What Enlightenment Is According To Zen And How To Realize It
It’s time to access your inner Zen
Enlightenment is a word that gets thrown around regarding spiritual practice almost as much as God. When we hear the word Enlightenment, our minds immediately conjure up prodigious fantasies featuring enlightenment practitioners meditating on top of Mount Everest adorned in an orange habit or bending spoons with unblinking concentration.
However, according to Zen Buddhism, enlightenment is not something out of reach to the regular T-shirt wearing individual. Indubitably, enlightenment is something that can be realized by any person, as long as the necessary effort is applied.
Before I discuss how enlightenment is attained, it is unavoidable for me to not define the word. First, it is important to note that enlightenment is not something that is outside of us. You can’t ask “how can I get enlightened?” for the same reason you can’t ask “how can I have peace?” Enlightenment, like peace, is a facet of our natural state.
What Is Enlightenment?
Both the head honcho of Buddhism himself, Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha and D. T. Suzuki, a Japanese writer who popularized Zen Buddhism in the West have profound definitions of what enlightenment is: “the end of suffering” and…
