What is the actual state of enlightenment/union with the Divine like?

Question

If someone has experienced something of the sort, can you tell me what it's like? It's interesting because there are very few texts that describe the state, but several that tell you how to get there.

Thank you!

Answer 1

that, young grasshopper, must be learnt through experiance

Answer 2

It can be an out of body type of experience, but not always. The main thing is the deep sense of peace, what is called "the peace that surpasses all understanding". There is nothing else like it and when this happens to you, you will know the difference. Sometimes you have an understanding of things in a different way than you did before. You may sense a difference in the way of perceiving time. When it happens the first time it can be very overwhelming and makes you wonder what and why this has happened. The reason for this is that there is such a stark difference between the human soul and God. After a few years as you grow more into union with God the experience of His presence is not as intense, but may last longer. It is just a presence that is always with you and does not disrupt your life.

There are some good books by people who have had the experience and also provide education about it. St. Teresa of Avila is a good one (Interior Castles and others), Thomas Merton is another mystic of our own time. (He died in the 1960's). St. John of the Cross is the classic, but very difficult for most to read and you do not want to start there.

Answer 3

I believe I have come close. I also believe that it is different for everyone. I experienced it as a complete and utter sense of security. I had no worries whatsoever. I was blissfully happy, moreso than after an excellent bout of sex with my wife. The physical simply ceased to be a concern.

Answer 4

What it was like for me, if this is what truly happened to me, which I think it was- It was the most amazingly perfect, beautiful feeling imaginable. I felt so much love, unbelievable mind blowing love. That I was loved so much, and I loved everthing and everyone so much. Really it was indescribable, but i'm trying. I felt like i was actually lit up by love, if that makes any sense? Like I was radiating. it was so powerful and beautiful, the universe, our planet, beautiful beyond measure. And I knew, completely knew, and understood, that all the crappy things going on in the world, all the hate, suffering, all of it, was going to end. Everything was going to be all right. Everyone was going to feel like I was feeling. It was unbelievably beautiful. I'm talking everyone would feel this way, even satan, hitler, everyone would be forgiven and feel this love. This love I felt was total. No one left behind. Heaven would be everywhere, this feeling was heaven,not a place you get to by walking through pearly gates and golden roads. I'm sure most of you will think i'm completely nuts, but one day you will know what i'm talking about.

Answer 5

There is a place of union in fellowship with God that is complete and total peace and total joy that goes beyond just mere happiness. It is a feeling of completeness and total contentment. You feel like nothing can touch you or harm you. There is a feeling of being lighter than air with no troubles or worries of any kind. Words can hardly describe it.

Answer 6

I'm not enlightened, i refuse to kill my poor ego i like him, he he

closest iv come is one time i sat in a bubble chair for 20 minuets waiting to go into the movies

i was transported? into a endless void.

i was a ...DOT...in the void

all i could say was

I AM I AM I AM I AM I AM I AM I AM I AM .

for 20 minuets,then i came back EXACTLY 20 minuets later.
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i was some were beyond the mind, out there/ in there some were.
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to me enlightenment is a [natural state].we don't attain it we just forget , the brain washing of the [normal state].

what is left is [IT].

life force..is a >living < invisible female energy, that is intelligent , and eternal. she lives every were and is in every thing.

life force is zillions and zillions of light years big.

maybe she is never ending?

life force.... is like air,air is around us and in us, and we cant live with out it. we are in a OCEAN OF AIR...as we are in a OCEAN OF LIfE FORCE.

you don't have to realize it ....just accept it.

there is only one life force
there is only one fire
there is only one water

there is only [one living being]

and we are fragments of that being.

to me that part of...never.ending enlightenment

learning about it never ends.

Answer 7

I can share with you my experience of my enlightenment. I am 30 years old, currently living in San Francisco. First, let me say that enlightenment is extremely difficult to convey in words. Not that it is terribly complicated; in fact it is very simple when you dissect the fundamental concepts. But learning about the fundamental concepts is a very different thing from actually experiencing enlightenment first hand. It is the elusiveness of the experience that keeps people searching for it.

But the reality is that once enlightenment takes hold, is extremely complex in volume of information and number of experiences that are conveyed to you. How do you describe the universe in a word or a paragraph? It would take volumes of the written word to convey truth to you. Yet great volumes of information are conveyed to you through the experiences that you have through your body. How many books could you have written by now if you wrote down every experience you had in a day, for every day of your life? Each of your experiences has spiritual significance, whether you realize it or not, no matter how mundane the experience might seem.

Think of your body as a tool for your education, and your day to day experiences the classroom for learning. A pencil is no more responsible for teaching you a lesson than it is responsible for learning the material. Similarly the body is nothing more than a tool for learning, neither responsible for the curriculum, nor responsible for doing the actual learning.

The big difference between your pencil and your body, however, is that you are connected to your body and able to experience the thoughts, memories, emotions, and senses of the body. While enlightenment has significant spiritual (non-physical) consequences on your development and evolution, there are also physical consequences to speak of. I will try describe the physical/psychological/mental experience of enlightenment.

The greatest impact that enlightenment has on you and your body is in the aspect of self that is responsible for the creation and experience of emotions. The moment of the experience was a complete shock to me, since it was not expected. I wasn’t trying to become enlightened; in fact, I was on the path and didn’t even realize it until after it happened. Anyway, that moment was pure ecstasy. It was pure joy—a joy I had never experienced before and have not experienced since with such intensity. In addition to the joy and ecstasy, there was peace. I felt as though I was enveloped in peace, and what ever held me (metaphorically speaking) was impenetrable.

What I experienced in my mind/head was the biggest shift of all.

Humanity experiences a constant, mental chatter. It seems to be inescapable; the chatter almost has a mind of its own! (If you don’t believe me, go sit alone in a dark closet and close the door. Then try to silence you mind for exactly 5 minutes. If you were completely in control of your mind, you would be able to perform this simple task.) The moment of enlightenment actually silences the chatter! I have lived mostly free of the chatter for over two years now. For the moment of transition, and for the days and weeks following, the chatter is replaced by a very subtle, yet enlightening voice.

After the initial transition, your perception is different. As you interact with and interpret the events of your daily life, you make sense of everything around you. Where there was once confusion, there is now understanding. It is as important to interpret this knowledge as it is to be presented with it. Of what use is knowledge unless it is interpreted by you correctly? The absence of chatter gives you the space in your mind that you need to think and understand.

Knowledge that illuminates rather than obscures is the knowledge which not only makes you free, but also shows you clearly that you ARE free. Free of fear, free of chatter, free of hang-ups, free of other people’s views; Free to think, free to dance, free to grow and evolve in all ways!

Enlightenment is an ordinary thing that should happen to everyone. Everyone has the capacity for it, though not everyone is aware of it. Even if they are aware of it, not everyone pursues it. Even though they pursue it, not everyone experiences it in this lifetime.

This leads me to another realization and feeling, which is extreme gratitude. There is gratitude of being granted access to a very sublime experience, gratitude for the experience of life itself, and the realization that indeed the intelligence behind all of creation is good, peaceful, and loving. How wonderful it is to know, without a doubt, the truth of love in the universe.

I could go on and on about all of the amazing experiences and wonderful discoveries I have had the privilege to experience, but I have to get back to work now. (By the way. enlightenment does not free you of your earthly needs… even the enlightened need to go poop!) I hope my experience helps you on your journey of discovery.

XXOO

Answer 8

Meditate and try to achieve nothingness, you will get as close to enlightenment as possible. In mathematical term, you can only approach nothingness because you are something.

Answer 9

Buddha stated that Nirvana is beyond description.

Answer 10

when ur at church stare at the altar and imagine in ur mind a conversation with God i think thats how u get enlightened

Answer 11

http://www.realization.org/page/doc0/doc0015.htm

"My Awakening" by Osho