[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Dawn of Enlightenment

[Carolyn Gimian]

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

December  20, 2007

DAWN OF ENLIGHTENMENT

A Solstice Quote

Within an enormous vacuum, an enormous space, 
enormous outer space, you begin to experience the 
dawn of enlightenment -­ just the dawn. You get 
the message that the sun is going to shine, 
purely because there is a little glow in the 
east. The dawn of enlightenment in the Buddhist 
tradition cannot take place unless first there is 
a sense of desolation, meaninglessness, and being 
a fool, to begin with. Then the dawn of 
enlightenment can actually take place properly. 
You begin to experience what we might call, from 
a traditional Western reference point, the Star 
of Bethlehem. The birth of something is taking 
place. There’s a star in the midnight sky. The 
sky is black, deep blue, but there is a star 
shining in that sky. There is hope in the 
positive sense. There is something taking place. 
Such a thing cannot happen unless there's 
nightfall and darkness
We have already understood 
that there's no me, no self, no ground. That 
nonexistence begins to make sense. That 
non-existence of self, of ego, becomes the Star 
of Bethlehem, and the dawn of enlightenment begins to take place.

 From "The Dawn of Enlightenment," Talk Five of 
MEDITATION: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, July 8, 1974, 
Naropa Institute. Edited from the transcript.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright 
Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
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