fading sunset

I am on the west coast of India, by the ocean. A waxing crescent moon hangs in the evening sky. But I don't want to speak of the moon today. I want to talk about the sunset. It was beautiful. As the sun sank towards the ocean, it turned from yellow, to orange, to red, and then more pink. It never reached the horizon. Nor did it disappear behind a well defined cloud. Instead, it simply faded away, getting gradually less visible until it had disappeared from sight.

Watching this sunset, it reminded me of the process of enlightenment, the death of the ego, the dis-identification with ideas and concepts. It can happen suddenly, like the sun dropping below a distant horizon: a few moments and it's gone. But perhaps more often, our unenlightened way of being slowly fades away, like today's sunset.

So enlightenment can come slowly, gradually, over a number of months, years, or even longer. Or it can happen suddenly. And it's not that one way is better than another, or one way leads to a fuller enlightenment in some sense. No, enlightenment is enlightenment, whether it comes gradually or suddenly, it's the same enlightenment in the end.

So these were the thoughts that popped into my mind as I watched the sun fade away today.