Sober up, there!

Posted: June 8, 2008 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, Religion, Shingon | Leave a comment »

Sad and lamentable are those who have never awakened from their long slumber in darkness. Bitter and painful are those who have been madly intoxicated. A drunkard scoffs at those who are sober. The ones in slumber mock the awakened. If they do not go seeking for the remedies of the King of Medicine, when will they ever be able to see the Light of the Great Sun?

–Kūkai, “The Secret Key to the Heart Sutra”, trans. Prof. Yoshihito Hakeda

In Buddhism we often talk about beings living in delusion, passions, ignorance and such, but here’s another way to look at it. When we talk about living our lives in a delusion, cravings and such, a common analogy used in East Asian Buddhism is like being drunk. Anyone whose been drunk and done something embarrassing or stupid knows how being drunk can make you behave in irrational ways, which at the time seemed perfectly sensible. Contrast this with being sober and clear-headed and watching someone else be drunk and act stupid. Seeing this experience can be kind of eye-opening in a way.

So, in a sense, we often live our lives in a kind mental drunkenness, doing stupid things and not really being aware of it. We’re not even aware we’re drunk. This is part of the basic reaction/response we do throughout our lives. The root of this is what’s called the Four Afflictions, which are in Sanskrit and English:

1. Satkāya-dṛṣṭi: A view of self-existence, as in self as apart from the rest of reality.
2. Asmimāna: The conceit of “I am” or “ego”.
3. Ātmasneha: Love of self, or self-importance.
4. Avidyā: Ignorance of reality around us.

Buddhism teaches that when these root afflictions are realized and shown for what they are (i.e. distortions of reality), then one experiences awakening, better known as Enlightenment. This is not something you can just will yourself to understand, especially at an intellectual level; you have to see it with both eyes open in a sense.

So, from Theravada to Zen to Tibetan to Pure Land, Buddhism is all about how to awaken ourselves from these afflictions and achieve awakening from our drunken mind. The underlying theology differs little, for the Buddha was a powerful teacher and knew how to teach the same message in a variety of ways to a variety of people, but the intention is the same: sobering the mind and see reality and the self for what it is.

Namu Daishi Henjo Kongo

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