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 the self’s consciousness in the now.

Describing enlightenment as being two inches above the ground seems the antithesis of enlightenment, as it implies separation/duality. No! Two inches above the ground implies enlightenment is transcendental, beyond our conventional understanding of the material world with forces like gravity.

The “ground” represents the now. When we are on the ground, we are in the now. Through the consciousness of the self, we experience the now as a duality: the self and all that is not the self.

The consciousness of enlightenment is experiencing the now two inches above the ground. When we distance ourselves from the now, we can observe the now and come to know the now. Knowing the now, we realize we create the now; we are the now and not a part of the now.

This realization can occur through meditation. The now is breathing. We observe the now when we are in the space between exhale and inhale. In this space, we realize we are the consciousness that creates the now and in so doing we become the now.