Has sitting on your ass been successful?

If someone asked you how successful your meditation or zazen practice has been, I suppose there might be any number of differing answers. But now, lets imagine some real savvy person replying to this question with a counter question: Have you realized Bodhicitta (the Mind that is bodhi)? A little taken back by this savvy persons reply you ask him to elaborate. And he does. He says:

There is only one actual practice and that is to expand Bodhicitta, or more technically, bodhicittotpada. This is the path of a real Bodhisattvanot some Zen center Bodhisattva who is not an actual Bodhisattva. If you havent had real Bodhicitta your zazen practice is a waste of time. Oh sure it calms you down. It may help make you more smug and prideful than you are right now. However, unless you awaken to Mind, that is, attain Bodhicitta youre lost. Years of sitting is not going to help. Believing that you are a Buddha when you sit is not going to help, either. You are just a dupe of Mara the Evil One when you sit and imagine crap like that. By the way, if you havent noticed those who say they practice or have a practice which consists of daily zazenall are being prideful. That they actually believe they are getting somewhere is astonishing.

But of course no such conversation like this would ever take place. Not in a Zen center or on a Buddhist forum. Both have too many practitioners who are extremely smug and prideful; who have invested a lot of time, energy, and money in ass-sitting which isnt really going to payoff except in their imaginations.

The typical practice that goes on in Buddhist circles is not unlike children dressing up in their parents clothes. While it may look cute the children are still too immature to deal with the real world. They havent mastered the skills necessary to meet the challenge. Buddhist practitioners are no different. The bulk of them have never entered the stream (P., sotpanna) nor have they had bodhicittotpada. The only thing their present practice is doing is reinforcing their profane (prithagjana) consciousness, closing the door on real emancipation. On the other hand, if any practitioners gains stream entry or Bodhicitta, then their practicethe real practiceconsists in maturing this key insight; becoming more awakened until they are fully awakened.


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