People who sincerely walk a spiritual path almost inevitably arrive at the same question:
What is Enlightenment, really? Is it a sudden flash of light? A permanent state of bliss? A distant peak that only a few special people can reach?
The Fish and the Ocean
I once heard a simple and slightly mischievous answer that stayed with me for years: “Enlightenment is like a joke.”
It is like a fish swimming in the ocean and desperately searching for the ocean.
The story goes like this.
A long time ago a large gathering of fish took place. They came together to discuss a very serious matter — who among them had actually seen the ocean. None of them could claim with certainty that they had truly seen it. Then one fish said thoughtfully: “I believe my great-grandfather definitely saw the ocean.” A second fish immediately agreed: “Yes, yes, I have heard that too.” A third added with conviction: “Exactly — his great-grandfather saw it.” And so they decided to build a magnificent temple and erect a statue of that fish’s great-grandfather. From that day on they would say with deep reverence: “He saw the ocean. He was connected to the ocean.”
When I first heard this story, I laughed. And then I felt a quiet discomfort — because I recognised myself in those fish.
From Innocence to the Head
We all come into this world with a natural innocence and a quiet mind. As small children we simply are. We live from the heart. We do not yet carry heavy concepts about success, failure, national identity or personal importance.
Then education begins, society begins, comparisons begin. Words slowly fill the silence. Ambitions and fears move us from the heart into the head. We start drawing borders: “this is mine”, “this is not mine”, “my way is better”. And somewhere along this long road we begin searching for something that was already present at the very beginning.
What Enlightenment Feels Like to Me
For me, Enlightenment is not a dramatic explosion of light or a permanent high. It feels much more like a quiet return.
A return from the noisy, restless head back to the silent heart.
From the constant need to know and control — to the simple ability to say “I don’t know” and still feel at peace.
I notice small glimpses of this return in ordinary life:
- when I manage not to react immediately to criticism
- when I can look at a difficult situation and still feel a soft smile somewhere inside
- when the usual mental labels temporarily loosen their grip and the moment becomes wider
Maturity and Belonging
True maturity, it seems to me, is the ability to feel that everything somehow belongs to you — not in the sense of possession, but in the sense of deep belonging. The whole history of humanity, all the different cultures and traditions — they are part of the same vast garden.
A small child says “my toy is better than yours”. An adult often says almost the same thing, only the toys become countries, ideologies or spiritual paths. Growing up means slowly outgrowing that comparison.
The Rare Combination
Enlightenment, if I try to describe it in my own words, is the rare combination of two things that usually exclude each other:
a sharp, educated mind and a deep, almost childlike innocence.
The ability to use words without being trapped by them.
The capacity to remain silent even while speaking.
Still on the Path
I am still very much on this path. Some days I feel closer to that quiet centre. Other days I am completely lost in the familiar mental noise. The search continues.
But the joke remains the same: we are already swimming in the ocean we are so desperately looking for.
And perhaps the real punchline is this — the sincere search itself, when done with honesty and a sense of humour, is already part of the answer. We only need to stop swimming in circles for a moment… and notice.
Sometimes this noticing looks less like sudden clarity and more like simply refusing to close the chapter too early — staying in the unfinished space where the old self has already left and the new one has not yet spoken (Lest Despair Dig Its Own Grave).
