What is 'Enlightenment'? Options

[Shawn]

It's certain that enlightenment means different things to different people, and so I'm curious what it means to other people, and also to throw out a few questions to provoke thought.

Is Enlightenment an experience, process, realization, way of living, or what?

Is Enlightenment a multi-faceted word that is context-dependent and relative, or are there absolute truths that are invariably associated with any type of Enlightenment?

What are the 'truths', if any, that would invariably be realized/experienced thru Enlightenment?

Is Enlightenment an all-or-none experience (AHA experience) or is it a gradual accumulation of wisdom?

What is the relation of Enlightenment to mystical experience?

Please note that the above constitutes a partial list and is not meant to exhaust the range of questions that could, and should, be asked.

Personally, I believe the statement, "We are the Universe conscious of Itself", is on a par with Buddha's "All that we are, is the result of what we have thought" from the opening of the Dhammapada, and that both constitute part of a collection of truths that are invariably experienced during what I think many would call Enlightenment.   The task at hand, though, is to clarify this notion of Enlightenment to the best of our abilities thru mere verbal communication.  Is anyone up to this challenge?

[Timothy_417]

John

It is true that curiosity can be a lethal form of flattery, cajoling dark secrets to the surface, assuaging their guardians, cloaking malignant intent.  Was this not the fate of the Trojans?  What assurance can I give you that these are not my motives for promoting the relationship?  I will not insult you detective.  I hail from a rival gang, to which your intentions are irksome.  Your hesitancy is well-founded.  Rationalism and atheism are tyrannical masters, but I serve them for they have freed me from fates far worse.  Yet my my loyalty is not absolute, for even these masters bend knee to one that is greater and it is this that I truly serve--above all I am a Freethinker.  So long as you value the questioning of beliefs and are never satisfied with having discovered "ultimate truth" (for it is a hegemony most oppressive), you have nothing to fear from me.  

I give to you in pledge the promise that I will never betray your headquarters to those whose vulgarity will never allow them to appreciate heterogeneity of thought, and to this I add my own insecurities: I suffer from APD - avoidant personality disorder, related to NDP, but treatable.  I am particularly allergic to criticism.  I fare decently in controlled forums such as this, but in person, sometimes I can barely communicate.  This is me.

And yes, detective, my writing style is compensatory for my interpersonal handicap.


- Tim