What is Enlightenment?

I've always wondered this question when I first became aware of this idea from the East.

I like what is said in the Zen text the Gateless Gate. "All the illusory ideas and delusive thoughts accumulated up to the present will be exterminated, and when the time comes, internal and external will be spontaneously united. You will know this, but for yourself only, like a dumb man who has had a dream."

I often wonder if I have experienced glimpses of this or will experience this. Would I really know for certain? I know I have experienced something that I can't put into words really that would describe it sufficiently even for myself.

What is "Real"? I don't know. I really think for the West Socrates put it beautifully with, "I know that I do not know."

With keeping w/ the I don't know spirit I prefer to use the term maybe. I feel that maybe, one who realizes to go along this life freely giving to others with no expectations is an enlightened being. I think it's both interesting and silly that our modern society makes this very difficult for us all. Or is it our own Ego that makes it difficult to freely give without expectations and fear.

I want to post more often but busy busy busy

I really want to post on here more often. Like daily idealy, but I have been keeping myself busy with such mundane bullshit like getting a college degree just for the hell of it when I know full well it may all just be for naught. If anyone sees this my previous post is long to weed out those with short attention spans who only care about material bullshit. But I may do smaller posts in the future because I feel those who are trapped in materialism really do need to wake up from it.

Here is a question what do you get when you put two mirrors facing each other and look into them? What do you C?

Thoughts on Enlightenment is NOT a Product.

The following is in response to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2cH059N0gE

Enlightenment being or not a product is a judgment. This just is and I’m not declaring anything is wrong with judging or not judging it’s just something that comes natural to us all. Regarding this statement I’m questioning some things. Just what is this “Enlightenment” that so many of us are curious about? Also what is a product and is Enlightenment a product or is it not a product? Many have attempted to express to themselves and others just what “Enlightenment” is. To which many who have been considered “Enlightened” all have in common their inability to express to others just what it is that they realize that others do not. I’m not attempting to express to you the ultimate objective truth to these questions and I’m not sure there is another outside of you that can really answer such a thing. I think it’s up to each self to come up w/ the answer themselves and maybe it does not even really matter. Maybe nothing matters at all other than what we choose to matter and even what we choose really does not matter at all. The only thing I can provide to you is what I like to call food for thought.


One thing I’m sure of is that, “I know that I do not know” anything. Do not take this completely literal as I’m not saying that there are not things I could say I know. I mean in the grand scheme of things I like everyone else am completely ignorant to most things. I like others have thought I know myself but am constantly reminded I know just a scratch on the surface of whatever and whoever I am and that it’s a lifelong process that is never ending. We will all die and never know all there is to know about who and what we are. This is an example of the unknown that is a primal mortal fear for some. There are always questions and rarely answers especially with the question, “Why”? To this day I still have not found the answer to my why and have realized maybe the why does not matter or we are supposed to figure it out for our self and answer it our self. For if another gave us the answer it would defeat the purpose or make it less meaningful perhaps. Now as far as Enlightenment goes to many it seems like a thing that is sought after as if one can own, capture, or attain whatever it is. We put labels on everything and Enlightenment is not an exception.


So what is Enlightenment? Is it realization of something? Is it having knowledge from some metaphysical, spiritual thing or “higher self”? Is it the same thing as all these people talking about being “Awake?” Is it an awareness that others do not have? Is Enlightenment being understanding? In Buddhism & Hinduism Enlightenment is said to be, a blessed state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains Nirvana. This is interesting because many desire Enlightenment and yet by the Eastern thought that alone could be a block from whatever Enlightenment is. If one desires to be Enlightened then they could not be Enlightened until they transcend the desire to be Enlightened. If one is enlightened then are they beyond desire and suffering? How would one even know if they were Enlightened? Is there a point where all your questions are answered and you know everything? Or is it as if your questions just no longer need answered? Is it just being and realizing that Everything is Nothing and Nothing is Everything? If it was the latter then Enlightenment is my favorite oxymoron or paradox. I think the desire for Enlightenment starts one on the path to whatever Enlightenment is and eventually that desire goes away. Once free from the desire then you don’t care if your Enlightened or not and after you’re liberated from that desire you are open to being whatever Enlightened may be.


Maybe Enlightenment is the answer to the question of: What is Real? For I can imagine the answer to: What is Real? Is correlated to: What is Enlightenment? For if Enlightenment is realization or a knowing of Ultimate Reality then one would have the answer to what is Real. It’s like the age old question that has plagued many minds: What is the meaning of Life? It’s paradoxical that others try to tell others the meaning of life. It’s as if there is One Ultimate meaning for all rather than the possibility that meaning itself just may be an illusion and/or human creation. Meaning for one’s life could be completely individual and all up to what one chooses rather than really be some objective Real Meaning. For me I have in the past thought that my Meaning to life is to just simply help others when another’s need and my opportunity to meet that need meet each other. I could judge others according to my “Meaning of Life” however who am I to judge another and vice versa? I do not want others to judge me because they are completely ignorant to me and I to them. I am ignorant to myself and you are ignorant to yourself whether or not you’re aware of this fact. Gnothi Seauton or “Know Thyself” is not as simple as we all like to imagine. We will live a lifetime and when Death knocks on our door we will not have had the opportunity to know all there is to know including about our self. You can attempt to argue about this but I doubt you can satisfactorily prove otherwise.


Every question is an unknown. The unknown is uncomfortable to most everyone. This is why many avoid questions to begin with or look for answers to their questions to provide themselves with comfort or “peace of mind.” Some of us fear and others replace that fear with curiosity and explore that which is unknown. That which is unknown is generally what is feared. To transcend that fear with curiosity can lead to Truth. I’ve mentioned both fear and paradox now and am reminded of an ancient proverb I’m familiar with. “The garden of Truth is guarded by two monsters, Fear and Paradox.” I too question this and often marvel at the wisdom contained in the previous statement. If Enlightenment is Truth then it may be guarded by Fear and Paradox which could account for it being rare.


Is Enlightenment a product? Maybe the concept is purely the creation of imagination. This is up for the individual to decide. If it’s a product then it’s produced from something. If it is the end all be all state of realization then it’s not a product and could be a goal or maybe it just is what it is, and that is something that cannot be expressed in words. Many have seemed to attempt to turn it into a product. Some say that Enlightenment is the product of a practice and/or dedication. Some think it’s possible to be Enlightened through reading, meditation, or a number of other let’s call them tools. If by using methods or tools then that which is produced could be called a product and if such tools produce Enlightenment then one could label it a product. This too is sounding paradoxical to me. If it’s a product or not a product then is it that one is bad and the other good? These may just be creations of the human imagination. Our imagination is truly magical with what we can conceive of conceptually. I think good and bad are just labels we give things because we are fearful of looking into the pit of Nothingness. We need good and bad because we do not understand much of the time. That which we do not understand we usually label as bad. I don’t imagine Enlightenment is the product that any other can provide for another itself. I do think that others can be guides to help us reach the point where human guides can no longer guide us and then it’s up to us to find the way ourselves. So it is possible that other products such as tools and methods can be found from others that may help us to become Enlightened at some point but there is no guarantee. Whether or not those human guides trade their methods or tools is up to them and to us.


Money is a big issue for many especially when it comes to those interested in spiritual things and the topic of Enlightenment. But what is money? Money is just a thing like everything else is just a thing. It is a symbol and symbols represent things. Money is a symbol of energy. Everything is energy or takes energy. It takes energy to grow a tomato like it takes energy to build a house. Granted we don’t really need money. However we need the things that our society has placed under the control of money. We need to eat and that food is controlled energetically through the system of control that society has put in place. In order to get the food one needs they need to exchange or trade energy. This is symbolized in the energy it takes a person to grow a tomato and the money they ask for is intended as an exchange for that energy to keep the energy it took with an additional amount of energy that we tend to call profit. Everyone is in business for profit that in turn is motivation for people. The motivation to gain is why man invented trade, commerce, and money to begin with. This gain is profit, but in order to gain you have to subtract or take away from something and that is generally another being.


The first law of thermodynamics states: Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only change forms. We live through the death of something such as the tomato dies so you can live. This would be you gain life by the death of something and this is one of the first truths our species became aware of. Life lives by another giving up its life or death. In order for the producer of the tomato to gain more energy than he first had before he grew the tomato, he must trade his energy to another who gives more energy in return. In a Capitalist society money requires that we give up more than what we are getting in return generally. This requires people who are not too bright and thus easily exploitable due to their own lack of motivation or circumstances. Some think this is necessary as humans tend to be lazy and naturally exploitive without which they claim that progress would not be as efficient without a system of control as we have in place today. If people were all responsible for self equally and were not lazy and exploitive then we could have a more efficient and equal system.


My question is, if money is traded for profit then how is it possible to ever transcend poverty? How can everyone infinitely gain without someone having to loose or give up their energy? It’s simply not possible or very efficient in the long run as it too requires someone exploiting someone else. Is money itself good or bad? No, it’s just a thing and its how it’s used or abused by us that makes it either good or bad for us. Profit rather than money seems like something we could label as evil as it causes suffering of others. Ultimately it may not really matter as we all die someday anyway. I have once thought that it’s not money that is bad but the greedy selfishness that results in the suffering of others over helping others that is the actual evil. I also am aware this is a judgment that is due to being a human mortal and I realize it is what it is potentially being neither good nor evil. As far as what to do I feel is an individual choice. We can only progress as a society together by firstly being responsible for self by working on the one you see when you look in a mirror.


As far as Shaman being a dirty word I have never heard such a thing and why would it be a dirty word and according to who? Shaman is just one of many labels we have created to express something like all words and symbols. It can have many meanings and also have many other labels. The label is not important but the meaning behind the label is what’s important. Like anything it can have positive or negative meanings and much of it depends on the psyche of the receiver.



Now out of the above can we draw any conclusions to what Enlightenment is, if it’s a product or not, what is money, and shaman being a dirty word? I would prefer to let the reader draw their own conclusions rather than pollute your mind with my own conclusions. I think it’s very important to rely on oneself rather than to let others do the work for self. I hope I’ve provided you with some understanding of the wonderful paradox we are currently experiencing. I hope you all will remember and desire to be more understanding of others rather than fear and condemn. If you have read all this and find any part of it helpful or useful then I’m grateful.