Enlightenment and The Illusion

At our Common Thread meeting last evening, we had a delightful speaker, Charlie Day, who spoke to us of Buddhaism, meditation, and enlightenment.  Charlie had a wonderful presence about him and a great joy for his topic. One thing I notice about the spiritual path is that a great many people treat it as very serious. Either that or they are naturally very serious people. But I suspect people have a preconceived idea that an enlightened person has no personality or that if they are void of judgments (which is a goal), then they must also be void of personality or joy. If that is the case, then I have no interest in enlightenment, nor will I emulate what people think to be enlightened and lose my humor. My intent is to be Zorba The Buddha and to have a delightful time destroying stereotypes. But Charlie didn't lose his joy or humor at all, and I find that very, very refreshing. He also coined the phrase "Buddha Babble" is priceless and one I intend to use quite often from now on.

He spent a fair amount of time discussing the illusion of life that the ego uses to run rampant.  My paraphrasing may be off, but one point he made was that the ego cannot comprehend that which created it (which is, of course, the illusion itself).  That sound cute; I like it, even though it sound a bit like Buddha Babble.

Also recently, at a Saturday morning bullshit discussion, a friend, Tom Porter, also brought up the illusion concept........ Everything is an illusion that we create, so nothing really matters as a consequence..... I hear that a lot and read it even more, but I'll tell you, it sure feels real.  And as I play the game within the illusion, I have to write my mortgage check every month and watch my bank balance tumble to the point I have to scramble occasionally, while at the same time intending not to give it too much energy to attract more of the same, which doesn't matter, because everything is perfect as it is, and if any distress is brought to your attention, it is that you created it and need to release it within the illusion which doesn't matter anyway so chill out. Blah, blah, fucking blah!  I've not gotten too many comments from people on this blog. Probably, because I write arrogantly with no room for discent. Not my intent, though.  And I would like to think I can consider other opinions. So call out bullshit if you see it. And help me resolve the illusion/reality issue. Regardless, I love you.

The Old Monk 

ps: I've added Charlie's web site to my links at the left.  And if you don't know The Common Thread, their link is there also.