A chat with David Godman

A while back, I had the fortunate oppurtunity to sit down with David Godman. David was educated at Oxford university and has written a number of books on spirituality. A serious seeker with over 30 years of dedicated self-inquiry. Upon meeting him I came to realise that he was an incredibly intelligent man with deep knowledge on eastern principles. I asked him a number of questions but here is one, I'd like to share.

Is enlightenment real and can it be achieved by any human?

David: Yes it is most certainly real and yes it can be achieved by anyone willing to put in the work. In very few cases it can occur instantly due to previous karmic influences however in most cases it occurs progressively with small incremental changes.

The best way for people like us to intellectually understand enlightenment is through our own experiences. Every night we fall asleep and dream. The next day we wake up and think "I can't believe I thought that was true". The same can be said for the waking state. There exists a dormant portion of the mind where significant illusion exists. Through practice we remove every ounce of ignorance and fiction from the mind until only truth and awareness remains.