Date: 09/13/2025 09/14/2025
Location: Star River Meditation Center
Teacher: Yunquan Huang
Dharma Knowledge
The Life of an Awakened Person
Many people imagine that awakening leads to an extraordinary life—withdrawn from society, detached from ordinary concerns, or immersed in constant bliss. From the perspective of the Dharma, however, awakening does not remove a person from life. On the contrary, it allows one to enter life more fully and truthfully. The life of an awakened person often appears ordinary, yet inwardly it is marked by clarity, freedom, and ease.
An awakened person continues to live within causes and conditions. They still eat, sleep, walk, age, get sick, and eventually die. Awakening does not exempt the body from nature’s laws; it frees the mind from struggling against those laws. Life unfolds as it does, but without resistance and without fear. This natural participation in life, without inner bondage, is one of the clearest signs of awakening.
Emotionally, awakened beings are not numb or detached. They feel sadness, joy, fatigue, and pain, but these experiences no longer dominate their identity. Emotions are known as emotions—arising and passing. They are not suppressed, nor are they indulged. The mind becomes like a clear lake: waves appear when the wind blows, but the water itself remains untroubled.
In relationships, awakened people tend to be open and sincere. They do not seek approval, nor do they assert superiority. Free from the need to defend a self-image, they meet others with humility and understanding. Their compassion is not sentimental or patronizing—it arises from seeing that all beings are shaped by causes and conditions. This wisdom-based compassion feels respectful rather than instructive.
In action, awakened individuals are often simple and direct. Without constant comparison or self-centered calculation, their actions carry less hesitation and inner friction. They engage fully when something needs to be done, and let go completely when it is finished. Success does not inflate them; failure does not define them. What matters is not personal gain, but whether the action is honest, timely, and appropriate.
When faced with impermanence, awakened people demonstrate a deep steadiness. Change does not shock them; loss does not shatter them. This does not mean they lack feeling, but that they understand the nature of things. Since everything is known to be transient, there is no compulsion to cling. Paradoxically, this allows them to cherish each moment more deeply, without demanding it last forever.
Awakened individuals also relate differently to spiritual practice. They are not preoccupied with attainment or identity—“my practice,” “my level.” Practice flows naturally through daily life. Awareness accompanies walking, speaking, listening, and resting. There is no need to dramatize holiness or reject ordinariness. Because there is no clinging to either, life itself becomes the expression of awakening.
The Buddha’s own life illustrates this state clearly. After awakening, he did not disappear into seclusion. He lived among people, teaching for forty-nine years, walking through cities and villages, responding equally to praise and criticism. His awakening did not take him away from the world—it allowed him to be in the world without being bound by it.
In essence, the life of an awakened person is not defined by strangeness or withdrawal, but by authenticity, clarity, and freedom. Awakening does not change the appearance of the world; it changes one’s relationship to it. When clinging ends and awareness remains, life is no longer a struggle to control or escape. It becomes a living unfolding—simple, grounded, and free.
