Closer to God

Why be a Buddhist, when you can be the Buddha?

With this simple question, Lama Surya Das cuts directly to the heart of the integral spiritual impulse, hinting at a secret that lies at the center of all the world's spiritual traditions. It is a secret that has been hiding in plain sight for thousands of years; a secret that you yearn to discover for yourself.

You know that the world's religious legacies represent so much more than mere codes of conduct, moral platitudes, or anthologies of myth and superstition. At the core of every major religion we can find a treasure trove of powerful technologies for awakening, transformative practices designed to invoke in us the very same experience of fullness, transcendence, and immeasurable love as the great religious founders themselves were able to have.

That's right—you can have the same experience that the Buddha had. You can have the same experience that John the Baptist had, or Muhammad, or Saint Teresa, or Rumi, or any other great mystic in history. All this is abundantly available to you, at this very moment.

Why is this important? Simple: it's your birthright. It's why you are here, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous incarnation. This is not an invitation, nor is it an obligation — it's who you already are, right now. All that's left to do is to wake up.

But first, you need to know that you can wake up in this lifetime, that enlightenment is a real possibility for you and for your loved ones.

Second, you need to give yourself permission to pursue your own enlightenment. You deserve to be awake — because in a certain sense, you already are.

Edited extract from Integral Life website about a talk by Lama Surya Das who is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars.

Tags: Religion