Psychology Today | 07.02.2026 02:42
“Enlightenment.” “Awakening.” The words can be used interchangeably to mean a permanent shift in how the brain operates. It is not a single or even repeated experience, as might happen out in nature or on psychedelics. Such experiences can be amazing, such as feeling one with everything, and they can permanently change attitudes. But this is a permanent change in the whole brain. With it, when “bad things” happen, you feel a strange, real equanimity. You think less, especially about yourself— “you” just somehow are not so important anymore. You feel less self-conscious. You have fewer desires. You still care about things and probably will spontaneously do what you can, or more, to change the world. But you feel a deep calm inside. That’s enlightenment.
