Don, I find myself agreeing deeply with your reflections. I, too, have gone through what I can only describe as a quantum transformation—an experience that shifted my life in nearly every imaginable way, and in a single breath. Yet even then, I would not call it enlightenment.
What I discovered is less about transcendence and more about what I call subscendence—turning inward, meeting the parts of myself I used to fear or push aside. By giving those hidden places compassion and space, I came to understand them and integrate them. That, for me, has been the real work.
And still, nothing feels fixed. We are always changing, always breathing impermanence. Even after that sudden transformation, I carry every earlier version of myself with me. I cannot transcend them—they are part of me.
I have had moments of dissolving into everything around me, of feeling whole and at peace in my body and in the world. Those encounters were beautiful, perhaps even wise-making. Yet transcended? No. I see them as glimpses, reminders, but not destinations.
These days, I no longer tie myself to rigid beliefs or the hope of some final state. What brings me ease is making peace with constant change, meeting life as it unfolds.
This is so beautiful, Jay, thank you so much for sharing with me. Proof positive that we don’t need to achieve magical states in order to live a life that feels worth living, one that makes sense and doesn’t feel like chaos or confusion. To be at home in our own bodies and minds I think is available to everyone, but unfortunately most everyone has been taught to look in the wrong place.
Possibly, Karen. We have two separate religious orders here on Cape Cod that are often alleged to be cults. (One of them is actually world-wide; it’s called The Twelve Tribes). Thanks for reading. 🙏💚
Dear Patrick, good question, and Don good answer. I’d like to add a perspective from Soto Zen. Our Zen ancestors have given us “Practice Enlightenment” where our simple seated meditation is Enlightenment. It’s weird and surprising because even as we sit there with our gripes, scattered thoughts and cultural hang-ups we exist in Enlightenment. In this way there is only Enlightenment. That is why it is makes little sense to say you or me or that teacher over there is Enlightened. If a fish in the water were to suddenly announce that they were wet, why would other fish be impressed?
Great addition to the conversation, Musho, thank you! And it is pretty exciting for the fish to realize it is wet, I would say. I was eating some crackers today, and it suddenly struck me how automatic eating is. We don’t eat because we think it’s kind of a cool thing to do, we just eat; we’ve been eating since before we were even conscious. “We” don’t actually eat, the eating is just done. And I became aware of that today just as your fish became aware that it was wet. That’s a kind of enlightenment, isn’t it?
Or, maybe more in keeping with what you’re saying, the enlightenment was there regardless of my noticing this strange function of picking up food and putting it into my mouth .
Sorry, that thought is a bit of stream of consciousness inspired by your comment. 😊
In the form of a Zen story: A monk asked a Zen Master "What is enlightenment?" The master said "Eating crackers." This is because profound miracles are happening continuously! You and I can type words, magically send them through the air, read the words and understand. Wow! Eating food, opening the window, breathing. How can it be fully explained?
Great response, Don. I'm with you on everything! I don't know where that concept of enlightenment got so reified in certain Buddhist circles, but I don't think it's healthy. Your interpretation of it lands just right for me. I also love how Norman Fischer talks about it: “The enlightened person is simply the person who isn't selfish, who sees things as they really are, loves them, and acts out of that love.”
Thank you, Maia. And thank you for reminding me of Norman Fischer. I’ve been wanting to read some of his work. i’m looking at his books on Goodreads; he’s got quite a few!
Interesting take on enlightenment. Good question. There’s an expression that’s relevant to what I just read that I heard long ago that was called “going up the pole“. I Understood it to mean that somebody experienced a great moment of ascendance, perhaps an enlightened moment, an epiphany, etc. It also meant that it was an experience without complete awareness or understanding of how one got there or more importantly how to stay there.
For me personally, I’ve always likened my journey towards enlightenment to be an experience like Michelangelo described when he talked about one of his sculptures. In essence, he said he didn’t create a form or image he simply removed all the stone away from what was already there so that it could be revealed. That made sense to me and I feel that’s what has been my experience. We are constantly trying to be more ourselves more in the moment, a greater part of our existence without all the encumbrances that prevents us from being as perceptive as we are capable of being. I think the term enlightenment can be confusing because it speaks to a state or condition that is outside of ourselves. Like we are climbing a mountain in order to get to the top and without obtaining the top position then we haven’t truly arrived. I think awareness and perception and understanding who we are, is more the point. As in, are we an immortal, spiritual being or someone more rooted in a fixed space-time continuum.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Joe. I have heard of the uncarved block before, and simply removing what is not the image, though I didn’t know it was Michelangelo. I seem to remember the author of the Tao of Pooh speaking of it.
Hi Don, And yet, people do have tastes of awakening though diligent practice that involves turning into suffering - not escaping to lala land. I've been practicing and teaching Zen for a long time and so can report this fact from many years of experience. People do awaken. That is really good news in this swirling world. "Buddha", of course, means Awakened One - so yes, awakening is possible. And I see that you've met the Buddha :-) Awakening is the very basis of the Buddhist tradition and many many people over the last 2600 years have awakened and they've left many reports for us. Is awakening a one-and-done situation that makes a person better than others, etc., well, no, of course not. Awakened people's shit still stanks - sometimes big time. For almost everyone, there's a taste of awakening and then that taste must be put to work in the nitty gritty of daily life and through decades of continued work. Do people get trippy about their awakenings - oh, yeah! We are humans, after all, and we're all bozos on the bus. Is it a psychological insight - no. It is qualitatively different. Is awakening just being present - no, that's still two. Awakening is simply an abrupt, nondual embodiment, where one sees true nature. It is accompanied by inconceivable joy. Who could have a problem with that? If you are interested in a more in-depth response, check out my recent interview with Teshin Sweger, "Living from Within the Bright Light" here on Substack or more in the online Tricycle: "We Are All This Luminous Mind: The Possibility and Importance of Awakening." A great (and disruptive) telling of awakening stories and what it takes to awaken can be found in the recent "In This Body, In this Lifetime: Awakening Stories of Japanese Soto Zen Women" - available through Shambhala or Amazon. My review here: https://www.vineobstacleszen.com/soto-zen-women-wake-up-a-review-of-in-this-body-in-this-lifetime/
Thank you for this, Mr. shake out your sleeves. :-)
I was thinking about the Buddha as I wrote this, especially as I’ve met him haha. 😆 And I asked myself, Can you express what the Buddha realized and taught in a sentence or two, Don? I think I can actually do it in a sentence: “We suffer because we resist what is.”
It seems to me that that is what the four noble truths express.
Now, I think to explore this “what is“ with passion, honesty, and an open mind, is worthwhile. Personally, I would probably leave it at that and not try to teach enlightenment.
I think that you and I are on similar wavelengths here. I’m not so sure how I feel about overly defining enlightenment. For instance, when you say that it is accompanied by inconceivable joy, or that it’s “not psychological,” that seems to really narrow the field. It seems to me that any experience of enlightenment should be a happy byproduct of living in courageous awareness of what is. (“What is“ including the realization that the self is no more real than a rainbow or a song).
Thank you so much for reading my essay and engaging with me. 🙏💚
Agreed about the four truths - especially the 3rd and 4th here - cessation and path. Awakening in the Zen tradition, especially (although we have no trademark), is about seeing the nature of what is, not just seeing what is as an object of awareness. Also thanks for pointing out the "psychological" aspect. Of course, awakening includes the psychological (there's that "joy" after all). I was trying to distinguish awakening from psychological insights. These can be valuable, but they don't have the power in the trenches that a good old-fashioned kensho can have. You might get your family dynamics - but then there's Thanksgiving dinner and where did that insight go? And that's why we find it valuable to narrowly define awakening. There are many important spiritual experiences too, yet through the long history of Zen, many people have discovered that kensho is a particularly powerful recognition that can be put to work in daily life. As someone said, Zen is the greatest joke in all of the spiritual traditions - but it is a very practical joke. So a koan like mu is a very narrow gate. Not because we prefer it to be that way, but because it is a very specific realization. That's why the Buddha gave some real consideration to just blissing out and not teaching. But then had to admit that there were some with just a little dust in their eyes. And ... I like the tone of your work. Very important in these times. Thank you for modeling that!
Nicely stated! I think many people can relate to having “a moment of enlightenment.” If they can’t, it’s often not too hard to help someone experience such a moment. But enlightenment as a “state” rather than a moment, is a prediction about the future. As you say, it contradicts the teachings (and truth) of impermanence.
Why chase an idea about a future state if we can only ever experience enlightenment (whatever ideas about it one may have) in the present?
Thank you, Dan. Yes, I have certainly had moments of enlightenment, even ones that left me somewhat euphoric, oftentimes laughing at myself for all my previous dramatic or overly serious behavior. But a permanent change? I don't know. I lean toward gradual awakening. Anything gradual is less noticeable, but not less true.
Thanks, Don. I find myself agreeing strongly with almost everything you say here. 🤣. Let's keep engaging with what is and not worry about getting anywhere else.
Hi Don, a further thought: I recently read that enlightenment can also be described as “awakening”. That sounds like a process which could unfold throughout a life. That gives room not to cling but to live daily experiencing what happens. Your essay points out that we are not ever “done”. Deeper understanding can happen over time as a process of awakening. Daniel
Don, I had to reread and sit with this for a while. I really do agree with so much of what you are saying here. Evolving, maturing, these are terms that I can live with because they reflect the human condition--frankly, the only end we'll meet in this life is our death and unfortunately, our demise is the only thing that is for sure. But living, really living in the moment, is so rich when we see it as a never ending continuum of moments to be in, rather than ends in themselves. Your treatment of the concept of enlightenment is one of the best I've seen. Thanks for this, Don.
Thanks for your insight into enlightenment. I loved the part where you said that someone who says they are enlightened is talking about yesterday. I think becoming enlightened, at peace, or whatever it is we are all searching for is an ongoing process that never ends because we are always evolving and changing.
"Truthfully, anyone who says, 'I’m enlightened,' probably isn’t, because they’re talking about yesterday, not today. They’re attaching to a past experience and labeling it, labeling themselves." This line, Don, is a mic drop. It encapsulates so much of the delusion we inadvertently perpetuate when we try to pin down something as fluid and dynamic as consciousness. It's like trying to photograph a river and then claiming the photo is the river. The very act of labeling a past state as a permanent identity seems to contradict the fundamental impermanence that underlies so many profound spiritual traditions.
It makes me think about how easily we can get trapped in our own narratives, especially when those narratives involve a perceived spiritual achievement. We tell ourselves, "I was enlightened on that retreat," or "I had a breakthrough." And while those experiences can be deeply transformative, the moment we cling to them as a fixed identity, we lose the very essence of living in the present. It becomes a story we tell ourselves, rather than a living, breathing reality. Your insight here is a gentle, yet firm, reminder to stay curious and present, rather than getting stuck in yesterday’s glory.
Exactly, Alexander! Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I like what you say about clinging to even the most transformative experiences. We have to trust that the work is done, and turn away to face THIS day. 🙏💚
Hi Don, as I mentally review your writings it seems to me you are always challenging yourself to be present in now. The way you write describes an ever more aware perspective. Moments of joy or great peace that happen as you continue to stay now seem to me to be part of an awakened state. It may not be the only state but your process is ongoing and real. The way you describe your relationship with nature seems especially beautiful. I am for your continued sharing of all parts of your experience including when you feel most present to all that is. Daniel
Don, I find myself agreeing deeply with your reflections. I, too, have gone through what I can only describe as a quantum transformation—an experience that shifted my life in nearly every imaginable way, and in a single breath. Yet even then, I would not call it enlightenment.
What I discovered is less about transcendence and more about what I call subscendence—turning inward, meeting the parts of myself I used to fear or push aside. By giving those hidden places compassion and space, I came to understand them and integrate them. That, for me, has been the real work.
And still, nothing feels fixed. We are always changing, always breathing impermanence. Even after that sudden transformation, I carry every earlier version of myself with me. I cannot transcend them—they are part of me.
I have had moments of dissolving into everything around me, of feeling whole and at peace in my body and in the world. Those encounters were beautiful, perhaps even wise-making. Yet transcended? No. I see them as glimpses, reminders, but not destinations.
These days, I no longer tie myself to rigid beliefs or the hope of some final state. What brings me ease is making peace with constant change, meeting life as it unfolds.
This is so beautiful, Jay, thank you so much for sharing with me. Proof positive that we don’t need to achieve magical states in order to live a life that feels worth living, one that makes sense and doesn’t feel like chaos or confusion. To be at home in our own bodies and minds I think is available to everyone, but unfortunately most everyone has been taught to look in the wrong place.
Very interesting read - what happens when enlightened people realise they are not so enlightened as they thought?
Is this partly why why people are drawn to them and end up in a cult?
Possibly, Karen. We have two separate religious orders here on Cape Cod that are often alleged to be cults. (One of them is actually world-wide; it’s called The Twelve Tribes). Thanks for reading. 🙏💚
Dear Patrick, good question, and Don good answer. I’d like to add a perspective from Soto Zen. Our Zen ancestors have given us “Practice Enlightenment” where our simple seated meditation is Enlightenment. It’s weird and surprising because even as we sit there with our gripes, scattered thoughts and cultural hang-ups we exist in Enlightenment. In this way there is only Enlightenment. That is why it is makes little sense to say you or me or that teacher over there is Enlightened. If a fish in the water were to suddenly announce that they were wet, why would other fish be impressed?
Great addition to the conversation, Musho, thank you! And it is pretty exciting for the fish to realize it is wet, I would say. I was eating some crackers today, and it suddenly struck me how automatic eating is. We don’t eat because we think it’s kind of a cool thing to do, we just eat; we’ve been eating since before we were even conscious. “We” don’t actually eat, the eating is just done. And I became aware of that today just as your fish became aware that it was wet. That’s a kind of enlightenment, isn’t it?
Or, maybe more in keeping with what you’re saying, the enlightenment was there regardless of my noticing this strange function of picking up food and putting it into my mouth .
Sorry, that thought is a bit of stream of consciousness inspired by your comment. 😊
In the form of a Zen story: A monk asked a Zen Master "What is enlightenment?" The master said "Eating crackers." This is because profound miracles are happening continuously! You and I can type words, magically send them through the air, read the words and understand. Wow! Eating food, opening the window, breathing. How can it be fully explained?
A state of wonder; such a great state to live in. 🙏💚
Great response, Don. I'm with you on everything! I don't know where that concept of enlightenment got so reified in certain Buddhist circles, but I don't think it's healthy. Your interpretation of it lands just right for me. I also love how Norman Fischer talks about it: “The enlightened person is simply the person who isn't selfish, who sees things as they really are, loves them, and acts out of that love.”
Thank you, Maia. And thank you for reminding me of Norman Fischer. I’ve been wanting to read some of his work. i’m looking at his books on Goodreads; he’s got quite a few!
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Interesting take on enlightenment. Good question. There’s an expression that’s relevant to what I just read that I heard long ago that was called “going up the pole“. I Understood it to mean that somebody experienced a great moment of ascendance, perhaps an enlightened moment, an epiphany, etc. It also meant that it was an experience without complete awareness or understanding of how one got there or more importantly how to stay there.
For me personally, I’ve always likened my journey towards enlightenment to be an experience like Michelangelo described when he talked about one of his sculptures. In essence, he said he didn’t create a form or image he simply removed all the stone away from what was already there so that it could be revealed. That made sense to me and I feel that’s what has been my experience. We are constantly trying to be more ourselves more in the moment, a greater part of our existence without all the encumbrances that prevents us from being as perceptive as we are capable of being. I think the term enlightenment can be confusing because it speaks to a state or condition that is outside of ourselves. Like we are climbing a mountain in order to get to the top and without obtaining the top position then we haven’t truly arrived. I think awareness and perception and understanding who we are, is more the point. As in, are we an immortal, spiritual being or someone more rooted in a fixed space-time continuum.
Good essay.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Joe. I have heard of the uncarved block before, and simply removing what is not the image, though I didn’t know it was Michelangelo. I seem to remember the author of the Tao of Pooh speaking of it.
Hi Don, And yet, people do have tastes of awakening though diligent practice that involves turning into suffering - not escaping to lala land. I've been practicing and teaching Zen for a long time and so can report this fact from many years of experience. People do awaken. That is really good news in this swirling world. "Buddha", of course, means Awakened One - so yes, awakening is possible. And I see that you've met the Buddha :-) Awakening is the very basis of the Buddhist tradition and many many people over the last 2600 years have awakened and they've left many reports for us. Is awakening a one-and-done situation that makes a person better than others, etc., well, no, of course not. Awakened people's shit still stanks - sometimes big time. For almost everyone, there's a taste of awakening and then that taste must be put to work in the nitty gritty of daily life and through decades of continued work. Do people get trippy about their awakenings - oh, yeah! We are humans, after all, and we're all bozos on the bus. Is it a psychological insight - no. It is qualitatively different. Is awakening just being present - no, that's still two. Awakening is simply an abrupt, nondual embodiment, where one sees true nature. It is accompanied by inconceivable joy. Who could have a problem with that? If you are interested in a more in-depth response, check out my recent interview with Teshin Sweger, "Living from Within the Bright Light" here on Substack or more in the online Tricycle: "We Are All This Luminous Mind: The Possibility and Importance of Awakening." A great (and disruptive) telling of awakening stories and what it takes to awaken can be found in the recent "In This Body, In this Lifetime: Awakening Stories of Japanese Soto Zen Women" - available through Shambhala or Amazon. My review here: https://www.vineobstacleszen.com/soto-zen-women-wake-up-a-review-of-in-this-body-in-this-lifetime/
Thank you for this, Mr. shake out your sleeves. :-)
I was thinking about the Buddha as I wrote this, especially as I’ve met him haha. 😆 And I asked myself, Can you express what the Buddha realized and taught in a sentence or two, Don? I think I can actually do it in a sentence: “We suffer because we resist what is.”
It seems to me that that is what the four noble truths express.
Now, I think to explore this “what is“ with passion, honesty, and an open mind, is worthwhile. Personally, I would probably leave it at that and not try to teach enlightenment.
I think that you and I are on similar wavelengths here. I’m not so sure how I feel about overly defining enlightenment. For instance, when you say that it is accompanied by inconceivable joy, or that it’s “not psychological,” that seems to really narrow the field. It seems to me that any experience of enlightenment should be a happy byproduct of living in courageous awareness of what is. (“What is“ including the realization that the self is no more real than a rainbow or a song).
Thank you so much for reading my essay and engaging with me. 🙏💚
Agreed about the four truths - especially the 3rd and 4th here - cessation and path. Awakening in the Zen tradition, especially (although we have no trademark), is about seeing the nature of what is, not just seeing what is as an object of awareness. Also thanks for pointing out the "psychological" aspect. Of course, awakening includes the psychological (there's that "joy" after all). I was trying to distinguish awakening from psychological insights. These can be valuable, but they don't have the power in the trenches that a good old-fashioned kensho can have. You might get your family dynamics - but then there's Thanksgiving dinner and where did that insight go? And that's why we find it valuable to narrowly define awakening. There are many important spiritual experiences too, yet through the long history of Zen, many people have discovered that kensho is a particularly powerful recognition that can be put to work in daily life. As someone said, Zen is the greatest joke in all of the spiritual traditions - but it is a very practical joke. So a koan like mu is a very narrow gate. Not because we prefer it to be that way, but because it is a very specific realization. That's why the Buddha gave some real consideration to just blissing out and not teaching. But then had to admit that there were some with just a little dust in their eyes. And ... I like the tone of your work. Very important in these times. Thank you for modeling that!
Thank you. It’s very nice to meet you! 🙏
Nicely stated! I think many people can relate to having “a moment of enlightenment.” If they can’t, it’s often not too hard to help someone experience such a moment. But enlightenment as a “state” rather than a moment, is a prediction about the future. As you say, it contradicts the teachings (and truth) of impermanence.
Why chase an idea about a future state if we can only ever experience enlightenment (whatever ideas about it one may have) in the present?
Thank you, Dan. Yes, I have certainly had moments of enlightenment, even ones that left me somewhat euphoric, oftentimes laughing at myself for all my previous dramatic or overly serious behavior. But a permanent change? I don't know. I lean toward gradual awakening. Anything gradual is less noticeable, but not less true.
“Permanent change” — 😊
haha 😀
Thanks, Don. I find myself agreeing strongly with almost everything you say here. 🤣. Let's keep engaging with what is and not worry about getting anywhere else.
Thank you, Patrick. And thanks again for the question. 🙏💚
Couldn’t agree more! 👏💚
Thanks Grace! 🙏💚
Hi Don, a further thought: I recently read that enlightenment can also be described as “awakening”. That sounds like a process which could unfold throughout a life. That gives room not to cling but to live daily experiencing what happens. Your essay points out that we are not ever “done”. Deeper understanding can happen over time as a process of awakening. Daniel
Sounds great, Daniel. That’s why I like the term awakening better than enlightenment; it’s a verb, a process, a practice. 💚
Don, I had to reread and sit with this for a while. I really do agree with so much of what you are saying here. Evolving, maturing, these are terms that I can live with because they reflect the human condition--frankly, the only end we'll meet in this life is our death and unfortunately, our demise is the only thing that is for sure. But living, really living in the moment, is so rich when we see it as a never ending continuum of moments to be in, rather than ends in themselves. Your treatment of the concept of enlightenment is one of the best I've seen. Thanks for this, Don.
Thank you kindly, Steve. I hope we can meet one day soon. 🙏💚
That’s my hope, Don.
Thanks for your insight into enlightenment. I loved the part where you said that someone who says they are enlightened is talking about yesterday. I think becoming enlightened, at peace, or whatever it is we are all searching for is an ongoing process that never ends because we are always evolving and changing.
Agreed! Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it. 🙏💚
BINGO!
Thanks, Paul! 💚
"Truthfully, anyone who says, 'I’m enlightened,' probably isn’t, because they’re talking about yesterday, not today. They’re attaching to a past experience and labeling it, labeling themselves." This line, Don, is a mic drop. It encapsulates so much of the delusion we inadvertently perpetuate when we try to pin down something as fluid and dynamic as consciousness. It's like trying to photograph a river and then claiming the photo is the river. The very act of labeling a past state as a permanent identity seems to contradict the fundamental impermanence that underlies so many profound spiritual traditions.
It makes me think about how easily we can get trapped in our own narratives, especially when those narratives involve a perceived spiritual achievement. We tell ourselves, "I was enlightened on that retreat," or "I had a breakthrough." And while those experiences can be deeply transformative, the moment we cling to them as a fixed identity, we lose the very essence of living in the present. It becomes a story we tell ourselves, rather than a living, breathing reality. Your insight here is a gentle, yet firm, reminder to stay curious and present, rather than getting stuck in yesterday’s glory.
Exactly, Alexander! Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I like what you say about clinging to even the most transformative experiences. We have to trust that the work is done, and turn away to face THIS day. 🙏💚
Hi Don, as I mentally review your writings it seems to me you are always challenging yourself to be present in now. The way you write describes an ever more aware perspective. Moments of joy or great peace that happen as you continue to stay now seem to me to be part of an awakened state. It may not be the only state but your process is ongoing and real. The way you describe your relationship with nature seems especially beautiful. I am for your continued sharing of all parts of your experience including when you feel most present to all that is. Daniel
Thank you so much, Daniel. That is so nice to hear. You’ve lifted me up! 💚😊
Grounded in such Earthy wisdom. Thank you Don.
🙏🏼
Thank you, Kert! 🙏💚