Beginning to See the Light

 

12.16.2022 BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere occurs this coming Wednesday, December 21st. If this reminder sends a cold shiver down your spine, you might find comfort in knowing that beginning the following day, our collective hours of sunlight start to slowly increase. It’s no coincidence that over the next two weeks, many individuals on both sides of the equator will be celebrating light. Celebrations of Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa will soon begin, celebrating the ever present existence of light in the midst of the darkness. Whether the light symbolizes survival, spirit, hope, warmth, or all of the above, our houses and hearts become physically “enlightened” and “illuminated” in celebration during the holiday season, despite the cold, dark days they fall within. In Buddhism, the Sanskrit word nirvana is often translated as “enlightenment.” Roshi Joan Sutherland calls the Buddhist promise of enlightenment, “the bright flame illuminating the dharma.” She continues, “Here is the story passed on with the flame: enlightenment is our true nature and our home, but the complexities of human life cause us to forget.” Perhaps these annual winter celebrations can act as a reminder that even when darkness pervades, we can always look a little deeper and light a candle. In fact, it’s our true nature to do so. As the Buddha famously said, “Be a lamp unto yourself.” —Naomi Matlow, editorial intern, Lion’s Roar

Everything Is Enlightenment Joan Sutherland, Roshi, explores what enlightenment is; not as something we seek outside of ourselves but something we cultivate within. Awakening is something different from the projects of self-improvement and self-actualization many Westerners are used to; it’s not about being a better self but about discovering our true self, which is another thing entirely. One of the puzzlements of the Way is that some people can seem to have substantial, even operatic, openings and still behave like jerks. This speaks to the nature of awakening: having an enlightening revelation isn’t the same thing as being enlightened. It’s possible to retreat into the revelation, a condition referred to as inhabiting a ghost cave or being frozen in ice, because it stops the process of awakening. The revelation has to stain and dye us completely, in the midst of our everyday lives. We let life teach us how to embody the revelation.

What If Our Delusions Aren’t a Barrier to Enlightenment? “What if our deluded minds aren’t a barrier to enlightenment at all?” asks Zenju Earthlyn Manuel. “What if they are the very path to it?” Like so many others on the Buddhist path, I was waiting for my life to be the way I wanted it to be and wasn’t fully engaging with the way it actually was. Over time, through the practice of zazen, I began to see how this mixed-up dream had separated me from the life I was living every day, every moment.

How to Work with the Winter Blues Sylvia Boorstein, both a psychologist and leading Insight Meditation teacher, shares how mindfulness and meditation practice can support us during these dark winter months. Someone once said to me, “The view out the window looks like the inside of my mind. Hopeless.” Right after Thanksgiving, therapists I know begin saying, “I can’t wait until the holidays are over. Everyone feels worse. It’s such a problem to try to be happy if you’re not.” So for these darkening days, here are some thoughts about varieties of mind fatigue, how psychotherapy is sometimes helpful, how meditation is sometimes helpful, how medication is sometimes helpful, how patience is always helpful.

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