Travis Eneix

Warning: What follows is a bit of a rant. If that’s not your vibe as of this now, move along. Have a great day!

First, for the non-rant. Check out this cool article over at Thank God for Evolution, Reality: God’s Secular Name. Most excellent. My favorite is the Philip K. Dick quote it opens with, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing it, doesn’t go away.”

Rant Begins

I have being seeing some version of the phrase, “Enlightenment (whatever that means)” with ever increasing frequency in the portions of the blogosphere, and the wider internet around which I stomp. Today I did a constrictive google search on the phrase and got 27,500 hits. Shiva knows how many I would get with a few variations thrown in.

In a word, I hate that phrase.It offends me on several levels. First, it is often used as a shield against debate, shared inquiry, questioning, or flat out BS calling. It’s a way to spout on with a facade of authority while remaining closed to (and defended against) differing opinions. I see it as a very cowardly way to share an opinion. (BTW – I have been guilty of using the phrase too, so don’t go hunting to find a quote to throw in my face because you will succeed. However, I saw the fence-sitting and wishy-washyness enough to stop using it. When I start using it again tomorrow you can wag your finger and say, “Hah!” Cool?) Personally, I prefer, “I have no real idea what enlightenment is, but here’s my take, FWIW.” (Your mileage may vary.)

Second, what the hell kind of good essay writing/theorizing do these people think they are engaging in? If you don’t have a good working definition for a term, don’t make it a corner stone of your point! Please!

Whatever that means? Well, I’ll tell you. Here are my personal working definitions. They are what I use to wrestle with the concept, and they have been most fruitful for me. Take ‘em, or leave ‘em. It’s all good. If you don’t like one of these (or if you do) I would love to hear your personal working definition in the comments.

1. “Enlightenment is the real knowledge that you are a robot and have been programmed, and that you can re-program yourself according to your own true will.” The great thing about this definition is that it is not exclusive. It does not say that you cannot re-program your cultural and societal habitual behaviors (programming) without enlightenment. It does not say that enlightenment is required to know that you are a robot (to whatever level you accept that label) and are subject to programming. What it does say is that enlightenment changes knowing to “real knowing” or through-and-through final conviction and peace-making and acceptance of the situation. (“Balls to bones.”) It also does not say that once that real knowledge is in place that you suddenly become instantly re-habituated to perfect never flawed behaviors, just that you have a great opportunity (and leg-up) to get there.
2. “Enlightenment is the dissolving of the lie that you are this individual life.” With the dissolution of that lie comes a great freedom to act. You no longer live your life driven at the core by worry and concern about living the right life, living the life you are living correctly, or ever-vigilant for the end of the life you are living. You are not the life, and living from that makes everything much better, across the board. It does not mean the dissolution of fear that a rabid dog is charging you, or that you may have hurt someone’s feelings deeply by something you said/did/failed to do, or that you may have screwed up your financial situation by missing a credit card payment, or that you are going to be late to the play. Those are all perfectly reasonable (and necessary) fears that arise within the life which you are experiencing, but which you fundamentally are not. Nothing that happens within the life hurts, or helps you even if it hurts, or helps the life. (Which is precious, BTW.)
3. “Enlightenment is state in which anything said, or done, by a sage/saint/guru/master is as obviously so as your own breathing. It all makes total, and common-place, sense.” That does not mean you become instantly capable of saying or doing such things. It just means when you see, or hear them, you smile and nod with a soft inward, “Amen. Preach it, sister!”
4. “Enlightenment is seeing that there is truly not-two, anywhere to be found.” When considering the totality of what is, it becomes apparent that nothing is ever added to what is from the outside. If it were then the place where the new stuff came from would also be part of what is. Likewise, nothing ever leaves what is. If it did, then where it went to would also be part of what is. What is, is in constant motion, to be sure, but it is all motion within the one thing which is.

Those are my current working definitions of what is fundamentally undefinable. Just like any term it exists for convenience (and not confusion damn it!), and is subject to change and evolution over time just like any term or thing. (Remember when “bad” did not possibly mean “good?”) Also, just like any word said ever, it’s an opinion. You can only ever speak about things, you cannot speak them into being so. The word enlightenment is just a word, and only useful insofar as it allows for effective and useful discourse. The state itself, just like the truth of a comfy cafe chair from which to issue forth blog rants, cannot be spoken into existence, it can only be spoken about.

Rant Ends

I freely claim, and assert the truth of all four of the above definitions within my own experience and life as being so and fully functional.

Cheers, and thanks for listening!

I eagerly await your commentary.

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