What is real-world enlightenment?

Real-world enlightenment taps into an enduring, reliable sense of love and well-being that’s within us regardless of our circumstances.  Some call it awe while others call it wonder. The mystics call it oneness, where we sense that everything is connected and there’s no separation between the already perfect cosmos and us. Yes, the already perfect cosmos. It’s a bold statement, but that’s how it feels when you glimpse everyday enlightenment. It feels like nothing is missing, that all things connect, and there’s no separation between anything or anyone else and us. Sometimes the experience is intense, like a lightbulb moment, but often it’s more subtle. We might glimpse real-world enlightenment when we’re intimate with someone or something—with nature, a loved one, an idea, or ourselves. At first, this ineffable experience is like a ring of smoke that’s impossible to catch. Until we sense it again—deep in the woods, reading a bedtime story to a child, sitting with a sick friend, teaching a course, meditating, praying, or resting after a hard day of work. Then, even though the idea might seem outrageous to our ordinary mindset, we have a renewed sense that enlightenment is real. We’ve tasted it.

It doesn’t take much to recognize real-world enlightenment once we know where to look, and the effort it takes has a ripple effect that benefits those around us. At first, the ripple might be small, as if we had skipped a pebble across a pond. But even little waves from tiny stones cause more ripples, that cause even more. When we swap out a large stone for the small pebble, the ripple effect grows bigger and reaches farther. It’s like that when we connect with the love and well-being inside us. As our connection with them grows stronger, so does their ripple effect.