Many who understand that enlightenment cannot be possessed because it is the dissolution of the possessor turn to the Buddhist path of the bodhisattva to help dissolve themselves. A bodhisattva is one who experiences nirvana—the selfless state free of suffering—but refuses the call to live in that freedom so that he or she may help usher everyone else through the door of liberation. It’s all or nothing for them and this is no trite delusion of grandeur. Such a one acts in compassion to, for, and with others for the remainder of their lives. Living in service to others is an impeccable way to live.
It is said that one should emulate the bodhisattva in the hopes of becoming one. However, when it comes to the dissolution of self, one cannot fake it ’til one makes it. The decision to be bodhisattva—to live in service to others—comes after the self-shattering transcendental moment, not before. And that decision is no mere choosing. It is the answer within a living choice—a choice such a person lives as naturally, not as a result of having chosen.
Again, dedicating one’s life in service to others is a fantastic way to be, whether bodhisattva or not. But if it is something a seeker does to dissolve the self, then this is a problem, for if there is still a seeker, there is no dissolving self. The seeker cannot do anything to stop his/her nature. You cannot end your mind by putting your mind to it. Saying I’m ending requires that you never end.
If you find a direction on the pathless path, it isn’t pathless. You’re still there directing. Seeing this with no movement in any direction, which means no argument or agreement, no drifting off into fantasy, song riffs, commercial jingles stuck in your head, or chores of the day, is clarity. Clarity that dissolves and becomes you if you do not expect it to happen by the end of this sentence.