Last Updated on November 23, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org
It means something different in different meditation traditions. Sadhguru describes his enlightement experience in the following video:
And explains how to know if I am enlightened:
Matthieu Ricard defines enlightement as
a state of perfect knowledge or wisdom, combined with infinite compassion
Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk with a PhD in cellular genetics and defines things usually very precisely. We suppose his definition of enlightement is from Buddha himself.
The Dalai Lama the 14. a Buddhist monk as well said he does not know a person who currently lives which is completely enlightened. But Sadhguru is alive and describes his enlighenment experience on YouTube. Does the Dalai the 14. not know Sadhguru? We suppose he does but they use the term enlightened with different definitions.
And Buddhist monk Ajahn Amaro says we are only completely healthy (mentally healthy) if we are completely enlightened. We suppose this statement is also from Buddha himself. As a logical consequence we can conlcude that the Dalai Lama the 14. who says that he does not know a living person who is completely enlightened does not know a living person who is completely mentally healthy as well, since this is according to the definition mentioned above linked to each other.
Some people use the term enlightenment as a term which as something to do with certain physiological processes in the brain, some use the term enlightenment defined by the words Buddha has used it.
We will avoid the term enlightenment since it is used for something different in different meditation tradditions. Others have defined enlightenment as being able to set yourself in a state of happiness independently of the outer world. This is close to what Sadhguru and Osho described in their reports of their enlightenment experience. Happiness is also not a scientifically clearly defined word, but everybody has a notion of it what it is.
For us personally clearly defined scientifically is for instance if someone is able to uplift himself independently of the outer world which means he is capable of shifting the gamma wave activity from the right prefrontial cortex (which correlates with an anxious and depressed state of mind) to gamma wave activity on the left prefrontal cortex (which correlates with happiness or well-being) independently of the outer world.