Enlightenment! «Free. Free. Free beyond all - awakened mind, so be it. Bodhi-svāhā»
- Nov 20, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 10
in The Heart Sutra.
Enlightenment is a state of perfect knowledge and wisdom, inseparable from infinite compassion. Here, knowledge does not mean the accumulation of data or a detailed inventory of phenomena. It refers instead to a direct understanding of the nature of reality and of mind itself.
Across cultures and eras, Enlightenment has received countless names: Nirvana, Eden, Paradise, Unity, Consciousness, Supreme Knowledge, Samadhi, Awakening, Uncondicioned. All of them point to a state of freedom from the tyranny of the mind—its illusions, cravings, attachments, confusions, and above all, the illusion of a solid, separate self.
Broadly, Enlightenment is freedom from three fundamental mental dispositions:
Ignorance :: Domain of: lies, errors, illusions, dreams, shadows, self-stupidity, collective stupidity.
Repugnance :: Domain of: fears, disgusts, dislikes, hatred, envy, jealousy, ill-will, harm-wishing.
Passion :: Domain of: pleasures, libido, desires, obsessions, tendencies, inclinations, excitations, restlessness, and all mental wanderings.
Exercise: Reflect on how frequently these dispositions arise within your own mind, even as subtle sensations; then observe how they appear in the minds of others. Consider the implications of each word.
On Nirvana
Nirvana is traditionally described as a state of perfect peace and happiness.
According to classical definition, nirvāṇa literally means “quenching” or “blowing out”, as one blows out a candle flame.
But what is blown out?
Not the soul—Buddhism denies the existence of any permanent soul. Not the ego as identity—though the obsession with “me and mine” dissolves.
What is extinguished is the triple fire of greed, hatred, and delusion.
Nirvana-in-this-life is simply this: the end of greed, hatred, and delusion.
In many traditions, saints display aspects of this state; ordinary people possess fragments of it; but an enlightened being—a Christ, a Buddha, a Sikh Guru, a Sant/Bhagat, an Arhat, a Boddhisatva, a Siddhi, a Rishi, an Awliya, ... —embodies these qualities completely.
Thich Nhat Hanh explains:
“Nirvana is the cessation of mental suffering. Suffering comes from wrong perceptions—avidyā, misunderstanding. Meditation removes wrong perceptions. Remove wrong perceptions and you remove afflictions and suffering. We have wrong perceptions about ourselves and about others; this is the root of fear, violence, and hatred. Nirvana is, first of all, the capacity to remove wrong notions and wrong perceptions.”
Krishnamurti adds:
“We must find out what it means to end something—easily, happily, without effort. What is it that ends when we end suffering?”
Nirvana, then, is both psychological and ethical. It marks a transformed personality—peaceful, joyful, compassionate, lucid.Negative mental states such as doubt, anxiety, and fear dissolve as understanding becomes clear and subtle.
And, Osho? What he said: "[...] the experience of the ultimate but he chose a strange word which has never been used in a spiritual context blowing off the candle how can you relate it with a spiritual experience but buddha says your so-called self is nothing but a flame and it is being kept burning through your desires when all desires disappear the candle has disappeared now the flame cannot exist anymore the flame also disappears disappears into the vast universe [...]"
Questioning Nirvana
The Buddha discouraged speculation about the nature of nirvana and emphasized instead the need to strive for its attainment. Those who asked speculative questions about nirvana he compared to a man wounded by poisoned arrow who, rather than pulling the arrow out, persists in asking for irrelevant information about the man who fired it, such as his name and clan, how far away he was standing, and so forth.
In keeping with this reluctance on the part of the Buddha to elaborate on the question, the early sources describe nirvana in predominantly negative terms:
These, range from “the absence of desire” and “the extinction of thirst” to “blowing out” and “cessation”. A smaller number of positive epithets are also found, including “the auspicious,” the good,” “purity,” peace,” “truth,” and “the further shore. (+)”
(+) The Heart Sūtra mantra in sanskrit, begins with, "gate gate pāragate pārasamgate bodhi svāhā", meaning "Free. Free. Free beyond all - awakened mind, so be it.".
Certain passages suggest that nirvana is a transcendent reality which is unborn, unoriginated, uncreated and unformed. It’s difficult to know what interpretation to place upon such formulations. In the last analysis the nature of final nirvana remains an enigma other than to those who experience it. What we can be sure of, however, is that it means the end of suffering and rebirth.
The 37 Aspects of the Way to Enlightenment
Grounded in will, energy, understanding, and discernment, the practitioner must continuously apply correct effort:
Four Foundations of the Path
Strengthen will.
Purify actions with energy and intention.
Seek true understanding—of nature, of mind, of inner phenomena.
Remain aware, alert, and discerning.
Four Right Efforts
Apply your best efforts to:
Extinguish unhealthy mental states (UMS).
Prevent the arising of new unhealthy states.
Generate new healthy mental states (HMS).
Maintain existing healthy mental states.
Four Attentions
Practice your best attention to (yours, others, inner, outter)
Body
Mind
Phenomena (external and internal)
Mental sensations (feelings), reactions (emotions)
Seven Enlightenment Factors (Healthy Mental States)
Mindfulness (Attentive)
Contemplation (Contemplative)
Equanimity (Equanimous)
Jubilation (Happy)
Bliss (Joyful)
Understanding
Tranquility
Noble Eightfold Path
Right View
Right Intention
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
Five Spiritual Faculties + Five Spiritual Powers
The five spiritual faculties are considered essential qualities for spiritual progress, which build upon each other in a progressive sequence to lead to liberation. They are also, the five spiritual powers in Buddhism (five strengths). These powers are developed to counteract negative qualities like doubt, laziness, heedlessness, distraction, and ignorance, leading to increased understanding and compassion.
Faith (or conviction)
Energy (or effort)
Mindfulness
Concentration
Wisdom
A Buddha After Death
What becomes of an enlightened person at death?
Here lies one of the deepest enigmas. When craving is extinguished, rebirth ceases. But where has the enlightened one gone?
The Buddha advised that this question is ill-posed:
Asking the fate of the liberated after death is like asking where a flame goes when it is blown out.
It goes nowhere. It simply ceases because the conditions for burning—fuel and oxygen—are no longer present.
This does not mean annihilation; nor does it affirm an eternal personal soul.
The texts reject both extremes. At most, one might speak of the “eternal presence of an enlightened, ascended spirit : Dharmakaya, Heavens, Emptiness or Void”, but even this, the most we may do is understand the metaphor.
Some passages suggest nirvana is unborn, uncreated, unoriginated, unformed, uncondicioned. Its final nature remains known only to those who realize it, but it is certain what nirvana means: the end of suffering and rebirth.
To Conclude
Krishnamurti reminds us:
“To be enlightened about what? To be enlightened is to understand what it is all about. When I perceive the truth, I say: ‘I am enlightened about it.’ To understand enlightenment, illumination, the voice of truth, we must inquire deeply into the question of time.”
Spiritual awakening unfolds in stages, unique to each individual, like a fingerprint. Yet all paths converge on the same insight: freedom from illusion, and recognition of our true nature.
Enlightenment in Cultural Representation
Rupert Spira adds that enlightenment is simply the recognition of our own being—the quiet certainty of I am, the most familiar and intimate of all experiences.
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