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Religious Studies & Theology vocabulary · Mysticism and Spirituality

Enlightenment

Meaning in religious studies & theology, with examples

/ɪnˈlaɪtənmənt/nounCommon term

In religious studies & theology, enlightenment means: In Buddhism and some other Indian traditions, a state of complete understanding and freedom from ignorance, often called awakening, as achieved by the Buddha.

In Turkish: aydınlanma, uyanış, bodhi

How it is used

You attain or reach enlightenment. It translates the Sanskrit bodhi, and many scholars now prefer awakening, since Buddha means 'the awakened one'. Zen traditions discuss sudden and gradual enlightenment.

Example sentences

  1. According to tradition, the Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating under a tree at Bodh Gaya.

  2. Chan and Zen teachers debated whether enlightenment is sudden or gradual.

Common collocations

  • attain enlightenment
  • the Buddha's enlightenment
  • path to enlightenment
  • sudden enlightenment
  • BuddhismA religious and philosophical tradition based on the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who lived in northern India around the fifth century BCE.
  • nirvanaIn Buddhism, the final goal of the spiritual path: the ending of craving, suffering and the cycle of rebirth.
  • meditationA practice of training attention and awareness, for example by focusing on the breath, a word or an image, used in many religions for spiritual growth.
  • mysticismThe pursuit of direct, personal experience of God or ultimate reality, often through prayer, contemplation and spiritual discipline, found in many religious traditions.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Mysticism and Spirituality

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