This is why we are here - to Awaken to who/what we Really are. Jesus of Nazareth experienced this, overcame this world, and tried to teach his disciples "The Way", as he called it. There is absolutely no difference whatsoever between his teachings, those of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), Lao-tse (Tao Te Ching), and every other Teacher like him of the One and Only Ineffable Truth since the beginning of time. The Truth is the same everywhere in the world but the terminology, oral and written, is necessarily different because the perspectives of this Singular Truth are based upon their respective cultures and the life-long experiences of every individual. Nothing more!
Namaste'
Instantaneous Awakening
"Sudden Illumination means deliverance while still in this life. How shall I make you understand that? You may be compared to lion cubs, which are genuine lions from the time of their birth; for, with those who undertake to become suddenly illumined, it is just like that. The moment they practise it, they enter the Buddha-stage, just as the shoots put forth by bamboos in spring will have grown to resemble the parent plants without the least difference remaining even before spring has departed."
Once a man who practised Chan asked Hui Hai: “It is said that mind is identical with the Buddha, but which of these is really the Buddha?” Hui Hai: “What do you suppose is not the Buddha? Point it out to me!” As there was no answer, the Master added: “If you comprehend (the mind), the Buddha is omnipresent to you; but if you do not awaken to it, you will remain astray and distant from him for ever."
~ by Chan Master Hui Hai*, Translation of the Tun Wu Ju Tao Yao MĂȘn Lun and Tsung Ching Record by John Blofeld.**
* Hui Hai was a student of Ma Tsu (709–788; Japanese, Baso) and from the same line as Huai-hai Pai Chang, Huang Po, and Rinzai (Lin-chi).
**John Blofeld (1913-1987), a noted Buddhist writer and translator, was one of the few Englishmen to experience life in China prior to the Communist revolution. His love of that country and of Buddhism enabled him to translate the texts with feeling and insight.
Instantaneous Awakening
"Sudden Illumination means deliverance while still in this life. How shall I make you understand that? You may be compared to lion cubs, which are genuine lions from the time of their birth; for, with those who undertake to become suddenly illumined, it is just like that. The moment they practise it, they enter the Buddha-stage, just as the shoots put forth by bamboos in spring will have grown to resemble the parent plants without the least difference remaining even before spring has departed."
Once a man who practised Chan asked Hui Hai: “It is said that mind is identical with the Buddha, but which of these is really the Buddha?” Hui Hai: “What do you suppose is not the Buddha? Point it out to me!” As there was no answer, the Master added: “If you comprehend (the mind), the Buddha is omnipresent to you; but if you do not awaken to it, you will remain astray and distant from him for ever."
~ by Chan Master Hui Hai*, Translation of the Tun Wu Ju Tao Yao MĂȘn Lun and Tsung Ching Record by John Blofeld.**
* Hui Hai was a student of Ma Tsu (709–788; Japanese, Baso) and from the same line as Huai-hai Pai Chang, Huang Po, and Rinzai (Lin-chi).
**John Blofeld (1913-1987), a noted Buddhist writer and translator, was one of the few Englishmen to experience life in China prior to the Communist revolution. His love of that country and of Buddhism enabled him to translate the texts with feeling and insight.