583. What does Enlightenment mean and Who is Enlightened?

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/what-does-enlightenment-mean-and-who-is-enlightened

Enlightenment does not take a longtime for those who are on the path it can happen anytime. What exactly is this Enlightenment? Is it something which comes only for blessed ones? No, not at all perhaps you might have also experienced sometimes when you sit down and wanted some answer to a solution, and it just flashed to you all of a sudden. There is an insight or can I say an Intuition which says “It is this you need.” That is enlightenment to me. And this energy comes from the “Dhi Sakthi” which we all are entitled for and comes not from the intellect or from anything outside but it comes from something that is connected to us which is called “Absolute Consciousness.” Some call it GOD in general and some like me give it a name in particular.

 

Vedanta says, that there are two ways of getting a hint that one is on the path of enlightenment and soon there is going to be a transformation that will elevate him to higher level of consciousness. The first indication is that the fear goes away. Fear does not mean fear of evil or animal or a thing, but fear of insecurity. Worldly matters does not bother anymore, he takes everything as it comes. He is not concerned too much of the past nor is he anxious about future. His focus is to work and let the results unfold as it has to be. The second sign is that he will start encountering more and more consequential happenstances in life. It would be like he gets the gist of what might happen beforehand. Every being has to be enlightened and will be enlightened, but for that to happen one need to have humility and humbleness.

We all know Sant Jnaneshwara, the great saint who was the first to translate Bhagavad-Gita to Marathi by the title “Jnaneshwari” so that people of Maharashtra can understand better. He was contemporary of Namadeva another great saint who is believed to have play dice with Vittala of Pandharpura every night. It so happened the two great saints were on pilgrimage and in certain village an ardent devotee of Vittala by name Gora, a potter invited them to his house for a feast. 

After lunch Jnaneshwara asked Gora, “You are a potter and have experiencing in knowing which pot is properly baked and in reality we are all the pots created by Brahma, Can you find who among us is thoroughly baked?”

Innocently Gora took the wooden mallet from the shelf which he uses to test the pot after baking and as Namadeva was the first in the row Gora went to tap on his head. As Gora approached Namadeva he resentfully called out, “You a potter having the know-how to test pots not an Enlightened Soul like me, I think you do not know that my playmate in the game of dice is Vittala.” He got up and left the place. He went straight to Pandharpura complained to his close friend and companion Vittala.

Vittala pretended as if he did not know and let him tell the whole episode and then said, “You should have let the potter test you and find out what he had to say, you should not have walked out. You have failed to perceive my existence in every being.”

Namadeva replied, “If I had let that fellow hit my head it would have been an insult to me. Why should some potter put me on a test? Am I not your close friend?” 

Listening to him Vittala said, “Namadeva you have not understood what Enlightenment is and if I tell you, you will never understand. I want you to meet a Shiva Bhakta who lives alone in the forest. He will be able to tell you what Enlightenment is.”

So Namadeva set out for the forest and found an old man sleeping on the floor with his feet on a Siva Linga. Namadeva was shocked to see the old man and wondered what he is going to learn from him. Yet went near him and shook him and said, “You seem to be an Enlightened Soul. But is it proper for you to keep your feet on a Shiva Linga?”

Old man still sleeping replied, “Oh, are my feet on the Lord? Will you please kindly place it where He is not? 

Immediately Namadeva realized the essence of the Vedantic Truth that “Sarvam Khalvidam Brahmaa” (verily all this is Brahman).

Namadev understood that we are all same at the core like the clay in the pot but it is our attitudes that decide if we are half baked or properly baked. This is the kind of Enlightenment that is needed to happen sometime to one and all.