Words cannot describe the Tao and the Tao cannot be named. That which is eternal is unnameable. Naming is the basis of things. -- Lao Tsu, Taoist sage Enlightenment is the complete awareness of life without mental modifications. There's no thought, no self, no jiva, all of this goes away. But at the same time, it's within the world, within the form, the stillness and the substance are really the same thing. -- Frederick Lenz When we ask what Buddha nature is, it immediately vanishes. -- Shunryu Suzuki - Founder of the San Francisco Zen Center These descriptions point to something that is outside our daily experience. Sages have pointed to it for thousands of years. But their words are like the finger that points at the moon. If you focus on the finger then you will never see the moon. Enlightenment cannot be described in words because it is a state that is beyond words. It is touched in the momentary space between thoughts or the pause between two breaths. But these brief experiences are merely the beginning of a journey of personal exploration and transformation. This category is meant to provide the seeker with a starting place for their own personal journey of enlightenment. Sites submitted to this category should be non-denominational or multi-denominational. Sites that focus on a specific enlightenment tradition, such as Buddhism or Advaita Vedanta, should be submitted to the category for that tradition.