h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have been wondering.
Quite a lot recently.
Is it possible to (a) personally attain enlightenment via the internet or to (b) cause another to become enlightened using it? There is another condition (c) which is where (b) refers to oneself, in other words, is it possible to enlghten oneself via the internet!
H2G2 seems to be the place to talk about this ...
There are schools of thought that say a 'trigger' is required - but does it have to be 'directly' from another. In other words, if the cause is from another, does that person have to be physically present?
The trigger is what is important. We have the written word, music, art all forms of expression, which enable us to get closer to that state ... or at least recognition of the fact that we are already in that state if we would just be awake to it. (Heaven and Earth are separated by a hairs breadth)
Well, my fellow hitch-hikers, anyone care to comment, expand, refute, compound, dismiss, discuss, whatever ... who knows one or all of us may achieve enlightenment.

He, o men, is wisest of you all who has learned, like socrates, that his wisdom is worth nothing.

-Plato.

Like you said, we have all already atained enlightenment. We have simply chosen to ignore it...

Wisdom does not equal Enlightenment, but we know this.
My question remains.
A 'trigger' is what is required.
Like falling and 'missing the ground' means that you are flying ...
The trigger, like the loss of Gutei's finger, arrives unexpectedly without warning, causing us to 'miss the ground'.
No water in our pail, No moon in the water.
A web site devoted to 'triggers', randomly enlightening those who surf it!
Well ...

Yeah, but don't get too enthusiastic about this site. There's not as much enlightenment flying about ass you thing, and i myself find it hard to write on the site the triggers that i talk about, or experience in life, without sounding...uptight, irritating. I suppose it's my net persona. Perhaps i should reinvent myself.

Your arm's too short to box with god

-somebody.

Yes, it is a problem. We have to use language - certainly written, and probably English to communicate, at least via this medium ...
Sound and images seem to be beyond the scope of this site (!)
Personal web pages may contain moving sound and images ... but it's a lot of effort to create them. So we have to be content with the written word. Which brings me back to my original question.
Oh well. Maybe we really are all goldfish in the mental sphere. (Thanks Peter H.)
By the way who wants to box with God? I suppose it depends upon your definition of God. And we are back to words again. We have to have a common ground, a shared experience from which to base our communication. Here we are using the written word. Enlightenment is about communion - or communication without a medium. Direct experience, no words, no thought, but with all our being.
See how difficult it is to write, words are imprecise, decay, slip slide will not stay in place ... (Thanks Thomas S. E.)
There are a lot of triggers around, perhaps, just maybe, put them all in one place (like this site) and set people free to roam over it it might just cause one person to attain enlightenment. If so then it would have been worth it ... wouldn't it?
Be Seeing You. (Thanks Patrick M.)
OB

WHAT? WHAT? WHAAAAAT? Do YOU understand ? Dear friend, go and have a beer and a shag

Does anybody here understand the full implication or meaning behind the word enlightenment? A rhetorical question you might say and I'd have to answer a quite resounding, typically western and civilised, no myself. I do however suggest some serious words with some true master of enlightenment like Budha, Jesus, or who's that Yaqui Indian bloke.. ..Don Juan as the only thing for it. They all had enlightenment of their own kind and despite the fact it might be a bit difficult to contact them today there are many people that have taken it upon themselves to help us discover the true meaning behind each of their words, also since there are striking similarities between each of their practice and too many religions accross the globe to mention the sites for 'triggers' must be huge.
If I can impart some advice to you at this stage I would say that if you are going on a personal discovery quest or even wish to achieve enlightenment first and foremost make sure you remain open minded. Finally also be aware that there are many people who believe they hold the truth and who would like to impress it upon you (that applies in its largest sense to constitutional 'truth holders' and on a smaller footing to individual 'truth holders',) which I may not be able to dispute in whole but who's truth is often being manipulated to achieve selfish and short sighted goals, for their own means and not for the good of you and everyone else.
There are probably more sites than you might think dedicated to enlightenment, of one kind or another, I say this with regards to your question of 'triggers' because that is just one of many methods, or part of a method, by which attainment of enlightenment can be achieved. www.crystalinks.com contains some of these 'triggers' you mentioned but I think they maybe related to the issues discussed within the link, however you may find browsing this page and its links enlightenning, even if only on a conceptual level. For an introduction or suplement to present spirtual practice check out www.fouryogas.com and for some impartial advice from someone far more enlightened than myself check out www.osho.org however, beware of being sucked in by the apparent attempt to commercialise and even trade mark(?) meditation here, the message rings true!
That goes for all the sites I mentioned and overall I can say that that message is something of a personal wisdom without ego that 'lies with the beholder' that is to say; the truth you may find is within everyone and is also unique to you by way of how you achieve and what you achieve. If goin' out for a beer and a shag is your kind of truth then so be it, after all ignorance is bliss. However I'd like to ascert that this statement holds far deeper meaning, one that goes beyond simply killing off those brain cells (which is expected of anyone within the confines of our western, civilised existence, even me) and which transcends our present consciousness for one without boundaries, except for those that we and others pose on our path to a spiritual goal.

And a very slightly modified one that I think makes a bit more sense 'cos I didnt mean to post the above but I'm told theres no way to delet it?... Does anybody here actually understand the full implication or meaning behind the word enlightenment? A rhetorical question you might say and to it I would have to answer with quite a resounding, typically western and civilised, NO. I would however suggest some serious words with some true master of enlightenment like Budha, Jesus, or who's that Yaqui Indian bloke.. ..Don Juan as the only thing for it. They all had enlightenment of their own kind and despite the fact it might be a bit difficult to contact them today there are many people that have taken it upon themselves to help us discover the true meaning behind each of their words, also since there are striking similarities between each of their practice and too many religions accross the globe to mention, the sites for 'triggers' must be huge.
If I can impart some advice to you at this stage I would say that if you are going on a personal discovery quest or even wish to achieve enlightenment first and foremost make sure you remain open minded; finally be aware that there are many people who believe they hold the truth and who would like to impress it upon you (that applies in its largest sense to constitutional 'truth holders' and on a smaller footing to individual 'truth holders',) which I may not be able to dispute in whole but who's truth is often being manipulated to achieve selfish and short sighted goals, for their own means and not for the good of you and everyone else. (Despite this, many that fall under the above catorgory exert a huge influence within our society)!
There are probably more sites than you might think dedicated to enlightenment, of one kind or another, I say this with regards to your question of 'triggers' because that is just one of many methods, or part of a method, by which attainment of enlightenment can be achieved. www.crystalinks.com contains some of these 'triggers' you mentioned but I think they maybe related to the issues discussed within the link, however you may find browsing this page and its links enlightenning, even if only on a conceptual level. For an introduction or suplement to present spirtual practice check out www.fouryogas.com and for some impartial advice from someone far more enlightened than myself check out www.osho.org however, beware of being sucked in by the apparent attempt to commercialise and even trade mark(?) meditation here, the message rings true!
That goes for all the sites I mentioned and overall I can say that that message is something of a personal wisdom without ego that 'lies with the beholder' that is to say; the truth you may find is within everyone and is also unique to you by way of how you achieve and what you achieve. If goin' out for a beer and a shag is your kind of truth then so be it, after all ignorance is bliss. However I'd like to ascert that this statement holds far deeper meaning, one that goes beyond simply killing off those brain cells (which is expected of anyone within the confines of our western, civilised existence, even me) and which transcends our present consciousness for one without boundaries, except for those that we and others impose on our path to a spiritual goal.

And a very slightly modified one that I think makes a bit more sense 'cos I didnt mean to post the above but I'm told theres no way to delete it?... Does anybody here actually understand the full implication or meaning behind the word enlightenment? A rhetorical question you might say and to it I would have to answer with quite a resounding, typically western and civilised, NO. I would however suggest some serious words with some true master of enlightenment like Budha, Jesus, or who's that Yaqui Indian bloke.. ..Don Juan as the only thing for it. They all had enlightenment of their own kind and despite the fact it might be a bit difficult to contact them today there are many people that have taken it upon themselves to help us discover the true meaning behind each of their words, also since there are striking similarities between each of their practice and too many religions accross the globe to mention, the sites for 'triggers' must be huge.
If I can impart some advice to you at this stage I would say that if you are going on a personal discovery quest or even wish to achieve enlightenment first and foremost make sure you remain open minded; finally be aware that there are many people who believe they hold the truth and who would like to impress it upon you (that applies in its largest sense to constitutional 'truth holders' and on a smaller footing to individual 'truth holders',) which I may not be able to dispute in whole but who's truth is often being manipulated to achieve selfish and short sighted goals, for their own means and not for the good of you and everyone else. (Despite this, many that fall under the above catorgory exert a huge influence within our society)!
There are probably more sites than you might think dedicated to enlightenment, of one kind or another, I say this with regards to your question of 'triggers' because that is just one of many methods, or part of a method, by which attainment of enlightenment can be achieved. www.crystalinks.com contains some of these 'triggers' you mentioned but I think they maybe related to the issues discussed within the link, however you may find browsing this page and its links enlightenning, even if only on a conceptual level. For an introduction or suplement to present spirtual practice check out www.fouryogas.com and for some impartial advice from someone far more enlightened than myself check out www.osho.org however, beware of being sucked in by the apparent attempt to commercialise and even trade mark(?) meditation here, the message rings true!
That goes for all the sites I mentioned and overall I can say that that message is something of a personal wisdom without ego that 'lies with the beholder' that is to say; the truth you may find is within everyone and is also unique to you by way of how you achieve and what you achieve. If goin' out for a beer and a shag is your kind of truth then so be it, after all ignorance is bliss. However I'd like to ascert that this statement holds far deeper meaning, one that goes beyond simply killing off those brain cells (which is expected of anyone within the confines of our western, civilised existence, even me) and which transcends our present consciousness for one without boundaries, except for those that we and others impose on our path to a spiritual goal.

I don't believe it's possible to attain enlightenment over the Internet, at least in the Buddhist Nirvana sense. Because a computer is a possession, and the Internet requires a computer, and Buddhist believe lack of possessions leads to elightenment, I'd have to say the Net cannot enlighten you.

-Cheese

Blatently the only way your going to achieve enlightenment is through meditation, but it takes many forms and is often unique in someway to yourself.... without possesions you are less likely to be distracted from your practice but surely you can still learn about your practice and recieve spiritual guidance through the net. We cant neccesarily talk to the spiritual masters in person but theres plenty about them and their practice all over the net.
I also feel loss of possesions doesnt have to be in a physical sense of throwing out all your prized possesions either but could be more in terms of losing your attatchement to these items and your need for them, however the gain from getting rid of everything completely or even just minimising what you need is likely to be of greater benefit.
Dont forget there are some Buhdist practices that have followers stare at walls to achieve enlightenment! Who's to say our brains dont operate on a higher conscious level when we stare at a computer screen, hey, maybe even some of that magnetic radiation does wonders for your inner mind?

We all must find our own path to enlightenment. No one person's journey will be the same as any other's.
Have you encountered a site called LightCrafts?
http://thisisit22.tripod.com/index.html

Interesting. . .

i wanna be enlightened, but all these darn rules....

Enlightenment! In my recent experience "enlightenment" has come in the form of being assaulted by one who thinks that her(his) way is the only way. Dialogue consists of listening to that person ad nausea and when trying to interject a thought pro or con being told that I am not respecting that person because I do not agree with her (his) ultimate wisdom. As far as enlightenment in the internet it is a pleasure to at least get out a thought without being shushed. We are all in a state of enlightenment and we must protect ourselves from those who would seek to undermine our personal philosophies and sense of moral behavior. Beware the "gurus" who espouse their views as gospel. Know that you have value, inteligence, and free will. Act with good conscience,good will and avoid the negative and you will find your own enlightenment which in my definition is love for all this world animal plant mineral and treating our fellow hitchhikers with the respect deserved. I'm not uptight as disappointed in the negative thinking around us. My nickname,by the way is not Pollyanna. I've lived too many years to think things will change overnight. It's just that I have hopes for future generations that such a converstion will not exist because humanity will have evolved to a level called respect for all we have--air water food etc. and we will not live in a doomsday society. Let's open our eyes and really look around and see what needs to be done. That's where we become enlightened,truly enlightened.

try consulting"the Path to Enlightenment" by His Holiness the Dalai
Lama

Does enlightenment have to be esoteric? Must we consult prophets.gurus philosophers and other exaulted persona to discover that which is innate and reveals itself to those whose hearts and minds are open and not clouded by predjudice. Must we always rely on a "sourcebook" or are we free to think for ourselves. The world and universe are there for us to become one(sic) with. I believe that the fault in our cloudy thinking and our dificulty with truly meditating is the rapidity at which we are moving.
Technology leaves little time to ponder if we do not allow ourselves a walk on the beach without worrying about the "necessities" we are shirking by giving our "souls" a break. I'm leaving off now to ponder.