“Enlightenment is a destructive process. It
has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the
crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing
through the facade of pretence. It's the
complete eradication of everything we
imagined to be true.”

“Enlightenment is nothing more than the complete absence of resistance to what is. End of story.”

Adyashanti (1962) Spiritual teacher

“The worst thing you could do in your life is to be determined NOT TO BE AFFECTED by life. This is the harm that the glorification of the "enlightened guru" has done to us. The enlightened guru seems unaffected by life. This could not be further from the truth. The enlightened person lets himself be completely penetrated by life, but in the absence of resistance to that penetration, in the absence of resistance to being affected, there is nothing in him for life to injure or destroy. If you strive to be unaffected by life, the resistance you have is to FEELING.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

“Because they think of themselves as a special enlightened caste, progressives care almost nothing about process. Process is for the little people.”

Kevin D. Williamson (1972) American writer

“Enlightenment is not an attainment, it is a realization. And when you wake up, everything changes and nothing changes.”

Dan Millman (1946) American self help writer

“Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive—that you can touch the miracle of being alive—then that is a kind of enlightenment”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

“Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now.”

Neale Donald Walsch (1943) American writer

“HELLO! Look at me. HELLO! I am so ZEN. This is BLOOD. This is NOTHING. Hello. Everything is nothing, and it's so cool to be ENLIGHTENED. Like me.”

Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club

“If you think you see both
Destruction and becoming,
Then you see destruction and becoming
Through impaired vision.”

Nagarjuna Mūlamadhyamakakārikā

“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

C.G. Jung (1875–1961) Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology