What are your thoughts about the truly enlightened person? Where would God fit into this person's life? Would this person believe they are God? Or, would this person be a servant?

Does enlightment have anything to do with the ability to heal?

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My opinions only: First, I don't believe that a person 'must' be religious or believe in any given religion in order to be spiritual, but I do believe that a person must be spiritual in order to become 'enlightened'.

Second, I believe that enlightenment is a state of having thoughts and revelations that are along different lines of anything we've thought of before, but which brings us closer to understanding very deep meanings for things around us.

Third, I don't believe in a 'truly enlightened person', because enlightenment is fairly specific rather than universal. There is to much in this universe to be enlightened about for mere mortals to ever become truly enlightened. (Enlightened in some areas, yes, but not in all of them.)

Forth, I believe that the more enlightened a person becomes, the more apt and more quickly they will be to acknowledge that there is much that they don't know. "The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know." This would tend to make people feel more humble, rather than more superior. In fact, I'd suspect that one of the signs of someone who is not very enlightened is how egotistical they are.

Fifth, and not part of the question, I believe that enlightenment is only one of the steps on the path to wisdom. A person cannot become wise if they cannot also be able to see things from different viewpoints and to understand how others feel.

Good questions!

I agree with Rex. Enlightenment has nothing to do with religion or God, but everything to do with spirituality and understanding. I think to truly understand this we should look to those who practice Buddhism. They don't have a god, but are generally very intellegent, giving, spiritual beings.

I'm with Rev. K and Rev R - I think enlightment is more of a process than a destination, and I don't think it's about subduing ourselves, believing in creeds/things outside ourselves, or otherwise struggling to understand/acheive some mystical state. I think it's more like what happens when you fall in love, except maybe you fall in love with everything.

Some people associate the word "God" with enlightenment and other don't. I think it depends more on what you think of as God, than the word itself. One could just as easily substitute the word Life or Love. But I think it does matter that we pay attention to what's going on inside ourselves (our reactions and preconceptions, what brings us true joy, etc.)

As to how to get to enlightenment, everyone seems to have a dog in the hunt. There are lots of books (One Million Ways to Get To Instant Enlightenment), stuff on the internet, and the words of some of the masters. Buddhism says get rid of attachments. Others have said we have to still the mind. But what do you do if you're not inclined to live in poverty or meditate for months in a cave somewhere? Maybe there are other ways of acheiving that state. Afterall, it's supposed to be natural, right?

One thing I've noticed is that the more I try to "get" somewhere, the harder it is. It's usually when I'm not trying that I'm able to see things the most clearly. I'm sure if we meditate long enough, the mind finally just doesn't have any more "stuff" it can throw at you, but it's pretty laborious for someone who has a job/family/etc. What I've found is my own little way of getting off the merry-go-round. I try to take the position of the observer, so to speak, kind of like the CEO of a company when the employees are having a rift. I listen to all the committe members in my head. The voices of the ego are the loudest and always speaks up first. I let them argue, pitch a little fit, go on a rant, whatever, and then I ask: who else would like to speak? I try to do this with peace/love in mind. (Sometimes it takes a while to hear "another" voice, but a little willingness to see things differently goes a long way). If I succeed in getting or allowing a new perspective to "enter," it often brings with it a feeling of joy, peace, and even a change in "circumstances." I think the whole goal of enlightenment is to bypass the committe altogether and go straight to "answer" where we suspend judgement altogether, connecting us directly with love. What we're doing, in spiritual terms, is going beyond the dualism (this or that, good or bad, me or you, etc.) that keeps us from having that awareness of unity.

All good questions to ponder Lightkeeper!

A truly enlightened person in my belief would be one who is aware of their own self evanescence and would not believe they were "God" which to me would be something like an idle fancy or vain imagining.

Enlightenment could certainly heal one's over weaning selfhood.

- Art

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

A pretty complete answer, if you ask me.

A willingness to understand that your initial judgments may not always be correct, and a conscious questioning and altering points of view will go a very long way towards new understandings. And to my way of thinking, every new understanding sheds a little more light, which takes us another step closer to that unreachable state called enlightenment.

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.