Satisfied Buddhist - Domo Geshe Rinpoche

Student: I thought enlightenment was forever enlightenment.  Rinpoche: At the earlier levels of enlightenment, one can easily fall away from awakening. S: I thought there was no pre-enlightenment… R: That’s the advertising folks! You know, like the slicer-dicer chopper thing? Ladies…(chopping sounds)…You buy these fancy knives, and get them home and you might cut your finger trying  to go fast. Sometimes they work well, and sometimes they don’t work at all. So, is enlightenment permanent? No. I have said many times that the minimum standard for enlightenment in this world is to understand the unreal or illusory nature of this world. S: Including self and other? R: Self is harder to really grasp. Usually the understanding of the illusory nature of self is discovered, and then you fall away from that deep knowing. Again, you discover it and fall away, going back and forth for some time before there is an actual event of real awakening. ~ Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ “Schüler: Ich dacht