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Comment by awat | Hacker News Reader

"Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water".

before with a frown, and after with a smile though?

What

Any pursuit or attainment of enlightenment should be kept in relative place to everyday behaviour. Even the most holy of holy person (whatever your religion or creed) still has to attend to their basic needs.

I think the point is that enlightenment doesn't change what you do, only how you do (and/or perceive) it.

Is that the point? Or is it that enlightenment is grounded in the every day. That monks and Buddhist masters can simply sit and do basic chores and that's it, enlightenment is grounded next to the most basic human needs of fire and water and food.

I agree with you, but I see our phrases as different ways of saying the same thing. When you can perform the same mundane tasks in a way that brings meaning to, and takes meaning from, them, then you have found enlightenment.

It's that enlightenment doesn't change anything.

People set out pursuing enlightenment to try to find fulfillment or happiness, but enlightenment is realizing that fulfillment or happiness is entirely dependent on your attitude towards things.

Therefore, nothing changes from becoming enlightened, other than your decision to keep a positive attitude about the every day.

As they say, you can choose to be happy, and mind over matter...

This makes me think of a story I like:

> Somewhere in the ocean is a place called the "Dragon Gate". Any fish that swims through the Dragon Gate turns into a dragon. However the Dragon Gate is invisible. Also, when a fish swims through it the fish doesn't look any different afterwards. And finally, after a fish has swum through the gate it doesn't feel any different, it just is a dragon.

First the mountain is a mountain,

then it is not a mountain,

then the mountain is a mountain.

https://terebess.hu/zen/qingyuan.html

"Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch and a kick, just a kick.

After I learned the art, a punch was not longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick.

Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick"

- Bruce Lee

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