A beginning

I think it's a bit odd to start this blog well into my journey, but I suppose there's never a better time than now to get started. And please excuse the brevity of this and other posts -- perfection has been the enemy of getting started.

Basically, at some point in the past month or so, I recognized that enlightenment* (see below) in some form is not only attainable by normal people within this life, but that it is a worthwhile goal that I should strive for. I haven't by any means renounced this world or given up my ambitions. I recognize that those actions may be required to reach a "complete" enlightenment, but I also realized that earlier stages (of enlightenment) are indeed within reach, even for people living normal, working lives.

With that said, I'll take the next few posts to write about some of the history leading up to this point, as well as some specific experiences and practices that have given me great encouragement over the past 3.5 years. It hasn't been very long at all, yet I sense I'm on the cusp of something...

I hope you'll enjoy this (rather rambling) journey with me.

jeff

(* by enlightenment, I'm referring to the transformation of the mind to a state of great peace, and a mindset of openness [with the important distinction of the elimination of the concepts of "I", "me", and "mine"]. To be honest, I'm not very good at describing it. I think that the Buddha's description of the 4 stages is very clear, so I'll defer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_enlightenment. For those who want a summary, the 4 stages are: "stream entry" (elimination of the concept of self, recognition of the validity of the buddha's techniques for mind training, and relinquishing attachment to ritual). A "once-returner" has weakened lust, hate, and greed to a greater degree. A "non-returner" has eliminated sensual desire, and ill will. An arahant is said to be perfectly enlightened, having completely removed more subtle mental "fetters". But to put it back into "normal" words, each stage of enlightenment describes a person who has strengthened their mind to a given degree by removing harmful thoughts/emotions [things like hate/greed/jealousy/insecurity/sadness/etc.], as well as their sources. It's really just a scale with grades of different mental training, as you might put runners into different classes of training: "beginner" "amateur" "pro" "olympic athlete")