The Path to Buddha-hood Pt. 3
A Perfectly Imperfect Journey
“The Path to Buddha-hood” is based on Don Miguel Ruiz’s “The Four Agreements” interlaced with these four tenets;
THE FOUR AGREEMENTS:
- Be impeccable with your words
- Don’t take anything personally
- Don’t make assumptions
- Always do your best
THE FOUR TENETS
- Stop reacting
- Stop commenting
- Stop judging
- Stop caring about all that doesn’t matter
READ PART I HERE READ PART II HERE
In my first year of junior college, I took Psychology 101 where we studied “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” In this theory, Dr. Abraham Maslow purported that humans require attainment of certain levels of survival needs and self-efficiencies before they could “self-actualize” or become aware of themselves as conscious co-creators in form. Though the theory is a bit self-limiting, it gave me the beacon guidepost I didn’t even know I was seeking for.
It was in that time period that I made it my life’s mission to “actualize” — which I felt was one step further than where Dr. M. Scott Peck had helped me get too several years before. As my interest in the life I had been living at the time waned, I felt into my heart’s calling for a drastic change to realize this newfound desire to “actualize.” As the years have passed and I’ve continued following my heart’s calling, I’ve studied life and myself within it exhaustively which has helped me comprehend this human experience with profound insight.
What I didn’t know at that time was my path to actualization was yet another step on my true mission to Buddha-hood or “balance in all things.” Life has been a tumultuous ride to say the least. Through my high highs and low lows, I’ve realized that I no longer want to ride the highs and lows of life, as exciting as they are. Stability and longevity are my focus of intent these days, as I position myself to continue expanding and evolving.
GREAT THINGS TAKE HUMAN TIME
When walking the path towards Buddha-hood we must come to the acceptance that it’s a perfectly imperfect journey. Anything great, takes “time,” especially when there’s “humaning” involved. Giving ourselves the compassion and grace to evolve organically is how we “expedite” the process of enlightenment.
In actuality, there is no faster or slower path to self-realization because there’s no right or wrong way to get there. Each of us have our own soul blueprint we walk for clarity of direction. For some it takes immersing ourselves in specific human experiences. For other’s — it’s shying away from external experience altogether for a calmer one within.
Enlightenment isn’t something that can be attained, obtained, or achieved. It’s a state of being that is assumed through choice and discipline. Therefore, the need to be somewhere other than where we are is the first sign that we aren’t yet fully aware. We are either enlightened or we’re not and IT IS possible to go back to sleep once awake.
There have been multiple times on my journey where I found myself playing in old paradigms through indulgence in toxic choices. Unfortunately, it isn’t hard to choose toxicity within 21st century Earth life — we often do it without even knowing the choice we’re making is poisoning us. However, once awareness of this fact is established and we continue to indulge anyway, then it’s on us to shoulder the consequences of our actions.
Even to this day, as I write these words, I still “think” I can get away with indulging in the things I KNOW I can no longer choose to enjoy. It’s like I need to remind myself of why I chose to go about this human life in a completely different way. Pain and suffering are wonderful teachers who have always help me right my ship. The human part of me wants what he wants, yet he knows what is going to happen after he gets it. The instant gratification is so tantalizing — yet, as the years have wore on, the juice is no longer worth the squeeze.
I can no longer fein ignorance or claim naïveté because I know better. Iteration after iteration gave me the contrast necessary for awareness to take hold. Again, there is no right or wrong way walking the path toward Buddha-hood because every instance of perceived negativity creates the momentum for better choices to be chosen for our highest and best benefit.
NO WRONG WAY
Sometimes, life comes at us hard and heavy — flipping us upside down and backwards, creating an illusion that we’ve gone “the wrong way” on our path. Other times, we float through life like nothing can stop us, as we fall victim to the illusion that we’re further than we are. Yet, there is no such thing as going “backwards” on the path of spiritual maturity.
It’s also impossible to be further than we are because where we are, at any given time, is perfect and divine — exactly where we need to be. This is why The Four Agreements written about in Part I of this series has everything to do with choosing how to handle ourselves when life comes at us in different ways.
We can choose to spread negative vitriol outward creating more of the same on the boomerang. Or, we can become impeccable with our words to only create what it is we truly desire to experience — the choice is completely ours. This goes for our self-talk as well. You can be nice to everyone outside of yourself but if your self-affirming “I am” with words of negativity — that’s what you’ll create within yourself.
We can choose to take everything happening around us personally, souring our experience, and create miserable opportunities to dwell in. Or, we can stop taking ANYTHING personal, shoring up our manifesting energy, and creating brilliance with our focused intent.
We can choose to “think” we “know” things without learning if it’s true or not. We can presume and assume to know intimate details to situations or events that we weren’t privy too. Or, we can keep our minds focused on ourselves, ensuring pure manifestations.
All we have to do is not give up and put our best foot forward. “Nice guys finish last” because “nice guys” don’t think highly of themselves. Being something you’re not to gain something you want is self-compromising by nature which manifests negative circumstances to validate negative mindsets. Nice is superficial, kind is authentic and real. By always doing our best, there’s never room to be unkind to ourselves — allowing for deeper levels of self-realization and acceptance to be experienced.
FOUR + FOUR = FREEDOM
From the first moment I heard the story of “The Buddha” I was enamored by it. He was raised as a prince whose father King ensured he wanted or needed for nothing. He was sheltered and coddled away and protected from seeing the reality of life. One birthday, he escaped his plush kingdom to the peasantry outside its walls. There he witnessed great suffering for the first time and immediately immersed himself in it.
He spent many years on the other side of the spectrum where he learned many lessons and gained great contrast. One day, tired of the rough experience he had been living, he took rest under a fig tree. In the time that he spent under that fig tree, he came to comprehend the point of existence is to have balance in all things.
As I was coming into my bedroom a month ago I was struck with a divine download about this “Path to Buddha-hood.” Immediately, the four tenets of stop reacting, commenting, judging, and caring about all that doesn’t matter came into my mind and I quickly wrote them down. I had been asking Father / Mother God for some clarity and direction to help me create more sustainable balance in my life.
The Four Agreements and the Four Tenets of Buddha-hood play on one another to create a comprehensive approach to truly living the human experience we each desire. There is no right or wrong path to actualization or enlightenment. Just like there is no limit to the level of consciousness we can ascend too. Which means that we cannot find direct road maps to our unique destinations.
Often times in life, we must take the road less traveled as talked about in part II of this series. Short-cuts in life come with great risk while taking the highway often leads to nowhere fast. One of the biggest things that affected my positive pursuit of self was my inability to not react. I wasn’t emotionally mature enough to bite my tongue at all the grievances within life that I observed. I was able to shore up my reactions when I applied the first tenet with the second agreement to not take things personally. When I was able to observe that the external noise didn’t have to affect my inner-silence, I was able to walk more centered in the light of Buddha.
Making unnecessary comments leaves us off-kilt and throws us off heart-center. Once I was able to stop reacting, it was time to work on no longer making comments about all the stuff in life that didn’t make sense to me. Being that I’ve always had a comedic sense of observation, “talking shit” helped me navigate this dense reality of 21st century Earth life. However, as I’ve grown and matured as a spiritual human being, I’ve come to take note of how these comments affect the vibration within my body.
Although the instant gratification of “venting” my frustrations felt like it was serving me — in reality, it was keeping me exactly where I no longer desired to be. This is why the first agreement of “be impeccable with your words,” plays with the second tenet of “stop commenting.” Our language creates our reality and English is based in spellcraft. That’s why we “spell” words and even “curse” at times with specific ones. When we focus on only using positively vibrational words and take the time to express ourselves properly — we cut the negative energy being fed through our vitriol and unnecessary commenting.
As I was able to refine my commenting, I began to focus on the internal judgements that led to such comments being made in the first place. This third tenet plays on the third agreement of “don’t make assumptions.” When we judge, we assume we understand all the variables playing out in “front” of us. It was so easy for me to be an arm chair quarterback as I peered into snapshots of other people’s lives. Comparing apples to oranges, I BELIEVED my assumptions were correct, allowing my comments and reactions to flow freely from that point.
As I’ve practiced empathy and compassion for myself, I’ve found granting it to others to be that much easier. In reality, I wasn’t judging others at that time — I was judging myself and projecting my personal frustrations externally outward. We will never know the true nature of others’ circumstances and situations. The closest we can get is through direct engagement with them and assessment through discernment. By peering into external events and choosing to judge / assume anything about them leads us to easily choosing lower vibrational actions such as making comments and unnecessarily reacting.
As soon as the judgements softened and I shored up my assumptions, I was able to start refining my ability to stop caring about all that doesn’t matter. In my life, I’ve cared incessantly about everything which has led me to taking things way to personal which has often led to misery and suffering. Even the times I’ve “tried” not to care about anything still left me empty and decayed. As I matured, I’ve refined my “caring” by always doing my best in everything I do. I realized I have no control over the results of my efforts but if I put my best foot forward and did my best than the result — whether “good or bad” won’t negatively affect me as much.
The fourth agreement plays on the fourth tenet because the only way we can truly stop caring about all that doesn’t matter is if we only care about what truly matters to us. Then, when the time comes to put out effort for the things we care about — we do our best. This leaves little room for us to be disappointed which will lead to less judgements, comments, and reactions. This is how we are able to create more balance and alignment in everything we do.
Sometimes on this journey, we’ll be hacking away in the proverbial jungle unable to recognize the forrest from the trees. Other times, we will find ourselves on a smooth runway preparing ourselves for takeoff to a new state of being. Some instances, it’s a split moment choice that finds us either lost in the jungle or flying high into the stratosphere. By embodying this four by four approach to freedom, we can leverage the wisdom of the ancients with “new age” perspectives to create a more balanced and aligned human experience in the 21st century.
This is the path to Buddha-hood and all it takes is us choosing how to be.
With Gratitude,
Adam T. Cummings