Meditation Is a Metaphor for Enlightenment

The Unity of Meditation and Enlightenment

By Andrew Cohen

Rightly understood, meditation and enlightenment are one and the same. Meditation is the experience of a particular state of consciousness that has certain qualities, which are also the qualities of enlightenment itself. This is why meditation can be understood as a metaphor for enlightenment. When you meditate, you are consciously choosing to assume the enlightened relationship to your own experience, which is a position in relationship to your experience that is free—free from compulsive identification with time, thought, and feeling. In order to do this, you can follow three very simple instructions: Be still. Be at ease. Pay attention.