Page 164 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

After that one starts recollecting, or being aware of, the

attributes or spiritual qualities of the Buddha: the boundless
wisdom, the infinite compassion, the great peace, the

immaculate purity, and so on; and from being aware of those
attributes one tries to pierce through to their common, their
innermost essence — tries to pierce through to the Buddhahood

of Buddhahood, the Enlightenment of Enlightenment — and
become aware of that. In other words, one tries to become

aware of Reality itself expressing itself through, even shining
through, the person or the figure of the Buddha, the Enlightened
One.

One can also practise, along the same lines, the awareness of

Sünyatä or voidness, i.e. awareness of Reality as 'empty' of all
conceptual content, and beyond the reach of thought and
imagination, and even of aspiration and desire. But this sort of

awareness of 'Reality in its nakedness' can be practised only after
some previous experience of meditation.

Awareness of Reality is the most difficult of all the levels of
awareness to maintain: more difficult than awareness of things,

more difficult than awareness of oneself, more difficult than
awareness of people. Because of this there are various methods

the purpose of which is to help one maintain constant
recollection or awareness of Reality; of the Ultimate, the
Transcendent.

One of these methods is the constant repetition of a mantra, a

sacred word or syllable which is connected, usually, with a
particular Buddha or Bodhisattva. The repetition of this syllable
over and over again, of course after one has been properly

initiated, not only puts one

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