Meditation is not enlightenment

Meditation is not enlightenment. Enlightenment is not meditation. There is sometimes confusion between these two things. The reason for the confusion is that meditation is often the route to enlightenment. There are many routes to enlightenment. Meditation, one’s consciousness resting in a meditative state, is something of the moment. It is when the mind is quiet, when the consciousness is settled into a deeper place than that of thoughts and emotions – this is meditation, this is not enlightenment.

Enlightenment is a different change in the consciousness, a change of perspective which is rather enduring. This change of perspective is a shift from the perspective of the person, the individual, the ego, to that of the impersonal, the perspective of existence itself. Really, with enlightenment you could say that not very much has changed at all. Yet, just as an object may look very different when viewed from two different perspectives, so life can have a completely different feel when viewed from the perspective of the enlightened mind, as compared to the perspective of the personal mind. So, meditation and enlightenment are two different things. They often come together of course. The enlightened one may very often be in a state of meditation but it is not necessarily so. Similarly, someone who is meditating, is meditative by nature, will very likely become enlightened, but again it is not necessarily so.

So be clear: meditation, which can be spoken of, can be discussed, can be understood, is one thing. Enlightenment, which goes beyond words, is something slightly different. We can say there is a relationship of sorts between meditation and enlightenment, but we should not feel that they are one and the same thing.