enlightenment

Before enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.
After enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.

Zen saying

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy is when adults are afraid of the light.

Plato

There are many paths to enlightenment. Be sure to take one with a heart.

Lao Tzu

Nirvana or lasting enlightenment or true spiritual growth
can be achieved only through persistent exercise of real love.

M. Scott Peck

You may have expected
that enlightenment would
come Zap! instantaneous
and permanent. This is
unlikely. After the first
"ah-ha" experience,
it can be thought of
as the thinning of
a layer of clouds.

Ram Dass

Enlightenment must come little by little, otherwise it would overwhelm.

Idries Shah

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions
of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.

Thomas Jefferson

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.

Jose Ortega y Gasset

Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray.

Sen Sen Ming

Everybody wants to get enlightened but nobody wants to change.
This is the simple, daunting truth that has been staring back at me
from the eyes of countless seekers over the years. "I really want
to get enlightened," they insist. "But are YOU ready to CHANGE
now?" I ask. "What?" is the inevitable response—surprised and
even slightly stunned. And I repeat, "Are YOU ready to CHANGE
now?" What follows is always a strange and surreal moment of
ambiguity, confusion, and backpedaling.
"But I thought you wanted to get enlightened... "

Andrew Cohen

Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Enlightenment means taking full responsibility for your life.

William Blake

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If one wishes to be sure of the road one treads on,
one must close one's eyes and walk in the dark.

Saint John of the Cross

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead it's about
becoming more fully human. . . It is the end of ignorance.

Lama Surya Das

To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same.

Bhagavad Gita

It's in the entrails of the earth, not on its surface, that you can find diamonds and gold.
It's in going into the darkness that we find enlightenment.

Robert Scaer

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring
peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a
person can control his or her mind, he or she can find the way to
Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him or her.

The Buddha

There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.

Thich Nhat Hanh

If I could define enlightenment briefly I would say it is ''the quiet acceptance of what is.''

Wayne Dyer

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Dogen

If we demand enlightenment, it hides. . . . All that we can do is make ourselves
enlightenment-prone. We learn to treasure the possibility of awakening in
all moments and circumstances. We learn to simplify and cultivate the
receptivity of heart that can be touched by profound understanding.
We learn to listen deeply and discover stillness amid the movement in our world.

Christina Feldman