The enlightened individual, having traversed the inner landscapes of self-discovery, inevitably returns to the world, not as a detached observer, but as an active participant. This concept, often symbolized by the image of a humble beggar or a wandering monk, highlights the paradoxical nature of enlightenment. It's not about escaping the mundane, but about finding the extraordinary within it, and then sharing that realization with others. The marketplace, with its cacophony of voices, competing desires and constant flux, becomes the ultimate testing ground for this newfound wisdom.

The enlightened person navigates this complex environment with a sense of equanimity and compassion. They are not swayed by the allure of material possessions or the sting of criticism. Instead, they see the interconnectedness of all things, recognizing the inherent worth and potential for awakening in every individual they encounter. Their actions are guided by a desire to alleviate suffering and promote understanding, offering a helping hand, a kind word, or a moment of mindful presence.

Ultimately, the enlightened person in the marketplace serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration. They demonstrate that it is possible to live a life of purpose and meaning, even amidst the chaos and challenges of the modern world. Their presence reminds us that true wealth lies not in what we accumulate, but in what we give, and that the greatest gift we can offer is the gift of wisdom itself.

One significant obstacle to genuine self-knowing arises when one incorrectly assumes enlightenment is a destination - the notion of finally crossing a target line across a vast desert plain. Many claim they have reached enlightenment, only to become lost and derailed moments later.

In certainty, I avow that genuine enlightenment consciousness can never be achieved, that is truly 'arrived' as a concrete, lasting reality. Instead, enlightenment relates essentially to the here and now - a fleeting glimpse revealing profound truths amidst existence's chaotic undercurrents.

Put plain: I do not accept the notion of a particular type of perceived elevated self-awareness cloaked as 'enlightenment', which actually transpires as the unwarranted emergence of ego - borne out of attachment for previously experienced spiritual or intellectual states and fixations. Thus, remains ever-essential the vigilance which safeguards oneself from recapitulating unwholesome self-identifications, delusional state-achievements even midst alluring soul-searching for Transcendent Consciousness.

Exactly what exists beyond futile self-definitions? The path forth consists of two inter-woven efforts:

Unravelling and transforming your stuck mental states and fixed life patterns - distorted energies lodged within yourself and foisted upon you or that you may have unintentionally developed as a younger soul.

Directing your best efforts towards empowering and illuminating fellow human beings - by offering hands-on support, healing and teachings accessible in society's isolated margins or where divisions prevail; you serve by consoling the lost, nourishing the vulnerable, and guiding one through life's troubles.

True spiritual growth relies not on any hasty attainments or ego-driven claims of realized success but on cultivating Perceptual Shift - piercing self-inspection yielding constant spiritual growth - ever-evolving readiness versus self-ealous accomplishment and perpetuial review viasincere questioning of true wisdom learned.

Daily consideration of whether regular reading experiences are opening new vistas of self-awareness or falling short to simple self-satisfaction.

And recall the sixteenth century Spanish Mystic St Teresa profoundly illuminating perception: “Nada te turbe,” which adds the deep insight, God/ Ultimate Reality never shies  away from revealing himself...

As I encapsulate as enlightenment-awareness, only achievableby embracing persistent openhearted, open minded, and openhanded approaches of self-extraction, openly investigating life experiences and inner life - a pursuit of self-revelation through transparent and systematic self-scrutiny to continually avoid relapsing under the old armor of past defenses but leaning on compassionate growth in life.

Beyond the haze of self-absorption must come an ever-deepening experience merging awareness of the intrinsically inter-connected One Universal Field of energies - that exists as our shared vital life essence - an empathetic co-existence.

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With deep and loving interest in mindfully cultivating enlightenment awareness:

Embrace the spiritual practice of awakening and refining compassionate mindfulness toward all sentient forms. Feel more, strive to see with others' eyes and work toward developing empathically capacities without the interference of egoic biases.

Professor  Guy Newland masterfully reminds us, via "Intention in Tibetan Buddhism," stating "Compassion is in no sense separate from the realization of emptiness; emptiness has no meaning and does not make sense devoid of compassion. It is a most absurd mistake rooted in the ignorance that sees subjects as devoid of inherent existence but as having some other form of inherent existence or some pseudo form of existence which requires the projection of some additional, ultimate dharma reality." The goal, he says again, for which mindfulness trains us "…is all about the quality of how I actually come to exist personally".

In concert with authentic non-dual wisdom, compassion synergistically serves as the powerful agent, healing life’s wounds and growing individuals progressively beyond the ephemeral trials of mundane existence:

"For ultimate well-being we clearly need not only some personal inner change and sense of peace derived therefrom, but also universalization - cultivating a warm heart filled with love for unlimited kinds of lives."

"To arrive at unqualified compassion, a sense of warmth opens to all beings."

"When compassion arises, we ourselves enjoy great happiness."

"A single moment of genuine seeing obliterating [reliance] on a self in the three places and cutting all causes of attachment is a profoundly transformative moment ... In that brief moment, [attaining] true awakening is fully within your reach."

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“The spiritual path to buddha-hood involves balanced development of two factors: wisdom - which knows the emptiness of all that exists - and compassionate action for the welfare of other living beings. Wisdom destroys all reification and penetrates ultimate truth while leaving intact the conventional truths that allow us to exist, to make ethical distinctions and to help those who suffer." - Professor Guy Newland from his book 'Introduction to Emptiness’

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Guy_Newland

“In the way, we can see how deeply one has let go of attachments and how one realizes the interconnectedness and the wonders of life, the clearest measuring cup is how much that person is serving others.” -Roshi Bernie Glassman

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=RM3oU1fjFX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=NhKM0ic0HcA

Helen Tworkov, ‘Tricycle's’ founding editor and author of ‘Zen in America: Profiles of Five Teachers’ wrote:

“Buddha means “awakened one.” When Zen practice was first offered in this country, waking up looked like a vital alternative to the bureaucratic clergy and dead rituals familiar to many American childhoods. However naively and ignorantly, enlightenment was pursued with good intentions; D. T Suzuki introduced a somewhat romantic version of satori; Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center, never spoke about it - and encouraged his students to follow his example. Soen Roshi despised “the stink of Zen” that could permeate the robes of a monk drunk on his attachment to enlightenment. The consistent message of all Zen teachers, however, which was taken very seriously by idealistic, democratic Americans, reiterated Shakyamuni Buddha’s good news: that realization of one’s own true nature is the birthright of every human being.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Helen_Tworkov

https://tricycle.org/magazine/zen-balance-can-it-survive-america/

“In Zen, the main obstacles to clarity are never in the realm of actual experience, negative or positive; rather the challenge lies in dealing with one’s ideas and attitudes ‘about’ enlightenment.” - ‘Zen in America’ by Helen Tworkov

"The pursuit of enlightenment is for the purpose of the world, not merely for the purpose of the individual. Practices for enlightenment must lead to action in the world". – Roshi Bernie Glassman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Glassman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSbAa4CD2DM

Roshi Bernie Glassman was asked in an interview about Zen today in Japan. He said Zen is dying in Japan. In fact, Zen in Japan today has evolved into a funeral business. Later he said most youths in Japan hate the word Zen. They won’t pick up a magazine with the word Zen in it.

https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=URNRMPX3TzI&t=10s

A Roshi is a Zen Master with certain credentials.

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The Indian sage, Baba Faqir Chand, who repeatedly pointed out how gurus, masters, prophets and mystics have deceived their followers by making them believe false things about themselves, also stated: "What an Enlightened sage possesses, rather, is access experimentally to a higher spectrum of awareness, which, in turn, reveals not final or absolute truth, but a growing awareness of how truly mysterious life really is."  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Baba_Faqir_Chand

"I don't care how enlightened my students are. It's fine to be enlightened, but it's still just enlightenment. One really has to go beyond enlightenment to see how one actually acts in the world." - Roshi Mel Weitsman

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Weitsman

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"Until ones' awakening experiences are fully integrated into daily life so that one is living in accordance with the realization, one could not be said to be truly enlightened." - Kapleau Roshi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Philip_Kapleau

"Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness." - Austrian Psychiatrist Dr. Victor Frankl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl

Shri Ramana Maharshi stated that "the moment the ego-self tries to know itself it changes its character. It begins to partake less and less of the 'jada' (insentient body) in which it is absorbed, and becomes more and more of the consciousness of the Self.”  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Ramana_Maharshi

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Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj: "For those who now think they have become jnanis (self-realized) and think they know their identity very well but Maharaj said most often this is a case of sensory deception.  Even the feeling of having understood is likely to lead one into a sense of illusion because the individual thinks he has found something to impart to others.”

http://youtu.be/Uzd0txiRN2E

"If, as soon as we emerge, we write up these transforming experiences, publish them and hand out the good news, we are only generating premature excitement based on the newness of the state … let us hear instead from those who have lived twenty to fifty years in this state, and we may hear a different story." - Bernadette Roberts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Bernadette_Roberts

Joseph: "The imagery that has to be used in order to tell what can’t be told, symbolic imagery, is then understood or interpreted not symbolically but factually, empirically. It’s a natural thing, but that’s the whole problem with Western religion. All of the symbols are interpreted as if they were historical references. They’re not. And if they are, then so what?

Tom: Let’s go carefully here. What are you calling a symbol?

Joseph: I’m calling a symbol a sign that points past itself to a ground of meaning and being that is one with the consciousness of the beholder. What you’re learning in myth is about yourself as part of the being of the world. If it talks not about you, finally, but about something out there, then it’s short. There’s that wonderful phrase I got from Karlfried Graf Durkheim, "transparency to the transcendent." If a deity blocks off transcendency, cuts you short of it by stopping at himself, he turns you into a worshipper and a devotee, and he hasn’t opened the mystery of your own being.”- Joseph Campbell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Joseph_Campbell

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It is simply not possible to have full free attention when we participate and are knowingly or unknowingly complicit in any violation or non-consideration of the health, safety and psychological welfare of other sentient beings, and I am convinced we are completely deluded and in denial to think otherwise: While there are hours of footage of insane mass incarceration and violent behaviour towards animals on YouTube, people drinking a café latte with the milk of a cow are obviously completely unaware that their actions continue to have dire consequences for these beautiful animals. Their baby calves are torn from their mothers so they will produce greater volumes of milk to satisfy many humans’ desired tastes.

It is my belief that any spiritual teacher who claim to have had a ‘perceptional shift’, insights, or any level of profound understanding are just delusional in regard to their awakening if they are complicit in any activity or behaviour that involves the suffering or exploitation of other sentient beings. And now is definitely not the time to give anyone 'carte blanche' to go on unconsciously damaging our environment, or continue with the exploitation of animals for food, clothing, experiments, or narcissistic driven entertainment.

https:// www.mikaire.org/lectures/lectures-11-20/lecture-13

I wish to acknowledge, with the deepest heartfelt appreciation, the inner and outer work in consciousness done by individuals and also the committed actions and efforts of individuals and groups aimed at raising awareness and fostering compassion to finish with the exploitation and harming of any sentient being. There are countless numbers of individuals who have taken their spiritual awakening to use it to be of selfless service for others and our environment.