The Meaning Of Enlightenment

Some people make enlightenment a goal. They're determined to get there. They say, “I refuse to be happy until I’m awakened.”  Anthony De Mello tells a story of a disciple who leaves his guru for the hills to attain enlightenment. Years pass, but he remains unenlightened; until one day he gives it up.

Transcript

You know,

There's the story of a disciple who says to his guru that he's going someplace and meditate and hopefully attain enlightenment.

So he sends him a note every six months to report the progress that he's making.

And the first report says,

Now I understand what it means to lose the self.

The guru tore that up and threw it in the basket.

Then he gets another report after six months which says,

Now I have attained to sensitivity to all beings torn up.

Then another report says,

Now I understand the secret of the one in the many torn up.

And so it goes on for years until finally no reports come in.

No more reports.

So the guru becomes curious and one day when there's a traveler going by that side,

He says to him,

Why don't you find out what happened to that guy?

And he gets a note from the guy saying,

What does it matter?

And when the guru gets that,

He says,

He got it.

Reviews

What does it matter🙏🏻

AHA

As always, deeply thought provoking with a spice of humour. I love Demello.