Ching-Yuan relates:

Before I had studied Zen for thirty years,
I saw mountains as mountains,
and waters as waters,.
When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge,
I came to the point,
where I saw that mountains are not mountains,
and waters are not waters.
But now that I have got its very substance
I am at rest.
For it's just that I see mountains once again as mountains,
and waters once again as waters.

Ching-yuan's perspective on himself and mountains before he studied Zen was, like everyone else, dualistic. He knew his ego self as separate from other objects, or forms, he called mountains and waters. During his years of study, and before enlightenment, he underwent psychological changes in which mountains and waters no longer seemed like the objects they were when he started to study. Then, after he became enlightened, he felt his ego self had disappeared as a small self and that, with a flash of joyous insight, he was one with mountains and waters except now they were empty of their former small self-nature and were one with his expanded, self-forgetting nature.

Enlightenment is a psychological awakening to a natural, intuitive experience of realilty and expanded consciousness. It is selfless subjectivity, or true-self, being one with the totality of the unprocessed, incoming sense data conveying the reality of the being underlying our world and the universe. The same creation and the universe still exist, but in a new dimension of expanded consciousness, as one all-encompasssing, inter-connected field, rather than as a world of separate beings. The ego mind that thinks thoughts of any kind, including thoughts of God and self, gives way to the intuitive mind which embraces all of reality without separating it by concepts into this and that. If one hangs on to a particular thought, e.g., God, or self, then one retains the ego mind and the enlightenment experiece will not take place.

One awakens to the consciousness of big mind, wherein one's subjectivity is everything that exists. It is a natural vision of the world man possessed before the Fall. When one first awakens to this "spiritual universe" comprising the true self, or enlightenment, it is accompanied by great natural joy at the wonder of spiritual self-realization. In itself, the experience is morally neutral, and can be produced by drugs, intensive meditation techniques, or persistent mental effort connected with concentraion on a koan. Fundamentally, it is a natural experience of the profound nature of the human being, including the dimensions of the soul. In the experience, natural repositories of latent energy, formerly tied up in separation of the ego from attachments to the pleasures and things of this world, may, like a sudden eruption, be released giving one a natural "high" and a sense of new power, and may last beyond the actual enlightenment period. The body is fully involved in such highs, often felt to be concentrated in the lower spine, and suffers withdrawals as the high dissipates, and one's systems return to normal.

Also, it should be noted that there is an infinite difference between the Eastern enlightenment or awakening experience and the reception of Christian contemplative prayer. As we have indicated, the one is awakening by self-effort to the reality of the natural, everday, incoming data filling our consciousness through the five senses, but with complete, undivided clarity, as it is purified of separation into thoughts, memories, preferences, daydreams, and delusions. In contrast, contemplative prayer is a Gift of God, transforming our surrendering spirit, and natural consciousness, enlightened or not, by grace, and primarily divine effort, into love of neighbor, and unselfish love of creation, as we "put-on" on the self-sacrificing "mind of Christ."

St John of the Cross, in several of his writings, points out that our finite natural intellect, in this life, has the limited capacity of clearly "knowing" only finite being, forms and concepts, which are likewise limited. Thus we naturally know ourselves and the world of creation. And this is true even though our intellect be strengthened and perfected by the help of grace. Our natural intellect is unable to clearly know the Being of God in this life because He is Infinite, Unlimited, Supernatural Being, for Whom clear knowledge requires an equally Infinite Intellect. (In the Beatific Vision of the next life, we will be given a special grace by which, in our resurrected being, we will participate, to a "finite" extent, in God's own vision of Himself.) When our spirit comes in contact with the Spirit of God during supernatural, contemplative prayer our finite intellect is overwhelmed by supernatural light, and knows God in the darkness and obscurity of Faith, intuitively, rather than by clear knowledge or concepts. As we recall, intuition is a function of man's fundamental intellectual power of knowing, (a primary, basic form of knowledge) wherein, reality is immediately perceived or apprehended by the intellect prior to any processing of it by the mental faculties into, e.g., concepts, memory comparisons, likes and dislikes, etc. Moreover, any clear experience, such as found in Eastern practices through "enlightenment" of our intellect in this life, e.g., the experience of the oneness of ourselves and all creation, remains, no matter how wonderfully expansive, a finite, natural experience which cannot comprehend the Essence of an Infinite, Divine Being.

Christian contemplation is the receptive contemplation of the Other, Almighty God, Himself, yet still in the darkness of faith. And Christian contemplation is centered in the spirit, even though the body may be indirectly affected. The completion of this contemplative journey is a "spiritual marriage," as distinct from a bodily marriage. The divine inflowing is experienced in the center of the soul, whether one is standing, kneeling or lying down. One surrenders personal effort, in a spirit of humility, to the inflowing of the Divine Spirit as it transforms the soul in the Self-Giving Love of Jesus Christ. Rather than an experience of the expansion of the natural powers of man, body and soul, as in enlightenment, Christian contemplation is an experience of the poverty of the natural man who, because of his acknowledged spiritual poverty, receives in his need, supernatural gifts from the Father of Lights .

St John of the Cross:

"It must be understood that if a person experiences some elevated spiritual communication or feeling or knowledge, it should not be thought that the experiences are similar to the clear and essential vision or possession of God, or that the communication, no matter how remarkable it is, signifies a more notable possession of God or union with him. It should be known too that if all these sensible and spiritual communications are wanting and individuals live in dryness, darkness, and dereliction, they must not thereby think that God is any more absent than in the former case."(Spiritual Canticle, Stanza l, St John of the Cross)

Father Garrigou LaGrange comments:

"What we have now said of the free will shows that each soul is a universe (unum versus alia omnia) because each soul is opened by reason of its intelligence to universal truth, and by its will to universal good. Each soul therefore is a "Spiritual Universe" which gravitates toward God, the sovereign good.(Fr. Garrigou Lagrange, Life Everlasting)

In the following excerpt from 'Crossing the Threshold of Hope,' Pope John Paul II points out how the underlying philosophy of Buddhism, and the monistic "oneness" experience of enlightenment, as the basis of ultimate truth leading to liberation from suffering and rebirth, ends up making the world, as we know it, an evil based on the illusion of dualism and separate beings:

"The "enlightenment" experienced by Buddha comes down to the conviction that the world is bad, that it is the source of evil and of suffering for man. To liberate oneself from this evil, one must free oneself from this world, necessitating a break with the ties that join us to external realities existing in our human nature, in our psyche, in our bodies. The more we are liberated from these ties, the more we become indifferent to what is in the world, and the more we are freed from suffering, from the evil that has its source in the world. Do we draw near to God in this way?" (Pope John Paul II, "Crossing The Threshold of Hope")

Contemplative union may, at times, produce psychological effects similar to the enlightenment experience, where one's consciousness seems selfless, and embraces the universe of reality like the oneness of a single spiritual organism. For in such union, God's Spirit invades a purified human spirit, freed from the attachments of the false self which have distinguished it from the One in whose image it was made. In the purity of this participation in His Life, through an advanced spiritual union, the two spirits begin to reflect the same characteristics, i.e., the characteristics of His Spirit. For the spirit of man progressively takes on the attributes of the Spirit of Christ as he becomes conformed to Him on his journey to perfection. Moreover, Almighty God has a Vision of the Universe within His own Being which we may share, by a special grace, during certain stages of union. It is called "seeing through the Eyes of God." However this "oneness" with the Universe experience, in this case, is a result of participative union in His Vision, rather than an ontological effect from the supposed disappearance of the ego. For the farther one goes along the spiritual road, the more one is aware of the retention of one's own consciousness, or ego, but with its center restored to the spirit, as it is purified from selfish weaknesses and imbued with the Loving Spirit of the "Other," Almighty God.

With very advanced spiritual maturity there comes an increasing awareness of this "Relationship of Self-Giving Love." There is a giving and receiving between Lovers, transforming and spiritualizing the dualistic mind with Trinitarian Love, in imitation of "the mind of Christ." And that relationship, once begun, becomes an ever-growing, ongoing, eternal embrace between spiritual entities who are conscious of each other. There are occasional periods where one is not thinking about, or conscious of oneself, the Other, or anything but what one is experiencing. And at such times, during a peak experience, it might seem like the selfless, oneness universe of ever changing reality is all there is. However, for the majority of the time, one is well aware of the "Other," and, as the saints have indicated, one is carrying on an inward conversation which tells the Beloved such things as: " My Lord and my God. I thank you for your grace. I praise you, Though I am unworthy, you have called me friend and filled me with your Spirit, I surrender to you in love and adoration!"

In the words of John of Ruysbroeck:

"The final state of the Christian mystic, then, is not annihilation in the Absolute. It is a condition wherein we dwell wholly in God, one life and truth with Him; yet still "feel God and ourselves," as the lover feels his beloved, in a perfect union which depends for its joy on an invincible otherness. The soul, transfused and transfigured by the Divine Love as molten iron is by the fire, becomes, it is true, "one simple blessedness with God," yet ever retains its individuality: one with God beyond itself, yet other than God within itself."

And in the Interior Castle, St Teresa tells us that the seeming "psychological" loss of ego consciousness,(an effect of a perfectly purified, transparent ego) often occurs in the state of spiritual marriage:

"The first effect of spiritual marriage, is a forgetfulness which is so complete that it really seems as though the soul no longer existed, because it is such that she has neither knowledge nor remembrance that there is either Heaven or life or honor for her, so entirely is she employed in seeking the honor of God."

It is important to remember that this is a "psychological effect" and doesn't mean, as those in Eastern Religion would like to believe, that the contemplative has discovered that he or she doesn't really exist, or is "empty of self, " or is really God, and, therefore, really perfect, all along. For even though such a one is imbued with bliss and a wonderful spirit like divine consciousness, one has only to try walking on water like Jesus, or walking through walls as He did in the Upper Room, to find out that one is not God after all. Of course, those who think they are really God, under the same illusion as misguided Easterners or deluded former Christians, always manage to avoid a public test of their powers that would settle the issue once and for all. They make certain to avoid wedding feasts where they might be asked to perform "a miracle" by someone who would know whether or not they were God and had supernatural power at their fingertips: "their Mother."

True participation in the Love of God has the characteristics and quality of the Love manifested to the world by the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. It is everything one would imagine it would be when the One Who Loves you is Infinite Power, Infinite Beauty, Infinite Goodness, Infinite Kindness, Infinite Humility, and Infinite God. It is all the things described in the prophetic texts of the Old and New Testaments. It is Abundant Life. It is a permanent restoration of a new fullness of natural energy that was lost during the dark nights. It is Living Water! It is a consuming Fire! It is a Living Flame of Love rising up within the soul, and becoming an Eternal Torrent of Delight! It is the fulfillment of Christ's promises, the beginning of Eternal Life and Glory Unspeakable! And it is an Infinity away, and far advanced beyond any Impersonal Oneness experiences, as one is continuously aware that one is sharing in the Self-Giving Gift of Love from the Beloved in the Mystery of the Triune Spirit of God.

An individual undergoing an enlightenment experience might gain new insights into the marvelous depth and complexity of human nature. And as a result of the psychological impact of the realization of oneness with the universe of natural reality, the fear of death may lose some of its natural sting and power over me. For the ego has already psychologically died during the awakening experience without seeming to have changed anything about the fundamental reality of myself as the universe of existence. It seems I will continue as this universe of all things even after my body dies, because it all seems to be in a spiritual new enlightened perception includes the sense that "all" good and all of creation are to be found "in universal me," which makes the new awareness blissfully complete within itself, and exclusive of any desire for "more." I get an insight, or flash of understanding as to why it is foolish to be "solicitous or anxious" about life, seeking the ten-thousand things I formerly perceived as being "outside" of myself, since they seem really "inside myself."

However, while a single flash of awesome "insight" or "enlightenment" may go a long way in changing my ability to "see" the truth about my true-self... my ability to "do the truth" requires a much more formidable supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit over many years. For this latter process involves the perfection of the virtues, and particularly natural and supernatural Charity upon a foundation in which all selfishness, even the little attachments to imperfections must be eliminated. That's why there are many "partially-realized" people, who have experienced "enlightenment" by means of a range of processes, some only taking several days, and others taking a few years. They may have had an authentic exposure to the "natural" intellectual aspect of the true-self as seen in passive consciousness. They may think that the Impersonal Oneness they have experienced is the end of the road. However, they are a long way from the "supernatural" sanctity and holiness produced through the Holy Spirit during the years of dark nights, sacrifices and behavior changes connected with full liberation of the will, and transformation of the true-self into another Christ.

As a result of the gradual transformation through Contemplation, the purified ego, becoming the true-self, liberated from its self-centered egotism, may operate spontaneously, without the inter-position of thoughts between itself and the activity engaged in. It is what St Teresa and other saints refer to as "self-forgetfulness," doing the right act in the right way, effortlessly, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and without the necessity of reasoning, thoughts, and reflecting back in self-awareness. "The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing." It is for this reason that St Teresa said she could spend many hours in prayer and activities without consciousnes of time, or remembering what she was doing. The purity of consciousness of the true-self is immersed in the uniion with God's Spirit, and unobstructed by egotism, and self-centered "thoughts," and, therefore, many hours can go by without one's being aware of it.

At the same time, Saint Teresa reminds us that once she arrived at the seventh mansion, where the true-self completely emerges, she no longer had a sense of good and evil, and she even had difficulty understanding what evil was when she heard about it. And the savor of evil, which formerly tinged her memories and thoughts about the Devil, no longer had any power to frighten her. After complete transformation, she became like our first parents before the Fall, incapable of understanding evil.

But we must remember, we don't live our lives in the passive world of Enlightenment or Big Mind, where we are just a witness to things happening, things arising and falling. For it is through the active intellect in the theater of history, the dualistic world of subject and object, that everyone, including those claiming enlightenment, loves, speaks, teaches, lives and dies.

Being freed, through mortification of desire, from slavish attachment and identification with his thoughts and mental images, some of those seeking enlightenment are freed from the obsessive/compulsive behavior connected with such processes. At the same time, they may have greater mental strength and power due to acess to latent energy freed up from former attachments and repressions. And with his new freedom and power to act, the enlightenment seeker realizes that he can choose to love rather than react selfishly or fearfully to the same old thought pattern. If he does, He will be more open to grace, content, happy, charitable, and open to the continuation of the transformation process, with the help of the Holy Spirit, until his true-self is fully established as a New Man in Christ. On the other hand, as happens all too often in the modern world, the partially realized one is free to prostitute his insights and use his new-found freedom, and mental energy from natural self-empowerment, in order to exalt himself and take advantage of naive followers whom he dominates in order to procure favors such as money and sex.

And his pronouncements about what his enlightenment experience means in terms of sound theology and Truth may be far wide of the mark. He may try to explain life in terms of karma, rebirth, a class system of untouchables and Brahmans, Gods and Goddesses, and the "illusion" of our personal selves, evil, and suffering. He may truly believe that in former lives we were plants or dogs or cats. That doesn't mean he is right, or that we must all bow down to everything he says because he has had the enlightenment experience. He may be completely wrong about them. That is why there are so many so-called "realized" people or masters who, relying on their own reasoning powers, end up disagreeing about many so many things connected with spirituality.

For in the Western world, the cult masters, preaching enlightenment by a variety of names, and preaching personal power and spiritual mastery, provide the same temptation to arrogance that destroyed the First Man, and that nearly destroyed the world in World War II. They have been the enemy of man from the beginning, and their name is "legion" in modern times. For man's salvation comes not by self-reliance, personal effort and the arrogance of power, but rather through the "humility" that makes self-giving and the receiving of love possible, and connects him in proper relationship to a God Whose Power is unlimited, and inconceivably beyond anything he can ever hope to understand.

Let's not be afraid to ask ourselves why many of these, claiming to be "fully enlightened masters" of spirituality, end up using their influence to acquire money, power and sex, from their devotees. For one of the fundamental beliefs of Eastern religion is that we are all "always, already perfect," if we could just "awaken" to the fact. And since he is already perfect, the so-called enlightened guru's immoral behavior is, therefore, of no consequence. And by the same token, some of the Eastern gurus claim to believe that one is no longer bound by "common morality" after one has been enlightened. Such duplicity follows easily from a theology where "there is only God," and turns into a very convenient theological cover for all manner of corruption and immorality.

For in Eastern Religion, the "guru" is the all-important tree which gives forth the hoped-for fruit of enlightenment. And according to Eastern practitioners, without his showing the way, in a one-to-one teaching relationship, nobody gets enlightened. And the number of truly enlightened teachers is, according to Eastern literature, admittedly an extremely small one. So one is more than likely to find a so-called master who is not really an enlightened soul. And that means his teaching is wrapped up in his ego, and he will talk the talk, but he will not know how to walk the walk.

So those Eastern gurus claiming to be enlightened, and who still engage in unvirtuous behavior, seeking satisfaction in addictive behavior, including illlicetly gained money and sex, expose themselves as "phonies" who not only have not reached perfection, but who are no longer even on the path. "These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the darkness of blackness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberation, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage." (2Peter2:18,19)

St Albert the Great points out the difference between Christian perfection through "the will," and supernatural love, and natural perfection sought by Buddhists, philosopers and non-Christians through "knowledge" or "intellectual enlightenment."

"Even in this one should bear in mind the difference between the contemplation of faithful Catholics and that of pagan philosophers, for the contemplation of the philosophers is for the perfection of the contemplator himself, and consequently it is confined to the intellect and their aim in it is intellectual knowledge. But the contemplation of the Saints, and of Catholics, is for the love of him, that is of the God they are contemplating. As a result it is not confined in the final analysis to the intellect in knowledge, but crosses over into the will through love. That is why the Saints in their contemplation have the love of God as their principal aim, since it is more satisfying to know and possess even the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually through grace than physically or even really but without grace."(St Albert the Great, "Cleaving to God through Jesus Christ")