In reality, things are not the way as it appears to us. Our brain through conditioning sees the world as made up of independent things. In reality, all things are interdependent on one another and cannot exist alone. For eg, we cannot exist without food and air.
Just like a person in the mirror is empty of eyes, ears, etc, we are devoid of the properties that we think are inherent to us. But we can experience living things as doing actions based on afflictive emotions and mental predispositions (also known as Karma). When there is no one to witness (just like in the mirror analogy), the person does not exist.
Enlightenment is about experiencing reality – seeing things as they are. It is possible when we meditate, we feel bliss and we feel we extend beyond our mind and body. However, when this reality manifests itself, we lose our ability to see things more concretely (normal view of life). So, when we return from meditation to normal life, we lose the ability to experience reality. Enlightenment can be defined as the ability to experience reality as well as the ability to experience concrete life without any effort from our part.
So, what stands in our way of being enlightened? The root of the problem is the ignorance that we exist independently of other things. And that we have an identity. When we have identity, we are also affected by afflictive emotions like lust and hatred. By analysis and meditation, and also through love and compassion, we can reduce these emotions of lust, hatred and ignorance. When we do that, there will be times in our life as when we are meditating, we experience bliss and reality will manifest itself.
But for the reality to be always manifest when we are engaging in every day life (also known as enlightenment), we need to understand “Karma”. When we do virtuous actions, we reduce Karma. When we do non-virtuous actions like stealing, murder, or use harsh words, we accumulate Karma. Karma is the consequence of your actions that will continue to manifest yourself in the mind-body complex (and prevent you from experiencing reality).
So, for enlightenment, we need to avoid non-virtuous actions and follow virtuous actions. Virtuous actions include love and compassion for others. When we help others, we indirectly help ourselves. The intention is not to keep thinking about “I, me, my” but to take care of ourselves by taking care of others. The reality is that there is no difference between others and I. And we extend beyond our mind-body complex.
