Monday, October 27, 2008

What Is Enlightenment?

Well, it is defined as a "state of being", a spiritual life. This, I think, is very misleading. Enlightenment, I think, is the awareness one thing and one thing only. Enlightenment is the awareness of Self.

Now, one could say that self can be defined in many ways........but can it really? When it comes down to it, self is not all these things we relate to in life. All of the things that I might say that "I am", are things outside of myself. Therefore, those things I am not. Self is not all of the things around me, but the One thing inside of me.

I have not yet been able to define what that One thing is. I search, and I look, but to no avail. I have recently come to the realization that searching and seeking is not the way. Searching and seeking is a way for the mind to please itself, thus being a means to satisfy the ego. The ego being that part of us that has been a lifetime creation in the making........the sum of our experiences. That piece that needs the outside world to thrive and continue, to carry on.

Back to the topic at hand.....enlightenment. I have come to a conclusion, for now. Enlightenment is not something to be obtained, or a goal or destination to be reached. It is a lack of all these things. It is the letting go of thoughts and ideas. The release of everything we have thought we understood, or have figured out. I'd say it's a hard thing to grasp, when in reality there is nothing to grasp in the first place. It is almost so simple that it becomes complicated.......but again, that's the mind trying to find a way to control the circumstances. It cannot stand that this is a scenario that cannot be controlled when there is nothing to control in the first place.

It is my feeling that enlightenment isn't a place we can maintain. It is something we can periodically experience.......at least in this form we cal human. There are many things we must do to get along in this world that go against the nothingness that enlightenment requires. I briefly experienced it when this whole realization settled in, but then it quickly left when my mind began to try and figure it out.

The only thing I can do is maintain an awareness about myself, without judgement. This is the only way to see when your moment of enlightenment has fallen upon you. Perhaps it something that can grow, and last for longer stretches. I wouldn't know. And I wouldn't even sit here and try to act like I know, or throw out theories about it. That's more of my mind getting in the way. So, with all these sentences I have written, all these words I have said, I walk away with One thing. That being "nothing".