enlightenment

An enlightened person - by perceiving God in all - looks at a learned person, an outcast, even a cow, an elephant, or a dog with an equal eye.

Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self in enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.

"I'm not interested in the wellbeing of society because society is a big lie.  Where is society?  I only see individual beings and only the individual can grow.  Each one is enormous and tremendous in his own way-each one is unique.  " -Sadhguru

Nirvana or lasting enlightenment or true spiritual growth can be acheinved only through persistent exercise of real love.

So the most difficult thing is always to keep your beginner's mind. There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind. You should not say, "I know what Zen is," or "I have attained enlightenment." This is also the real secret of the arts: always be a beginner. Be very very careful about this point. If you start to practice zazen, you will begin to appreciate your beginner's mind. It is the secret of Zen practice.

In a special sense… the three great natural states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep contain an entire spectrum of spiritual enlightenment.

Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you’re being right now.

For most things in life, you need time: to learn a new skill, build a house, become an expert, make a cup of tea. . . . Time is useless, however, for the most essential thing in life, the one thing that really matters: self-realization, which means knowing who you are beyond  the surface self — beyond your name, your physical form, your history, your story.

You cannot find yourself in the past or future. The only place where you can find yourself is in the Now.

Spiritual seekers look for self-realization or enlightenment in the future. To be a seeker implies that you need the future. If this is what you believe, it becomes true for you: you will need time until you realize that you don't need time to be who you are.

Milarepa had searched everywhere for enlightenment, but could find no answer - until one day, he saw an old man walking slowly down a mountain path, carrying a heavy sack. Immediately, Milarepa sensed that this old man knew the secret he had been desperately seeking for many years.

'Old man, please tell me what you know. What is enlightenment?'

The old man smiled at hime for a moment, and swung the heavy burden off his shoulders, and stood straight.

'Yes, I see!' cried Milarepa. 'My everlasting gratitude. But please, one question more. What is after enlightenment?'

Smiling again, the old man picked up the sack once again, lunged it over his shoulders, steadied his burden, and continued on his way.

Its taken 14 billion years for matter to gain the capacity to become conscious of itself. If this is true, it wouldn't make any sense that the whole point of enlightenment would be to escape from the whole process at the very instant that the universe is beginning to awaken to itself.