There’s a beautiful story told of how Budhaa came to give his shortest and simplest lesson for anyone to attain enlightenment. If you’d like to attain enlightenment, here we go:
Bahiyā, a merchant from Sopara India, pleaded with the Buddha three times for a teaching, and the Buddha initially asked him to wait. But Bahiyā insisted, saying that life is uncertain and death could come at any moment. Moved by his sincerity, the Buddha gave one of his shortest but most penetrating discourses.
In summary, in what is seen, there is only what is seen. There is no you who is seeing things. In what is heard, there is only what is heard, again, there is no you. You can’t say “I hear”, there’s only hearing. I’ll attach the exact teaching at the end of this article.
Upon hearing this teaching Bahiyā’s mind was instantly liberated and he attained enlightenment. You see, the path to enlightenment is in seeing things as they are, that is, radical direct perception. How you see things, the point of view you take. You stop being a victim. Things are not happening to you, they are just happening.
Life is probabilistic and not definite or solid. You are not doomed to be who you are or any particular future, for that matter. Nothing is truly cast on stone, maisha ni very flexible. Every possible version of you, as a teacher, a banker, a parent, an enlightened, peaceful whore, every version all exist all at once. They exist like coordinates on a map. For example, there is a place called Null Island, it’s where the Greenwich meridian meets the equator, 0°E / 0°N. It’s also the tatoo I have on my arm. This place exists whether you knew about it or not. And now that you know it exists, if you want to go there you can. So let’s say, Null Island represents the best version of you, regardless of where you are on earth, there’s a path to it, with a boat and some backbone, Null Island is very accessible. Just make sure you don’t eat the fuel money.
Mpenda kuni hali nauli, is a metaphor for energy economics. Nauli is the energy required to change your state, to move from one coordinate of being to another. That fare is made of four things: Focus, keeping your attention to what you want; Discipline, showing up even when it’s uncomfortable; Emotional Control, learning not to waste energy on fear, doubt or anger; and Action, doing the work that matches your words and desires. If any of these are missing, your energy scatters. It’s like one atom starts to vibrate at a particular frequency, if you keep adding energy to that atom, other energy atoms beside it get infected and start vibrating as well and the frequency spreads to your entire reality, bit by bit. You hold the energy long enough, you get to manifest the reality.
So here’s the thing, Null Island exists guys and it’s accessible. You just need to align your intent, your emotions and your actions. Point all you have at it, hiyo ndio nauli. After reading this article, you can no longer pretend that you don’t know about Null Island, your unfulfilled full potential; having everything it takes, but not becoming everything you could be. In other words, your “Null Island” Virginity is now broken. If you really want it, align to it and you’ll get it.
🪶 The Teaching
The Buddha said:
“In the seen, there is only the seen.
In the heard, there is only the heard.
In the sensed, there is only the sensed.
In the cognized, there is only the cognized.”
He continued:
“When for you, Bahiyā, there is merely the seen in what is seen,
the heard in what is heard,
the sensed in what is sensed,
the cognized in what is cognized—
then, Bahiyā, you will not be ‘with that.’
When you are not ‘with that,’ you will not be ‘in that.’
When you are not ‘in that,’ then you will be neither here nor yonder nor in between the two.
Just this is the end of suffering.”
By the way, Bahiyā was shortly killed by a cow as he was leaving the Buddha 😂.
