A Goddess Practices Fully

Some of the comments to a recent post seemed to come from the belief that practice and enlightenment are separate. Therefore, I’m moved to offer this snippet from a Mahayana sutra (VIMALAKIRTI NIRDESA SUTRA, Chapter 7: The Goddess, Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman) for your reflection and freedom:

Then the venerable Sariputra said to the goddess, “Goddess, how long have you been in this house?”

The goddess replied, “I have been here as long as the elder has been in liberation.”

Sariputra said, “Then, have you been in this house for quite some time?”

The goddess said, “Has the elder been in liberation for quite some time?”

At that, the elder Sariputra fell silent.

The goddess continued, “Elder, you are ‘foremost of the wise!’ Why do you not speak? Now, when it is your turn, you do not answer the question.”

Sariputra: Since liberation is inexpressible, goddess, I do not know what to say.
Goddess: All the syllables pronounced by the elder have the nature of liberation. Why? Liberation is neither internal nor external, nor can it be apprehended apart from them. Likewise, syllables are neither internal nor external, nor can they be apprehended anywhere else. Therefore, reverend Sariputra, do not point to liberation by abandoning speech! Why? The holy liberation is the equality of all things!

In addition to jumping up and down, hollering, “You go, girl!” I also want to ask a question that is best suited I suppose for the dokusan room.

How can this realization of “the equality of all things” be practiced fully?

Friends, when we stick to our self-clinging, willy-nilly ways, this cannot be full and neither is waging war against self-clinging full.

How can “the equality of all things” be practiced fully?