Why is enlightenment, how do I obtain it, and why has it been so coveted especially in Eastern sprirtual traditions? This topic that has befuddled many for thousands of years. The state of enlightenment has been described by many as they attemped to find it. The descriptions of it and the paths to its discovery are too numerous to even try to put down on paper.

The act of description may even be counterproductive. Thinking and writing in words are manifests of the world and seem to be poor tools in in creating an image of this state. Lao-Tsu said in his description of the unmanifested realm, "The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao". Also, there might be as many paths to it as there are souls in the world. Any teacher that tells you that there is a certain path that you must take to reach enlightenment may not fully connected to that realm. Another's way may be the way for him but not for anyone else. If he involves the ego by saying "this is the only road to take" has missed the point. Spiritual teachers cannot walk the path for you but can only act a flashlight to point us through the obscurity and in the right general direction.  

To enter the state of Being appears to be a daunting task with procedures, scriptures, dogmas, creeds, mediatation, prayer, and so on, that have been passed down to us for many centuries. It has always seemed to be so very complicated. If this state is the one we were meant to inhabit, oneness with all, it seems that we should be able to do it in a natural way. All of the accumulated knowledge of mankind cannot show you the way to Being. To enter, we must sever our identification with those  manifested items that we feel we must have in order to be who we are. They include the ego, the mind of thoughts and the emotions they produce, material items, the past, and the future. These are all wordly in nature. They do exist as part of creation, but identifying them as part of our true nature or as our identity, creates a barrier to the spirit within. The spirit that has a connection to all that is including the manifested world and the beings who inhabit it.

"Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate your self. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest".
- Dogen

Enlightenment means, as the name implies, "to bring light onto". This a simple but profound definition for those endeavoring in the spiritual realm. To be enlightened means that you have brought the light of your spirit into the world. That is to say, re-established the connection of your spirit with all of creation.

The unmanifested lies in the realm of Being, God, The Tao, or by the many names it has been referred to as. The manifested or the world as it is called, consists of those objects that are recognizable by the senses. Both realms are equally real. Though they have differences, they are not seperate. Recognizing that all is one has been the pursuit of many holy men and women for as long as our species has had a mind capable of doing so. Once the light of the spirit is brought forth, the manifested and the unmanifested are again veiwed as part of the whole of all that is.

The manifested cannot recognize or properly conceive of the unmanifested spirit within all of us. No cognitive power that man posses can comprehend the realm of Being. To unmask the spirit within, you rid yourself of the interferring influence of the mind of thought and the ego. You must take witness of the mind and workings of the ego from your higher self that looms behind them. Their identity as you,  as well as their signifigence we place upon them, will diminish. This higher self or spirit will then be able to feel its connection to all that is or God. As Jesus said, "The kingdom of Heaven is inside of you". Your salvation lies in bringing the light of Being out into the world. The world and everything in it, will be transformed. 

"What we are looking for is what is looking."
- St. Francis of Assisi