html )
Anyone can be enlighten, even in this lifetime -
So long as we are willing, and we have the humility, the determination, the courage and persistent effort.
So long as we Avoid all evil, Cultivate good, and Purify our minds.
As Ajahn Boowa said in "Straight from the Heart" (page 93-96),
"If you think that because you're a woman, or because you're a layperson, you can't realise Nibbana, that's your own misconception, which is one kind of defilement deceiving you."
"If we can cure defilement, we gain release from suffering.
If we can't, then no matter what our sex or status, we all have to suffer."
"All of us in the 4 groups of the Buddha's following (parisa - i.e. monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen) have the right to realise ourselves and reach Nibbana.
When mindfulness and discernment are complete, women and men can both pass over and beyond - with no question of their having to be ordained.
This is the truth of the Noble Truths,
Which are not particular about status, Nationality or any of the human races,
And which are not particular about the male or the female sex."
In short,
Anyone can be enlighten,
and
Meditation, Dhamma, Nibbana are unconditioned / unconvention / unworldly;
To know the unconditioned / unconvention / unworldly,
You have to be Un-con-di-tio-nal ( i.e. un-con-ven-tio-nal / un-world-ly ).
"It's the mind/heart, not the body ( or form )."
"Because there's always something,
And we are always doing, surrounding and occupying ourselves with something,
We do not know what it is like
When there's NOTHING."
.
.
"Bliss is not 'it' ;
Torture is not 'it' ;
What is 'it' ?
Letting go.
Letting go is ' IT ' ."
.
.
"The only way to get there is through and by Letting Go.
Letting go of what?
Letting go of what we hold dear,
Letting go of what we thought is good;
Letting go of what we feel / perceive is right,
Letting go of what we're protective towards."
