See Through

What does it mean to be enlightened? The concept of enlightenment as it is floated in the media appears to be an eastern concept and sure enough the data as it is available does show that India, in antiquity, was an enlightened country, more so than other civilizations. The India of today however is far from enlightened, and it was baffling to realise that even the individuals whom you would presuppose to be enlightened are not really enlightened but charlatans. This nation as it presented itself to me in the past decade made me realised that the very core of those who actually have control of this nation is composed of scamming, rape, entitlement and whimsical violence. Who are two people who might be considered enlightened in the past two hundred years in this country? The two names that I can take from the top of my head are Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore and there are countless others because enlightenment continued as a tradition in this country. The modern times however are different, we have scammers posing as enlightened beings and those who hold actual power in this country themselves are scammers and, very unfortunately, rapists. As I suffered my homeland, I realised that power in this country is basically about retaining the right to rape and this rape thrives on the silence of women. Enlightenment is not an Indian domain anymore. You see the internet and you see westerners, each enlightened in their own individual way, while Indians dealing with performative dignity, performative class, showoff, and shame. You don't perform something that you actually have or at least are not confused about. The deepest establishment of this country thrives on maintaining imposter syndromes in people, and if by chance someone achieves enlightenment then he or she is tortured or raped to oblivion because the India of today is basically extraction and rape at the deepest possible level and they are not even skilled at it to do it with finesse like the West. You want to compare the quality of enlightenment? Listen to Western classical music and Indian classical music, note the difference between them and try to guess which touches the soul more deeply. Enlightenment in its simplest term is achieving singularity with the concepts you know. And it is the proof that all paths lead to one truth. It is the reason why all degrees lead to a PhD. One doesn't have to be a philosopher, a mystic or a sage to achieve enlightenment, Kabir Das despite being a weaver by profession achieved enlightenment just through his thoughts and actions. It's funny that the land where the first evidence of enlightenment was found now is ruled by incompetent scammers and rapists who ape the West and rule with an iron hand in a velvet glove. And existence, as one can see on social media, is becoming only about performance and show off.  The real culture has actually eroded and the visible culture has become a simulation and mimicry of itself.