To experience enlightenment, retreats and extended periods of meditation offer unparalleled opportunities

People usually come to experience enlightenment through considerable effort and hardship, often in a retreat setting such as vipassana or a Zen sesshin. That effort is deep and intense for the practitioner, who may or may not feel that they are making any progress prior to their experience. It is possible, as illustrated by the Zen story of one of its great Zen Masters, for someone to become suddenly without intense contemplation and meditation practice. History has shown, however, that this is very rarely the case.

The story of the Zen master Hui Neng follows:

Hui Neng, who became the great Sixth Patriarch of Ch'an (Zen in Japanese) was a poor illiterate peasant boy from Hsin Chou of Kwangtung. One day, after he had delivered firewood to a shop, he overheard a man reciting the following line from the "Diamond Sutra" - "Depending upon no-thing, you must find your own mind." Instantly, Hui Neng became Enlightened.

Although it is possible suddenly and spontaneously experience enlightenment without consciously engaging in a regular meditation practice, this seldom happens, especially in this day and age. When it does happen, as it did with Hui Neng, it is often said that although they had not been engaging in formal meditation prior to experiencing enlightenment, they already had the seed of great doubt and mystery within themselves. Therefore, all that was required is the right sound, sight, or words to trigger a fundamental and profound change in consciousness.

For the rest of us, we require dedicated time and effort to devote to our practice, particularly when we have only short periods of time for silence and contemplation within which to focus our efforts. As modern society has developed and changed, we have moved considerably away from the quieter and more contemplative lifestyles that people once led.

This is why the retreat format is particularly well suited for modern practitioners. In five, seven, or ten day retreats, one can make great and rapid progress in conjunction with their daily practice. Nearly all initial and subsequent enlightenment experiences happen while a student is involved in a retreat. Retreats combine regular periods of meditation throughout the day, regular interviews with the teacher, work periods, various other forms of meditation and the great strength of group effort to spur on a student to make the most of their retreat opportunity.

During a retreat, the meditation practitioner gradually becomes aware of the breath, body, movement and eventually comes to see how preoccupied there minds are with random thought. These thoughts eventually have less pull on the meditator as he or she continues to practice without the distractions of everyday life. The awareness of each action, breath, and thought is a new dimension brought to one’s mind, activity, feelings and emotions. As awareness and a growing sense of unity is brought to a person’s body mind, there is a possibility of sudden and radical change.

Strictly speaking, those who experience enlightenment often say that it something that cannot be communicated with words. However, to provide western audiences with an idea of what enlightenment is, several authors and teachers have provide translated or original descriptions of the process of spiritual awakening.

To read descriptions of enlightenment experiences, click here