Wording

Enlightenment comes from the Sanskrit word “bodhi” which translates to awakening. Enlightenment is vast and awe inspiring. Enlightenment is a state of awakened understanding. 

You can travel anywhere in the world –  Vancouver, Bali, Thailand, Toronto, Hawaii, New Zealand, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne  – and it’s the same forever human being, Enlightenment is the transcendence of suffering and desire in order to obtain spiritual liberation or moksha. 

To be enlightened is to be freed from the tyranny of the mind and to experience deep spiritual peace, presence and wholeness. 

Occurs

This occurs when you find the truth about life and reach self realization. It is a slow process of awakening through not just improvement but self transformation. 

Enlightenment is our true nature and our home, but the difficulties of human life cause us to forget this. We can work towards overcoming these difficulties and come home to something that was always with us. 

Life

Life is a push and pull as we are pushed away by pain and pulled towards something higher than ourselves. 

Enlightenment can be sudden, as it is a permanent awakening to the absolute unity of all beings. It can also be a gradual process of liberation from the chaos of the mind. 

It is freedom from feelings or the freedom to feel fully without identifying with those feelings. It resembles unconditional bliss and love, or it is a state devoid of feelings as we know them. 

Shatter

When one is able to shatter their sense of self and give up their ego to surrender to pure awareness, they have achieved enlightenment. 

Some yogis believe that we are already enlightened. We have already reached a state of enlightenment when we are able to trust deeply in ourselves and others. 

In The End

You can strive for enlightenment in every moment by trying to create a radiance in your emotions and in your mind by concentrating on how you feel about yourself. 

By creating an ever increasing state of lightness in our everyday lives, we are moving toward enlightenment. Even everyday tasks can be enlightening if we are mindful and present during each moment. 

In Yoga (and yoga teacher training), when we connect with our breath and are present in our practice we are discarding the ego and moving towards a state of enlightenment.