What is Enlightenment? ??

To be very honest, I have never been able to define enlightenment in a precise, concise, and comprehensive way, even from the time I first attained it in this incarnation. By attainment, I'm referring to that moment where it all made sense to me in a tangible way. This post is attempt to help you understand what enlightenment is and why it should become a regular feature in your daily life.

Enlightenment is not a singular destination. Like one of my teachers Shinzen Young says, it's a plateau where you continuously ascend to higher planes as your meditation practice deepens.

It is not true that everything will just fall into place and your life will become a paradise once you get there. It sometimes has the exact opposite effect. You could even lose your mind as a result of it destroying you (the self) so thoroughly. That is how it seems to some individuals. For some, it is an unceasing downpour of understanding and happiness. Despite being universal, the experience of enlightenment varies depending on the individual.

Allow me to caution you before you read on. You may not know what enlightenment is, even after reading this article. This is due to the fact that you will never fully comprehend enlightenment until its subjective experience permeates your being, or until it becomes an experiential reality for you.

To be honest, I agree with another of my teachers, the late Upasaka Culadasa, who said, "There are no enlightened persons, only enlightened behaviours." Enlightened behaviours are based on loving-friendliness, compassion, kindness, gratitude, and peace. If you gave a poor person on the street some food today, that would be considered enlightened behaviour. If you lash out at a coworker over a disagreement, you are demonstrating aversion, which is not enlightened behaviour. These are just a few instances to give you an idea.

Truthfully, I could write a whole book only to paint a full picture of what enlightenment is and how it works; an article just is not enough. There are a lot of different angles from which to view any given piece of literature, and even more ways to put the lessons into practice because the subject matter is so deep and varied. Enlightenment encompasses so many fields—history, art, literature, technology, science, psychology, neurology, and countless more—that it is easy to see how it mirrors human evolution in an endless number of ways. This enormous subject takes on an additional layer when we consider our own personal experiences.

I'll still attempt to define Enlightenment:

Enlightenment is a psychospiritiual process that completely transforms your physiological, psychological, and energetic structure so that you experience life in an altered way that promotes happiness, fulfillment and a spirit of service.

Allow me to assist you by providing a brief explanation. A psychospiritual process alters your mental and emotional make-up on a soul level. After achieving enlightenment, your "self" undergoes a metamorphosis that alters your perspective on life compared to previously. Depending on the person's unique traits and personality, the variations might range from subtle to striking. While there may be some shared experiences, the details can vary greatly. Finally, the definition encompasses the essential elements of human awareness, such as joy and fulfilment, as well as a spirit of service. This suggests that enlightenment leads one to strive for the betterment of humanity and the world at large.

To be truthful, I could provide 10 different definitions for enlightenment and they could all be correct. This is why, at the start of the article, I mentioned that describing enlightenment within the constraints of language is not just tough, but practically impossible. At the end of the day, if you're pointing to the moon, you can only experience the fingers pointing at the moon, not the moon itself! ??

Have a great weekend! ??

— Adi

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash