564. Enlightenment is Within and one has to be just Aware of it.......!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/mysticism/enlightenment-is-within-and-one-has-to-be-just-aware-of-it

One night a Guru and his Shishya were sitting in a hermitage. They had an oil lamp which lit the place and the Shishya was reading scriptures by means of the glow from the lamp. He read aloud, “When sun rays lit the entire world it is from darkness to light, the light assist you to see the world and make you enlightened.” For a brief moment Shishya paused and contemplated and asked the Guru, “Gurudeva, does it mean enlightenment is like the rays from sun which brightens the world?”

“May be and may not be also,” Guru replied.

“Please elaborate,” Shishya requested. “Is it so or is it not?”

Guru walked up to the oil lamp and blew it off, the hermitage became dark.

“Am I visible now?” asked the Guru.

“No,” replied Shishya.

“So, darkness does not enlighten you is what you feel?” The Guru asked.

Shishya thought for a moment and said, “Yes, I feel so.” Guru lit the oil lamp and asked, “If you are in the opinion that an external light is the factor to enlighten you, then according to you a person who is born blind does not get enlightenment at all, Right??.

Now Shishya was in a fix he could neither say yes nor no. He kept quite.

Guru continued, “You have based the substratum of enlightenment to the ability to see. Now are you able to see the objects that are present here in the light.”

Shishya said, “I am able to see all the objects.”

Guru again blew off the oil lamp and there was darkness again.

Guru asked, “The objects that you saw are right here except for the light from the lamp that is vanished, Right?” The Guru asked.

Shishya immediately said, “Yes, everything here is the same except for the light from the lamp which is missing.”

Guru asked, “What do you think is the difference between you and a blind person as of now?”

Shishya said, “With lack of light I am also blind.”

Guru asked, “Suppose somebody outside wants to know if I am here and calls out to you and ask you, you need a light to make sure if I am here. But if a person wants to know if you are here in the dark you need no light to confirm your presence. So, in darkness also you can be enlightened. Just as sun rays or for the matter this oil lamp is required to perceive the object around, there is a light in you called awareness which brightens you to perceive yourself.  The prerequisite for enlightenment is this awareness. Enlightenment is not merely light or lack of it. You are enlightened when you mentally become bright. There is love & compassion in you to be aware of it and apply it unconditionally is enlightenment. ”

Shishya said, “Even with these physical eyes I was blind all these days, from now on Gurudeva you have made it possible for me to perceive mentally. I bow to you.”