What do you think enlightenment is? Have you ever met anyone you thought was enlightened?

Anyone who claims to be enlightened, probably isn’t.

Enlightenment is a euphemism for knowledge or understanding—“seeing the light” = “being enlightened”. In some cases enlightenment may refer to religious epiphany or spiritual awakening, especially in Buddhism.

The Age of Enlightenment in early 18C was an emerging philosophical tradition of rational thought and careful observation—the early underpinnings of the scientific method. To quote from W ikipedia:

“More broadly, the Enlightenment period is marked by increasing empiricism, scientific rigor, and reductionism, along with increasing questioning of religious orthodoxy.”

I had both religious and scientific upbringing. Only one of those—science—brought me a sense of enlightenment.. We all struggle with a sense of not knowing answers to our questions, but always striving for enlightenment. Some days are better than others.~

Carl Sagan, maybe.

He might have just been high all the time.

What is enlightenment? Over-rated.

I met somebody who thought he was an enlightened one. He was probably insightful in some ways and charismatic but all I saw him do was destroy other’s personal relationships because he, himself had never had a good one and therefore all were false.

It’s a self-feeding monster, being considered enlightened. Gives people an unrealistic sense of their own importance.

Two blind men stand facing the sky.

One says “It is not, thus I cannot see it”.

The other say:” I am blind, thus I cannot see it:

Which of the two has sight?

The story continues….
Along came a third blind man,
Chastise the first for his failure to see,
Then takes the second by the hand and show him the sea,

And says “there it is can you see it”?

He is called religion.

I think, it is a zenith for us all to work towards… to better ourselves tomorrow from what we are today.
Man being a glorified ape, needs, and enjoys markers, goals and destinations.
Once on this journey, some may stop and look back, realizing that perhaps the day he started on this path was the day he truly became enlightened, others will continue to seek it in some far off distant time…

Yes, I have met such a person. The first person who comes to mind is Ed Brown, Edward Espe Brown—this person. author of the Tassajara Bread Book and other things.

I once spent a day at Green Gulch that was a blend of sitting and dharma talks with Ed and gentle yoga with his partner. I was also fortunate enough to sit at his table at lunch. There was a gossamer lightness about him that I have never seen in anyone else, although I have met many who were revered as wise and some who were revered as saintly. I have also known many, many people who, as saved and sanctified believers in Jesus Christ, would testify freely and passionately to the power and reality of their faith. I grew up among them. But when I met Ed I thought, “This one is the real thing.” Everything he said and did had that quality to it.

I think there is something real there. I think it can be experienced, although “attainment” is probably not the right word. I also think, just speaking for myself here, that it’s not necessarily a state of blissful being that you cross over into and never go back. I think that, like happiness, it occurs in moments to those whose mind is in a state of readiness or receptivity or hospitality to it. I don’t think you want to have just one enlightenment in your life any more than you want to have just one orgasm. I think that I have had moments of enlightenment and so, probably, have many or most of us, but that when we look for it to be some particular kind of thing, we are looking in the wrong place (or the wrong way)—that our presumptions and expectations and intellects and hunger for definitions are standing between us and whatever our mind wants to be open to.

But what do I know? I am not one of those beings. I’m just attempting to disclose what I have seen in those glimpses of the gaps between the fence boards that allow you, if you’re passing rapidly enough, to form an image of the outline of what’s on the other side of the fence.

what does one do before enlightenment?
Chop wood, carry water.
What does one do after enlightenment?
Chop wood, carry water.

The most enlightened man I have ever known was my grandfather. He was a cabinet maker, self educated, a follower of St Francis, and at peace with the world.

I’m not sure what “enlightment” means either. I’ve had different people explain it to me but I see this term used to describe alot of different things. The way I look at it is it probally means you’ve risen above the hype and have learnt to think for yourself. Maybe I’m wrong here.