Enlightenment

We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive from where we started
And know the place for the first time.
--T. S. Eliot

Enlightenment is defined as education that results in understanding and the spread of knowledge. For Buddhists, it is also considered a blessed state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains Nirvana.

For me, enlightenment has come through being in this program. I not only have come to understand more about myself by working the steps, especially Step Four. But I've come to have a more spiritual feeling. It isn't Nirvana for me yet but I'm at least not suffering as much as I used to.

I have looked for enlightenment throughout my life. I thought that I'd find it in books and was enlightened in many ways. I gained intellectual knowledge but not necessarily wisdom.

Gaining wisdom doesn't come easily and lasting enlightenment in the sense of Nirvana isn't something that many of us achieve. I think that my enlightenment comes as moments of clarity. I know that the journey that I'm on is moving me further along the path to enlightenment. Even though I still have those times when problems and crises arise, those can be seen as preparation for moving another step along the path to enlightenment.