Yesterday during a conversation with a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka I asked him;

“Is it possible for a person to experience complete enlightenment, in the Buddhist sense, without ever having heard a single word of Buddhist teachings?”

His answer was, “YES”.

I asked him how this would be possible, and he said;
“Because it is the truth“.

It struck me how simple, and yet powerful this attitude is.

From his answer, it seems that his assumption is that “enlightenment” is a fairly static, or predictable, definable event. That is, that it can be held apart from any particular mindset, or set of teachings. It is a result of understanding, in a complete and total manner, ”the truth”.

Frankly, as I have stated before, it is my present position that Buddhist enlightenment is a result of Buddhist world view and teachings.  (I am open to revision of this opinion if a more compelling argument or experience presents itself to me.)

It is ONE form of enlightenment, perhaps among many.

It seems to me that experiencing Buddhist enlightenment is a result of thoroughly steeping your mind and thoughts in the Buddhist world view, which include the concept and experience of enlightenment.

For example, one of the elements of enlightenment in Buddhism is the loss of the sense of “self”. One’s sense of having a separate, distinct self, disappears in the full realization that the self does not exist… it is an illusion, a fantasy constructed by your mind.

Once the idea that the sense of self is a false illusion is postulated, the concept that you can drop that sense of self in enlightenment becomes possible. Once it becomes possible, it can be achieved.

So, is this aspect of enlightenment a universal element of realization that happens every time?

In my view the realization of the loss of self may be a purely psychological realization. It is a change in perspective that involves instantly deconstructing an accumulation of false constructs.

Buddhism raises this point of the “no-self”, and its relationship to enlightenment, to a fairly high status of importance.  What I am wondering is - is it inevitable that one would discover this idea of “no-self” as being an essential aspect of enlightenment? And further, would one inevitably experience this without ever having even heard of such a concept?

So again, I am back to this question;

Exactly what IS Buddhist enlightenment?

My next point is this -

If you don’t have to be Buddhist to experience complete enlightenment,
there may be ANOTHER way…

One of the things I am pursuing here in the Unity Project is whether there are practices, or modes of understanding, that can lead to “enlightenment”… that do not require years of practice, meditation, and study.

I am not looking for a “quick fix”, or magical pill to take… but the idea that the only path to enlightenment is a Buddhist one, or one that inevitably takes years of dedication and sacrifice etc. – somehow that idea has never seemed completely right to me.

I know much of the theory of why this is so, why Buddhism works so well, and why it is necessary to go through persistent and focused effort, but I still think that it is possible that this view (the “long, hard road view”) is perhaps only an ASSUMPTION in itself. 

It is a belief.

The idea that the experience of enlightenment can be achieved without reference to Buddhism, or Buddhist thoughts and concepts, is a powerful one.

If this is true, then I wonder what else might exist that can come up with the same result… how does one achieve enlightenment without the Buddha’s teachings?

I realize the response of some people may be; “Well, if Buddhism will lead you to enlightenment, why do you need to worry about another way to get there?”

There are two reasons.

One, from a purely hypothetical stand point, it is a fascinating topic.

It calls into question exactly what enlightenment is.

Is enlightenment a more-or-less “static” event that follows predictable and patterned outcomes, or is it fluid and different for each person?

How similar is the experience of enlightenment for each individual, since each individual is uniquely different?

The second reason for asking this question is more practical, and that is that, other methods and ideas can come out of this investigation that may lead to quicker results.

If there is more than one way to enlightenment, perhaps the other way, or other ways, might be more efficient… might require less effort, and might increase the value of your life experience with less “wasted time” to get to the same result.

If you have a moment, feel free to leave your comments here or contact me directly via my contact page. I would be happy to hear your thoughts and input into this conversation.

In Unity,
AJ