What is Enlightenment?

Summary

This video explores the concept of enlightenment in Buddhism, focusing on the meaning of awakening, nirvana, and their implications for human consciousness. The speaker explains that our ordinary existence is conditioned by desires and fears, but enlightenment offers a state of calm, clarity, and deep understanding. Using metaphors like a still pond, the video describes how letting go of attachments and self-centeredness leads to compassion and interconnectedness with others. Enlightenment is seen not as an isolated experience but as a way to engage in healing the world through empathy and compassionate action.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Enlightenment is central to Buddhism, signifying an awakening from ordinary, conditioned consciousness.
• 🔍 Buddha means 'awakened one,' and ordinary consciousness is likened to a dream that we rise out of through enlightenment.
• 🌀 Enlightenment is difficult to conceptualize and often described using metaphors due to its experiential nature.
• 💭 From birth, we are conditioned by external influences to form a worldview, which enlightenment helps us transcend.
• 💡 Nirvana, enlightenment, and awakening are considered synonyms, with 'nirvana' meaning stillness or calm in Sanskrit.
• 🌊 Nirvana is compared to a still pond, where clarity emerges as agitation and mental noise settle.
• 🧘‍♂️ The process of enlightenment involves releasing attachment to desires and fears, leading to serenity and clarity.
• 🤲 Enlightenment fosters compassion (Karuna) and empathy, as one feels interconnected with all beings and their suffering.
• 👣 Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who commit to alleviating the suffering of others while still engaging with the world.
• ❤️ Compassionate action, as taught in Buddhism, serves both others and oneself, expanding one’s own sense of virtue and well-being.

Q & A

What is the central idea of Buddhism discussed in the script?

The central idea discussed in the script is enlightenment or awakening, which is seen as the core of all forms of Buddhism. It is about rising above ordinary consciousness, which is considered a kind of conditioned dream, into a more liberated and realized state of awareness.

What is the meaning of the term 'Buddha' according to the script?

The term 'Buddha' comes from the Sanskrit root 'budh,' which means to awaken. It reflects the idea of awakening from ordinary consciousness into a more enlightened state.

How is 'nirvana' defined in the script?

In the script, nirvana is synonymous with awakening and enlightenment. Etymologically, it means 'no wind' (nir meaning 'no' and vana meaning 'wind' or 'moving air'), representing a state of stillness, calm, and serenity.

What metaphor is used to describe the state of nirvana?

Nirvana is compared to a pond that has become calm after a windy day. Once the wind subsides, the water becomes still, clear, and reflects the sky. This metaphor highlights the clarity and depth that come with stillness in consciousness, akin to nirvana.

What are the two lists that people keep in their minds according to the speaker?

The two lists people keep in their minds are the list of things they want and the list of things they don't want (aversions). Life, according to the speaker, is about managing these lists—bringing desired things closer and keeping unwanted things away.

What exercise is suggested to understand nirvana better?

The speaker suggests an exercise of imagining how it would feel if both the lists of wants and aversions suddenly vanished. This shift from craving and fear to gratitude and equanimity offers a glimpse into the state of nirvanic consciousness.

How does enlightenment affect one's perception of others' suffering?

Enlightenment leads to the development of compassion (Karuna), where one feels the suffering of others as their own. The enlightened person becomes less self-centered and more concerned with alleviating the suffering of others.

What role do Bodhisattvas play in Mahayana Buddhism according to the script?

In Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have one foot in nirvana and one foot in the world. They remain in the world to help others by alleviating suffering, rather than withdrawing from it.

What does the Dalai Lama say about compassionate action?

The Dalai Lama is quoted saying that 'Compassionate action is the highest form of self-interest,' meaning that when we act virtuously for others, our own virtue and well-being naturally expand and brighten.

What is the next topic that will be discussed in the series?

The next topic in the series will explore what an enlightened person knows and how reality and experience appear to someone who has achieved enlightenment.

Outlines

00:00

🌅 Understanding Enlightenment in Buddhism

The speaker explores the concept of enlightenment, which is central to Buddhism. Enlightenment, often referred to as awakening, is about transcending ordinary consciousness, which is seen as a kind of dream or conditioned existence. Although difficult to fully explain due to its ineffable nature, enlightenment is described using metaphors like 'awakening.' The speaker stresses the importance of rethinking the worldview handed to us by society and embarking on the philosophical quest for wisdom, a journey that leads to a deeper understanding of enlightenment. The term Nirvana is introduced, symbolizing stillness and serenity in consciousness, contrasting with our typical agitated state of craving and fear.

05:05

🧘‍♂️ The Stillness of Nirvana

The speaker delves into the metaphor of Nirvana, comparing it to a pond on a windy day. When the wind is agitated, the water is muddy and unclear, much like our minds in ordinary consciousness. As the wind stills, the water becomes calm and clear, reflecting its surroundings with depth and clarity. This is used to illustrate the essence of Nirvana, a state of consciousness marked by stillness and serenity. Nirvana is described as the release of attachments to craving and fear, bringing clarity and inner peace. The speaker also touches on the daily lists of desires and aversions that govern our lives, inviting listeners to imagine how it would feel if those lists disappeared, leaving only peace and acceptance.

10:05

🙏 Compassion and Enlightenment

In this section, the speaker focuses on the role of compassion (Karuna) and empathy in enlightenment. Enlightened beings, like the Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, experience the suffering of others as their own. This state of empathy leads to a deep interconnectedness with all living beings and a diminishing self-centeredness. Drawing parallels to Jesus' teachings on fearlessness and the lilies of the field, the speaker explains that enlightenment brings not only inner peace but also a greater sense of responsibility for alleviating the suffering of others. Compassionate action is emphasized as the highest form of self-interest, with the Dalai Lama's words highlighting the reciprocal healing that occurs when we help others.

Keywords

💡Enlightenment

Enlightenment is central to Buddhism and refers to a state of awakened consciousness. The video explains it as rising out of ordinary consciousness, characterized by craving and fear, into a fuller, liberated state of awareness. This term is used interchangeably with 'awakening' and 'nirvana,' emphasizing the deep clarity and serenity associated with this mental and spiritual state.

💡Nirvana

Nirvana, derived from Sanskrit, literally means 'no wind' or 'stillness.' It symbolizes a peaceful and serene state of consciousness, free from the turmoil and agitation of ordinary thought. The video describes it as similar to enlightenment, portraying it as a state where cravings and fears dissolve, leading to a clear and undisturbed mind, much like a calm, undisturbed pond.

💡Ordinary consciousness

Ordinary consciousness refers to the everyday mental state that most people experience, dominated by desires, fears, and conditioned responses. The video highlights that this is akin to living in a dream-like, conditioned reality, from which enlightenment allows a person to wake up. It contrasts sharply with the peaceful, detached state of enlightenment.

💡Craving and fear

Craving and fear are identified in the video as core elements of ordinary consciousness, constantly agitating the mind and leading to suffering. The speaker explains that human life is often a balance of seeking what we want (craving) and avoiding what we don't want (fear), and enlightenment is about letting go of both, which brings about inner peace.

💡Metaphor of the pond

The pond metaphor is used to illustrate how ordinary consciousness becomes clouded by constant thoughts, fears, and desires, similar to how a pond becomes muddy when disturbed. When the mind calms down, like the wind stopping over the pond, clarity and stillness are achieved. This metaphor is key in understanding nirvana as a state of mental stillness and clarity.

💡Compassion (Karuna)

Compassion, or 'karuna' in Sanskrit, is a significant outcome of enlightenment. The video explains that as self-centeredness decreases in the enlightened state, a person begins to feel the suffering of others as their own. This interconnected empathy, where the suffering of others matters as much as personal suffering, becomes a guiding principle of an enlightened life.

💡Interdependence

Interdependence is the realization in enlightenment that all life and energy are interconnected. The video explains that enlightened individuals see the world as an interconnected whole, which decreases self-obsession and increases compassion. It highlights how understanding this interdependence leads to greater empathy and reduces the focus on individual desires.

💡Bodhisattva

A Bodhisattva is an enlightened being in Mahayana Buddhism who chooses to remain in the world to help others rather than retreat into personal bliss. The video describes these beings as 'bridge beings' with one foot in nirvana and the other in the world, committed to alleviating the suffering of all sentient beings as part of their dharma (purpose).

💡Renunciation

Renunciation refers to the act of letting go of attachments and desires, a fundamental step toward enlightenment. The video associates this with shifting from a mindset of scarcity and craving to one of gratitude and acceptance. Renunciation allows a person to be free from constant anxiety about outcomes, a key element in achieving inner peace and stillness.

💡The examined life

The examined life, a concept borrowed from Socrates, refers to living with awareness, reflection, and questioning the beliefs we were taught. The video ties this to the philosophical quest for wisdom and truth, suggesting that enlightenment is part of this broader search for understanding. This life of inquiry contrasts with unthinking adherence to inherited worldviews.

Highlights

Enlightenment is central to Buddhism, with the word Buddha coming from the Sanskrit root 'budh,' meaning 'to awaken.'

Buddhism teaches that ordinary consciousness is a conditioned existence, like a dream, which we can awaken from to achieve a fuller, liberated state of consciousness.

Enlightenment and higher realized states of consciousness are experiential, not conceptual, and thus are difficult to describe using ordinary language.

The concept of Nirvana is synonymous with enlightenment and awakening, meaning 'no wind,' symbolizing stillness, calm, and serenity.

Nirvana is metaphorically illustrated as a still pond after the wind calms down, where stillness leads to clarity and depth in consciousness.

Ordinary consciousness is characterized by craving and fear, but Nirvana represents a state free from these agitations.

Life often revolves around two lists: things we want and things we don't want, and striving to balance them.

A glimpse of Nirvanic consciousness is possible by imagining life without these wants and fears, leading to gratitude and equanimity.

Enlightenment involves a shift from self-centeredness to a recognition of the interconnectedness of all life, diminishing personal wants and increasing joy and freedom.

Compassion (Karuna) naturally arises in the enlightened state, where the suffering of others is seen and felt as one’s own.

The Bodhisattva, a key figure in Mahayana Buddhism, is an enlightened being who commits to the alleviation of suffering while remaining engaged with the world.

The Bodhisattva ideal reflects the purpose of life: to heal the world and reduce suffering through compassionate action.

Compassionate action is described as 'the highest form of self-interest,' as helping others leads to one’s own virtue and well-being.

The question posed for further inquiry is: 'What does an enlightened person know?' and how does reality appear to someone who has reached enlightenment.

Transcripts

So, here in our continuing series on Buddhism, today I want to take up the

question "What is enlightenment?" Because enlightenment is at the core of all

things Buddhism. Remember the word Buddha came from the Sanskrit root "budh," to

awaken. So at the very center of all, all of the different kinds of Buddhism is

this one idea: that ordinary consciousness is a kind of dream, a kind

of program, a conditioned existence that we can rise up out of into a fuller, more

realized, more liberated form of consciousness. And it's described by

these metaphors: as enlightenment or awakening. And we have to figure out what

that means if we're gonna understand Buddhism at all. And yet it's difficult

to talk about enlightenment. You know we pore through the literature, we consult

with lifelong practitioners, and I'm afraid the

I'm afraid the travelers tales are a little murky. And we're up against that

idea that always confronts us in all of our religious studies, namely,

ineffability. Those higher realized states of consciousness are experiential,

not conceptual, and in the end they can't be talked about down here at the level

of ordinary consciousness. So we're stuck with metaphors and, you know, fingers

pointing at the moon. So let's do what we can to keep this simple and unpack this

in as clear way as possible. Maybe we'll start here. Think about it.

When we were born they brought us home. We were in these amazing bodies with

these sensory apparatus and cognitive capabilities and we began to take in

perception and we learned language and when they taught us a language that

carried with it a worldview, a value system, and these are the beautiful

things, these are the ugly things, these are the true things, these are the false

things, you know, we were told what was what.

And our whole worldview was imparted to us by I think, you know, all these

well-intentioned sources: teachers and ministers and parents and society and

culture and all of that. I don't think it was a nefarious conditioning process. It

was just, it's just what happens when you take form in the world of embodied forms

and you try to piece it all together conceptually. So our worldview was

largely handed to us. We didn't really choose it. And then you grow up and you

become an adult and you start asking questions and you begin living what

Socrates called "the examined life." Remember he said "the unexamined life is

not worth living." So in the philosophic life we start wondering on what grounds

should I believe everything that I have been taught? Or as Descartes put it, "What

do I really know with certainty?" So the quest begins for wisdom, for knowledge,

for truth. And this is a universal philosophical quest and Buddhism is just

one of the many responses to that, to that longing for knowing, that longing

for wisdom. And maybe another good place to start for us and our in our inquiry

into what is enlightenment is with the word nirvana.

The word Nirvana in Sanskrit is I think synonymous with awakening and with

enlightenment -- let's just make all three of those words synonyms: awakening,

enlightenment, and now Nirvana. Originally in its pure literal meaning Nirvana in

Sanskrit means "no wind." Nir is a negating prefix and vana means wind or

air that is moving. So Nirvana implies stillness. Sometimes it's translated as

"to blow out" like to blow out a flame. So in its, in its root sense Nirvana is a

one word poem denoting stillness, calm, serenity,

the opposite of the state of consciousness that we're always in, you

know, agitation and fear: that craving and fear in an agitated state that you

and I call thinking. So what if Nirvana, initially anyway, in original Buddhism,

simply referred to a state of consciousness characterized by stillness

and serenity. You know, think about, think about a pond out in the woods on

a very, very windy day. And the wind is blowing and the water is choppy and

the the waves on the pond are swirling around and the water is so

agitated that all of the silt and mud on the bottom of the pond as has

kicked up into the water and is suspended in the water and it's muddy

and murky and it's a mess. And then imagine the wind calming down

and becoming completely still. Soon the pond has gone to glass and the

water's become so still that all of the silt has settled back down to the bottom

of the pond. And this is going to take some time by the way. But as the

stillness takes over and the mirror surface of the pond reflects every cloud

in the sky, and you can see all the way to the bottom of the pond and see every

pebble. With stillness comes clarity and depth. And that conveys I think what is

essentially meant by nirvana: a state of consciousness, of clarity and

depth, that is only possible when we release our attachment to the agitated

state of craving and fear that characterizes our ordinary existence. So

I don't know about you but I have two lists in my head going all the time and

I bet you do too. Let's let's think about consciousness

for a minute. One list is all the things I want, and it's a long list. And and some

of its sort of trivial, like I want a cup of coffee, and some of it's grave and

intense, like I want world peace. And I want more money, and I want health, and I

want to all my friends to do well. And there's all these things that I want. I

want the sun to come out. And then there's this other list, and I bet you

have this list too. Here's all the things I don't want -- my aversions. I don't want

skin cancer so I wear a hat when I go outside. I don't want my car to break

down so I keep it maintained and my phone charged up. I have a long list of

things I don't want, and I have a long list of things that I want, and life is

kind of the maintenance isn't it of those two lists. You try to bring the

things you want closer to you, and you try to keep the things you don't want

away from you. And that's life. Let me ask you a question now. With those two lists

in mind, your two lists, how would it feel right here in your gut, how would it feel

if both of those lists suddenly vanished?

Now there's nothing you want, there's nothing you need. You've shifted from the

consciousness of scarcity and craving to the consciousness of gratitude and

appreciation. And there's nothing that you are afraid of. Anything could happen

and you would be okay. You would accept it with equanimity.

The arising and fading of forms. Fine. And so with that exercise we catch

a glimpse the possibility of nirvanic

consciousness. The simple surrender, what in Hinduism we called renunciation,

letting go of attachment to outcomes. And what also happens in enlightenment,

the Buddhist literature tells us, is we begin to think less and less about

ourselves. You know there's that wonderful Tibetan Buddhist saying, "Want

to go to hell? Think about yourself. Want to go to heaven? Think about other

people." When in the enlightened state, in the nirvanic state, we look out at the

world, we see the deep and real interdependency and interconnectedness

of all energy, all consciousness, and all forms. And in that beautiful ballet my

own needs and wants pale and shrink in relative comparison to the grandeur of

it all. And I become slightly less self-obsessed, and my joy and my freedom

begins to increase. I realize my inherent wellness and I realize the way

in which I am supported, and I don't have to panic all the time about everything.

You know Jesus says so often in the Gospels, "Fear not." And in the Sermon on the

Mount those beautiful anti-anxiety passages, you know, why are you worried

all the time? Look at the lilies of the field or look at the birds, they

don't, they don't worry, they don't toil, they don't store up, and look how they're

supported and taken care of. Do you not think that you are supported and taken

care of? And so another element of enlightenment is Karuna or compassion. we

begin to see the suffering of others as our own suffering because that is what

compassion means, from the Greek passion or "suffering" and com, meaning "with." So when

we have compassion we suffer with another. And another word that fits pretty

well here: empathy. The suffering of the other is felt as my

own suffering. This is a natural outcome of enlightenment as well. As my

self-centeredness begins to decrease I suddenly am just as concerned about you

as I am about me. So with these words we try to paint a

picture that brings into somewhat clearer focus of this nebulous idea of

Nirvana or enlightenment. And throughout Buddhism there are many examples. In

Mahayana Buddhism they're called Bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattva, the

illumined being, is, like the Buddha, someone who has one foot in Nirvana and

one foot in the world. They're kind of bridge beings. They exist in

Nirvanic consciousness, but they're not off on a mountaintop just blissing out.

They're back in the marketplace. They're back in the street. They're back in the

dusty world serving, healing who and what they can heal. That wonderful Jewish

phrase "tikkun olam," to heal the world, this is our Dharma, this is our purpose --

to participate in the sustenance of the world. This is what all the spiritual

teachers call us to. And out of the enlightened state the Bodhisattva

commits to the alleviation of the suffering of all sentient beings, and

that's held up in Buddhism as a kind of ideal. That's the purpose of life. It's

why we're here -- to participate in the healing of the world. I mean I don't need

to tell you, look around, there is woundedness everywhere. And when we

attend to the wounds of others our own wounds begin to heal mysteriously. As the

Dalai Lama put it "Compassionate action is the highest form of self interest."

Compassionate action is the highest form of self interest because when we are

virtuous for others our own virtue naturally

expands and brightens. So as we continue this series of inquiries into the

wonderful philosophy of Buddhism the next question we need to think about is

well, what if this enlightenment business is real? What if there's some merit to

this? Then what does an enlightened person know? Looking through the eyes of

enlightenment, how does reality appear? How does experience unfold? So that's the

question we take up in our next video. What does an enlightened person know?