The Term Enlightenment - Essay Example

 The Term Enlightenment We come across this word “enlightenment” many times in the literatures and writings of spiritual value .So what can be the genuine meaning of this word? In simple terms, enlightenment is a phenomenon which take place within ourselves in a spur of a moment .It can be explained as a process in which a human being get out of a state ignorance to realize a more profound meaning of life and the uncertainties surrounding it Enlightenment is something which carries a dual meaning .It can be the ascending of human being towards truth from an intellectual perspective or from a spiritual perspective. Spiritual enlightenment is a very thorough process in which a human being’s soul is uplifted towards the divine light and thus brightening his whole personality. Thus it can be said that spiritual enlightenment is the ultimate end of human life and need deeper awakening of the spirit or the soul. The enlightenment process occurred in the writing “The library card” is essentially different from that which Plato has described. Plato in his writing is talking about the spiritual enlightenment which leads to salvation. It is about a divine awakening in a person which changes his perception and view about the whole world and himself. When the idea of a human being changes due to the enhancement of his knowledge cannot be completely categorized as spiritual enlightenment rather it is just a revolution in his thoughts and outlook about him and the world. Nevertheless, an intelligently awakened can find the path of spiritual awakening more easily as he is open to new ideas and concepts. The contradictions in two writing The author of the essay explains the way in which he had an opportunity to experience the sense of awakening with the help of different books and novel .He being a black man had very little knowledge about the real living style and thoughts of white men. He lived in a time when black were oppressed and considered nothing more than slaves. Nevertheless, he had a hidden passion for reading but found no access to books due to the situation he was living in. Even then he managed to get access to books and this was a turning point in his life. He had the chance of reading the predicaments of a white revolutionist who denounced the western customs and practices .He also became aware of certain names he never knew before which the book mentioned. Slowly he was progressing towards more of reading which was changing his attitude and perception towards the white dominant society. He has been gaining enlightenment with the assistance of the books and novels he was reading .He was gradually that all the whites are not same ,people have different values and ideas. It was also realizing that it is not fair to view everyone in the same way as people are different in their own ways. This changes his attitude and behavior white men. He was more compassionate towards them and also wanted to fight against injustice prevailing in the society. The difference in the enlightenment described by Plato and the author Here we can see that the author is slowly getting awakened from an intellectual perspective but not necessarily from a spiritual angle. “Intellect cannot bring about self-realization, only a “thought" or concept of self-realization. It has to be understood that to hold an “opposite" or “different" view of the world does not lead to enlightenment and is not spiritual in the real essence”(Sharma ).We can observe that the Plato in his writing emphasis on the realization of the soul and salvation. Salvation is the culmination of the mind and soul with divine and hence cross all unrealistic assumption about this illusionary world. A spiritually awakened soul reaches a point in which he thinks good of everyone and wants to take off the veil of ignorance existing with others. According to the writing, the author gained knowledge by means of book and novels and understood the thinking and living style of the whites. This made him realize about the darkness prevailing in his community and the lack of freedom suffered by them. He wanted to break free from this state and wanted to speak for his community. This kind of reaction comes with intellectual awakening and not self realization or spiritual awakening. According to Plato a man who has attained salvation does not think himself to be separate from other beings? He sees everyone equal and wants to do betterment for the society in a very justified manner. Conclusion Enlightenment is not a concept which only denotes freeing one self from the mode of ignorance. It is the acknowledgement of the real truth and also pursuing that truth in order to do deliver goodness to man kind and whole living beings. According to great philosopher (Porter,1) “Enlightenment was mankind’s final coming of age , the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error” .The Plato’s writing focus more on the human consciousness, the ego and other entanglements of human mind’s .His writing shows that a leader or ruler can be only that person who have attained self realization .He can only work towards goodness as he has acquired a bonding with the divine present through out this universe. The author in the essay has only tasted the tip of the ice berg and has to travel a lot more to attain the experience stated by Plato. From the Plato’s point of view world is not what we see but only a poor copy of the truth. To dive more in to the divine light man need to have more than intellectual awakening. He needs to grow with knowledge and also should practice what he learned in the right sense. The author of the essay, Wright definitely wants to do something for the suffering black community but he doesn’t have the freedom to practice it. He is like a man chained in the cave only seeing the shadows of the unknown truth. He needs to come out in to the real light and realize himself in more depth to understand and perceive the world from a wider angle. Work Cited Porter, Roy. The Enlightenment . 2nd ed.,. London: Palgrave , 2001. 1. Print. Sharma, Vivek. "Intellectual Enlightenment: A Matter of Thoughts." Search warp. The spiritual organisation, 17/04/2005. Web. 24 Jan 2011. . Read More