Enlightenment as a Lessening of Endarkenment

May 1, 2011 in Meditations | Permalink

Naive practitioners tend to believe, upon attaining enlightenment, that a person obtains knowledge of all there is to know. This is a misunderstanding of enlightenment, for enlightenment is not an apprehension of the entirety of existence, but a shedding of notions and ideas that leads one closer to the understanding that one ultimately knows nothing. That is to say, enlightenment is a actually a lessening of endarkenment, or the illusion that one is more separate from egoism and closer to truth than is true. Furthermore, enlightenment is not a final state of being, but a process of which there are degrees of attainment, referring to the “lessening” of endarkenment.

Assessing one’s level of enlightenment often leads to premature claims of attainment. It would serve a person much more greatly to inventory their areas and degrees of endarkenment. Preconceived notions, expectational ideas, and outright delusions should be the measuring stones of progress, for there is no harm in over-assessing one’s endarkenment as this will be closer to reality than attributing extra enlightenment where it doesn’t belong. The ego is the endarkenment generator and will gladly bind one tighter with the pride of expressing how enlightened it is.

Although there are schools of immediate enlightenment, these experiences are almost always transient, flash revelations as opposed to ultimate realizations. It is important to not think in the authoritarian style of polar opposites, of either awakened or not. This is fundamentalism, and is further endarkenment. In the same fashion that the cup is not always full or empty, there are degrees of enlightenment and endarkenment. Rather than attempt to identify, or divulge, stages enlightenment and the accompanying realizations, it is better to further categorize the degrees, so to not create more misconceptions or expectations. The differences of attainment can be categorized by the depth and the purity of the enlightenment. Depth refers to the deepness and breadth of the release from endarkenment and the fullness in understanding of enlightenment. Purity refers to the expression of the enlightenment. This expression can remain tainted, as enlightenment is a process and not an end in itself, or it can be very pure at higher degrees of attainment.

There are opposing views. Vajrayana Buddhism, the Diamond Vehicle of the Thunderbolt, suspects that enlightenment penetrates deeply and fully in a flash., completely purifying the practitioner. The Ch’an (more commonly known as Zen) school of thought, a sub-sect of Mahayana Buddhism (The Greater Vehicle), proposes that there are degrees of enlightenment. In Zen there is a clear distinction between kensho, a shallow introductory awakening, and satori, a deeply profound realization that alters a person completely. Even satori varies according to the depth and purity of the attainment. All seem to converge that the initial degree of enlightenment is the awareness of endarkenment, the suspicion that one is bound by chains and imprisoned in Plato’s Cave. This idea then plagues the practitioner and fuels the efforts to find release from endarkenment. Endarkenment can be thought of as karmic investment in Samsara.

The summarized, concise idea presented is that it is more wise to be honest about enlightenment by measuring the degree of endarkenment instead, and recognizing that there are degrees and not poles of either awakened or not. One must awaken, but the levels of attainment must be achieved thenceforth. One may investigate the degree of enlightenment and therefore endarkenment by examining the depth and purity of the attainment. It seems, anyone investigating their own enlightenment remains steeped in the ego, even if established as the observer, and would better serve themselves by spending this energy lessening, not strengthening their endarkenment.

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