‘Are there any enlightened people?’ — What a Zen monk told me.

gray monk statue in between plant pots

I once asked a Zen monk whether there were any people who were enlightened. He told me there were millions, hundreds of millions, even.

Someone who is enlightened is living in the now. They are living entirely on instinct. They are doing what they want to do, when they want to do it.

And they don’t care either which way about it.

Can you think of anyone that fits that category?

Babies.

Babies are living in the now. They sleep when they want to sleep. They eat (or cry) when they want to eat. They poop when they want to poop.

Babies don’t give a rat’s arse.

Because they’re enlightened.

As we grow older, not only are we trained out of our creativity. Turns out we are also trained out of our ability to be in the now.

There are obviously practical benefits to this. It takes a lot of effort by others to raise a baby. Plus, no one likes the people with a silver spoon up their arse.

But the focus on living in the now still needs to be there. We still need to focus on doing what our soul is trying to tell us to do.

Otherwise, the universe will let us know one way or the other.

Get back to being a baby.

Get back to being enlightened.

ENJOYED THIS? HAVE MORE.

MOUNTAINS OF WISDOM

Subscribe to my yamabushi newsletter

RECENT BLOG POSTS

hands of people reaching to each other
Knowledge that knowledge is not power is power.
close up photography of ant
The one constant thing in life is change.
person holding blue ballpoint pen writing in notebook
Better communication, better results.

YAMABUSHI BLOG POSTS

charming child sweeping concrete pavement with broomstick
First things first
gray monk statue in between plant pots
You gotta have the resolve
In becoming a linchpin

RANDOM POSTS

young athletes preparing for running in training hall
The last spurt
gray stone with green plant
Reaching Enlightenment in Zen and owning stuff: Seeing the truth in the empty
person standing in pathway
Plan and execution
Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

Get In Touch

Sakata City, Yamagata, Japan 

tim@timbunting.com

Share this:

Like this:

Like Loading...
Scroll to Top