What is Enlightenment? Enlightenment defined. ||

[@nanubrightarian]

Very good clarity of thought. Enlightenment is something I can understand doesn't mean I am Enlightened.

[@Cheese-is-its-own-food-group]

My enlightenment or awakening happened about a month ago and I can never unsee or go back. I lost my son in August very suddenly at 28 and the past few months since this happened have been an utter nightmare. That is, until ‘it’ happened. I saw through it all very deeply and it took my breath away. I have not cried or fretted over anything since this awakening. I have been a little annoyed here and there but the mindfulness is there. Emotions are kind of like butter on Teflon. They don’t stick anymore.

[@yishaishasha8690]

Enlightenment is the seeing through the illusion of the "i" the I dissolves . Hence , there is no "my Enlightenment ", its a misunderstanding. Let the pain. Be and see iys not happening to anybody

[@fulfillmenttheory]

Probably the best definition of enlightenment on the internet. Good job, Sir.

[@loveudon6972]

Solid explanation

[@hardyblues2194]

How did your relationship to other changed after enlightenment? Did your family and friends noticed something different about you?

[@NondualityChannel]

It was not noticed by family or friends and my relationships did not really change after enlightenment. kzbin.info/www/bejne/joSzfZtjl7GWnJo

[@philjohns379]

Well said!!

[@lyckliganu7092]

Light Energy - our True Nature. Just turn it on. It's always inside you. It's You.

[@AlastairGames]

This isn't quite my experience, though I agree with much, , for me it feels closer to a choice, there are times where I see through it, but then times where I am lost in the illusion. But much suffering has fallen off though

[@lingeshsawanth253]

Explained it To the point sir, Thank you 🙏 Sir, i have a question, In 'deep-sleep' state am not neither aware of objects nor aware of mySELF! What's really happening there!? During waking/dreaming states am busy being aware of 'objects', effort n stress involved in it due to constant liking n disliking (raaga-dvesha) During deep-sleep state am i still busy being aware of the 'experience of the absence of objects/total blankness', effort n stress is still on BUT almost minimised due to there is no business of likings/dislikings due to the absence of objects. i understand enlightenment as an event of waking-up from the illusion/drama of "waking/dreaming/deepsleep" forever, An enlightened one is aware of oneSELF during all the three states of the drama! Please respond to my understanding n correct me if it's wrong? 🙂🙏

[@NondualityChannel]

"An enlightened one is aware of oneSELF during all the three states of the drama! " - incorrect...being awareness itself...awareness does not become an object of awareness. Just as the eye can't see itself and the tongue can't taste itself.

[@siewkonsum7291]

Eric Putkonen 🙏🙏🙏 During a dharma talk, a Zen Master asked, _"SK Sum, are you enlightened?"_ SK Sum replied, _"SK Sum doesn't know. Even he's enlightened he doesn't know! Because he doesn't know what is enlightenment?"_ The master smiled & replied, _"After this talk afterwards, we can go drink tea together, and then practice together!"_ 😊🙏🙇‍♂️🌷

[@sanjeevani_kumari]

what do you do for living?

[@NondualityChannel]

Corporate recruiter in HR.

[@sanjeevani_kumari]

@@NondualityChannel do you love your job?

[@NondualityChannel]

@@sanjeevani_kumari I like my job and I enjoy it.

[@Aylinklmn]

With what you identify when you are Enlightened?

[@NondualityChannel]

There is no identification.

[@Imawiggle]

You are nothing?…but nothing is something or I wouldn’t be talking about it?..I know I know you heard that one 💯 times Thanks 🙏🏼 ❤

[@Imawiggle]

Kinda Off Topic Eric but what’s your take on Salvador Dali..why thses guys go back to Christianity in the end ?..Emerald Tablets but back to Christianity in the end same goes for Rupert Spira? Big Salvador Dali museum, fan here and Big Buccs fan I think i might have opened up big can of worms here Very grateful thanks Eric 🙏🏼❤️

[@Imawiggle]

Just little context..Sister had condo in pass’s a grill …love Tampa are did everything… But if all the parks and sports events etc etc…that Salvador Dali museum hands down the best’s experience 🙏🏼

[@rosisunny9302]

If we not this Body are we Thought pattern,from condishening? How comes we can see each other us a Body?!

[@NondualityChannel]

We are not this body nor thoughts. When you are dreaming at night, dream characters see each other as a body...but the truth is it is all Consciousness and there is no other or second.

[@premrjv8191]

If enlightenment is an event, then you are bringing time. As time is an illusion, that enlightenment is also an illusion. What's your thoughts?

[@NondualityChannel]

Past and future (i.e. time) is an illusion of the mind (as they only exist in thought), but the here and now exist and there is change...constant change. You see an apple is on the tree, you watch it fall to the ground, and then now it is on the ground. It all happened in the now, but you can recall and say the event of the apple falling from the tree happened. There is nothing static...all is changing and happening in the here and now.

[@premrjv8191]

@@NondualityChannel Thanks 👍

[@lingeshsawanth253]

Beautifully put sir,

[@mobiustrip1400]

Very helpful! Awakening happens to you at some point I guess. The earlier the better. If not, eventually it will happen when some doctor gives you some bad news in old age. Namaste 🙏

[@loveudon6972]

🤩 555 yes

[@adarshvicky]

Hello i am having an experience of fear deep fear i have two times insight and i just willingly returned and i know only that this reality is me but not have realised yet if you can give some suggestions i will appreciate it

[@NondualityChannel]

There are two avenues of inquiry. First, you can fully experience the fear and inquire into its source...where does it originate or come from? Fear arises due to ignorance and misunderstanding...so if you look and see, understanding changes. Second, you could delve into and inquire into this "me" that you believe yourself to be. Ultimately, fear is possible because you believe in "other". If the "me" is seen through...if the illusion of "me" shatters and can not longer be believed...fear too ceases to arise (as there is no "other" anymore either). There are always these two avenues of inquiry...delve into the suffering and understand it...delve into the "me" and realize you are not that.

[@adarshvicky]

@@NondualityChannel thanks i will try. .........

[@GratefulZen]

@_ Advet So fear is not a normal human response to life-threatening events ?

[@huseynibrahimov1785]

Osho says that after enlightenment you can’t fall asleep, that you are fully aware even while lying down "sleeping". Could this be a criteria of enlightenment?

[@NondualityChannel]

Not at all. There is no need for conscious awareness to be "on" all the time...what you are is Consciousness itself. Sleep is a natural function of bodies...and sleep can still happen after enlightenment.

[@huseynibrahimov1785]

@@NondualityChannel so what do you think Osho meant by what he said?

[@NondualityChannel]

@@huseynibrahimov1785 Don't know.

[@huseynibrahimov1785]

@@NondualityChannel okay, here is another criteria by Osho, he said dreaming while sleeping disappears completely. So basically sleeping becomes a meditation in a horizontal asana. I am curious because I have seen people stating that they are enlightened but they still have dreams. Is it how it works for you?

[@NondualityChannel]

@@huseynibrahimov1785 Dreaming does not stop because of enlightenment. What is the problem with dreaming? There is nothing wrong with it. Some great insights have come from dreams after awakening - see 'dream as analogy' at kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXS5mpl3aK6Yqa8

[@Mateusgam123]

Hii Im not looking for anything anymore, nothing to look for Yet a deep Desire is a life partner and a me is still there, i just know i am not the me, more like i see the me as my authentic self - the knower of preferences and so

[@elenol1310]

Eric, how do you see through "me"?

[@NondualityChannel]

What can a "me" do to see through the "me"? Ultimately, it can not. But if you insisting of doing something, watch this - kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3O6eKuYeJyseM0

[@elenol1310]

@@NondualityChannel So enligthment can be realized by surrender?

[@NondualityChannel]

@@elenol1310 Surrender may diminish the strength of the illusory "me", but surrender does not cause enlightenment.

[@elenol1310]

@@NondualityChannel i see

[@aistegaisre4422]

@@NondualityChannel In words of Ramana: “ There are two ways: either ask yourself, ‘Who am I?” or submit. Submit to Me and I will strike down the mind. There is no better “karma” or “bhakti” than enquiry into the self. The second path is the way of self-surrender - the way of sharanagathi. Surrender yourself to the universal and you will be absorbed in the universal.” I thought it would be good to mention.

[@vitakrnac7236]

How you know??? OM..................................................................................................................

[@NondualityChannel]

Realization.

[@sacredhogwash9435]

Hey, Eric, cool video! Do you think Francis Bennett is enlightened? He was in an abbey, then he said he "Awakened", and then he went through a sex change. And he's a friend of Adyashanti. And there's a video of him on my channel!

[@NondualityChannel]

Don't know. Can't tell from a 10 minute video.

[@sacredhogwash9435]

I know, but in your video you said that if the person is having conflicts, and not accepting what is, then they're probably not there. Francis Bennett seems like the perfect example of what you were talking about, don't you think?

[@NondualityChannel]

Far better to be aware of your own conflicts and resistance, than trying to figure out if others are. How was it said again...first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Besides, who knows the inner environment of another. I am moving to Florida next summer. People ask why and I say 'year round living and the ocean.' Does that mean I am in conflict with not being near the ocean now or not accepting the cold of Minnesota?

[@sacredhogwash9435]

True, but moving to a new location is not even remotely close to having a sex change. Even gurus move around from place to place and eat different foods, but what I was talking about is not the "normal" change that we all experience. I doubt you yourself are in conflict with Minnesota. And nothing wrong with moving to Florida either. As far as the plank in my own eye... I would remove it, but I don't even exist, right! And I don't know what the plank is, which is why I apparently can't see well enough to get it out, even if I did exist!

[@NondualityChannel]

What is "normal" change? The game can be played many different ways...some more extreme than others, but no less a game. Besides what is male or female? What you really are is neither male nor female...that is just the body. You are not the body.

[@ezreality]

No Enlightenment is knowing, understanding and accepting Oneself...

[@mymyersfamily]

this does not resonate with me. unless by knowing oneself you mean realizing the illusory and transitory nature of oneself, that it is not you.

[@amitghildiyal3411]

Very good video. Till we have discontent and suffering we are not enlightened. Agree with that. But as per vedantic teachings it is not a one time event. It is in stages. First there is preparation stage maybe decades followed by self discovery. Then there is a period of questions regarding aatman, Brahman etc. After those are cleared there is a stage called Nidhidyasana where enlightenment is fructified or assimilated. That's what advaita teachers have told us. It doesn't happen overnight. Your case or eckhart could be an exception because you have been more evolved than average joe. So I side more with vedantic teachings where it is a gradual affair.

[@NondualityChannel]

Gradual only happens to the fictitious "me". My point is the shattering of the "me" where it is no longer believed is sudden and complete. That is enlightenment and that is a one-time event. If the "me" is still believed and there is still suffering in life, then enlightenment has not happened and I really don't care how far advanced you think you are because the fundamental illusion that there is a "me" remains.

[@mymyersfamily]

i disagree enlightenment cannot be transitory. i was enlightened for three days, was one with everything, totally present. but gradually i fell into identifying with my ego thoughts more and more. afterwards i read accounts of zen masters discussing how after realizing you are separate from the ego voices, reaching that enlightened state, you may still find times you slip into a train of though, identify with it, get seduced to an ego identity, need to then break from it, return to more enlightened state. now maybe there are degrees of enlightenment. maybe there is s level of absolute enlightenment from which there is no return, but i've been one with everything, and it was definitely some level of enlightenment. note, i'm not presently enlightened, that was 20 years ago, but some aspects of the experience are firmly recalled. i was in a state of universal love for life, was wholly present in the moment which made sensations more intense / pleasurable. eating rice while wholly present was a feast as i noticed an amazing variety in the textures & flavors of each grain of rice. i was in that state for three days snd then it gradually diminished as worldly concerns seduced me more and more.

[@Imawiggle]

You realized you exactly where you wanted to be?..enjoying the little things …and embracing it all good bad & ugly…your take makes sense..going though life in and out of awareness/enlightenment What about becoming unattached too everything and everyone to reach enlightenment or I’m I confusing enlightenment with Ascension ?..Golden Lotus? 🪷

[@mymyersfamily]

@@Imawiggle Well, if you want to be unattached to everything, that is impossible because that want itself is an attachment. I've heard it said that the last attachment seekers need to let go of to reach enlightenment is the desire to be enlightened. So long as you cling to that, you will not get there because that is an ego attachment. I've spoken to people about my temporary enlightenment and they said they thought if you became enlightened that you were supposed to teach others, to help them reach it. But I think that is not at all true. Because you realize in that state that there is nothing fundamentally "better" about being enlightened, it is just different. Sure, it is pure love and bliss and stress-free living, but you are living in the present moment, and not in a compare/contrast. Just to think, "Boy, it's sure nice to be enlightened, more people should do this!" is an egoic assessment and opinion and an attachment. The source is all one. It has fragments that pop up to self-observe. We are some of those fragments. Those fragments, in doing their observing, are connected deeply to the source, they are your soul, your holy spirit, your id, but it creates ego manifestations as a tool to engage with the outside world. Like AI subroutines in our brain to deal with different situations. The ego is an artificial intelligence, a tool of our true self. Now, the natural order and cycle of life, death, food chain, keeps the ego in check. mortal fears keep the ego in check and in a servile role, the first mate to the id/soul captain of the ship. But if a life form gets out of balance with the rest of nature, so that it basically escapes the food chain, becomes so untouchable that mortal fears are nearly unheard of, then the ego is no longer in check, it grows and grows until it becomes captain, or so it thinks, and that defines the vast majority of humans today. The problem is, the ego makes a really bad captain of the ship because it is selfish, dishonest, shortsighted, has no integrity, is irresponsible, materialistic, etc. The kind of society that would be created with the ego in charge would be doomed by its own inherent limitations and incompetence. It would inevitably wind up killing itself off. That is just another check and balance of nature. When a species gets too powerful, to dominant, it's ego correspondingly rises in power within the consciousness since there is no more mortal danger, and that rise of the ego taking charge basically dumbs down that species, which inevitably leads to the downfall of the species and thus it is a self-correcting system to have the ego held in check by mortal danger. Consider that people with "borderline personality disorder" are those who, as small children, faced trauma so severe it limited the full development of their personality. But prior to the last 8,000 years or so, we were wandering hunter / gatherers facing mortal danger frequently from birth, so we actually all evolved to have what is now called "borderline personality disorder." It is the full personality, the ego taking over as captain of the ship, that is the real disorder, but not really a disorder because it is mother nature's failsafe for an over-dominant species. Anyway, I suppose the one hope we might have is that mother nature also offers the possibility that a species that rises in dominance so as to break free of its food chain and be masters of their domain freed from mortal dangers might just find a way to nevertheless learn to hold their own egos in check? Some people are able to get their egos back into the supporting role. Not a lot, but hopefully a growing number. I am not sure if we are meant to kill ourselves or learn a level of spiritual growth that saves and ascends us. Oh, well, it's all transient in the end. Well, almost all,

[@Imawiggle]

@@mymyersfamily appreciate the response 🙏🏼❤️…. Was married once divorce now long time was living outliers life …ha hiding out for a decade mumbling to myself “im a wiggle “ thanks Alan ..now aware and in serious relationship with amazing single mom and still seeking just have to keep digging until you find that you don’t like and puts the FEAR of GOD in you like never beg!!…Ego is devastated this was happening a day before mom’s funeral that vers in gospel of Thomas …the and “he will become trouble “..troubled ??troubled ?? Not the WORD I would use !!lol Anyway to.become unattached ? The ultimate paradox!?!..This is the test ! I’m more confused then ever.. Just wanna go in pitch black dark room closet and meditate feel close to the All father I’m ramblin here ..thanks for listening ❤️🙏🏼❤️

[@yishaishasha8690]

So many concepts and ideas and beliefs 😅

[@rulamazigi5839]

“Enlightenment is an event”. I would have to disagree. All events also come and go. You yourself say ‘it’s a one time event’. Furthermore, it’s a total fallacy that enlightenment happens in totality in a single moment. This is extremely rare. Most people go through a process of shedding layers of conditioning, and the depths of this ‘integration’ or ‘embodiment’ of one’s genuine understanding is a never-ending process that can be called the art of living.

[@rulamazigi5839]

Kiss The Bliss I understand. But Eric has talked of the ‘myth of embodiment’ elsewhere, and to talk of enlightenment as an ‘event’ furthers the perception that something amazing is going to ‘happen to me’ and then I will become ‘enlightened’. It’s not an event as such. While all phenomena occurs Now, realizing the True nature of Reality is not an objective experience of mind which can be defined as an event. One who waits for an event will always wait. Anyway, thank you for your response.

[@god5535]

Agree....fully

[@Buai2]

I agree with you... Enlightenment is a state of Being beyond the mind and intellect. In fact, I would say that it unfolds entirely in Silence, and has zero to do with any belief or consideration of the limited mind. Pure & Powerful Love flows more and more in Unity as Enlightenment subtly unfolds...and the ego is shed into the void, never to be seen or heard from again. Love is All, and We are That -

[@waloacme]

It feels like a magic trick being revealed almost.

[@Carlalove1234]

I am not the body I am not the mind

[@shawnmemew4767]

My experience is that enlightenment is as different as snowflakes.