FRDB Archives

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.


Go Back   FRDB Archives > Archives > IIDB ARCHIVE: 200X-2003, PD 2007 > IIDB Philosophical Forums (PRIOR TO JUN-2003)
Welcome, Peter Kirby.
You last visited: Yesterday at 05:55 AM

 
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 09-13-2002, 12:09 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: usa
Posts: 68
Post enlightenment

are there any visitors here that feel they have reached enlightenment? i was wanting to to hear a first hand account from someone that i could ask questions. how does one know if they are making progress or is this just something that happens without feeling they are approaching it. how much have they devoted to reaching it? those types of questions... i am intrigued by the possibility of reaching it myself.
0n0w1c is offline  
Old 09-13-2002, 12:42 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: sugar factory
Posts: 873
Post

although I am by no means enlightened I can offer some words that express (what I have gathered) leads to a condition of enlightenment.

1. increased happiness (more smiling, less frowning)

2. increased care towards others (consideration in times of deprivation eg. letting weaker people eat when you are starving)

3. not taking the self seriously and not identifying ideas, beliefs, tastes with the self.

4. seeing good in everyone and not being quick to judge

5. forgiving the self for past actions, that you deem wrong- what is conscience?

6. forgetting the past and seeing afresh, in terms of change

7. being observant and in the moment

8. beating fear in circumstances previously dictated by poor past experiences

9. having a simple life, and a passion, but not a passion for strong bodily tastes, such as drugs and the adrenalising influences of television- these narrow our focus and govern our actions more, thereby preventing change and the process of learning. When we pay attention to particular strong stimuli we miss out on the bigger picture

10. being positive (linked to points 6 & 8) and not allowing the mind to govern, in terms of our expectations

11. accepting that random equates to that which we cannot measure, thereby we don't know much. If we listen and look more than we talk this can be beneficial.
sweep is offline  
Old 09-14-2002, 12:43 AM   #3
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: England
Posts: 34
Smile

Personally, I prefer the Achaan Chah "keep the bugs away" approach.........."Do not worry about enlightenment.When growing a tree, you plant it, water it, fertilize it, keep the bugs away; and if these things are done properly, the tree will naturally grow. How quickly it grows, however, is something you cannot control."

So:- just keep the bugs away, "don't worry, be happy".............although as another Master has said concerning the miracles of his own path....."when happy laugh, when sad cry".......being at one with our true humanity, being ordinary, nothing special.

The Pure Land path speaks of us as already being enlightened, that our lives should be expressions of gratitude in self forgetting, living more from the centre of others, hearing their voice.........the so called "easy path".......


kalamasutta is offline  
Old 09-14-2002, 01:56 AM   #4
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 4,656
Post

I feel I've reached enlightment when I commune with Nature. You may not call it enlightenment as such; then again, it's so easy to dismiss other people's spiritual experiences as counterfeit (it's definitely the Christian thing to do! ).
Heathen Dawn is offline  
Old 09-14-2002, 04:18 AM   #5
DMB
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Post

Heathen Dawn: I hope you read William Wordsworth:

Quote:
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

from The Tables Turned
and

Quote:
For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity,
Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue. And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;

from Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey
 
Old 09-15-2002, 07:26 AM   #6
Amos
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Post

Quote:
Originally posted by DMB:
<strong>Heathen Dawn: I hope you read William Wordsworth:

</strong>
How about his most famous line from "Intimations from Imortallity"

Quote:
to me alone there came a thought of grief
a timely uttering gave that thought relief.
This "timely uttering" was the key to his transformation and indicates that it was an instant he could remember and write about.

[ September 15, 2002: Message edited by: Amos ]</p>
 
Old 09-22-2002, 06:19 AM   #7
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Victoria. Australia
Posts: 1,417
Post

Quote:
Originally posted by Heathen Dawn:
<strong>I feel I've reached enlightment when I commune with Nature. You may not call it enlightenment as such; then again, it's so easy to dismiss other people's spiritual experiences as counterfeit (it's definitely the Christian thing to do! ).</strong>
It may indeed be an experience of enlightenment.

There may be degrees and species or flavours of enlightenment too.

From the point of view of Buddhism and I believe all other types of Mysticism, there can be a danger in assuming that a particular experience is enlightenment.....

.......a mouse on an excursion to a lake which it understands to be a large body of water and well worth seeing might stop at a puddle thinking that that is the goal.
Waning Moon Conrad is offline  
Old 10-05-2002, 09:00 PM   #8
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Singapore
Posts: 3,956
Post

Enlightenment simply means 'awaken' without feeling the sense of having superpowers, an eternal lifespan or being superior. It is just a normal state of mind that corresponds to a very high state of awareness, equanimity and discipline.

[ October 05, 2002: Message edited by: Answerer ]</p>
Answerer is offline  
 

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:13 AM.

Top

This custom BB emulates vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2015, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.