Seeing/noticing is a mystery, and there is no direct causal relationship between the admonition to notice and the act of noticing. The bottom line is that nothing is actually happening because there is only wholeness, and it is all of one fabric. This does not mean, however, that teaching does not occur and cannot be helpful or relevant from an individuated perspective.
A teacher is not necessary for waking up (the Buddha and Ramana are good examples of people who were not followers of a particular teacher), but a teacher can often point someone in the right direction, and keep them pointed that way. The Buddha, himself, did this with many of his followers, and he was very successful at waking people up. Niz is an example of someone who wanted to wake up, and his teacher told him specifically what to do. Niz did what he was told, and he woke up. The fact that he did what he was told to do so single-mindedly is simply part of the mystery.
At one point in my search I got strongly attached to the idea that samadhi was necessary for waking up. During that time I went on a retreat with a particular Zen Master. During an interview I presented my idea, and he said, "Samadhi is a wonderful state of unity consciousness, but it is not necessary for waking up." I trusted the guy, so I thought to myself, "Okay, that idea was incorrect. There's no need to waste any more time trying to get into samadhi." His statement let me know that I was going down a dead end street. It stopped me cold in my tracks, and put me back into a contemplative not-knowing state of mind. In retrospect this advice was apparently helpful.
The Zen tradition is interested in two things---(1) enlightenment and (2) life following enlightenment. Enlightenment is the realization that the one seeking enlightenment does not exist and never existed. After this is conclusively realized, what then? There is freedom from the illusion of life and death and any kind of separateness, but does one's clarity have any remaining fogginess or obscurations? IOW, are there any areas of remaining "stuckness?" The goal is freedom from the mind and all of its "stickiness." This is why Zen uses koans as a kind of clarity test. Is every enlightened person fully qualified to teach, or are there enlightened people who still have areas of unclarity? Can a person know what s/he is, but remain attached to other ideas? These are the kinds of issues that Zen Masters explore in their interactions with both students and/or other Zen Masters.
It would be nice if seeing through the illusion of selfhood automatically resulted in total clarity and total freedom from the mind, but this is rarely the case.
A teacher is not necessary for waking up (the Buddha and Ramana are good examples of people who were not followers of a particular teacher), but a teacher can often point someone in the right direction, and keep them pointed that way. The Buddha, himself, did this with many of his followers, and he was very successful at waking people up. Niz is an example of someone who wanted to wake up, and his teacher told him specifically what to do. Niz did what he was told, and he woke up. The fact that he did what he was told to do so single-mindedly is simply part of the mystery.
At one point in my search I got strongly attached to the idea that samadhi was necessary for waking up. During that time I went on a retreat with a particular Zen Master. During an interview I presented my idea, and he said, "Samadhi is a wonderful state of unity consciousness, but it is not necessary for waking up." I trusted the guy, so I thought to myself, "Okay, that idea was incorrect. There's no need to waste any more time trying to get into samadhi." His statement let me know that I was going down a dead end street. It stopped me cold in my tracks, and put me back into a contemplative not-knowing state of mind. In retrospect this advice was apparently helpful.
The Zen tradition is interested in two things---(1) enlightenment and (2) life following enlightenment. Enlightenment is the realization that the one seeking enlightenment does not exist and never existed. After this is conclusively realized, what then? There is freedom from the illusion of life and death and any kind of separateness, but does one's clarity have any remaining fogginess or obscurations? IOW, are there any areas of remaining "stuckness?" The goal is freedom from the mind and all of its "stickiness." This is why Zen uses koans as a kind of clarity test. Is every enlightened person fully qualified to teach, or are there enlightened people who still have areas of unclarity? Can a person know what s/he is, but remain attached to other ideas? These are the kinds of issues that Zen Masters explore in their interactions with both students and/or other Zen Masters.
It would be nice if seeing through the illusion of selfhood automatically resulted in total clarity and total freedom from the mind, but this is rarely the case.
