After years of spiritual practice, Buddha sat at the foot of a tree and gained
enlightenment. What would it be like if you became enlightened? How would it feel? Would you merge
into the divine source of the universe? Would you overflow with ecstatic joy and delight?
Would you be filled with limitless energy and vast wisdom? Questions like these apparently troubled
the mighty warrior, Arjuna, whose famous dialogue with Lord Krishna is found in the Bhagavad Gita.
There, Arjuna asked, "How do the enlightened talk? How do they sit and move about?"
Do they speak only in Sanskrit? Can they fly through the air?
Of course, silly notions like these reflect an extremely naive perspective.
You already know the story of the old master who told his young disciple, "Before getting
enlightened, I chopped wood and carried water. Now that I'm enlightened, I chop wood
and carry water." The difference, of course, is that he once considered all that hard work
to be an unpleasant burden, but now, he does it cheerfully and effortlessly.
Enlightenment doesn't change your external appearance or behavior, but it does dramatically
change your inner reality, the state of your heart and mind. For example, our many desires,
all our wants and needs, motivate most of our activities. The old master was
initially motivated by his desire for warmth and for cooked food. But after becoming enlightened,
all his desires faded away. What motivated him then? Well, he began to enjoy chopping wood
and carrying water. He was motivated, not by desire, but by a sense of joy and fullness.
This shift of motivation is nicely illustrated by a story about a card game. Some old friends
gathered together every day to play cards. They enjoyed it because of the skill and strategy
involved in the game, and because competing with each other was highly amusing.
One of them happened to suggest that the game would be even more interesting if they each
made a small wager. After placing their bets, the champion of the day
would win five or ten dollars, and each loser would forfeit a smaller amount.
After a while, they decided to increase the stakes a bit, and over a period of months,
the stakes grew larger and larger. Eventually, their daily winnings or losses could be
more than a hundred dollars. They discovered that as the stakes grew higher, they enjoyed the game
less and less. Why? Because their motivation had changed. Instead of playing for the sheer
joy of it, they were now driven by the desire to win, and also, by the fear of losing.
Desire and fear motivate many of our actions. But, if we're driven mostly by desire and fear,
how can we enjoy our lives? The card players didn't enjoy the game when the stakes grew high.
And the fact is, the stakes of life, so to speak, are extremely high. You win so much if you get a
promotion at work, or if you buy a beautiful new home, or if you're blessed with the birth of baby.
But, you can lose so much if you get laid off from work, or if your beautiful new home burns down,
or tragically, if a family member dies. The stakes of life are high indeed.
In a casino, you can place a bet for many thousands of dollars, and you'll win
or lose depending on the cards you're dealt. Imagine how stressful that could be.
Maybe that's why many casinos provide alcoholic drinks free of charge.
They call it a game, a game of chance, and games are supposed to be fun,
but it's not much fun if you're dreadfully worried about losing huge sums of money.
On the other hand, suppose you were as wealthy as Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors
and SpaceX. Then, if you lost millions of dollars playing cards in a casino,
it wouldn't bother you a bit. So it appears that a high-stakes game isn't stressful or threatening
at all if you possess enormous wealth, enough to afford losing everything you bet.
The sages of ancient India discovered that you already possess a priceless treasure hidden
within you, the inner divinity they called atma, the true self, which is a vast reservoir of love,
joy, peace, and compassion. When you discover what the ancient sages discovered, that is,
when you become enlightened, then you'll find that you're no longer driven by desire and fear.
Instead, you'll feel a profound sense of fullness and completeness.
If you were as rich as Elon Musk and lost a million dollars playing cards in a casino,
you'd still enjoy playing the game, in spite of your huge loss.
In a similar way, you'll be able to handle the inevitable losses and tragedies of life
without anger or resentment, without despair, self-pity, or suffering of any kind,
if you've discovered the vast reservoir of love, joy and peace within you. Also, you'll be able to
freely share your priceless, divine treasure with others, without needing to hold anything back,
and without or needing anything in return, because you'll know that the vast
reservoir of love, joy and peace within can never be diminished.