It takes quite a bit of time to become enlightened. But it really is not so different from learning any other art; all you need is time, a good teacher, and practice. Frederick Lenz More Quotes by Frederick Lenz More Quotes From Frederick Lenz Hell is everything. Heaven is nothing. Frederick Lenz hell suffering heaven Anything but enlightenment is pure pain; it is the lack of enlightenment. There are joys, of course, and they should be enjoyed. There are sorrows, and they should be passed over briefly. Frederick Lenz pain sorrow joy The things you see are real, but they are not a complete seeing - Samsara. Frederick Lenz samsara ignorance real At this point you are so far away from what you really are, it's ridiculous. Frederick Lenz ridiculous far-away ignorance Everything goes through the cycle of birth, growth, maturation, decay and death. But all of this is an illusion. Everything we see is an illusion. Frederick Lenz decay growth ignorance None of this has ever been or will ever be; all is an appearance, all is an illusion. Illusions are truth. All illusions are real. We say illusion, meaning that they're shadows. Frederick Lenz shadow ignorance real Illusions are shadows moving endlessly across the ground. The shadows are quite real but they're shadows. They have very little substance. Frederick Lenz ignorance real moving All the manifest forms of existence are but illusions. They are momentary displays of consciousness, flashes of lightening in the sky. They are there for a moment and then they are gone. Frederick Lenz ignorance gone sky We fall into states of illusion - we forget all this. We get caught up in desires, frustrations, political movements, philosophies, religions, the getting of a living, the pain of a body, the pleasure of a body. Frederick Lenz pain philosophy fall None of this exists. All important decisions in the universe occur someplace else. Frederick Lenz important ignorance decision The samsara is the sense of self. I've had past experiences. I'm aware of the moment. I will have future experiences. Frederick Lenz ignorance self past The idea of self is dependent upon attraction, aversion and memory. Memory is simply a serial account of attractions and aversions that don't exist now except in imagination. Frederick Lenz ignorance self memories Personality is a manifestation of ego. Ego is the central sense of separateness that a person has from the rest of the universe. Personality is the form that that separateness take. Frederick Lenz ego ignorance personality Life isn't complicated. The reason it appears complicated to you is because you are in a very distorted state of mind. That's the basic premise of Buddhism - that you're in a very distorted state of mind. Frederick Lenz buddhism ignorance mind At the moment you're suffering from what we call Maya. Maya is illusion. Maya is a Sanskrit word that suggests that we have forgotten. We've forgotten the purpose of life. Frederick Lenz purpose ignorance suffering There is illusion, the way you see things now, thinking that there is a tomorrow, there is a today, there is time and that there is life and death. Those are just appearances Frederick Lenz life-and-death ignorance thinking I don't think you see your minds. I think you see your thoughts; you see your desires; you see your relatives, friends, lovers, enemies. I don't think you see your mind. You think of the mind as the clutter. Frederick Lenz ignorance mind thinking Samsara is the world appearance, the cycle of rebirth, the physically manifest universes and states of mind that you perceive through the medium of ego. Frederick Lenz ego ignorance mind You can be in a state of mind for a few seconds and forget that you were ever in any other state of mind. That's what we mean by illusion. Frederick Lenz ignorance mind mean What gets frustrating for some people is the fact that you might get very high, but you find yourself pulled down again. There are forces of illusion or maya that cause us to make mistakes. Frederick Lenz ignorance mistake people
