Why Do Some People Become Enlightened Instantly?

[How to be wise]

How did some people like Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie become enlightened instantly when they didn't even know what enlightenment was. Are there any factors which influenced that instant realisation, or is it just a miracle? Is there anything we can do to increase the likelihood of that happening to us. 

Edited August 12, 2017 by How to be wise

[Joseph Maynor]

I don't think this is possible.  You need a lot of theory-scaffolding to shape your thoughts, actions, and attitudes in specific circumstances.  All theory is existentially false, but you need a lot of theory to form you into a way of being in the moment where you cling and don't cling in exactly the right way at exactly the right time.  That dynamic balance needs a lot of theory-scaffolding and experience to perfect.  It ain't easy to learn how to treat beliefs more realistically.  The answer is more subtle than saying all beliefs are existentially false.  Yeah ... and?  That's only half the story.  You need to be shaped to take right action, have right attitude towards beliefs, in specific moments, with highest consciousness, towards real goals. That requires a lot of molding, usually by a combination of theory-scaffolding and experience.  Existentially speaking all theory is story so use it don't let it limit you.  You are infinite.  Stay that way by not clinging too hard at the wrong time to beliefs.  Some contexts warrant clinging, but dump the raft once the river is crossed.  Don't keep beliefs hanging around past their relevancy in certain moments.  You will stunt and handicap your life by carrying that raft on your back instead of putting it down after you cross the river.  Learn how to use tools at the right place and time, and when to cling and when not to cling.  You can't learn that by reading a book.  That requires embodying theory-scaffolding and using your experience to perfect your being in a higher-consciousness way in specific, actual moments.  That doesn't just happen with one enlightenment experience.  Enlightenment is a life-long practice.  Don't lose sight of your life-purpose goals though and spiritually bypass in enlightenment.  That's an unfortunate trap. You do enlightenment, don't let enlightenment do you.  Remember, you are infinite.  Just realize this fully and act accordingly in specific moments.  Enlightenment is not an end, it's the true beginning.  

Edited August 12, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Shin]

Intense suffering.

[Toby]

43 minutes ago, How to be wise said:

How did some people like Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie become enlightened instantly when they didn't even know what enlightenment was. Are there any factors which influenced that instant realisation, or is it just a miracle? Is there anything we can do to increase the likelihood of that happening to us. 

That is not true. Byron Katie was in a mental institution and did a lot of therapy sessions. Eckhart supposedly did the whole ACIM before his awakening. Both needed time for integration. I think an awakening is possible for anyone anywhere but that is something different than enlightenment.

[cetus]

56 minutes ago, How to be wise said:

How did some people like Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie become enlightened instantly when they didn't even know what enlightenment was.

@How to be wise How can people who know what enlightenment is become enlightened?

[Nahm]

@How to be wise We are all enlightened.

[The White Belt]

Enlightenment is an accident. Practices make you more accident prone ;-) 

[ajasatya]

@How to be wise do you call decades of intense suffering by "instantly"?

[Visitor]

Sometimes it can happen when a person totally surrenders their ego coupled with unconditional love. It throws off all the cover-stories over the Truth. Suddenly the Truth is revealed, that everything you knew (your whole life) was just a fabrication of your own mind - and invalid. A new you is born that cannot find serenity without the Truth; without surrendering the ego coupled with unconditional love.

[sweater]

I feel as if i almost got enlightened 3 times as a kid without even knowing what enlightenment was. But all those 3 times i resisted. I resisted crossing that line. It literally felt like there was going to be no return if i would of crossed that line. I was scared i would of went insane. Idk. Life is crazy. With infinite possibilities whos to say one cant get enlightened without having to do anything. Just my thoughts @How to be wise What do you think

[Leo Gura]

Some people fall out of a plane.

Some people get run over by a train.

Some people burn in a car.

Some people get shot from afar.

Some people choke on a cherry.

Some people eat a poison berry.

Some people drown in a tub.

Some people die from a club.

[sweater]

42 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Some people fall out of a plane.

Some people get run over by a train.

Some people burn in a car.

Some people get shot from afar.

Some people choke on a cherry.

Some people eat a poison berry.

Some people drown in a tub.

Some people die from a club.

Exactly what i was trying to say lol

[Joyboy]

Strategic or Accidental, your choice. 

Some people don't even realize that they do have the choice above.

You are the general of your life on the reality battle field, let's play

[Loreena]

I think instant enlightenment would be something like instant weight loss. I won't call it enlightenment if it's instant.

Who's to say they won't revert back to their unenlightened selves. 

 

[How to be wise]

4 hours ago, Loreena said:

I think instant enlightenment would be something like instant weight loss. I won't call it enlightenment if it's instant.

Who's to say they won't revert back to their unenlightened selves. 

 

Eckhart Tolle had a far deeper enlightenment than most people. He clearly has emotional mastery and unconditional love, which most enlightened people don't have. Same with Byron Katie. And probably other people who had instant enlightenments. 

[Loreena]

Just now, How to be wise said:

Eckhart Tolle had a far deeper enlightenment than most people. He clearly has emotional mastery and unconditional love, which most enlightened people don't have. Same with Byron Katie. And probably other people who had instant enlightenments. 

Then it could be something they're already born with. Something they have naturally in them. 

But I personally don't believe that it comes without effort. 

Leo even mentioned that in his latest video  - --don't believe if someone says enlightenment is easy. It takes thousands of hours of practice to reach there. At least that's what he said and that's what I believe. 

I am not quite sure of these instant enlightenments you talk about. To me that's a mystery. 

I'd rather invest my time in learning about enlightenment the harder way. 

[How to be wise]

Just now, Loreena said:

Then it could be something they're already born with. Something they have naturally in them. 

But I personally don't believe that it comes without effort. 

Leo even mentioned that in his latest video  - --don't believe if someone says enlightenment is easy. It takes thousands of hours of practice to reach there. At least that's what he said and that's what I believe. 

I am not quite sure of these instant enlightenments you talk about. To me that's a mystery. 

I'd rather invest my time in learning about enlightenment the harder way. 

What they achieved goes far beyond enlightenment. They achieved sage-hood in one night. Something that will take us at least 20 years. 

[Loreena]

1 minute ago, How to be wise said:

What they achieved goes far beyond enlightenment. They achieved sage-hood in one night. Something that will take us at least 20 years. 

In my honest opinion, I don't think it's possible in one night or even several nights. It's puzzling to me. 

But then again....To each his own. 

[Prabhaker]

@How to be wise

To us it seems difficult to understand how one can come straightaway to wholeness. We think one must pass through a criss-crossing of roads before he arrives. Again, this is the same question that pilgrims asked of the Zen monk Lying near a cave. The monk says he does not have to do a thing, because he is already there where one should be. The pilgrims wonder how one could arrive without traveling, it seems impossible. They all had to walk long distances before they reached the place of pilgrimage, but the sage says to them, "If you cannot attain to truth right here, how can you attain to it by going to the mountain top? Truth is everywhere. It is here and now. This is not something that one needs any traveling to arrive at." But there are some types who cannot arrive without making a long journey. Even if they have to come home they will not do so without knocking at the doors of many other houses. They will enquire from others about directions to their own house.

Whether one chooses effort or effortlessness depends on what type of person he is. There is certainly a difference of type between Mahavira and Krishna. Mahavira will not choose to arrive without making a long journey. He will refuse to attain anything if it comes without effort. This needs to be understood. If someone tells Mahavira that he can achieve enlightenment without effort he will refuse it. He will say it is outright theft if you grab something without making any effort to achieve it, without striving and struggling for it, without earning it with the sweat of your brow. Before you have a thing, Mahavira will insist you must pay for it, deserve it. Mahavira will, as I understand him, reject even moksha, liberation, if it comes to him as a gift. He will search for it, struggle for it, he will earn it. He will accept moksha only when he is worthy of it.

Krishna will say just the opposite. He will say what is achieved through long search and struggle is not worth having. That which can be found can be lost too. He will say, "I will accept only that which comes uninvited, without efforts. I will be content with that which is, the true. And truth is not a thing that one can find."

This is a difference in approach to life that comes with individuals and their types. There is nothing superior or inferior about it. As individuals, Krishna and Mahavira are basically different from each other.

What is found through long search and striving has significance for Mahavira. This is the reason he and his whole tradition are known by that strange name shraman, which simply means one who toils. Mahavira believes the price of freedom is hard work, and what is had effortlessly is sheer thievery. According to him, if God is found without effort, it cannot he the real God; there must he some deception about it. And Mahavira's sense of self-respect will not allow him to accept anything that comes as a gift, he will earn it with the sweat of his brow. That is why a term like God's grace has no place in Mahavira's philosophy. On the other hand, it is replete with words like efforts, struggle, hard work, discipline, and sadhana. This is as it should he. His whole tradition is based on hard work.

There are two cultural traditions in India, running parallel to each other. One is known as shraman sanskriti or toil-oriented culture, and the other is called brahmin sanskriti or God-oriented culture.

The brahmanic tradition believes man is God, he does not have to become it, while the shraman tradition believes that man has to earn godliness, he is not it. And there are only two types of people in the world - brahmins or shramans - conforming to one of these traditions. And the ratio of brahmins is very small; even the brahmins are not that brahmin. The vast majority consists of shramans, doers who believe in efforts. To them everything must come the hard way. It needs tremendous courage, patience, and trust to believe that one can find without effort, that one can attain without attaining, that one can arrive without stepping out of one's house. Our ordinary mind says that if you want to find something, you will have to make adequate efforts for it, nothing is had without a price. Our ordinary arithmetic believes that efforts and achievements have to be in equal proportions.

Once in a great while a few brahmins have walked this earth, they can be counted on fingers. The rest of us are shramans, whether we accept it or not. That is why despite great differences between Buddha and Mahavira, their traditions became known by the common name of shraman. In this respect Buddhists are not different from the Jainas, they are the same.

Krishna is a brahmin - a rare thing. He says, "I am already the supreme being."

And remember, I am not saying that one is right and another is wrong. To me both shraman and brahmin are right, there is no difficulty about it. They represent two different types of minds, two different ways of thinking, two different kinds of journeying. That is the only difference.

  Osho ~ Krishna The Man and his Philosophy

[AlwaysBeNice]

Awakening can be described an instant recognition, a massive insight that shifts you permanently.

Enlightenment in my view is when one has also cleared all his old baggage and embodies and radiates that light to a high degree (literally physically, electromagnetically, I've seen some teachers have amazing effects with this).

They go hand in hand, when you have no baggage you can let go super easily and when you awaken you can let go of baggage more easily.

Edit: As to why, you can't answer that.

Edited August 15, 2017 by AlwaysBeNice