Is it possible to attain enlightenment

So value already accumulated conditions and seek for complement and for such it is most important to do not associate with fools, people of wrong view: How to address wrong view? Take care and seek for places where right view can be archived: Boarderlands. A wind from the east would push it west, a wind from the west would push it east.

A wind from the north would push it south, a wind from the south would push it north. And suppose a blind sea-turtle were there. It would come to the surface once every one hundred years. Now what do you think: would that blind sea-turtle, coming to the surface once every one hundred years, stick his neck into the yoke with a single hole?

Chiggala Sutta. Now even all told by a stranger forest dweller, hardly ever to meet The suttas literally say it is not possible for everyone to attain enlightenment Dhp ; AN I would not concern myself with the Buddhist "Evangelists" making false promises. If it is our destiny to be enlightened, it would probably have occurred by now. Best to abandon the desire or hope for enlightenment.

Ajahn Buddhadasa said Nibbana is the ' absence of hope '. Blind is the world; here only a few possess insight. Only a few, like birds escaping from the net, go to realms of bliss.

Dhp AN I surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. MN Even so, on the rubbish heap of blinded mortals the disciple of the Supremely Enlightened One shines resplendent in wisdom. For the people who have physical limitations, they would not become enlightened in one life time. But as we know that birth and death are just concepts and in ultimate reality these things doesn't exits, it doesn't mean the being would never get enlightened.

But it means it is impossible to become enlightened in the life time in which they have the physical limitations. But that doesn't mean that the people who have the "potential" or "capacity" to attain enlightenment would get enlightened in one-life time or maybe in millions of life-times because there are many factors for the humans that prevents them from attaining Nibbana.

One of the biggest factors is the "enjoyment of suffering". You can say it "clinging to suffering" too because clinging and enjoyment are related to eachother. That's why the people who are Buddhist meditators or in other spiritual traditions that is aligned with the Buddhist teaching are very lucky because they have this chance to attain stream-entry and beyond in one life-time.

And this becomes some people's reality through mindfulness and right living. This is truly a blessing and we must thank to Buddha and Buddha's disciples who carried his teachings to our times that makes some people stream-enterers, once-returners, non-returners and even Arahants and gives many others the chance to attain enlightenment.

In not believing the first Noble Truth, they flail about, running from suffering and grasping at delights. They think suffering to be a lie and reject the truth. In not believing the second Noble Truth, they grow despondent, thinking suffering universal and unavoidable. They think that suffering has no origin and reject the truth. In not believing the third Noble Truth, they act as they wish, careless of deed and blaming others.

They think that suffering is inevitable and reject the truth. In not believing the fourth Noble Truth, they follow uncertain paths, wandering astray. They reject the Noble Eightfold Path. Also note that people do change their minds, so a particular person may come to believe in the Noble Truths. In the early teachings of the Buddha, however, there is nothing to support this view.

Rather, there are stories of all different types of laypeople from many different walks in life who were said to have awakened to the highest happiness. The Buddha said all we need is a body and a mind. However, your question points to something deeper. In the sutras, the Buddha does point to ordaining as the optimal form for awakening. This is likely because of the tremendous ever-present distractions of daily life, which have changed forms from the time of the Buddha but are probably much the same otherwise.

As we know, it is possible to spend immense amounts of the day distracting oneself instead of engaging in practice. Awakening asks for a far stronger intention and commitment than we may be willing to give. This is why most lay practitioners combine daily life practice with retreats.

The environment of retreat life, with its emphasis on simplicity and silence as well as the bare forms of sitting and walking, allows for sustained contemplation. Keeping alive the understanding that this moment matters whatever the content, as well as retreating for various periods of time, seems to be a wise combination of undistracted intention and expressing this intention in the ordinariness of daily existence.

The questions to ask yourself are these: What are my priorities, and am I living them in each moment? Can my life align with my longing for inner freedom? If yes, then no rules, conditions, or circumstances are better or worse. One of the benefits of lay life practice is that no one and no tradition is telling you what to do on a daily basis.

The fires of life have to be seen into thoroughly so that there is no longer a fear of conditions. I would encourage you not to depend on the opinions of others and to find out for yourself. Different teachers will continue to have different views about this question. If doubt continues to haunt you, then ordaining would be the only way to find out for yourself if it is so. This question is very complicated doctrinally. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet? Create an account.

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Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. Stop trying to escape from your life. In fact, they might make you feel worse over time. Instead, start being present in your life so you can change the way you think about it. They might include things like shopping, drugs, sex, alcohol, partying, or sleeping too much.

Consider if these things are helping or hurting you. Then, decide if you want to make any changes to your habits. Practice mindfulness to help you focus on the present.

Simply put, being mindful means being rooted in the present moment. Describe the environment around you. Actively listen to others when they speak. Focus on your breath to root yourself in the moment. Engage your 5 senses to help you engage with your surroundings. Your senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste will help you root yourself in your present environment.

Go through each sense and list what you notice around you. Then, think about how that makes you feel. I hear crickets outside the window and the faint hum of an air conditioner.

I smell fresh baked cookies, and I can almost taste them on my tongue. Also, I feel cool from the fan. Set aside time each day to take pleasure in the moment. As little as minutes is all you need to have a nice experience every day.

Use this time to do something that reminds you why you enjoy living your life, such as listening to a favorite record, playing with your pet, or enjoying a special treat. Let your thoughts pass without judgement instead of fighting them. Thoughts can be a great source of distress, especially if you hold onto them. Overthinking will prevent you from finding wisdom and mental peace.

Instead, acknowledge what you think and feel, then let it pass. Instead of dwelling on that thought and letting it upset you, acknowledge how you feel. Express your gratitude for what you have in your life every day. Practicing gratitude will help you combat negative emotions, like envy and jealousy, that can block your path to enlightenment.

Instead of focusing on what you lack, acknowledge what you have in your life. Method 2. Be kind to yourself and others. Extending loving kindness to yourself and the people around you can improve the way you think. Plus, it spreads goodness around you. Change the way you speak to yourself by replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk. Additionally, assume the best about others, and forgive people when they slip up.

For example, you might notice that a particular coworker is often late in meeting deadlines. Yes, I continued. But now I suspected that you can have very deep mystical awareness and still be Especially when instructing me on fine points of Hinduism or other mystical doctrines, he spoke with an ironic inflection, mocking his own pretensions.

He tried psychotherapy and Zen, but nothing worked until he started practicing Transcendental Meditation in Introduced to the west by the Indian sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Transcendental Meditation involves sitting with eyes closed while repeating a phrase, or mantra. Over the next decade, he became involved in the TM organization. Yes, as William James documented, mystical visions vary, but mystics from many different traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Judaism, have described experiences that are devoid of content.

These are what Mike calls pure consciousness events. Shankara, Meister Eckhart, and the Zen master Dogen described their pure consciousness events in different ways, but they were experiencing the same deep reality. Our conversation then took an unexpected turn. He stared at me, and when he continued he spoke in clipped, precise tones, as if trying to physically embed his words in my brain. The pure consciousness event is just a stepping-stone, at best, to true enlightenment.

But they are shifts in perception, not shifts in the structure of perception. And that's, I think, when things get very interesting, when structural shifts take place. Mike held up his water glass. Normally, he said, when you look at an object like this glass, you sense a distinction between the object and yourself.

He set the glass down, grabbed my pen from my hand, and scribbled on his napkin. He sketched the glass, complete with ice cubes and lemon, and an eyeball staring at the glass. There is a higher state of awareness, however, in which consciousness becomes its own subject and object. And there is a kind of, not solipsism exactly, but a reflexivity to consciousness.

Our Caesar salads arrived. Are there any levels beyond this one? I asked, pointing to the circle. Some people want to say that there are, beyond here, experiences. But I'm not convinced of that. So are you enlightened?