Pursuing Enlightenment Vs Meditation

[SaynotoKlaus]

Are the effects of enlightenment better than those of daily meditation? Spiritual people talk about enlightenment as if it's the best thing you can ever achieve, and some enlightened guy (Thich Nhat Hanh) said that most enlightened people would rather live one day enlightened, than a lifetime unenlightened. If this is true, then why should you meditate at all? Isn't it better to do only self-inquiry, since you daily free time is limited, and you want to get the best out of life? My logic says that there is no point in meditating, only after you get enlightened.

But who knows, maybe meditating hardcore for a decade, lets say, is actually better than being enlightened.

 

 

[LaucherJunge]

46 minutes ago, SaynotoKlaus said:

Are the effects of enlightenment better than those of daily meditation? Spiritual people talk about enlightenment as if it's the best thing you can ever achieve, and some enlightened guy (Thich Nhat Hanh) said that most enlightened people would rather live one day enlightened, than a lifetime unenlightened. If this is true, then why should you meditate at all? Isn't it better to do only self-inquiry, since you daily free time is limited, and you want to get the best out of life? My logic says that there is no point in meditating, only after you get enlightened.

But who knows, maybe meditating hardcore for a decade, lets say, is actually better than being enlightened.

 

 

You have to define what meditation is because in my opinion self-inquiry is just a meditation technique there are many different techniques and in my opinion they should all play a part on your journey to really experience it all by yourself.
Not to mention that only trough meditation does an unconscious person become more and more conscious which is probably the most important thing in seeking out enlightenment.

Edited October 19, 2016 by LaucherJunge

[Capethaz]

@SaynotoKlaus If you are advanced in samatha-vipassana meditation you can feel like an Enlightened person, but it's just a simmilarity and dependent on conditions. For example, If you don't meditate this effects will reduce with time. Enlightenment is permanent, don't depend on conditions and it's unnafected by aging, disease, innability to practice. sorry my mistakes in language. For more informations check the book "The Mind Illuminated" by Culadasa. You can have MANY benefits just with practice before getting Enlightened.

[Prabhaker]

3 hours ago, SaynotoKlaus said:

Are the effects of enlightenment better than those of daily meditation?

Meditation is a path towards enlightenment. Enlightenment happens,  but that doesn't mean that it is an outcome of your effort; just by your effort it is not going to happen. The reality is: you have to make all possible efforts, yet it is not going to happen through your efforts,but you will be prepared through your efforts to receive it. 

There is no act more courageous than the act of attaining one's own self. There is no journey that calls for such courage and fearlessness as the journey to the self. Because the path is full of difficulties that are encountered nowhere else. It requires the maximum austerity.

The mind wants to bypass the long, arduous journey and enter directly into enlightenment. That cannot be, for salvation lies in the traversing of the path. The path is not a readymade path; it is also your development.

In the inner journey, one cannot reach the destination without growing from what he was at the point of departure. Those who say that it is possible are simply deceiving you because it is not a journey from one place to another place, it is a journey from one state of being to another state of being. You have to grow in the process of the journey because it is in that growth that you will be cleaned, purified and transformed. It is in the agony of the process of the journey that you will grow. This pain, this agony is indispensable. If you seek short cuts you are only deceiving yourself.

Enormous effort is the path. Will is required to undertake such a mighty effort. You must be willing to stake your own self in the effort. Liberation can be bought only if you stake yourself totally. Nothing less will do. If you give something else, it will not do; you have not paid the full price. Only when you give completely of yourself is the price. 

[Genghis Khan]

Why look at this as one or the other? Both self inquiry and meditation come hand in hand when achieving enlightenment. Meditation helps achieve a relaxed and cool state of mind, which is fundamental in doing proper self inquiry.

In conclusion, doing both techniques at the same time will create a process in which both practices compliment eachother.

[SBB4746]

All you need to do be mindful of how your ego and thoughts control your everyday life, you can try and do this at any moment in the day. If you can do this successfully and gather break through insights, then there is no reason to mediate. Mediation is just a tool for you to quieten a neurotic mind so you can slip behind the scenes more easily. Never listen to Leo's theory's about it needing to take a decade of mediation, this just another belief that is in his own way. 

[WelcometoReality]

@SaynotoKlaus Meditation has benefits on your health and happiness. It will also be a tool to reach enlightenment if you choose to go down that path.

The real question is if you are willing to die to know the truth?