Enlightenment

I’m writing a book about an old hippie guy, who grew up in the American Midwest, and went on a journey of enlightenment that took him to the Czech Republic, China, Amsterdam, Egypt and a couple of other places.  No, it’s not about me, although we’re about the same age and have plenty of similarities.  I’ve never been to China.

Anyway, this raises the question: What is enlightenment?

Let’s look at this etymologically.  Enlightenment means the act of making lighter.  Lighter means more light, but light has more than one  meaning.  It can be the opposite of dark or the opposite of heavy.

So,  on the one hand, enlightenment can be like tuning on the light in a room.  You go from stumbling around and bumping your shin on a coffee table to being able to see everything in an instant.  It’s a good metaphor.  We say “To shine a bit of light on the subject” or “to see things in a different light.”  Light is clear, so we have clarification.

We go through that process of enlightenment a little bit every morning, and have since the dawn of mankind, being diurnal creatures.  We see the dawn as a beginning, we say “a new day is dawning” whenever there’s a new invention or human civilization takes a new turn of any kind.

On the other hand, to enlighten can mean to make less heavy.  To take a weight off your shoulders, to disencumber yourself.  It’s what we’re talking about when  we say “Lighten up.”  Certainly, it’s a good thing.  If you want to strengthen your legs for running a marathon, you might put weights around your ankles.Then, when you take them off, it is as if you have wings on your feet.  (I’ve never trained like that, but it sounds right)  Is the key to enlightenment just lightening up, losing all your excess baggage?

I don’t know.  Which is fair enough, as I haven’t found enlightenment yet.  I’m still looking.  So is my friend, the one the book is about.