What is Enlightenment?

Enlightenment is a useful and practical philosophy and way of life that works for you.

The Zen version of this often included, "Carry Water Chop Wood". However, this was before water pipes and gas and electrical heating and maybe even before wood stoves were invented.

However, basically enlightenment is whatever keeps from from running screaming over a cliff to your doom on the rocks below.

I suppose for many it comes from the school of hard knocks where you begin to see the folly of your ways. You watch some or many friends die or get maimed from things they shouldn't have died or been maimed from and you think, "This is really crazy! I don't want to wind up like them."

So, you move from where you are, you make new friends, you wander into the forest and meditate on life for awhile to try to make some sense of it all. You begin to see the world in new ways from being with nature a lot. You reintegrate yourself into society at some point usually but not always or you join a cloister if that is your nature or you start a business or become a doctor or a nurse or do whatever your calling is whether that is to be a carpenter, musician, artist or actor or whatever your dream is.

And you keep right on growing and learning new and amazing things every day. Because life is amazing when you are enlightened and becoming even more enlightened every single day of your life.

And often you try to share your enlightenment with others, through songs you write, paintings you produce, by becoming a minister or someone who inspires people in various ways. You "Share the enlightenment and joy you have found with others if they will listen to you or watch the new and happier life that you have found.

However, in the end you cannot really teach anyone anything. The saying, "You can bring a horse to water but you cannot make him drink is true of people too."

So, the best you can do is to be a living example of what you believe now and hopefully others can see the value of who you are and what you are doing and emulate the parts they understand.