Enlightenment |
Is it experiential, or is it knowledge based?
The eastern religious ideas of it are: (1) that you are eternally buzzing in pure ecstasy; or (2) that your mind merges into the one mind and stops its illusion of individuation, of identity; or (3) that you dispassionately observe reality without the turmoil of having thoughts to confuse you; or (4) that you realize the true reality by experiencing it continually. All this implies we are currently not enlightened but can become so. (Who thought of this idea?)
The common claim about meditation is that it is beneficial to spend some time every day calming your thoughts, going outside of your thoughts and observing them dispassionately. As if our brain and mind is somehow wired wrong and we have to fix it. (Yes, I agree that living in mental turmoil is not healthy or enjoyable, and that some psychological adjustment is beneficial.)
But my view is: that true enlightenment is more an exercise in reason, of knowledge. False viewpoints or categories should be discarded. And don't pretend to know that which is unknowable.