In the teaching of Shodo Harada Roshi, enlightenment is understood as a direct realization of one’s true nature, rather than an abstract idea or a distant goal. It is a wordless seeing into the emptiness and boundlessness of what one truly is, beyond the habitual, self-centered viewpoint. This realization is not separate from the classic Zen insight into “no-self” and the interdependence of all beings. Enlightenment, in this sense, is not an intellectual conclusion but an immediate, experiential shift in perspective.

At the same time, Harada Roshi is clear that an initial awakening experience is only a beginning, not a final attainment. Kensho or satori may open the gate, but without continuous, wholehearted practice it easily hardens into a story about “having had an experience.” He emphasizes that realization must be clarified and deepened through ongoing zazen, koan work, and mindful engagement with daily life. In this way enlightenment becomes a process of continuous purification and maturation, rather than a static, completed state.

For Harada Roshi, practice and enlightenment are not two separate things. The very mind that throws itself completely into zazen, with nothing held back, is already the functioning of Buddha-nature. From this perspective, enlightenment is not something added from outside, but the uncovering of what has always been present. Everyone already possesses this original nature; practice serves to remove the obscurations that prevent it from being recognized and trusted.

A crucial measure of enlightenment, in Harada Roshi’s view, is how it manifests in the concrete circumstances of life. Genuine realization shows itself as compassion, humility, and a sense of responsibility toward others and their suffering. Rather than chasing rarefied states or clinging to special experiences, he points to the clear, flexible functioning of mind in each moment as the living expression of awakening. Enlightenment, then, is verified not by mystical claims, but by the way one thinks, speaks, and acts in the midst of ordinary relationships and responsibilities.