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Writer's pictureLama Jigme Gyatso

The Buddha Taught Seven Enlightenment Factors


The Buddha taught

the seven

enlightenment factors.

Rather than merely

enumerating them

in a manner as cold, academic,

and pseudo-insightful as:

1 mindfulness,

2 investigation,

3 energy,

4 joy,

5 relaxation,

6 release, and

7 balance;

instead we could remember

that the Buddha

(rather than imploring us

to concentrate on purity)

taught us to be mindful

of all that we experience.

Instead of defensively

suppressing:

perceptions or emotions,

or intentions, or thoughts

or memories, or fantasies

best described as grotesque

he taught us to explore

whatever we experience

with vulnerability

and curiosity.

Not with the shame,

self-loathing, and duality

that hates some thoughts

and loves others

but with the joy

that comes

from the vulnerability

and curiosity

that is fueled by the energy

of enthusiasm and curiosity

and is tempered by both

the physical relaxation

as well as mental release

that helps us to find

the balance between

the strain of resisting

the presence

of what we hate,

the strain of resisting

the absence

of what we crave,

and the strain of resisting

the loss

of what we have

but rather

live in balance,

in the spacious freedom

that comes from balancing

surrender,

with spontaneity,

and centeredness.



Let us conclude

with a simple

call to action


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