People say I want to find enlightenment, like it was a single object or experience that has been lost or was sitting somewhere, just out of sight. In my experience, for the majority, enlightenment is a gradual awakening, of becoming aware of what is true, which simultaneously leads to the recognising and the no longer believing in what is false.
We do not say ‘I am seeking education ‘, instead we know and understand that the education process takes time, that is why we send our children to school for 12 years of their life and why people go on to spend additional years in higher educational institutions becoming, skilled, qualified and educated. Why do we then think that something as mind blowing and life changing as enlightenment, is sitting out there waiting to be found, in one single moment, revelation, or experience?
I think of enlightenment as ‘the gradual journey towards the realisation of what is true’. I do recognise that for me there was a defining, memorable point in time when the gradual alignment of knowledge, thought and understanding culminated in a strong and profound realisation of truth, of enlightenment. It was from this point forward that greater clarity and recognition of what is true and conversely what is false emerged.
I prefer to say ‘seek enlightenment by increasing awareness of what is true ‘.
Excellent article. I certainly love this website. Keep writing!