I once read an issue of ‘What Is Enlightenment?’ magazine where a dozen or so of the world’s leaders of enlightenment discussed the central tenet of Eastern thought. As should be expected of any mature spiritual person, the answers were as varied as the leaders asked. In other words, there was no single rote answer for what enlightenment is. These were the Eastern & Western leaders of Eastern thought, and no two gave the same answer. If the rest of the followers of Eastern thought could just wrap their minds around this fact, they might dislodge themselves from the log jam of dogma they are brain deep within.

I have always been able to read others’ definitions of enlightenment or even awakening with an open mind so long as they were coming from a place of experience. But if they were just repeating what they had read, or been taught, then the person left the conversation. You cannot have a practical dialogue with someone who does not experiencially know what is being referred to.

After many years hearing the standard paint-by-numbers, rote quotable quotes and debating tactics used over and over regarding Eastern thought I know I have been dealing with people that have no experience of enlightenment, let alone awakening – but were armed only with an arsenal of words and definitions of meanings of definitions to defend what they believed it was. It must be frustrating to have pockets full of words and be so experiencially poor. Congratulations, you win a tee shirt and another life to be addicted to your opinions…

~ DC Vision