Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [5]
Often when we think about our lives and our experiences, we feel certain that in some cosmic way it must be making sense, but sometimes it seems there are too many problems and too much chaos for us to ever get a handle on life. We don’t know why this is so, but on some level we know that we are responsible for our own destiny. When we first hear about karma, the possibility of rebirth, and the ineluctable laws of cause and effect, these teachings not only make sense, they are reassuring.
For Tibetan Buddhists, because karma affects everything, there are no chance occurrences. It is no accident, for example, that you are picking up this book. As you read this sentence, all of your past actions, your present thoughts, as well as your intentions for the future have brought you to this specific intersection of your life where you have opened a book talking about a timeless way of life that was first introduced in Asia some 2,500 years ago.
Those of us who embark on spiritual paths are motivated in different ways. Some of us want to know the unknowable; others want to know themselves; still others want to know everything. Some people want transformation; others want miracles. Many want to alleviate suffering, help others, and leave the world a better place. Most of us are seeking love and fulfillment in one way or another. Everyone wants inner peace, acceptance, satisfaction, and happiness. We all want genuine remedies to feelings of despair, alienation, and hopelessness. Don’t we all want to find spiritual nourishment and healing, renewal and a greater sense of meaning?
Don’t we all hope to meet God, with his/her myriad faces? Gandhi once said, “I claim to be a passionate seeker after truth, which is but another name for God.” As we all search for truth or God, don’t we pray that we will find our way, our purpose? Don’t we hope to find our true selves, all we are and can be? Too often, however, our search for truth or meaning lacks focus or direction.
Like many others, for example, you may have looked for meaning in relationships that failed you, or you may be frustrated by a career that isn’t delivering the rewards you expected. It could be that you’re disturbed by shaky values and rampant materialism. You can’t help asking yourself if this is all there is. Is this really my life? Is this what I will be when I grow up—which is now? Is there nothing more? When does my real life begin? Is there no greater connection, no deeper purpose and sense of truly belonging? Why does life so often feel barren and lonely, and why is there so much fear, doubt, and anxiety in my heart?
Perhaps you sometimes feel a homesickness, a sadness, and a sense that something is terribly wrong. You might experience this as a yearning for something that is lost, something that seems so familiar and yet so distant. You might feel hungry and needy and aware that nothing has been able to fully satisfy you—at least not for very long. It’s like drinking salt water while floating adrift on the great ocean; it’s a drink that can’t possibly alleviate your thirst.
Rejoice! You are living the core issues grappled with by every consciously alive human being. This is no small thing—this is the “Big Time,” the Great Way walked by all those who have awakened to freedom, peace, and enlightenment. You’re in the heavyweight division, wrestling with the multidimensional angels of life. You want to see them, you want to understand them, and—like Jacob—you want to be blessed by them.
Men and women on such a path traditionally have been known as “seekers.” As you read this, are you aware of your journey, and do you understand what you are seeking? Are you ready to find it? It is probable that as a seeker, you’ve always engaged in a fair amount of self-examination and