What is enlightenment, and is it possible? I don’t know because I’m not enlightened. 
But my hunch is that enlightenment is a perfect ideal, which like objectivity or rationality, we never fully achieve but which we inch incrementally toward.
In more traditional Asian cultures, enlightenment sometimes takes on a supernatural quality. An enlightened person is more than just human and may be omniscient, able to see thru walls, or able to appear in multiple places simultaneously. As an agnostic I don’t believe any of that, and I’m not convinced that the Buddha made any such claims about enlightenment.
The term enlightenment means awakening or insight. Specifically, it’s a perfect understanding of the Four Noble Truths (basically, that suffering is caused by clinging to impermanent things, and that there’s a way to end suffering) and knowledge of karma and one’s past lives such that the cycle of rebirth ends.
As I wrote previously, I’m skeptical of rebirth. But I agree with most of the teachings about the Four Noble Truths, and karma once misconceptions about it are stripped away. And although I doubt that perfect insight is possible, I do think there are people who achieve a very high level of insight.
Perhaps the point is not to expect perfection, as this only creates a cycle of clinging that makes things worse. Instead, the point is to do your best and not get all uptight about your failures. As the Dude from The Big Lebowski says, “Like, take it easy, man.”
Very well said. Hmmm, you forced me to see enlightenment from a different perspective. Maybe perfection is an illusion and all we can do is keep reaching toward the mark by doing our best in this life.
Hey there,
Good point: “Perhaps the point is not to expect perfection, as this only creates a cycle of clinging that makes things worse.”
One more aspect I’d like to add in regards of enlightenment: It appears to me that real enlightenment in the sense of seeing through all that is, understanding the fabric of matter and spirit, and the like, is normally only achieved temporarily… Many so called gurus and spiritual guides seem to loose that state after some time and suddenly have to deal with very human problems again… As I tend to say, there is no instant solution or method of salvation to spirituality.
Cheers, Chaukee
I agree.
I was once Agnostic as well until I recently experienced enlightenment of some form. It is earth shattering and it can be quite scary. You are taken out of the normal world in which life seems so big to instead where your thoughts create everything in the world around you. However in an Enlightened form you will realize that we are all one….and at the same time the only one. Enlightenment is an experience and it changed me from an Agnostic to more on the believer side of something….I’m just not sure what.
There is the potentiality that the perfect enlightenment of the Buddha was an after-effect of institutionalization. The Buddha never wanted to teach, nor did he want a church to rise up around him. And yet, here we are. Much like the example of Jesus and the church that rose up around him, to hold up a man who has experienced something amazing as an unreachable goal certainly brings in the believers and keeps them coming back. The texts speak of enlightenment as a state of mind available to many, not just Shakyamuni. There are a number of people today speaking and available on Youtube and many websites who claim this state of mind. It does take work – but then again, it takes no work at all – but it is possible and, once the path is embarked upon, practically inevitable (within your concurrent incarnation or others).
[...] my post on enlightenment, chaukeedaar commented that “It appears to me that real enlightenment in the sense of seeing [...]