The concept of Enlightenment comes out of a spiritual tradition that defies empirical verification.
In brief : my assessment is that Enlightenment is a Dangerous Idea.
Many assumptions are intricately linked to Enlightenment,
so that by accepting the nice idea, the baggage "somehow" gets included.
Baggage like
Spiritual hierarchy {with you near the bottom}.
Holier-than-Thou {self-deaF . . by complacency}
Pacifism {someBody-Else can protect me from predators}
Standardised graduates {diminished diversity}
But the big danger that I associate with the concept of Enlightenment is aimlessness. :?:
And remember - Enlightenment is an Approved Idea, a permitted possibility, a feature of many religions.
With the single exception of Zen, all religions require our docile obedience.
Who benefits by propagating social software of obedience ?
Obedience is the Polar Opposite of Self-Reliance.
. . . So what kind of holy spook wants self-reliance eradicated ?
What is the agenda behind the tactic of exalting obedience. ?
Slavery ? AnyOne ?
The Allahs declare it bold as brass : humans are their slaves.
Heaven for the obedient slaves, virgin slavegirls for male martyrs,
. . . And eternal torture-by-fire for the disObedient, the unBeliever, the heretic.
Obedience is a big deal in the Koran,
in a religion titled "Submission" [direct english translation of "Islam"]
So : religions that typically want us to submit Our Mind to THEIR reality-map . . .
all start with obedience, with us as humble beggars, hoping for a scrap of something-for-free.
Trained into belief [a counterfeit of knowledge],
and lured by promises . . . by portraying faith [belief regardless of evidence] as powerful.
Remind you of anybody ?
How about the agitators who lobbied for the prohibition of Entheoegens ?
The believers who slammed the Doors of Perception with savage threats & penalties
the secret police SWAT squads . . . recruiting for prison workshops [slavery].
So, with its religious pedigree, Enlightenment comes from an anti-Freedom background.
Entheogens Banned .verSus. Enlightenment Approved
[but both are conspicuously absent from the public conversation]
Be alert for the danger . . . of ideas coming from oppressors-of-gnosis.
One of the great weaknesses of Buddhist theology is that the reality map
contains no predators, no parasites, no thieves of energy, no defences.
A reality map without an ecology ?
As if the realm of dark matter [aether] has "
somehow" been exempted
from the evolutionary forces of Survival of the Fittest,
with innovation and refinement of species Not Required.
[dark matter, as the physicists now call it, has been measured as having the Majority of Mass in the entire spaceTime universe
. . . but "somehow" no scientist dares speculate it as inhabited by an ecology of evolving sentience]
When things don't make sense . . it is prudent to take a careful independent look for evidence,
because where we find contradiction . . . chances are that there is deceit in the mix.
This prudent reasoning [demonstrated above] is not enlightenment . . . merely clear-thinking,
a subject Strangely abSent from both school curriculum and TV news & soap reality.
So : What kind of hidden agenda is expedited by igNorance ?
Agendas of deceit all depend on bluff, on careless habitual thinking, on cowardly conformity.
But igNorance is insisted-on in Genesis : Forbidden Knowledge 101.
Adam and all his descendents {thats us, folks}
kicked out of paradise for one naughty dose of Entheogen,
an aPPle that confers gnosis of Good . . . distinguished from Evil.
Useful knowledge, one might think . . . how to discern friend from predator in disGuise.
but the 11th Commandment "Thou shalt Not suffer a Witch to live" is there in black and white.
The author of the Bible wants us
igNorant of reality . . . with threats and murder at Stake.
But the Bible has no criticism of Enlightenment . . . enlightenment passes the heresy test.
Because enlightenment is portrayed as "agreeing with religious dogma".
Dangerous associations . . . cargo-cult religions.
Free Forgiveness. Free Redemption. Virgins in Heaven.
Just a grovelling apology for sinning is enough to square the account.
Justice by apology ?
I think not.
When we develop a trustworthy mind, nonSense no longer has power over us.
With a skilled mind, we can tackle the big questions . . . like PurPose.
Having your mind working properly
is much more Important than elusive myths of moral infallibility.
Teach yourself the art and science of Reasoning.
Watch for evidence that contradicts dogma.
Ponder the paradox.
Find out for yourSelf . . . what is really going on.
I think enlightenment is something that can not be hold on to constantly. In order to get in that state one will fluctuate in other 'states' in order to sync with this one at certain moments. But it definitely changes you anytime anywhere, meaning its effects. I probably contradict myself
