I am still contemplating the profound wisdom given by my friend Sanandaji (previously Akasha Sananda) with his twin flame Shekinahma. The video is on YouTube. The 4 steps on the awakening path start at 21 mins in:
The steps are:
Step | Life | ​ |
1 | Life happens to me | You are the victim and suffering comes from resistance |
2 | Life happens for me | Synchronicities and the journey starts |
3 | Life happens through me | Greater integrity and the cultivation of the virtues - purification |
4 | Life happens as me | ... |
Sanandaji beautifully explains how one progresses on the path. He was reluctant to explain step 4 - which is the final stage and can only be achieved by living through the previous steps - intellectual understanding is not enough, it has to be lived, as it is Ordinary Mind (Dzogchen) ie we are already there but do not realise it.
This path mirrors the explanation given by the great Zen master Dogen in his Shobogenzo
To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. (Step 2 begins)
To study the self is to forget the self
To forget the self is to realise the 10,000 things (Step 3)
To realise the 10,000 things is to drop the body mind (self and others)
When the body mind is dropped, all trace of enlightenment disappears (Step 4)
and this traceless enlightenment continues forever.
(My translation)