Buddha Baby

"Why become a Buddhist, when you can become a Buddha?"

-- Lama Surya Das

Yes, you too, can sit smiling with a distended belly and elongated earlobes! You, too can become a Buddha, baby!

Actually I don't think Surya Das is talking about becoming a caricature of a Ho Ti Buddha. He's talking about becoming what the term Buddha really means -- an enlightened one.

There's no need to embrace any "ist" or "ism" or "ity." There's no reason to settle for a second hand God. You can indeed become a Buddha, a Christ, a being who identifies with the Divine rather than one who looks longingly towards It. "Tat tvam asi" the Upanishads say -- "thou are that," i.e. you are the One and Only.

I can say it. You can know it. The challenge is to actualize your Buddha nature to such a degree that It eclipses your ego. That's what every true spiritual path is about -- recognizing your identity with the Divine.

So, today, if you're feeling more like Divine, the transvestite actress, than the Divine One and Only, sit down and shut up!Meditate, I mean. Allow your mind to quiet down and your Buddha Nature to appear. It's patiently waiting for you to recognize it, free It, and live as It. Isn't that better than joining some religion?