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Copyright © Sirius Publishing 2006-2019
Realization is nothing to be gained anew.… Realization consists of getting rid of the false idea that one is not realized.
--Ramana Maharshi
That which is before you is it, in all its fullness, utterly complete. There is naught beside. Even if you go through all the stages of a Bodhisattva's progress toward Buddhahood, one by one; when at last, in a single flash, you attain to full realization, you will only be realizing the Buddha-Nature which has been with you all the time; and by all the foregoing stages you will have added to it nothing at all.
--Huang Po.
Enlightenment
Shortly after his realisation Buddha encountered several men who recognized him to be a very extraordinary being. They asked him: "Are you a god?" "No," he replied. "Are you a reincarnation of god?" "No," he replied."Are you a wizard, then?" "No." "Well, are you a man?" "No." "So what are you?" They asked, being very perplexed. Buddha simply replied: "I am awake."
The Buddha said "enlightenment is as close as your next breath" meaning, we assume, that it is a natural phenomena and accessable to anyone. It it is also very difficult to achieve, if it were not then we would all be enlightened.
In practice enlightenment is not something that you simply switch on. There are no accounts of an ordinary Joe like you or me, waking up one morning and being enlightened. When we look at the accounts of the lives of wise men and gurus about 50% had momentous or traumatic events that befell them and resulted in Enlightenment and 50% seem to have perfectly average experiences. However, they all had pursued a life of discipline and reaching for spiritual experience before any life changing transmutation in awareness occurred. Most spiritual traditions say that as you progress in self understanding and in self-discipline that enlightenment grows as a consequence of that.
Most traditions struggle to define what enlightenment is. Generally we get not definitions but descriptions of some of the properties of a particular state of awareness. These descriptions vary depending on what aspect of the state is emphasised by a particular school or group. Also, if we use our model as a yardstick there are descriptions of experiences which may pertain to at least three different levels.
In terms of our model, enlightenment is being able to be aware of all levels of being and to have forged a bridge between them so that they can all be reconciled within awareness at the same time. This gives rise to an awareness that surpasses normal human cognition and may even appear to confer magical powers, but it does not, although from the point of view of our normal perceptions this view of the world may appear extraordinary.
Enlightenment is something that we can aspire to but there is an awful lot of work to be done before we can even get close.
