Enlightenment (concept)

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This article presents enlightenment in the sense of any transformation into greater wisdom. For other views or essays on enlightenment, see meditation, mysticism (including authors such as Carlos Castaneda), moksha (a Hindu term), and enlightenment (Buddhism) (more detail on the Buddhist concept).

Kant's definition of enlightenment

In his famous 1784 essay "What Is Enlightenment", Immanuel Kant defined it as follows:

"Enlightenment is man's leaving his self-caused immaturity. Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another. Such immaturity is self-caused if its cause is not lack of intelligence, but by lack of determination and courage to use one's intelligence without being guided by another. The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own intelligence!"

Spirituality and enlightenment

Enlightenment, as a concept related to the Buddhist Bodhi, and equally, the Christian and Judaic idea of spiritual knowledge, is a cornerstone of modern religious and spiritual understanding. The term "enlightenment" is often used as a secular idea that relates to a localized, religion-specific "enlightenment", and also attempts to bridge the traditional gap between religions and religious belief and psychological science.

The "age of enlightenment" is a proverbial time of maturing in people -- roughly around the age of 18 years -- when the illusions of childhood lift, and one is left with greater self-awareness and understanding of their own roles and responsibilities in the world. This is analogous to the Christian-adopted concept of being "born-again" and is a direct tie between the spiritual teachings of The Christ, Jesus and Buddha, except that in Buddhism, enlightenment means one is ultimately free from the cycle of suffering and rebirth thus never have to be born again, ever.

See also awareness, consciousness, self-knowledge, awakening