Pema Chödrön (b. 1936) is an American-born Tibetan Buddhist nun and the author of numerous books and audiobooks, most of which present Buddhist teachings in an accessible and down-to-earth way. In one of her earliest books, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times, she offers an interesting perspective on the concept of enlightenment:
Enlightenment is not the end of anything. Enlightenment, being completely awake, is just the beginning of fully entering into we know not what. — Pema Chödrön
What does it mean to be enlightened? In the west, we associate enlightenment with the philosophical and literary age that corresponds roughly to the 18th century, a time that saw the rise of empiricism, the scientific method, democracy, and the principle of separation of church in state. But in the east, enlightenment has a more individualistic meaning; as Pema Chödrön puts it, enlightenment is about “being completely awake.” Arising from the awakening of the Buddha after an extended period of meditation, enlightenment implies a sudden influx of insight, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that is achieved not by ordinary effort for study, but rather emerges as the result of a spontaneous inner transformation.
In the theistic west, we would say it is the result of grace.
What I find interesting about the Buddhist concept of enlightenment is how it seems to be akin to the western mystical concept of deification or theosis. The sudden, spontaneous, graced experience of conscious divine union seems to be an awful lot like enlightenment (in the Buddhist sense of the word).
Wikipedia calls enlightenment the “goal of Buddhist practice” which seems parallel to the western mystical understanding of deification as the “goal” of contemplative spirituality. But here comes Pema Chödrön, who offers an interesting new perspective on enlightenment. It’s “not the end of anything,” she proclaims; rather, to be enlightened means “entering into we know not what.”
Hmmm. Maybe instead of a dramatic experience of union with God, a better guide to the mature contemplative life might be The Cloud of Unknowing. To be enlightened is not about completing our spiritual journey (and enjoying the blessings and certainties that come with such a completion), but rather to discover that what we thought was a culmination is actually an initiation: an opening-up and opening-out into a spaciousness of wonder, possibility, and not-knowing.
Can we in the west say the same thing about our western concept of theosis? Is “divine union” less about achieving a sense of attainment and fulfillment, and more about diving ever-more-deeply into the wonder, possibility, and not-knowing that even an experience of God cannot erase?
I think it would be counter-intuitive for me to try to answer this question. Rather, I leave it for you to ponder for yourself.
Quotation source: Pema Chödrön The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics), Kindle Edition, page 104.
This has been my experience also. Thanks for the post.