What do Buddhists mean by "enlightenment"?

Many people have heard that the Buddha was enlightened and that Buddhists seek enlightenment. But what does it mean? "Enlightenment" is an English word that can mean several things. In the West, the Age of Enlightenment was a 17th and 18th century philosophical movement that promoted science and reason about myth and superstition, so in Western culture enlightenment is often associated with intellect and knowledge. But Buddhist enlightenment is something else.

Lighting and Satori
To add confusion, "enlightenment" has been used as a translation for several Asian words that don't mean the same thing. For example, several decades ago, English Buddhists were introduced to Buddhism through the writing of DT Suzuki (1870-1966), a Japanese scholar who had lived for a time as a Zen monk Rinzai. Suzuki used "enlightenment" to translate the Japanese word satori, derived from the verb satoru, "to know".

This translation was not without justification. But in use, satori usually refers to an experience of understanding the true nature of reality. It has been compared to the experience of opening a door, but opening a door still implies a separation from what is inside the door. Partly thanks to Suzuki's influence, the idea of ​​spiritual enlightenment as a sudden, blissful and transformative experience was incorporated into Western culture. However, this is misleading.

Although Suzuki and some of the early Zen teachers in the West have explained enlightenment as an experience that can be had in some moments, most Zen teachers and Zen texts tell you that enlightenment is not an experience but one permanent state: permanently go through the door. Even satori is not enlightenment itself. In this, Zen is in keeping with the way enlightenment is seen in other branches of Buddhism.

Enlightenment and Bodhi (Theravada)
Bodhi, a Sanskrit word and pali which means "awakening", is often translated as "enlightenment".

In Theravada Buddhism, bodhi is associated with the perfection of the intuition of the Four Noble Truths, which put an end to dukkha (suffering, stress, dissatisfaction). The person who has perfected this intuition and abandoned all defilements is an arhat, one who is freed from the cycle of samsara or endless rebirth. While alive, he enters into a kind of conditional nirvana and, upon death, enjoys the peace of complete nirvana and escapes from the cycle of rebirth.

In the Atthinukhopariyaayo Sutta of the Pali Tipitaka (Samyutta Nikaya 35,152), the Buddha said:

"So, monks, this is the criterion according to which a monk, apart from faith, apart from persuasion, apart from inclination, apart from rational speculation, apart from the pleasure of views and theories, could affirm the achievement of enlightenment: 'Birth is destroyed, holy life has been accomplished, what had to be done is done, there is no more life in this world. "
Enlightenment and Bodhi (Mahayana)
In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhi is associated with the perfection of wisdom, or sunyata. This is the teaching that all phenomena are devoid of self-essence.

Many of us perceive the things and beings around us as distinctive and permanent. But this vision is a projection. Instead, the phenomenal world is an ever-changing nexus of causes and conditions or dependent origin. Things and beings, devoid of self-essence, are neither real nor non-real: the doctrine of the two truths. The in-depth perception of sunyata dissolves the chains of self-bonding that cause our unhappiness. The dual way of distinguishing between oneself and others yields to a permanent non-permanent vision in which all things are related.

In Mahayana Buddhism, the idea of ​​practice is that of the bodhisattva, the enlightened being who remains in the phenomenal world to bring everything to enlightenment. The bodhisattva ideal is more than altruism; reflects the reality that none of us are separate. "Individual lighting" is an oxymoron.

Lighting in Vajrayana
A branch of Mahayana Buddhism, the tantric schools of Vajrayana Buddhism, believes that enlightenment can come all at once in a transformative moment. This goes hand in hand with the belief in Vajrayana that the various passions and impediments of life, rather than being obstacles, can be the fuel for the transformation into enlightenment that can take place in a single moment, or at least in this life. The key to this practice is the belief in the intrinsic nature of the Buddha, the innate perfection of our inner nature that simply waits for us to recognize it. This belief in the ability to immediately reach enlightenment is not the same as the Sartori phenomenon. For Vajrayana Buddhists, enlightenment is not a glance through the door but a permanent state.

Illumination and nature of the Buddha
According to legend, when the Buddha achieved enlightenment, he said something with the effect of "It is not extraordinary! All beings are already enlightened! " This state is what is known as Buddha Nature, which forms a fundamental part of Buddhist practice in some schools. In Mahayana Buddhism, the nature of the Buddha is the intrinsic Buddhahood of all beings. Since all beings are already Buddhas, the task is not to achieve enlightenment but to achieve it.

The Chinese master Huineng (638-713), the sixth Patriarch of Ch'an (Zen), compared Buddhahood to a moon obscured by clouds. Clouds represent ignorance and contamination. When these are dropped, the moon, already present, is revealed.

Insight experiences
What about those sudden, blissful and transformative experiences? You may have had these moments and felt that you were in something spiritually profound. A similar experience, although pleasant and sometimes accompanied by a genuine intuition, is not in itself enlightenment. For most practitioners, a blissful spiritual experience not based on the practice of the Eightfold Path to attaining enlightenment will likely not be transformative. The hunt for blissful states can in itself become a form of desire and attachment, and the path to enlightenment is to surrender by clinging and desiring.

Zen teacher Barry Magid said about Master Hakuin, in "Nothing is Hidden":

“Post-satori practice for Hakuin meant finally stopping worrying about his personal condition and achievement and dedicating himself and his practice to helping and teaching others. Eventually, he finally realized that true enlightenment is a matter of infinite practice and compassionate functioning, not something that occurs once and for all at a great time on the pillow. "
The master and the monk Shunryu Suzuki (1904-1971) said of the illumination:

“It is a kind of mystery that for people who have no experience with enlightenment, enlightenment is something wonderful. But if they reach it, it is nothing. But it is nothing. Do you understand? For a mother with children, having children is nothing special. This is zazen. So if you continue this practice, you will acquire more and more - nothing special, but still something. You can say "universal nature" or "Buddha nature" or "enlightenment". You can call it by many names, but for the person who owns it, it's nothing and it's something. ”
Both legend and documented evidence suggest that qualified practitioners and enlightened beings may be capable of extraordinary, even supernatural, mental powers. However, these skills are not evidence of enlightenment, nor are they somehow essential to it. Here, too, we are warned not to chase these mental abilities with the risk of confusing the finger pointing to the moon for the moon itself.

If you wonder if you've enlightened, it's almost certain not. The only way to test your intuition is to present it to a dharma teacher. Don't be discouraged if your result falls apart under the supervision of a teacher. False starts and mistakes are a necessary part of the journey, and if and when you reach enlightenment, it will be built on solid foundations and you won't have any mistakes.