The stories that you will
hear
in this storybook held the key to
enlightenment for some of the characters you will meet here. You will
hear about their circumstances and their transformation, if they
had one. And
who knows, maybe you will be next to become enlightened? Well, do you
want to be next? First of course, you want to know what enlightenment
is and then, you want to think about whether you really want to be
enlightened.
Let's start with your first question: What is enlightenment?
To answer
your question, close your
eyes for a moment and imagine everything that brings you happiness. And
please be very generous! Okay, open your eyes again. Now think of all
your
ideas like a drop of water in the ocean compared to what real
enlightenment is. It is quite beyond our imagination what it means, but
it is that for which we all long for from deep within us.
Now to the second question: How do you know you really want
that? Aha,
you don't really know, because you don't understand what it means to be
enlightened. If you knew what enlightenment was, then there would be no
doubt in your mind that you want it.
You
may have a third question. You might ask: And what does Maya have to do
with anything? Maya, she is the queen of illusion. Her job is to
keep you away from enlightenment - she makes sure we will not get
there, until we
are ready, until we want to get there. Her job is to show us what
enlightenment is not. Since we can't grasp what it is, we usually
understand
what it is not. After eating the chocolate cake, we realize that that
wasn't quite it. After reaching our career goal in life, we will know
that that was also not it. We may be more happy reaching little goals
in life, but then there are always the unpleasant things as well; there
is death, sickness, separation, and so on.
Maya is the one to tell you
that no matter what your efforts, you will
not reach enlightenment. She may also tell you that there is no such
thing. On the other hand, she will show you a million ways that
supposedly make you happy, but true happiness will always stay out of
your reach. True happiness is one that can't be disturbed by what
happens
around you, good or bad.
Am I saying that enlightenment is the same as
happiness? Yes, I am saying that happiness is a good term to describe
enlightenment. Other good terms are peace, bliss, fulfillment. Always
remember that our ability to imagine what it really means is like a
drop
of water compared to the ocean.
Did I say ocean? Ah, that
reminds me of how the following
stories
began. Are you ready to accompany me on an excursion to the ocean? Here
we go. It starts with a disaster, but let's not focus on the tragic
part. Disasters sometimes have the potential to transform lives, as is
the case here. It all happened on April 14th, 1912 when the Titanic hit
an iceberg. Ah, you know about that one, but you probably missed the
story about five people who ended up in a lifeboat together. One of
them was a beautiful lady with the
name Ahadyla. Another one
was Kakooni a very mischievous, cunning, and
unmarried woman. Then
there was a very powerful business man with the name
Powerana.
Then there was
Makara. Finally there was Karaman, whose name reminds us of Rama
and Karma. He is our storyteller. Find out more about the individual
characters, their survival, aspirations and the effect Karaman's
stories have on them when you click on their names. (It is recommended
to read the stories in order, since in each story there is some
reference back to the previous story. Well, if you really just have
time for one story, my personal favorite one is Story 4: Makara)
1. Image Information: Enlightenment