When I first became familiar with the term enlightenment, like most people I suspect, I had this idea of a singular moment where clouds parted and a divine light bathed me. I would then walk in the footsteps of monks and people would seek me out for advice. All my problems would cease and I’d live in bliss for the remainder of my days. Seems a little grandiose, I know, but there must be a reason I thought that. Ignorance played a great role to be sure, but isn’t that the way of it for anything we stumble upon for the first time? The story of the Buddha comes to mind. Supposedly, the Buddha was so overcome by the human problem of suffering that he vowed to find a solution. He sat under a bodhi tree for thirty days enduring starvation and the lack of any comforts. At the end of the thirty days he attains the perfect wisdom. It is this story that lends to the cultural beliefs we have today about enlightenment.
It is now my experience that enlightenment is not a singular moment. Rather it is a perspective ever progressing towards Truth. Do not confuse this with the everyday notion of truth. I am speaking of the Truth. There is but one. All the rest are delusions. I have become conscious of this. The difficulty however is Truth cannot be taught; in fact in trying to share this Truth with others it becomes less than. It has been said that the perfect teaching is silence. The only way to come to know Truth is by way of experience. It is up to each living being to experience Truth for themselves. This kind of awakening demands a complete recontextualization of everything one knows. This topic certainly warrants its own post, and that will be forthcoming.
Instead, I want to focus on enlightenment as a perspective. This will hearken back to my post titled, “Its all about perspective.” Each of us is a Buddha in this very moment. We are perfect manifestations of life experiencing perfection. It is our perspective that leads us to believe otherwise. Our beliefs shape our reality. Why else would there be such vastly different views of reality? Some believe life isn’t worth living because of the depths of their suffering. Others experience such joy and love that tears flow with each experience. Its all about perspective; if you believe life is miserable than that will be your experience. Conversely, if you believe it is the most remarkable gift, that too will be your experience. It is not enough to intellectually grasp what is being said here. You will have to contemplate and meditate on the power of belief for yourself. I realize the radical nature of these concepts, but this is the distilled adaptation. Anything less would be a perversion.
Upon realization that enlightenment isn’t a thing to apprehend or moment that transpires in time, but that this experience here is enlightenment, all I could do was laugh. It was the most genuine and deepest laugh I’d ever experienced. I am already a Buddha! We are all Buddhas! It may sound absurd to most people, but it is true. Again, you must experience it to comprehend the magnitude of what is being said. This is why the spiritual path is a very solitary experience. No one can do the heavy lifting for you. It is a hero’s journey inward fraught full of doubt, fear, and suffering. But also peace, love, and joy.
The spiritual journey is a shedding of the beliefs we hold about reality. This is the path to understanding our true nature; it is coming to know that we are everything and everything is us, and its all perfect. Enlightenment is the realization of this Truth, but it generally doesn’t happen in a singular moment. I say generally because there are cases of a single perspective shift occurring. Eckhart Tolle is the most notable. Exceptions aside, enlightenment is a process of breaking down the facades and delusions we have about this present moment. We construct our beliefs and notions about reality from the time of birth. Our parents, siblings and loved ones constantly told us how things are. We were forcefully fed their beliefs. Of course, we didn’t know any better, we trusted them and we believed in them. Likewise, they didn’t know any better either because their family did the same to them. In fact, if you are raising children you are probably doing it as well. Think about it. While growing up, there were adults telling us how the world is, how people are, do this, don’t do that, what to believe and what not to believe. This indoctrination is so powerful that it shaped our worldview. When we moved into adulthood, we applied what we already believed and then built upon that foundation. We are perpetually adding layer after layer of beliefs. They all hinge on each other.
Awakening after awakening will slowly dismantle the construction that is our projection onto reality. In doing so, peace, love, and joy become more abundant because this is our true nature. Anger, hate, jealousy, greed, and fear are all symptoms of our own creation. Since we are everything and everything is us, how can we possibly dislike any of it? What is there to fear? The answer is nothing. There is only joy and love for creation because its all beautiful and perfect, and its all us. Beginning to understand this on an experiential level is enlightenment because your perspective is shifting towards Truth. When one experiences every moment in the light of Truth, they are fully awakened. At least that is what I believe.