<aside> ✋ Bear with me on this one! This is one of few pages that needs a disclaimer to leap out at you right up front.

This is understandably a controversial topic, probably because there's an impossibly-high or godlike bar set against the standard this word implies. I'd implore you to keep an open mind on this topic, and 1) recognise you may be coming from a stance where you already feel resistance to the idea, and 2) you don't need to believe this is a thing at all.

In fact, it's not at all surprising that you might not - it practically has 'legendary' or 'mythological' status after all. Even amongst those that fervently believe that it exists and have dedicated their lives to its pursuit - they're constantly disagreeing about it and the standards to live up to vary wildly. For many traditions, they believe anyone claiming to have achieved it is instantly disqualified. Overall, it's a topic that is frankly taboo.

</aside>

Did I mention this was a controversial topic?

Maybe the very large disclaimer gave it away.

There is a very mixed climate amongst Buddhist and contemplative traditions around whether or not it is appropriate to discuss this publicly at all. While that may seem baffling to some, or if it comes off as some act of rebellion for me to be typing on this page at all, the intention there regarding non-disclosure is not nefarious.

So why is it a taboo topic for some? The intentions are typically:

• Not to close people off to the idea before they're ready.
• To lessen the chances of people proudly and publicly claiming to have attained it, when in fact they're unknowingly "not there yet" and simply deluding themselves, thus finding themselves in a very-difficult-to-leave rut. In other words, to discourage ego.
• Those who aren't receptive to the idea are likely to dig their heels in and become more firmly entrenched in their opinions, and thus close themselves off to future opportunities.
• This kind of dialogue is strictly reserved for student-teacher relationships. This is where one experienced individual (the teacher) can give personalised advice to a practitioner (the student) who is not only already highly receptive and already equipped with the relevant knowledge and context, but also sufficiently advanced to be able to put the advice into practice effectively.

Hey, fair enough right? How rational and fair do all those reasons sound?

OK, so why are we here talking about it anyway?

Because I believe it's still worth trying to talk about, and with sufficient context and disclaimer, surely we can at least broach the topic.

Serious practitioners should, can, and will already seek out qualified teachers and have the personalised back-and-forths necessary to suit the proclivities of the individual.

This is more for those who are inherently skeptical, uninitiated, or simply inexperienced.

Not long ago I was such a person; once I started getting more serious about meditation, and having some experiences of my own, I was baffled by this internal question:

Why is nobody talking about this??

It turns out that tonnes of people are, just amongst their sub-cultures and communities. That, and I just didn't pay attention very well beforehand because it's all easy to dismiss. Attempts to bridge the gap are both understandably and frustratingly few.

So, this is my attempt to open that door, to bridge that gap, because I think there should be more attempts, and the world will be better off for it.

This isn't necessarily about enlightenment - it's more about Contemplative Fitness, the penultimate goal of which is something called "awakening" or "enlightenment".

See, there's a threshold to cross first in that one needs to gradually build up sufficient interest and receptivity, and typically one gets themselves there either by their own efforts or through cumulative influences and nudges from lots of different sources.