This Is My Definition of Enlightenment

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Never fear earnest expression, with all our own personal unique character and flavour

No need for pedantic correctness.

There are no true mistakes.

Especially in writing. There are some rules, sure. But I think we would all prefer the unfiltered words.

[Willy Phallicus]

13 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

You still fall down—but you don’t get lost

Yep, that's pretty much it.  You still play the game (what choice do you really have) but you're no longer attached. 

Every once in a while you get some "downloads" that remind you of who you truly are and that everything is gonna be okay.  More than okay.

[Cathy92506]

3 hours ago, GodisOne said:

What you're describing is a mental transformation--a change in your relationship to your thoughts. This is all in the world of relativity.

Enlightenment is the dissolution of relativity back into the Absolute. With that, it's revealed that This is just the Absolute appearing as the relative. 

For more, read about/watch radical nonduality (Jim Newman, Kenneth Madden, Alexis Knight, etc..).

Again, I get what you're pointing to. But how would that actually show up in everyday life?

Give me some concrete examples of "before and after." In normal life, like work and relationships.

[Cathy92506]

3 hours ago, Ziran said:

You've mentioned relationships twice.  You're answering your own question.  

After enlightenment, carrying water and chopping wood possesses eternal significance, if not, the enlightened wouldn't choose to do it. 

I see what you’re pointing to.

I’m describing a change in how the mind relates to experience.

When you say that everyday actions have “eternal significance,” I’m not sure what that means in direct experience. Is that something actually felt in the moment, or more a way of describing it afterward?

For example:
Before Enlightenment: "I mow the lawn and build an emotional story around it.
After Enlightenment: "I mow the lawn, those thoughts may still come up, but I’m not identified with them."

How would “eternal significance” show up there—while mowing the lawn?

 

[Cathy92506]

3 hours ago, cistanche_enjoyer said:

Enlightenment = capacity for loving everything infinitely.

You start by loving yourself, then your friends, family, coworkers, enemies, nazis, christians, etc.; when you can fully love everything, that’s enlightenment.

When you say “love everything,” do you mean a feeling, an attitude, or behavior?

I’m trying to understand how that would actually show up moment-to-moment.

[Breakingthewall]

6 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

So you disagree with the definition I stated in my post?

Not, your definition explains how your identity no longer needs constant maintenance, which is true,

mental activity is no longer oriented towards identity but towards perception and understanding. The difference is total. The anxiety disappears.

6 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

You know, that sounds poetic, nice and beautiful. But how would that actually show up in everyday life?

For example, at work, in relationships, stress from driving, etc. What's different?

Obviously, driving a car is the same, you press the accelerator and all that 😅. But it completely changes your mental frequency. Your mind doesn't operate in a state of seeking and lack, but rather recognizes itself for what it is, and is everything within itself.

It ceases to be a timeline and becomes a depth. Before, it clung to identity because it was closed, isolated, and that's impossible to bear; something to hold onto is necessary. Once the mind opens, it perceives itself in its true nature. Not as infinite, present, creative, etc. Those are qualities, adjectives, definitions.

But as what it is: the Tao, the Source, that which is nameless because names arise from it. The absolute reality that generates everything. The unfathomable that it is. The total being that it is because it has no bottom or edges, and in being, it is everything. Sat Chit Ananda, the prodigal son, was traveling in a shitty, arid, dead, hostile desert for so long, and finally he is back home, where life and death are indistinguishable. 

Edited 12 hours ago by Breakingthewall

[Cathy92506]

33 minutes ago, Breakingthewall said:

Not, your definition explains how your identity no longer needs constant maintenance, which is true,

mental activity is no longer oriented towards identity but towards perception and understanding. The difference is total. The anxiety disappears.

Obviously, driving a car is the same, you press the accelerator and all that 😅. But it completely changes your mental frequency. Your mind doesn't operate in a state of seeking and lack, but rather recognizes itself for what it is, and is everything within itself.

It ceases to be a timeline and becomes a depth. Before, it clung to identity because it was closed, isolated, and that's impossible to bear; something to hold onto is necessary. Once the mind opens, it perceives itself in its true nature. Not as infinite, present, creative, etc. Those are qualities, adjectives, definitions.

But as what it is: the Tao, the Source, that which is nameless because names arise from it. The absolute reality that generates everything. The unfathomable that it is. The total being that it is because it has no bottom or edges, and in being, it is everything. Sat Chit Ananda, the prodigal son, was traveling in a shitty, arid, dead, hostile desert for so long, and finally he is back home, where life and death are indistinguishable. 

I think the part about the mind no longer being oriented around identity makes sense to me because that would naturally reduce anxiety.

When you describe it as a change in “mental frequency” or “depth,” I’m still trying to understand what that feels like in a simple situation.

For example, if you're driving and someone cuts you off, if you're no longer identified with your thoughts, there might still be a burst of anger, but you don’t build a story around it.

What would a change in “mental frequency” look like in that same moment?

[cistanche_enjoyer]

4 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

When you say “love everything,” do you mean a feeling, an attitude, or behavior?

It’s hard to explain Love or put it into words. Try to remember the last time you were in love: you didn’t have to explain it, you just KNEW!

Now imagine expanding that to infinity, and you may get a glimpse  

[Consilience]

21 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

What changes is your relationship to your thoughts and emotions.
They still arise, but you’re no longer automatically identified with them. You’re not building an identity or a story around every feeling.

There’s a natural sense of presence—of being here—without needing to control the mind.

You’re still human. You still fall down—but you don’t get lost in it the same way, and you get back up.

Life stays ordinary.
The circumstances don’t transform.
The shift is internal — in how you relate to the voice in your head.
***
PLEASE CRITICIZE, ADD, DELETE, OR WHATEVER.

What changes is the spontaneous self-recognition of the nature of reality/mind/awareness/consciousness/God

Which then: 
"changes is your relationship to your thoughts and emotions"
"still arise, but you’re no longer automatically identified with them. You’re not building an identity or a story around every feeling."
"

There’s a natural sense of presence—of being here—without needing to control the mind.

You’re still human. You still fall down—but you don’t get lost in it the same way, and you get back up.

Life stays ordinary.
The circumstances don’t transform.
The shift is internal — in how you relate to the voice in your head."

Basically everything you mentioned is true, but without the actual "aha" moment of recognizing what's absolutely true, all of what you said can be achieved with metacognition from normal meditation. 

I'd recommend checking out Peter Ralston's definition of enlightenment. 

[moonawakening444]

8 hours ago, cistanche_enjoyer said:

Enlightenment = capacity for loving everything infinitely.

You start by loving yourself, then your friends, family, coworkers, enemies, nazis, christians, etc.; when you can fully love everything, that’s enlightenment.

🤌🙏

[Ziran]

5 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

How would “eternal significance” show up there—while mowing the lawn?

It belongs to a category of relationships:  Tension <<<>> Release.  As the grass grows the tension builds.  Once it's cut the tension releases.  The same energetic principal can be found in many situations.  It's very useful.  It inspires.

[Ziran]

1 hour ago, Consilience said:

the actual "aha" moment

Tension <<>> Release

[Natasha Tori Maru]

3 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

For example, if you're driving and someone cuts you off, if you're no longer identified with your thoughts, there might still be a burst of anger, but you don’t build a story around it.

Are you sure there would be anger? Really question that.

Is anger present with a simple observation? 'Someone cut in front' That is all.

If anger is arising, we are still identifying with thought. With a 'me'. 

'Someone cut ME off, now I will be inconvenienced!!' vs 'Someone cut in to traffic.'

[GodisOne]

8 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

Again, I get what you're pointing to. But how would that actually show up in everyday life?

Give me some concrete examples of "before and after." In normal life, like work and relationships.

There is nothing to show up and no one for it to show up to. There is nothing to be aware of and no one to be aware of it.

You claim you currently have a life because there is an energetic sense that you are a separate person. The stronger the sense of separation, the stronger the sense that something is happening. 

Edited 6 hours ago by GodisOne

[Mellowmarsh]

On 26/03/2026 at 9:19 AM, Cathy92506 said:

Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

What changes is your relationship to your thoughts and emotions.
They still arise, but you’re no longer automatically identified with them. You’re not building an identity or a story around every feeling.

There’s a natural sense of presence—of being here—without needing to control the mind.

You’re still human. You still fall down—but you don’t get lost in it the same way, and you get back up.

Life stays ordinary.
The circumstances don’t transform.
The shift is internal — in how you relate to the voice in your head.
***
PLEASE CRITICIZE, ADD, DELETE, OR WHATEVER.

Enlightenment is a myth. It’s an idea that has zero information of knowing what an idea is.

Edited 6 hours ago by Mellowmarsh

[gettoefl]

3 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

Are you sure there would be anger? Really question that.

Is anger present with a simple observation? 'Someone cut in front' That is all.

If anger is arising, we are still identifying with thought. With a 'me'. 

'Someone cut ME off, now I will be inconvenienced!!' vs 'Someone cut in to traffic.'

Anger isn't chosen; it arises automatically or not. If it does, I can either continue it through more interpretation or release it to allow for non-interference. One sustains misperception; while release of anger allows reality to be clearly seen.

[Breakingthewall]

8 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

For example, if you're driving and someone cuts you off, if you're no longer identified with your thoughts,

That's not how it works. You don't go through life operating in a divided mode, like an observer watching thoughts. Reality flows, that's all.

The change is deeper: you stop living in lack and on a timeline. Living in lack is the norm; you're not happy, but you will be when you find your ideal partner, become rich, or go on vacation. You live in a closed state that manifests as anxious vibration, and you constantly create an image of an individual moving through time and completing stages, never fully present. The change is total, because the present opens up before you, and lack disappears since being encompasses everything.

8 hours ago, Cathy92506 said:

When you describe it as a change in “mental frequency” or “depth,” I’m still trying to understand what that feels like in a simple situation.

It's not about specific situations, but about the mental vibration you live in. If your mind opens, you realize how horrible it was to live in a closed state, but when you're there, you adapt and survive. It's like being dead, isolated, locked away.

To survive like that, you create mental strategies, neuroses that fill the mental space to avoid collapsing. If your mind opens and you perceive yourself as you truly are, all projections disappear. It's not just a mental change, but a physical one as well. Your body stores thousands of micro-tensions; you're in a state of defense without realizing it.

Opening up involves looking death in the face and opening yourself to it. Then the timeline of your life blurs; only the now remains, which is alive, flows, and has no bottom or edges. The mental flow stops, because you were creating it to protect yourself, to live in some kind of ground, because the absence of ground was unbearable. Now the total absence of ground feels like total freedom 

[Natasha Tori Maru]

1 hour ago, gettoefl said:

Anger isn't chosen; it arises automatically or not. If it does, I can either continue it through more interpretation or release it to allow for non-interference. One sustains misperception; while release of anger allows reality to be clearly seen.

Question if that is true.

[Cathy92506]

5 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

Are you sure there would be anger? Really question that.

Is anger present with a simple observation? 'Someone cut in front' That is all.

If anger is arising, we are still identifying with thought. With a 'me'. 

'Someone cut ME off, now I will be inconvenienced!!' vs 'Someone cut in to traffic.'

In my experience, there can still be an initial emotional reaction, but it doesn’t turn into a story or linger the same way.

Are you saying that in complete non-identification, even that initial reaction wouldn’t arise at all? 
 

[Natasha Tori Maru]

16 minutes ago, Cathy92506 said:

In my experience, there can still be an initial emotional reaction, but it doesn’t turn into a story or linger the same way.

Are you saying that in complete non-identification, even that initial reaction wouldn’t arise at all? 
 

Emotional reaction - as opposed to feeling, which normally has the story attached - can be instinctual ie survival based. Faster than thought. Keeps you safe. You feel the fear of the lion and it generates energy to move. 

In the example - feeling anger because someone cuts you off while driving - the anger is arising because of the story 'they cut me off'. An adult might feel angry. 

If a child were walking, and another child walked in front of them - they don't get angry. There is 'oh an obstacle in front (another kid) '. In a similar way, animals do not get angry when another animal moves in front. But the do experience anger/agitation as a survival mechanism.

The adult in this scenario is reacting to the story. If the adult had no story it would just be 'someone cut in'. Not 'someone cut me off', which inserts their narrative in.

So in some instances the story is generating all the emotion. In others, like the lion, survival is the instant generator and powerful protector that requires no story. In some cases the initial reaction doesnt happen. But more often than not in non-identifiction the emotion happens, without it becoming a feeling (where the story, or perception) comes in. This gives you breathing room to respond and not react. 

Important to note though, not all emotions are created equal 😁

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Natasha Tori Maru