Vol. 20. October 5, 2021
“Suddenly, Last Summer” is a 1959 Southern Gothic mystery film based on a play by Tennessee Williams.
The plot centers on a young woman (Elizabeth Taylor) who has witnessed the traumatic death of her cousin.
The dead man’s wealthy mother strenuously tries to suppress the truth about her son’s violent demise at the hands of cannibals.
The mother offers to finance a new hospital wing if only a surgeon will treat her niece (Liz Taylor) by lopping off part of her brain and erasing her memory of the day’s demonic events.
A wag would say it was a valiant, if misguided, attempt by the mother to instill the Zen ethos of non-conceptualization.
In Zen, non-conceptualization is equivalent to enlightenment.
Yet, these maternal movie machinations call to mind a persistent problem in the history of Buddhism: Does enlightenment come suddenly or gradually?
Tibet tried to solve the problem in 792. A Great Debate occurred at Samye Monastery to determine which method would be the more suitable path for Tibet to pursue.
Would it be the slow, gradual, tantric path practiced in India or the sudden path practiced by the Zen school in China?
Tibet selected the gradual path.
Even in China there was debate. The Southern school of Zen believed in the sudden path of meditation. The Northern school believed meditation was important but wisdom was also needed. The accumulation of wisdom takes time.
The Northern school eventually died out.
Today, all lineages of Zen believe enlightenment comes suddenly. As the founder of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma, once said, “Enlightenment comes in the blink of an eye.”
Which viewpoint holds the truth?
Time
Both views depend on an arbitrary conception of time.
Since forms are empty, then time is likewise unreal. So too the moment when “sudden enlightenment” takes place is also unreal. Truth is already in the mind.
Enlightenment is always with you. You can never lose it. Sure, you can let it get obscured by clouds of desire, fear and ignorance. But Truth is always beside you, within you. It is you!
Non-conceptualization does not require a lobotomy.
It only requires meditation.
If you didn’t reach enlightenment suddenly last summer, then try it gradually this autumn.
Whether you do it gradually by accumulating wisdom, or suddenly through a flash of intuition, the result is the same: a state of being.
Let it be, Liz Taylor. Let it be.
The Buddha Times 