The Buddha's Moments of Enlightenment

Quotes from "The Buddha"on PBS on TV originally made in 2010 narrated by Richard Gere:
I'm at about 1 hour and 12 minutes in or a little further. At about 1 hour and 7 minutes in they show pictures of Boghgaya and the Bodhi Tree there and devotees from all over the world. I was there in December 1985 for the Kalachakra Tantra with the Dalai Lama given to around 500,000 people most of which were in native dress from Tibet, India, Nepal, Bhutan and all the countries of the world. Since the westerners there were not used to the heat in December in Bodhgaya they put up awnings to be above the 10,000 westerners from places as diverse as Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada, The U.S. etc. They knew we were not used to the daytime heat of the plains there in December 1985.

Begin quote from around 1 hour 12 minutes into "The Buddha" 2010 on PBS Narrated by Richard Gere:

Buddha (He) reaches out with is fingers (of his right hand) and touches the earth (with the tips of his fingers). He says, "The Earth is my witness (to my enlightenment)." He says "Mara, you are not here, the Earth is right here." The earth is what we are talking about. The earth just as it is, abused and exploited and despised and rejected, plowed and mined and shat on and everything else, you know? It's still the earth and it is, "We owe everything to it."

Siddhartha (Buddha) meditated throughout the night and all his former lives passed before him. He remembers all his previous lives, infinities of previous lives. Female and male and every other race and every other being in the vast ocean of lifeforms. And he rememberd all this viscerally which means his awareness expanded so all the moments of the past were completely present to him. He gained the power and the process of birth death and rebirth that all creatures go through. He's given this sort of cosmic vision of the workings of the entire universe.

As the morning star appeared he Roared like a Lion. "My mind", he said, "Is at peace."

The heavens shook and the Bodhi Tree Rained down flowers. He had become "The Awakened One", The Buddha.

Something new opened up for him which he called "Nirvana" which he called "The Awakening".

He said, "At this moment all beings and I awaken together." So, it was not just him it was all the universe.

He touched the earth as the EArth is my witness. "Seeing this morning star all things and I awaken together."

It's not like awakening to a new state. It's uncovering or surrendering to the reality that has always been there. He realized he had always been in Nirvana and that Nirvana had always been the Case.

Your reality itself is Nirvana. IT is the unreality it is this ignorance that makes you think you are this self centered separate being trying to fight off an overwhelming universe and failing.

YOU ARE THAT UNIVERSE!

YOU ARE ALREADY ENLIGHTENMENT

HE SAID YOU ARE ALREADY ENLIGHTENED, YOUR CAPACITY FOR AWAKENESS IS ALREADY WITHIN YOU.

END QUOTE FROM 1 HOUR 17 MINUTES INTO THE DOCUMENTARY.

WHEN TIBETAN LAMAS TALKED TO ME ABOUT THIS AT FIRST I couldn't believe what they were saying in the early 1980s. However, as I meditated more on this I too realized I was already enlightened. When I accepted my enlightenment I experienced actually being enlightened. If I had insecurities or doubts that day I didn't necessarily feel enlightened.

So, then I realized I needed the Leisure to Practice and prayed even stronger for this outcome so I could stay realized for 24 hours a day or all the time if possible because I realized each moment I could fully experience enlightenment it would help incredibly all beings in the universe to the permanent end of their suffering and it also would help them move quicker to permanent Bliss as well.

And this is true of you as well as me.

After I almost died in 1999 and was pronounced by my Heart Specialist healed and told I wouldn't die anytime soon I realized I had been given the Leisure to Practice I had been praying for at least since 1980 to 1983 when I understood what it was. I was forced to retire to stay alive already in 1998 in the Fall. So, by the next summer I began at first in a total state of shock of still being alive the Leisure to Practice that also brought often  experiencing enlightenment 24 hours a day. So, as much as I am able I stay in this state all the time if possible now because I know it will help all life on earth and in the universe ongoing and so can you if you wish to.