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> Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. My understanding is that this actually highlights the "meaningless
by hnfong 5y ago
> Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
My understanding is that this actually highlights the "meaninglessness" of enlightenment -- but you don't know what you missed if you never went through that phase.
And, my personal interpretation is that, given that one already went through all that trouble to attain it, it must have some profound meaning by definition. (To the "one must imagine Sisyphus happy" vibe.)
- zozbot234 5y ago> And, my personal interpretation is that, given that one already went through all that trouble to attain it, it must have some profound meaning by definition. Wouldn't this depend on what "profound" means? The "lean" model of enlightenment favored by Daniel Ingram and other modern practitioners is that it's really about progressively dispensing with the psychological "need" or "craving" for some sort of personal identity (in the philosophical sense). It's one thing to reveal that personal identity is an illusion (that's comparatively easy in many ways), another thing entirely to restructure your underlying thinking process so as to fully engage with the world without needing to constantly refer back to that basic worldview. There's plenty of room for disagreement as to whether that's 'profound' enough!