Day 2 False Enlightenment: Reaching for the Moon in the Water

Purify the five eyes to achieve the five powers.
Only after realization can one comprehend.
To see the image in a mirror is not difficult.
How can one grasp the moon in the water?


Yesterday I commented on the first line of this stanza. Today I would like to discuss the rest of it. The second line in this stanza warns that it is not easy to experience enlightenment, and the third line says that the mind will be utterly clear after you reach enlightenment. The fourth line makes a distinction between genuine enlightenment and false enlightenment.

Ch'an enlightenment (genuine enlightenment) is free of any attachments. If attachments of any kind exist during an experience, then it is not genuine enlightenment. If you have attachments, then you are still in the realms of sight and sound, light and shadow: no matter how subtle or sublime your attachments are, you will continue to have problems with things you see, hear, or think about. Experiences with attachment can only be false enlightenment.