religion and sprituality
2006-09-18 14:00:04 · 9 answers · asked by quinta m 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Knowing that Jesus spoke the Truth when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me."--John 14:6
2006-09-18 14:15:31 · answer #1 · answered by Gail S 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The term "enlightenment" literally means "a state of being filled with light." The expression comes from a time in which light was associated with knowledge and wisdom, and darkness was associated with ignorance and confusion.
So to be enlightened means to be wise and to have knowledge. If you attach the word "spiritual," the expression means "of or pertaining to a spirit or spirits."
So in modern English, the expression means "A state of having wisdom and/or knowledge concerning a spirit or spirits, perhaps referring to one's own spiritual self."
All great religions have a concept of enlightenment. There is very little spirituality associated with Christianity, a religion that is primarily about money, power, and politics. Same goes for Islam, which has the same focus on money, power, always being right and being the one in charge. The better religions for the study of spirituality are Buddhism and Hinduism, which have been studying the human spirit much longer.
In capitalism, enlightenment means knowing how to cheat everybody around you out of everything you can get from them without them knowing it. Then you will truly be filled with light, because you will never miss a payment on your utility bill. In fact, you may own the electric company, which is the ultimate form of enlightenment.
2006-09-18 21:51:30 · answer #2 · answered by aviophage 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A real experience where one experiences oneself as what they trully are -- not as this individual (w/ an individual body, personality, brain, etc.) but as 'everything'. It defies description and it's what the buddha, jesus, and others experienced and it's open to all of us w/ the appropriate mind training. The self literally drops away. This is literally the ONLY thing that will resolve the questions of life and death. Read '3 Pillars of Zen' for the best book that tries to get across what it is. Note: various spiritual mind-training paths are out there for us to use -- Zen, A Course in Miracles, etc.
2006-09-18 21:04:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Basically it is an awareness and understanding of yourself as a spiritual being seperate from your Mind and Body.
From that point there are increasing levels of this awareness of ones true potential and ability as well as an understanding and awareness of this fact as it relates to all of mankind and Life itself.
2006-09-18 21:16:05 · answer #4 · answered by thetaalways 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Self realization. The state of samahdi in yoga. Complete and perfect union and oneness with the universe. remaining in one's physical body, but not being confined to one's physical body. The complete and utter transcendence of all physical limitation.
2006-09-18 21:12:03 · answer #5 · answered by oceansoflight777 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In order to understand it, one must understand who we truly are within. Let me share something from Anandamayi Ma "Mother of Permeated Bliss":
"It is the One that is engaged in the leela (divine play) of creation, preservation and destruction. It is the One that is deeply involved in every aspect of the leela and yet is beyond leela. Actually He (the One) plays hide and seek with Himself. Absolute oneness makes leela impossible. So, to enjoy the leela, the One has created the veil of separateness (maya) as a disguise, but we must not forget that He Himself is also the disguise. He is playing blindman's buff with Himself. He is disguised as manifoldness, variety, relativity. Often Anandamayi Ma uses the analogy of water or the ocean to explain how One can have different aspects. By varying the temperature, one can turn water into ice or steam, without changing its essential nature. Similarly, stormy weather can temporarily divide an ocean into individual waves but when calm returns, the waves merge into the Ocean. All come from One and return to One."
What She is saying ("Absolute oneness makes leela impossible.") is that God as a whole cannot play with itself, so God created this separation between all of us, in order for it to play and know itself. This is "leela". All of creation is divine play. Through this separation from our true source, we have forgotten who we truly are. Man has become ignorant of his Oneness with all of living beings, creation and of God.
What spiritual enlightenment is when we not only remember who we truly are, our true source, it is when we have merged back into Oneness. When that occurs, we become One with all of creation, all of living beings, and all of the universe.
There is this quote of Amma's that I like which explains who we truly are:
"We human beings are just instruments of God so we should not be egoistic," Amma emphasizes in an interview. "We should have the awareness that 'I am just like a pen in the hand of a writer, or a brush in the hands of a painter.' "
So in essence when we become enlightened, we allow ourselves to be used as an instrument of God, our ego has completely dissolved. It is our mind and ego that keeps us trapped in the illusion of separation.
2006-09-18 21:22:34 · answer #6 · answered by Amma's Child 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is when you first wake up and realize that life is more then eating drinking and going to the mall
GOD Bless ya!
2006-09-18 21:18:12 · answer #7 · answered by Bye Bye 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Someone thinking they saw something that they did not see.
2006-09-18 21:14:11 · answer #8 · answered by Birdbrain 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
why, having your spirit being enlightened, of course! LOL
2006-09-18 21:08:23 · answer #9 · answered by On the Journey 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋