Enlightenment = unconditioned self?

[StarStruck]

If we remove all bad programming we reach enlightenment. So why are babies not enlightened? I remember Leo saying something about this but I can’t remember it. 

[Moksha]

Enlightenment isn't simply being unconditioned. It is realizing and actualizing your true nature as Consciousness. Practices like meditation and contemplation can help you decondition the mind, but they won't lead to enlightenment until Consciousness reveals itself within you.

[Artsu]

Because that's only PART of being enlightened.

There are many types of enlightenment, btw.

[StarStruck]

19 minutes ago, Moksha said:

Enlightenment isn't simply being unconditioned. It is realizing and actualizing your true nature as Consciousness. Practices like meditation and contemplation can help you decondition the mind, but they won't lead to enlightenment until Consciousness reveals itself within you.

So I guess I first need to uncondition myself so there will be room for me to realize my true nature 

[Breakingthewall]

babies are enlightened somehow. then they grow up and carry the karma that it means to be human. the one they inherit from their parents, the one they generate. with the fear of facing existence, confusion, loneliness. once they are already accumulations of barriers and fear, the work of integration and dissolution begins, back to unity. it would be said that it is some kind of game

[Moksha]

58 minutes ago, StarStruck said:

So I guess I first need to uncondition myself so there will be room for me to realize my true nature 

The more you can deprogram your mind by letting go of attachments and beliefs, the easier enlightenment will be. It doesn't always happen that way, though. My awakening was catalyzed by personal suffering. It was only after awakening that I began spiritual practices like meditation, to develop the discipline of remaining present regardless of what happens in my life.

It's funny, I remember writing several poems back then and it wasn't until later that I noticed they all pointed to the same realization. At a deep level, I knew that awakening wasn't enough. Enlightenment requires dissolving your attachments, until your mind has no power to command the focus of your awareness.

When you let your mind follow the call of the senses, they carry away your better judgment as storms drive a boat off its chartered course on the sea. Use all your power to free the senses from attachment and aversion alike, and live in the full wisdom of the Self.

- Bhagavad Gita 2:67-68

[StarStruck]

@Moksha I get carried away by thoughts a lot. And also by sensory experiences (I might have some ADD). 

What you said at the end though is really good advice. I have to focus on my inner eye (intuition) and not be carried away by the 5 senses. 

Currently I’m suffering because of past ego attachments. My childhood traumas, past and current laziness, regret, are finding momentum at this point. I really can’t go on like this. I’m trying to leave my shell. 

[John Paul]

When you are a baby you don’t know words.

When you are growing up, the dictionary tells you what words mean.

When you become conscious you say what words mean.

When you get enlightened…??? Idk I have no personal definition for enlightenment, do you? What’s it mean? Idk…