Enlightenment

no one on ats is enlightened, so no one should be trying to describe what it is or what it's like. all you have is your imagination until you're there.

As the old saying goes, "After enlightenment, the laundry."

Enlightenment is simply when you come to an epiphany about something; it could be life, death, or something as under rated as your ability to pour yourself a glass of water without risking being eaten by an alligator or ambushed by a lion.

After the enlightenment, however, life goes on; you keep repeating all of your normal everyday tasks. You still sleep, eat, and defecate. Enlightenment is expansion of Wisdom.

reply to post by DestroyDestroyDestroy


You and Wandering Scribe have ''nailed it''.....thanks for that!

Wow, OP please correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys completely misinterpreted OPs thread.
OP was not knocking those seeking enlightenment or the idea of enlightenment itself and what behavior is deemed as 'enlightened'. OP was merely stating a fear that, instead of DOING something to make the world a better place or end the corruption or gain the freedom etc.., that those people are instead sitting at home saying "as soon as we are enlightened the world will be a better place"..."as soon as SOMEONE ELSE does the work our problems will be fixed".
Now, don't get me wrong, I actually believe that humanity can indeed reach a critical mass wherein our global consciousness has the positive power to physically affect outcomes on this planet, but still I think I get where OP is coming from.

I am very specifically reminded of all that Galactic Federation of Light info floating around on the interwebz. All those followers may be talking about love and light, but in essence they are WAITING for the ETs to come and fix all our problems! They are getting frustrated and impatient wondering when 'its gonna happen' not realizing that it really may take a critical mass of humanity GETTING OFF THE COMPUTER and...I dunno...out into the streets. (seriously! I wish I knew!)

And I know...I'm no better. Everyday I wonder what I could actually, physically DO to get this party started and I'll admit it isn't often the small stuff (like helping someone with a busted car on the side of the road...lol cuz I"d be sooo much help) that I think of first. I'm also feeling a bit of a fail on the meditation front because I keep just falling asleep or hiding it from my family I got a long ways to go.

Anyway, long story short, this thread has become a highly-charged ego debate about what enlightenment is and I do not believe that was OPs original intent for discussion.

reply to post by ypperst


all the enlightened people i know are cool and smart. being enlightened is super awesome. only smart cool people understand enlightenment because it's so important. i think enlightened people are already perfect so anything anyone else says is wrong.

Originally posted by DestroyDestroyDestroy
As the old saying goes, "After enlightenment, the laundry."

Enlightenment is simply when you come to an epiphany about something; it could be life, death, or something as under rated as your ability to pour yourself a glass of water without risking being eaten by an alligator or ambushed by a lion.

After the enlightenment, however, life goes on; you keep repeating all of your normal everyday tasks. You still sleep, eat, and defecate. Enlightenment is expansion of Wisdom.

prove it.

This is true I wish more people would open the door for there elders or just someone. It's called being nice and not expecting anything in return. The world needs more of it and as far as I feel about it. God put me here to help others. There have been times I would go get my medicine or go to the store on a whim and there is someone in need. Just simple things like a jump or a small fix on a car. People need help it don't hurt to offer it. We are all to busy on our phone to notice half the time and the other time people are in a rush or think the person looks scary but when you talk to them they are not much different then yourself. I am white and when some people see a black person I see it in there eyes fear or dislike. I was walking in to a arby's and a black man was walking out he said cute kids to me and shook my hand. There are alot of nice people out there I think we just need to talk more face to face with people instead of being so distant. To many people dwell on actors you no good looking people we are not all blessed with good looks but we all have our qualities. I think men are men and women are cute I like all people( I just don't always like people's actions but more people need to forgive people because we all make mistakes at one point in life those that learn from there mistakes sometimes are the best people) More important be yourself and yourself alone you don't need to act like someone else to be liked. You just need time to find the right friends. Live Love Laugh

I should say that anyone here who feels a need to argue about enlightment doth know little more than a rock in regards to this subject.

Allow me to please try to explain. People are like a bunch of different vibrating strings, some louder than others...some higher pitched. Do you guys know what happens when you play crunchy, dissonant intervals together? The musical equivalent of a garbage bag. All the different strings fail to truly ring out properly because their vibration is being canceled out as it tries to meet in the middle with the other vibrating fields.

It is when people (and I daresay, should the members of this board do this...look out!) and their actions hook up HARMONIOUSLY in the world that each and every soul can be ILLUMINATED with his or her total greatness. As in the overtones of a vibrating tone, so will the energy centers of the body unite as one with others and ring out pure and true.

Originally posted by TheSubversiveOne

The last thing I want to do is cause emotional responses from my words.

I don't believe you. I think you enjoy provoking and/or outwitting people who dare to say or act like they are enlightened. Call it a hunch.

But in case you are actually sincere, don't worry. Your words, indeed the words of any stranger on the internet, don't mean enough to me to cause an emotional response.

Please accept my apology for my sarcasm.

I accept it in the spirit in which its offered.

I was under the impression that it was a prerequisite of the internet.

Again, I don't believe you. You seem far too sophisticated for such a feeble impression.

/shrug

Take it easy.

reply to post by ypperst


It is possible that an age of enlightenment is upon us, but that doesn't mean everyone will instantly become enlightened and more intelligent.

The key to enlightenment is you and your attitude and outlook. It is how you approach situations and your method for processing information. As these traits become more polished, you will be capable of becoming more enlightened.

Critical thinking, an open mind, a slow opinion, and a lack of judgement are some of the most important things for me. These more I work on these skills (yes I believe they are skills and can be honed) the higher capacity I have for enlightenment and the ability to process any increase of enlightenment potential.

Hope it isn't too crazy sounding, I am pretty tired, so heading to bed before I make myself look a whole lot crazier... wouldn't want you guys (and, ofcourse, gals) to see how I REALLY am

Originally posted by Hardwired
I should say that anyone here who feels a need to argue about enlightment doth know little more than a rock in regards to this subject.

Allow me to please try to explain. People are like a bunch of different vibrating strings, some louder than others...some higher pitched. Do you guys know what happens when you play crunchy, dissonant intervals together? The musical equivalent of a garbage bag. All the different strings fail to truly ring out properly because their vibration is being canceled out as it tries to meet in the middle with the other vibrating fields.

It is when people (and I daresay, should the members of this board do this...look out!) and their actions hook up HARMONIOUSLY in the world that each and every soul can be ILLUMINATED with his or her total greatness. As in the overtones of a vibrating tone, so will the energy centers of the body unite as one with others and ring out pure and true.

Those that claim to be enlightened aren't. And those who don't claim to be enlightened aren't either. Everyone else is totally enlightened to the max.

Originally posted by BlueMule

Originally posted by TheSubversiveOne

The last thing I want to do is cause emotional responses from my words.

I don't believe you. I think you enjoy provoking and/or outwitting people who dare to say or act like they are enlightened. Call it a hunch.

But in case you are actually sincere, don't worry. Your words, indeed the words of any stranger on the internet, don't mean enough to me to cause an emotional response.

Please accept my apology for my sarcasm.

I accept it in the spirit in which its offered.

I was under the impression that it was a prerequisite of the internet.

Again, I don't believe you. You seem far too sophisticated for such a feeble impression.

/shrug

Take it easy.

edit on 7-7-2012 by BlueMule because: (no reason given)

Did you guys have a fight or something or did you just meet in this thread? Just read this one message and it seemed like you guys were pretty tight. Don't throw it away over this thread. Don't be so cold.

There was never anything to throw away in the first place, but thanks for your concern.

The OP is right.

To make light is to be aware of our dark side and enlighten it. How? Where you did bad in the past, you start doing good, its changing your ways, your actions, from negative to positive, its alchemy, turning lead into gold, transform yourself through better actions, better ways, better thinking, better feelings.
For that you need to face your bad habits, your bad instincts and conquer them, replace them for good habits and good aware actions.

reply to post by Manula


"why are you so busy?
with this or that or good or bad?
pay attention to how things blend" -Rumi

From what I understand, enlightenment is something that happens for only a moment, then it's back to regular life. For me this means "becoming enlightened" is a constant effort and involves striving to embody ideals of compassion, humility and essentially just "love" in general.

Sitting around and waiting for enlightenment seems absurd, yet at the same time it seems like that is the only way to experience it. One cannot just decide to experience enlightenment; enlightenment comes on its own terms.

So you sit and wait for enlightenment and live your life in the mean time. No single practice seems to have a monopoly on this experience, yet most practices that aim for this experience have something in common, specifically a certain ethical code, which largely emphasizes living in a state of "love."

Being afraid of people who are waiting for the enlightenment and/or the "golden age" is understandable, but fear is of very little use and can lead to hate (and I think there is plenty of hate in the world already). If your desire is to see a "golden age" for humanity, my advice is to base your actions on love rather than fear.

Also understand that Buddhism is rooted in a context where the political situation was extremely hostile towards social activism. Thus Buddhism probably emphasized the parts of spirituality that could be exercised in solitude at least partially to avoid political consequences.

"New Age" spirituality seems to have inherited a lot from the Buddhist tradition, and I would say that our current political climate is fairly hostile towards social activism as well.

I will end this post with something that crossed my mind in meditation a few days ago:

Logic opens and closes doors, but it is either love or fear that determines which doors I enter.
When I choose my path out of love, life is exciting, though sometimes challenging.
When I choose my path out of fear, life is bland, though mostly easy.

Originally posted by wagnificent
From what I understand, enlightenment is something that happens for only a moment, then it's back to regular life.

Saying that is sort of like watching The Matrix and saying that getting out of illusory Matrix, as Neo did when he popped the red pill, is something that happens for only a moment then it's back to the regular ol' Matrix.

reply to post by ypperst


I think most people who are "waiting" aren't waiting to become enlightened. I think most people who are even conscious of the concept of enlightenment are either already there or they are working on it.

I think what people are waiting for are for other people to reach that understanding so the world can be a better place.

google the "meditationexpert" website, and read anything from Anadi(Aziz Kristof) or A.H. Almaas, or anything that has to do with Dzogchen and then come back and post on this thread. You guys are joking yourselves using the "E" word like it's some loose knit label.

We're living on a ball of clay with 7.5 billion and maybe only a handful or so will ever reach true Enlightenment.

So honestly my take is it that most of you can GTF out of here with your enlightenment threads. you really don't have a single clue about it other than simple surface level B.S.

Those 5 or so folks really doin it are surely not on ats posting about it. Those who say, don't know. Those who know, don't say.

I promise you this, read the 4 references above and you'll be thinking twice weather to ever post anything that has to do with the word "Enlightenment" again.

Did you guys have a fight or something or did you just meet in this thread? Just read this one message and it seemed like you guys were pretty tight. Don't throw it away over this thread. Don't be so cold.

Our ideas clashed, nothing more. Something gained, nothing lost.

The question remains: what is enlightenment? It's an english blanket term used to describe many things and many combinations of things, particularly related to various states of mind. If the task is to have a certain state of mind, this would be found to be fairly easy, since states of mind are achieved on a constant basis. I suppose then, that we are all enlightened to a certain extent.

Enlightenment can also be explained by a gaining of knowledge or wisdom—something everyone is capable without the need for asceticism or faith. Buddha saw this and perhaps applied it.