Summary

The Buddha explains that while everyone has the capacity for enlightenment, not everyone desires it, a concept that extends to modern notions of success and personal aspirations.

Abstract

The article recounts a story where the Buddha visits a small village and addresses why not everyone achieves enlightenment. A villager, upon the Buddha's request, lists the desires of all the villagers, finding none who seek enlightenment. The Buddha uses this to illustrate that the capability for enlightenment exists in everyone, but the genuine desire for it is rare. This principle is applied to contemporary life, where people often deceive themselves about their true desires, mistaking social validation for personal ambition. The Buddha's teaching suggests that honest self-reflection is crucial in recognizing what one truly wants, which is often different from what society expects or what one claims to desire. The article concludes that people generally prefer social acceptance and other immediate gratifications over the pursuit of deeper knowledge or enlightenment.

Opinions

The Buddha's insight implies that the lack of enlightenment is due to a lack of genuine desire, not capability.
Modern society is seen as fostering self-deception regarding personal goals, with individuals often prioritizing social image over actual achievements.
People frequently engage in activities that align with societal expectations rather than their own true interests or desires.
The article suggests that there is a distinction between wanting something and merely talking about it, emphasizing the importance of action over words.
The pursuit of enlightenment or knowledge is depicted as a personal journey that requires honesty and the willingness to choose personal development over superficial pleasures.
The author posits that societal roles and expectations often overshadow the quest for truth and self-improvement.
The article encourages readers to be honest with themselves about their desires and to align their actions with their true aspirations.

The Buddha Answer: Why Not Everyone Is Enlightened

The answer is useful in all life areas

Once, during his travels, the Buddha visited and stayed in a small village.

As always, everyone who heard about the “enlightened one” wanted to ask him a question.

The story is about a man who asked:

If everyone can become enlightened, then why doesn’t everyone become enlightened?

Buddha replied:

Do one thing. In the evening, make a list of all the people in the village and write down their desires next to their names.

It was a small village with only a few people, so the man agreed to do that. He went to all residents and asked about their desires. Everyone agreed to give him an answer, and he had written the answers next to their names.

He returned in the evening, and gave the list to Buddha.

Buddha asked:

So tell me how many of these people seek enlightenment?

The man looked at the list and was confused because not a single person had written such an answer.

Buddha continued:

I say that every man is capable of enlightenment… but I do not think that every man wants to be enlightened

The men understood that everyone is capable of it, but barely anyone wants it.

So, people don’t want “enlightenment”, and what about “success”?

The answer is a hundred percent the same, but we are deceiving ourselves much more in modern social life. It’s because now we are not “a small village,” but we are globally connected competitive world.

The Buddha tried to convey that we are capable of anything, even something unimaginable as repeated “enlightenment”, but we have to want it honestly.

So don’t everyone wants to be successful or have a real impact on the world? Think about your life and your “desires”, and if it’s hard, look at others.

People often say they want to do something and desire something, but do something completely different.

The most common example is that people often go to parties every week and talk about breakthrough ideas for business. Their desire is not to build a business, achieve success, or even make money. After all, if it were so, they would not be at the party.

The real desire here is to be accepted by the environment because an “entrepreneur” is like a rockstar 50 years ago, especially among young people. When you talk about business, politics, etc., you may become “smart” in people’s eyes, which is social gain.

People often deceive themselves by telling themselves that they are looking for business, knowledge, truth, or anything else while usually looking for social benefits.

In other words, people don’t even want a business or spectacular success. But talking about it creates an image of an ambitious person, and that is a social gain that people seek all the time. Everyone is trying to create a positive image of themselves in the society.

“Would like to happen” is different than “want to”

These days, many people would love to be “enlightenment” or something like that, but only to gain a social advantage.

That is why, on the example of meditation, many gurus say:

if you meditate while thinking about benefits, then you not meditating

The magic of wanting something is that we want to do it, not talk about it. If you have any hobby, then you know — maybe it’s a waste of time, perhaps you don’t earn a penny by doing it, but you still want to do it.

It is the same with seeking knowledge, truth, or enlightenment. If you want to do it, you do it, look for it, develop it, not talk about how much you would like it to happen.

And most important — when you want something, you consider it “possible”.

If any of these people wanted to build a business, they’d stay at work — wouldn’t be at the party. Such people have other desires. It may be admiration in others’ eyes, any “love affairs”, but definitely not building a business.

If we would be honest in society, we’ll have a list of desires of becoming an artist, musician, happy, wealthy, beautiful, but probably not enlightened, as it was when Buddha lives.

All of these desires (if real) are fine, and the lesson is to be honest with what we truly want for ourselves.

The Takeaway

Most people don’t want to know, be enlightened, or any of those.

People want to live, and by living, we all are part of the society that defines us. Society’s life has little to do with truth. We all have our masks, play a role, and try to catch the social ideal for the benefits that result from it.

If you honestly want knowledge, you will choose a book, some weekend class, or a podcast instead of a party because you want to develop, not have fun. If you choose differently, then maybe you want fun instead of knowledge? The key is honesty in what you desire, and if you want fun — that’s fine.

If you enjoy reading such stories, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s 5$ a month for unlimited access to stories on Medium. If you sign up using my link, I’ll earn a small commission.

Used Resources: The Time When Buddha Explained Life