21 Jul Koan 23

“Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness, but two inches above the ground.” — D.T. Suzuki

Enlightenment is proverbially described as “being one with everything.” It is a state associated with the dissolution of the illusory self, transcending duality and realizing our oneness with the Everything.

Consciousness is consciousness. The consciousness of enlightenment is not different from everyday consciousness.

Describing enlightenment as being two inches above the ground seems the antithesis of enlightenment, as it implies separation/duality. On the contrary, two inches above the ground implies enlightenment is above the material world; unaffected by gravity, our conventional understanding of how the material world functions.

The “ground” represents the now. On the ground, when we are in the now, we experience the now through the self; a duality, the self and all that is not the self.

Enlightenment can be triggered when we are above the now; when we distance ourselves from the now to observe the now.

This can be done through meditation. The now is the breathing and when we are in the space between breaths we can observe the now. In this space, we realize the now is one thing (breathing) and we are the consciousness that creates the now. As we create the now, we become the now.