♦ Fuego ♦ Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 “Do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special, it’s not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred. I meet a lot of people who think they are enlightened and awake simply because they have had a very moving spiritual experience. They wear their enlightenment on their sleeve like a badge of honor. They sit among friends and talk about how awake they are while sipping coffee at a cafe. The funny thing about enlightenment is that when it is authentic, there is no one to claim it. Enlightenment is very ordinary; it is nothing special. Rather than making you more special, it is going to make you less special. It plants you right in the center of a wonderful humility and innocence. Everyone else may or may not call you enlightened, but when you are enlightened the whole notion of enlightenment and someone who is enlightened is a big joke. I use the word enlightenment all the time; not to point you toward it but to point you beyond it. Do not get stuck in enlightenment.” Adyashanti My take on that quote is that enlightenment is bringing a light into a previously dark room. We don't stop there and write songs about the difference the light made, and grin stupidly at the wonder of the light and how we can see. The light shows us what is there, now what will we do with it? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ Weezer ◊ Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 5 hours ago, Fuego said: The light shows us what is there, now what will we do with it? A very good question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbit Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 "When you get the message, hang up the phone." -- Alan Watts on enlightenment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted August 3, 2020 Super Moderator Share Posted August 3, 2020 Christians don't have a lock on Holier Than Thou syndrome. I propose that those who are "enlightened" are indistinguishable from the unwashed masses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Joshpantera Posted August 6, 2020 Moderator Share Posted August 6, 2020 On 8/2/2020 at 7:43 PM, Fuego said: My take on that quote is that enlightenment is bringing a light into a previously dark room. We don't stop there and write songs about the difference the light made, and grin stupidly at the wonder of the light and how we can see. The light shows us what is there, now what will we do with it? Another way of framing the quote is with "awake," or "woke?" I see all this "woke" stuff going around which is completely contrary to what comes from eastern philosophy and being "awake." In the Yogananda sense of, "awake." If awake, it's all an interconnected unity. Races, merely perception of a whole interacting with itself, or universal energies perceived as isolated, discrete, separate and other. These "woke" kids have a hell of a lot to learn about what "awake" means. They seem to be very proud of themselves as "woke." But if they were, "awake," then what?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 Agree. Most of the "woke" is simply a sense of common social injustices, or systemic bad behaviors. And I'm not sure how much of it is from an introspective view, or in the context of living things are one and using that to consciously modify our own choices, values, and behaviors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Joshpantera Posted August 7, 2020 Moderator Share Posted August 7, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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