The Nature of Enlightenment
That most recent post reminds me of something that's worth being told.
Enlightenment is the nominal goal of all kinds of people. Philosophers, mystics, bhudists, etc. One thing you must know about it if you seek to attain it is that it is not a point you ascend to. It's a state of mind you come into, and always eventually fall out of. This is why mystics have "seen the mountaintop" rather then having gone to the top, bought a condo and got a job running a frachise.
The next thing I'm going to say is somethign that I'm incredibly hesitant to say. It sounds arogant, and unreasonable, but I think it's true.
I have seen the mountaintop.
Elightenment is a state of being that words can not describe. You see the world and understand it to be perfect because it is as it is because that's what it is supposed to be. It's very similar to a Zen trance, but also is filled with serentiy whose depth seems nearly infinite. When I first attained it the first truth that occured to me was that it would pass. Everything was too perfect, too beautifull to remain that way. The next thing that occured to me was that change was the only constant in life, and that in time this state would have to pass. And it did. I've attained it a few more times since, but the most influential time is always the first time.
Damnit Max, you can't even discuss enlightenment without making a cheap double entendre
I've found one more thing as well. This existance of constantly striving to reach that high point is the way of life. Nobody lives to get up and go to work and live their mundane existance. People live for those moments of triumph and clarity.
And so it comes to pass that the essential nature of life is that of rise and fall. The wheel will spin forever because the only stable state is the state of change.
Enlightenment is the nominal goal of all kinds of people. Philosophers, mystics, bhudists, etc. One thing you must know about it if you seek to attain it is that it is not a point you ascend to. It's a state of mind you come into, and always eventually fall out of. This is why mystics have "seen the mountaintop" rather then having gone to the top, bought a condo and got a job running a frachise.
The next thing I'm going to say is somethign that I'm incredibly hesitant to say. It sounds arogant, and unreasonable, but I think it's true.
I have seen the mountaintop.
Elightenment is a state of being that words can not describe. You see the world and understand it to be perfect because it is as it is because that's what it is supposed to be. It's very similar to a Zen trance, but also is filled with serentiy whose depth seems nearly infinite. When I first attained it the first truth that occured to me was that it would pass. Everything was too perfect, too beautifull to remain that way. The next thing that occured to me was that change was the only constant in life, and that in time this state would have to pass. And it did. I've attained it a few more times since, but the most influential time is always the first time.
Damnit Max, you can't even discuss enlightenment without making a cheap double entendre
I've found one more thing as well. This existance of constantly striving to reach that high point is the way of life. Nobody lives to get up and go to work and live their mundane existance. People live for those moments of triumph and clarity.
And so it comes to pass that the essential nature of life is that of rise and fall. The wheel will spin forever because the only stable state is the state of change.
posted by Max at 1:59 PM
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