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Welcome to our new Personal Development Campfire. I changed the format a bit, opening it up to anyone that wants to participate. While we’re roasting marshmallows over our virtual campfire we’re going to talk about enlightenment.
As you may have read in my last post, I’ve decided to become a little more focused in my blogging. I’ve found some clarity and decided to get my personal development blog pointed in the direction of enlightenment. Since it’s been on my mind for a while, I wanted to make enlightenment the theme for this month’s Personal Development Campfire.
Lots of Enlightenment
As I began pondering enlightenment I looked up the term on Wikipedia. I was amazed at all the different entries. There is Age of Enlightenment, Spiritual Enlightenment, Enlightenment in Western secular tradition, Enlightenment in Buddhism, Ionian Enlightenment, Scottish Enlightenment, American Enlightenment, Enlightenment in Poland, Catholic Enlightenment, Enlightenment Spain, Diafotismos, and Haskalah. That’s a whole lotta enlightenment. I may read through all of these at some point, but I’ll save that for a later date.
I did read through the entries on the Age of Enlightenment and spiritual enlightenment. One interesting thing I noticed is that the Age of Enlightenment seems to be contradictory to spiritual enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment is about critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals with a strong belief in rationality and science. Whereas spiritual enlightenment was about realizing the meaning and purpose of all things and understanding the mind of God. So basically one is science based, and the other is God or spiritual based.
Similarities
They have a definite similarity though. They both deal with questioning and searching for understanding. This commonality defines what I consider enlightenment to be about. It’s searching for answers, especially those which are not easily known or understood.
I believe that we can reach enlightenment every day. I’m not talking full on all-knowing enlightenment, but rather bits and pieces of enlightenment. All it takes is to think of topics that you currently have no answers for. Whether it’s scientific or spiritual, finding answers to questions is the core. Dictionary.com defines enlightened as “to give intellectual or spiritual light to.” Basically to shed light on something. That’s actually pretty simple. It doesn’t take a life time of meditation on a mountain top to reach this kind of enlightenment; the shedding of light on an intellectual or spiritual question can be quite easy.
Enlightenment Every Day
This is really something we can do daily. Any time we don’t know the answer to something, we can seek to enlighten ourselves. I often like to spend some time thinking of things. Things that have always been done one way, or things that are assumed to be true with little questioning. Many times these topics are spiritual or religious in nature. Topics surrounding the origins of life, the meaning of life, our purpose here, where do we go when we die are all fun things to ponder. Enlightenment on topics like these comes when you take all the information you can gather and then make an educated decision based on what you learned. I usually like to add some intuition into the mix too, so enlightenment then becomes the decisions and answers to questions based on knowledge and feelings.
Like Forrest Gump says, “That’s all I have to say about that.” For now anyway.
What is the Personal Development Campfire?
Imagine all your favorite personal development bloggers gathered around a campfire. Campfires are great center pieces of relaxed and free flowing conversations. Think of all the wonderful conversations and the wealth of topics that might arise. That’s the idea behind the Personal Development Campfire. Your favorite bloggers all gathered together discussing a new topic every month. (Bloggers click here for details on participating in the Personal Development Campfire.)
The topic for next month’s (Sept 15) Personal Development Campfire will be “Change.”
Update: If anyone wants to participate but didn’t get in by the deadline, I’m keeping the Linky Tools open until the end of the month. After all, a virtual campfire can burn as long as we want it to. 
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Eric,
Although enlightenment is basically “understanding something”, usually people relate it more to spiritual matters.
Personally I think the word is been used more for elegance than rationality; people don’t search for knowledge, they search for enlightenment; it has become a sign of being more elevated than the rest, the others; just like buying coffee at Starbucks rather than seven eleven, but again, I’m the cynic observer
Raul
Alien Ghost´s last [type] ..The Bird and The Shotgun
Hey Raul,
Enlightenment can and does get used as a status symbol. My vision of enlightenment is one where people wake up to the world around them. I think to many people just mill about in the fog, and I want people to wake up and start thinking for themselves.
Eric,
I never thought that you lacked a focus here at all, but re-enforcing beliefs and ideas are always good. Enlightenment is used so much, there is doctor who (My fav) episode called enlightenment.
Thanks for the campfire of enlightenment oppurtunity. I almost did not make it as I wanted to be perfect post, but after spending hours it, I am finally happy to participate and write something that I had thought about before.
Preeti @ Heart and Mind´s last [type] ..Enlightment- An Awareness and Understanding
Preeti, I’m glad to hear that about my focus. I really think it was more of a mental shift for me, and was a way identify my vision.
I love your contribution. I can tell that you really put some time and thought into it, and I’m happy that you found some time to join our campfire!
Congrats on your newly formatted campfire. I am happy to be a part of it. I especially enjoyed this topic and reading the posts so far by you and Preeti. As I mentioned in my post, enlightenment is subjective and personal and only you can define it. Thank you for sharing my definition!
- Ali
S. Ali Myers – Soulful Body & Mind´s last [type] ..What is IN Enlightenment
Thanks Ali, I’m happy that you’re part of it too.
Funny you mention “subjective,” I have a post coming up that will explore the world of the subjective. I suppose enlightenment does fall right into that, good observation.
Thanks for participating in the campfire, it’s always a pleasure to hang out with you and everyone that sits around our virtual fire.
Hi Eric,
I was looking forward to reading this post when I learned that you’d be writing about enlightenment. It’s really such a deep concept and I’ve thought a lot about it since you redirected your blog’s focus. Thanks for getting me thinking in a different way.
I loved how your phrased this, “I usually like to add some intuition into the mix too, so enlightenment then becomes the decisions and answers to questions based on knowledge and feelings.”
Great job, Eric, and thanks again for bringing me along for the ride. I like it!
Lori´s last [type] ..No Tom Toms in Trottersville
Hey Lori,
I’m keeping the campfire burning until the end of the month in case you get the urge to whip up a post.
I do like adding some intuition into the mix. I find the more I use it, the better it works, and proving intuition right is an awesome thing.
Hi Eric – Ah, you’re such a seeker my friend. I like the distinction you make between scientific enlightenment and spiritual enlightenment. To me, one is outer and one is inner. And I think perhaps we seekers start out on the outer route then move to the inner route. For me, there have absolutely been opportunities for enlightenment every day on the inner route, and I love that you make that the centerpiece of your post. Just the act of pausing to ponder is an act of enlightenment, don’t you think?
Patty @ Why Not Start Now?´s last [type] ..Meaning Mondays- The Smallest Things
Patty,
Good thoughts on one being outer and one being inner, that’s a good way to look at it. I suppose the act of pausing to ponder is an act of enlightenment, and it’s such an easy one to practice too.