Enlightenment - Truth it is

What is enlightenment?

General perception about enlightenment is that it is some higher state which is accessible only to Jnanis, Rishis and some specially gifted people.  Nobody knows what one sees after becoming enlightened.  Many of us believe that they see something that we are not able to see.  They see all their past births and they also see how the future will unfold.  It is as though they get to see an exclusive channel that we are not allowed to subscribe to.  And they are supposed to be happy all the time.  Again, as layman, some of us may even be thinking that they must be watching Rambha and Urvashi dancing 24x7 and that’s why they are happy all the time 😉

What happens after one becomes enlightened?  What does one do after becoming enlightened?  Nobody knows.  But everyone has their own opinion based on which religious teachings that they have accepted.

Does one die on becoming enlightened?  Or do they attain Mukti or go to heaven?  Again, Mukti and heaven are other words that have been heavily fantasized.

Well, what is enlightenment?

Enlighten is to throw light on something.  It’s our ability to perceive things clearly without any distortions.  Our ability to see things as they are.

What prevents us from perceiving things clearly?  Our past conditioning.  We have been given life lessons over centuries on how things ought to be by different philosophies and traditions and our perceiving is largely clouded by these conditioning.

Also, our perceptions are distorted by our expectations of the future.  We have a vision of the future, which is, in most cases, a projection of the past, to make us feel safe.  We look at our present as a means to achieve the future state that we are aspiring for.

Mukti is freedom.  Freedom from our past conditioning and future expectations.  It is breaking the time continuum.

When can I attain enlightenment or Mukti?  When I live in the present which is the only reality or truth.  Past and future are only in our mind or thoughts.  When we are in the present, we are able to perceive/understand things as they are.  In that perception without distortion/complete understanding, we also see clearly what action we need to take if at all any action needs to be taken.

So, simply put, enlightenment or Mukti is living in the present all the time.  To be aware.  Even if our mind takes us on a trip to the past or future, being aware of that.  The moment we are aware of that, we are back in the present.

When we perceive things as they are and take spontaneous right actions, we are in a state of bliss or joy.

I don’t know whether I made any sense to any of you.

😊

Comments

  1. Sai Shankar Gadepalli9 December 2020 at 13:41

    Sir, this one made an interesting read.

    'Perceiving things as they are...' is the key but 'Perception' is not always consistantly perfect. Sensory faculties of the mind certainly influences one's perception and the same is not 100% 'consistantly' perfect all the time to remain in the state of 'enlightenment'.

    ReplyDelete

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