覚りの障害となるもの
Hindrances to enlightenment
2024-02-12 17:00:00
The Buddhist practice, which is undertaken in pursuit of happiness, also needs to be carried out correctly; otherwise, the goal cannot be achieved.
I wrote about this in an article dated December 15, 2023.
Today's entry is about on practitioners who, despite correctly undergoing Buddhist training, did not achieve enlightenment (=liberation).
Of course, Buddhism does not promise that all practitioners will attain enlightenment (=liberation); it simply teaches that each individual's enlightenment is a possibility.
Therefore, it can be acknowledged that one may never attain enlightenment, despite correctly practicing Buddhist training. However, it would be insensitive to directly say this to a practitioner facing imminent death.
To prevent such sadness, I would like to discuss hindrances to enlightenment.
First and foremost, a fundamental case to consider is that even for practitioners following the path correctly, without accumulating sufficient merit, enlightenment will not be attained.
In this case, it would mean that he remained at the stage of a stream-enterer/Sotapanna and did not achieve clear liberation.
So, why wasn't enough merit accumulated?
The reason would be something only the individual themselves would know.
This is akin to, for example, not studying enough for an exam and therefore not reaching the passing grade.
The next case is when even a practitioner correctly following the path of Buddhism does not have the intention to attain enlightenment, and naturally, does not attain it.
Here, the lack of intention to attain enlightenment means lacking the determination to become a Buddha, regardless of what the person says verbally.
This is similar to, for example, obtaining a medical license but lacking the intention to practice medicine as a physician.
Another case is when even a practitioner correctly following the path of Buddhism lacks faith and, upon encountering the opportunity for enlightenment, becomes intimidated of becoming a Buddha.
Here, faith refers to the trust that the practitioner holds in themselves.
When facing the opportunity for enlightenment without this trust, they may rely on human wisdom instead of attaining Buddha's wisdom.
In this case, it will lead to the emergence of false enlightenment knowledge.
Now, it's safe to say that even for practitioners correctly following the path of Buddhism, the failure to attain enlightenment ultimately lies with the practitioner themselves.
In other words, there are no external hindrances, and no one is obstructing the practitioner's enlightenment.
Therefore, those hindrances, if they exist, should be ones that individuals can remove by themselves.
Life is never long for anyone, but those who are mindful will correctly tread this singular path and, at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner for themselves, undoubtedly would attain unambiguous enlightenment.
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