The path to enlightenment and knowledge?

Question

there are many questions about this subject but none really answer my question.
I've decided to embark on a journey with enlightenment as my end result. however i dont know where to start. some say meditation is the key, others say religion is vital. still others say you dont need all of that for its inside you to begin with.
so, i'm very puzzled and confused now.
i know its quite impossible for you to tell me exactly how to become enlightened and i know its a kinda dumb question to ask but....
I need somewhere to start.
could someone please give me a general idea of what enlightenment really is, how i know once i've found it, how you may have become enlightened....and stuff like that...

Answer 1

the path to enlightenment is the direction you take...
but never forget, you wont always travel by day...
the black of the night will embrace your way...
but the light isnt a guidepost but your own sense of well-being.
nobody's ideology or generalized philosophy cant bestow the enlightenment you seek.
the start is always "now", so dont wait till it becomes "yesterday"
Just keep on moving, risking, trying, learning, growing...

& always keep in mind, not all Trees bear Fruits...
& not all catterpillars become Butterflies.
i hope someday you'd bear the sweetest harvest
or eventually, share your beautiful roses.
:-)

Answer 2

I know this probably isn't very helpful, but what do you think? The buddhist believe that Nirvana was the place of total enlightenemt where you were free from ignorance and vanity and evil and pain...They use meditatation to reach it. I personally have never done this. Too much sitting still. But what I believe is that enlightenment isn't something you can just reach. It's a single moment of happiness where you are free from all the bad stuff in the world. If you really wanna do this, then it's not gonna be easy. You'll have to do something to deserve it. It's like a peace inside yourself you find after a long journy where you can look back and see what accomplished you've accomplished. You'll have to live in the moment, do something amazing. Only you will know when you've reached enlightenment. Only you know how. Do something you've always wanted to do, go on a journy some where far away. Enlightenment isn't just in a religion or meditation, it's something you've gotta find in yourself. A sort of peace. I think the real question is, do YOU know how to find enlightenment? Do YOU know what to do?

Answer 3

Well, you asked very good question, it's very hard to answer.
I suggest, start with the reason you want to walk the path.
How did you heard about enlightenment? What part of it is attractive to you? How desperate are you to be enlightened??
I'd really like to help you, yet I'm try to be causious on what I say since I don't want to be a blind man leading another blind.

I searched everywhere for last ten years to be in a right path to be enlightened, and I stepped on many pathes that I should not walk, recently I started to find out... I was wrong trying to find the path outside.

Luckly, I met amazing teachers, they told me about the truth since long time ago, I was so greatful about their teachings yet didn't really do what I learned. (I was not ready, I didn't really understood what I heard)

What I can tell you at this point (through years of struggling) is,
1. Please, please keep the initial heart you wanted to be enlightened. Don't lose it! Reason of enlightenment may change over time, but have strong curiosity about it or strong desire to be enlightened all the time. Believe in yourself you can be another Buddha.
2. Good teacher and good friends walking same path, helps you a lot. Good books can be a great teacher, too. Where do you live? I can introduce someone if you are in US..(email me!)
3. What enlightenment really is? As far of my understanding, it's becoming a god. Hold on, it's (usually) not what you think. What is god? And what you think is god? To me, god is the love embracing all - life, death, joy, hatred, ego and egoless state... Still, it's not becoming someone else, (teachers say) it's becoming yourself.

I'd like to get back to you time to time to see if I can help you with anything, only if you don't mind~

Answer 4

Hi Audiofree
We are all on the path to enlightenment whether or not we know it or believe it. We all will be enlightend someday. We are in a school where you cannot fail and everything you do leads you onward. We are on a unique 'path' and that path is us. Each needs to find their own way to Nirvana. It is good to be confused - that is the sign of an open mind. Experience deeply and trust in the process. You will get exactly what you desire. Read everything you can get your hands on --- not that this will cause you to become enlightened. You will most likely struggle like all the rest of us in this most noble of quests. You will stumble and become angry at the toughness of this couse but each stumble and perceived failure only makes you increasingly human. Although I have been searching for a long time now --- for what? --- not quite knowing and yet I have an urge to keep going. I believe (at this point) that a person become enlightened when they can accept themselves and everything around them just as it is. This means the generation of unconditional love --- to radiate love to everything and everybody without judgement. In other words be like the Sun. Try to get a copy of Ken Keyes, Jrs book entitlrd "Handbook to Higher Consciousness." It will blow you away --- in the best sense!
Namaste
Kenn3

Answer 5

I commend you for your unselfish quest. Congratulations, you have taken the first step. Start by sitting in a quiet place, your favorite place. Perhaps in the woods or by a quiet stream. Sit for at least 15 minutes. Close your eyes. Try to still your mind. Relax completely. Breath deeply. There are many paths to enlightenment. Meditation. Religion. Remember, your inner counselor is your best teacher. Perhaps you will find a guru. Someone who will take you from darkness to light. Your path may take your entire lifetime. You will benefit from every effort you make. Have a good life.

Answer 6

It would be my position that you are asking if wisdom can be found. The answer is yes. However, in western culture it cannot be found because we pursue two incorrect perspectives, the material and the spiritual. Simply because we utilize two perspectives, neither can be presented as the correct view of reality. Wisdom, total enlightenment and understanding cannot be found unless reality is viewed from the correct perspective.

This correct perspective is: Everything including you is made of value. From this perspective genuine self-understanding and genuine personal meaning can be found. By extension understanding of all men follows. The pursuit of your life from this perspective leads to the exploration of all relevant corners of existence in your mind and leads where you desire to go. It is a far different course than anything currently within the scope of western culture. This is why you can't find anything you want.

I can answer any relevant question you have.

Answer 7

Enlightenment is knowing...knowing yourself, knowing your culture or people, and knowing the greater good that God or the universe has for you.
Knowledge and experience are the path to enlightenment and sometimes unfortunately emotional pain. The darkest times in my life are when I learned the most.
Make everyday an experience seek out what is special or beautiful... learn from everything and everyone. Connect... to ideas, people, and the world around you both natural and man made.

Enlightenment is the mind and the heart coming together in purity (with out an agenda)

Answer 8

Hmmm... that one's hard to answer. I don't know that anyone could give you the definition of enlightenment. Not everyone agrees as to what enlightenment is.

My suggestion is that you start reading the classics. Read widely and deeply. Read philosophers, read writings from antiquity. Read from traditions from around the world.

That's overwhelming at first. Somewhere you could start would be by reading Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" or Carl Jung's "Man and his Symbols". I've found both to be helpful for my own understanding.

Answer 9

It is within you, but you also must understand that there are many teachers out there who have already gone down this path, and they can help you. Religion is a touchy subject, because there is some truth within every religion, it is possible to learn some enlightening things, but the religious establishment itself basicly beleives that there is only one way to the truth, their specific way. And according to them you must realize that you are not in control, and that you do not have all the answers, and that there is limits to your potential. Religion can have the effect of disempowering an individual. Not all religions, but most. So be careful dabbling in religion. Meditation is just a form of relaxing yourself and opening up doorways to listen to your inner being. It helps with focus. I beleive that there is a higher part to our being that I like to call our higher self, that knows all the answers. And it is possible to get in touch with this higher form of our being. What I do is listen to it. I have been on a search for the truth for years now. And it is becoming easier and easier to hear it. We already know everything, it is trying to get us to remember. Listen to it, that instict, that gut feeling pulling toward or away from something. It is leading you where you are desiring to go. And you'll know that it is truth when it just agrees with your soul.

Answer 10

Honestly, you can't cut through the veils of the material world without a substantial effort.

I would suggest that you must have a disciplined practice that you embrace with every aspect of your being.

Then one day you'll just be ready to surrender and realize that there's nothing at all on the other side of the veil, but somehow it's very comforting to know that and live the rest of your days in peace.