So how do we begin developing a culture of awakening? What does it even mean? Let’s start there – what does it mean to zandtao?
We need to consider where awakening arises, and to see that we look at conditioning. In our upbringings conditioning builds up our self-esteem to enable survival. But as adults this upbringing and self-esteem becomes a stumbling block, mature seekers begin to perceive these egos as stumbling blocks and start releasing them. This is the process of awakening. Eckhart speaks of a firstgrace, and discusses his own awakening in the intro to a Power of Now – App G. But not all awakenings are as powerful, and zandtao feels that many seekers’ firstgraces are not recognised for what they are – beginnings of possible awakening.
Here, zandtao asks himself a question:- is he aware of current fashions concerning awakening? At Batgap he listens to Nicola Amadora discussing awakenings and their understandings. Maybe in this examination of CoA there will be some answer to this.
Zandtao puts the lack of recognition of firstgrace down to there being a lack of a CoA. Given the way our society is, awakening is rarely discussed. In our schools it does not merit much discussion, perhaps being included as the enlightenment of the Buddha in religious studies. Is it ever raised that all people could awaken and that awakened people have reached their best potential as human beings? For awakened people this is a given, for mainstream society people discussing awakening are often mocked. There is no culture of awakening, and those seekers who experience such firstgraces often stumble around and maybe fortuitously find a path to awakening. Such are the stories of some of the people at Batgap
Our current society is inimical to the process of awakening. In a culture of awakening seekers experiencing firstgrace would be lauded for their opportunity – their calling. Rather than seekers having to battle social obstacles, in a culture of awakening such a calling would have vistas opening up offering diverse paths to that awakening. It would not be a fight to find your path, it would be a far more pleasant but difficult situation as to deciding which path.
If there were such a culture, are those paths available? And the answer to that is a guarded yes, why zandtao feels it necessary to use the word “guarded” will be discussed.
Seekers with a strong calling can usually battle their way through to find their paths despite there not being a culture of awakening. But why does it have to be hard? Surely the path is hard enough. Suffering is often a prerequisite to such calls, and some institutions offering paths see that requirement as a justification – when the seeker has resolved such suffering they will be led to our gates. Is this position complacent? Should people providing paths have “outreach workers” or some such means to facilitate the first step on their paths? Many such institutions actually have such outreaches to bring people into the institutions – charities and welfare – but the path is not part of those outreaches.
Can there be such a culture of awakening?
Yesterday zandtao struggled to reach this point, but was prepared to see it as a potential way forward. This morning he woke and his mind was spinning with excitement, spinning so much he couldn't meditate. Out of a culture of awakening could come a relation between secular and Dhamma practice. What are the limits? It was all fascinating. Hopefully in the writing zandtao can express this fascination.
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