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anyone actually found enlightenment?

socks

socks

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theres alot of talk around these sides about the path to enlightenment, spritual awareness etc etc.
I was just wondering if out of all the people on here searching for enlightenment, if anyone has reached it, or come close?
could it be that enlightenment is really just self-acceptance? personally i would LOVE to be 'complete' , but i get the notion that you could convince yourself of it if you wanted to, and there for voiding the point behind it in the first place.
 
According to the Buddhists nobody can truly attain enlightenment until we all do, seeing as though we are all one ultimately, and the whole species transcends the illusion of reality. Those who do attain enlightenment are said to reject it and return to the world of men to help achieve that, they become bodhisatvas. But remember, it's not the destination that's important, it's the journey...
 
killarava2day said:
According to the Buddhists nobody can truly attain enlightenment until we all do, seeing as though we are all one ultimately, and the whole species transcends the illusion of reality. Those who do attain enlightenment are said to reject it and return to the world of men to help achieve that, they become bodhisatvas. But remember, it's not the destination that's important, it's the journey...
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^^^ close, but not close enough. Some can accept E and not return as bodhisatvas.

And, I think enlightenment is a realization--not a final goal--it's the ultimate Truth that you then integrate within your being.
 
If they acheived englightenment, I doubt they'd be spending their time perusing BlueLight. ;)
 
I have. Thing is, you haven't defined what you mean by enlightenment so you have no way of determining what that means.
Even saying, "you know... enlightenment.. like buddha", means exactly fuck all. There have been many times that I have felt that I understood the universe and could see how the vast interconnections work, both with and without drugs, but is that your enlightenment? Do I have to retain that feeling of connectedness all the time to be 'enlightened' or do I lose the tag once I slip back into mediocrity?
 
yougene said:
http://www.mimbres.com/holp/holpath/kramer/oneness.htm

"In the East via karma/rebirth, the path progresses through levels of spirituality, taking many lifetimes until arriving at the enlightened state - also referred to as nirvana, moksha, cosmic consciousness, etc. This conception is linear and hierarchical, as are the religions that produced it. Some schools (Tibetan Buddhism) have even constructed hierarchical levels of enlightenment, so that one enlightened being is held to be more so than another. Among spiritual seekers the burning issue is how far along the path one is."


http://www.inthelight.co.nz/spirit/pg-enlight.htm
Difference between Self-Realisation and Enlightment - from Imre Vallyon's book "The Magical Mind" pages 361 - 365. According to Imre "Enlightment means that the separated, individual mind fuses with the Mind of God. The Mind of god is the Infinite Field of Light, so when your mind becomes One with It, then you are technically Enlightened. Similarly, when your ego disappears into the Greater Self, you are then Self-Realised. Self Realisation means that your ego is simply a channel for the Self. When your ego identifies with the Self, then you are Self-Realised. When your mind identifies with the Light, then you are Enlightened."

pic-selfr.jpg



Imre also has a diagram showing different levels of awakening (beyond Nirvana consciousness there is Paranirvana, then Mahaparanirvana, and then Adi). As a side note, he indicates that a teacher is only required to get the student to the level of self-realisation - beyond that the student has established sufficient connection with the Divine to allow the process to continue.

pic-ego.jpg



Awakening - this is a general term describing expansion in consciousness. Most teachers agree that it proceeds in stages or levels. A change can occur abruptly, so that one may feel that they have suddenly become "enlightened" - however, as Mariana Caplan points out in her book (cited above), there are many such experiences, each one bringer a greater level of awareness. The first level of awakening that a student experiences is not necessarily "self-realisation".

Nirvana - literally means blowing out (as of a flame). The annihilation of desire, passion and the ego. A higher state of consciousness characterised by a state of freedom and bliss. Buddhists often talk about Nirvana as the goal. Nirvana is typically considered a higher state than Self-realisation.
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http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?postid=2144890#post2144890
 
Yes, but is E a moment of absolute clarity, Truth, and oneness... or is it a sustained state of consciousness that remains until the body perishes? I tend to believe in the former.
 
You guys are missing the point of enlightenment I think. It means to live every moment to it's fullest. Stupid people that can't translate properly.
 
i've definitely reached self realization and nirvana. complete enlightenment i believe i was on the brink of but rejected it. it was a level, past oneness, past ecstasy, past nirvana. the best way i can is a "great calm". it was like being completely dead. being the entire universe at once with all dualistic awareness entirely destroyed. like a final resting place.
 
Originally posted by David
You guys are missing the point of enlightenment I think. It means to live every moment to it's fullest. Stupid people that can't translate properly.

I think the way you like.

And for many people there are too many words, or not enough.
 
Enlightment is IMHO a state of being completely different to this one. Everything is different, everything alters. You enter a higher state. You can say its about being in the now, being completely still, still mind etc but its so much more. I've had an experience where I broke through somewhere, dont necessarily like using such charged words like enlightment, perhaps it was only a kundalini experience? Dunno. I posted it up here, should probably re-edit it I guess. If ya cant find it i'll post the link and I'm sure others have also posted about their exierneces. One big thing about involves getting past the ego, and the limited beliefsystem it holds. Imagine disintegrating that. Its pretty huge. Though my experience only lasted several hours, I dont think I would have wanted it to last longer for various reasons. Do wanna get back into it now though. I've had others going upto it since then but havent been back that far yet.
 
You can't define enlightenment and even to try is absured. No human mind acts or functions the same and enlightenment to someone could mean something completely different. Fact is if you reach "complete" enlightenment you'll know it. Thats all there is to say about it. Trying to classify enlightenment is like trying to classify the chinese as the english. Although some may live in america and may be considered Americans they are not english. That comparrison may be thrown off if you know what I mean but in simply analysis it works.
 
asmodeus256 said:
Originally posted by David
You guys are missing the point of enlightenment I think. It means to live every moment to it's fullest. Stupid people that can't translate properly.

I think the way you like.

And for many people there are too many words, or not enough.
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You would not believe the amount of misconceptions of Buddhism, and the Tao there are out there. Especially the ones taken from Mandarin, which is a language based on concepts, not actions. This is where the majority of the bad translations come from.

It's about living your life, a certain way, not this meditation, and postering. That's what monks do. Most people can't seem to understand, that being a monk is what one does, when there is nothing else for them. IE family is all gone, or dead.
 
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Yes, but is E a moment of absolute clarity, Truth, and oneness
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I like that definition. My "enlightenment" experience can be defined as a trancendence above my ego (or sense of "self") and I got a birds eye view of life, the universe, and everything. For that brief moment in time everything in the world made sense and I was at total peace with everything, as I knew nothing really mattered and would work itself out the way it is meant to and no other way truly exists. It was the closest thing to "death" I can imagine.

It's about living your life, a certain way, not this meditation, and postering
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I'm not going to deny the fact that a lot of these philosophies are "lost in translation" so to speak, but I think you are quick to dismiss the importance of meditation in Buddhism as well as the "enlightenment" experience itself. The Buddha and others like him argue up and down about how to live your life to be happy, but living that life is not enlightenment. Enlightenment is what happened when the Buddha (supposedly, lets pretend its all real for the sake of argument) "meditated" on the nature of suffering, and in a moment of clairity the nature of suffering and happiness and all those things became clear to him and thus the Buddhist philosophies of happy living were born. Note that his revelation did not come to him from living that lifestyle, he had to realize it first. And that is what I think enlightenment is, a moment of profound mental clairity that acts as a catalyst for an outlook that favors a better way of living. I think LIVING that way is "being enlightened", but enlightenment on the issue had to come first.
 
^ I disagree. Mdma has helped me find the path of beauty in everyday, mundane life. It has allowed me to feel things that are above and beyond my physical body.
 
Acidfiend said:
I'm not going to deny the fact that a lot of these philosophies are "lost in translation" so to speak, but I think you are quick to dismiss the importance of meditation in Buddhism as well as the "enlightenment" experience itself. The Buddha and others like him argue up and down about how to live your life to be happy, but living that life is not enlightenment. Enlightenment is what happened when the Buddha (supposedly, lets pretend its all real for the sake of argument) "meditated" on the nature of suffering, and in a moment of clairity the nature of suffering and happiness and all those things became clear to him and thus the Buddhist philosophies of happy living were born. Note that his revelation did not come to him from living that lifestyle, he had to realize it first. And that is what I think enlightenment is, a moment of profound mental clairity that acts as a catalyst for an outlook that favors a better way of living. I think LIVING that way is "being enlightened", but enlightenment on the issue had to come first.
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I'll let you think anyway you want, add crap to it, if you wish. I was shown how to live in the buddhist manner, from the same guy that taught me martial arts. I'll take what he taught me, and keep that. Nothing about him being Chinese, or anything.

Living is enlightenment. It's how you live, not what you say about it, and meditation is for monks, not those, that are in the lower classes, or working classes in American culture. Remember Buddhism is still based on class systems. Nothing can said to change that.... There are five classes in Buddhism, and seven golden steps.

Knowing that life is suffering, you are more apt to understand what I am telling you, but you haven't reached that yet, apparently. Till then, follow your own path, and leave me to mine, please.
 
It may be true that not everyone was meant to be a Buddhist Monk. After all where would future generations of humans come from. But I think you are wrong if you believe that the average person cannot alter their state of mind through various practices such as meditation and benefit from it.
 
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