Introduction to Enlightenment
In early 2023, I had the realizations that make up what is commonly called “enlightenment.” My path began with reading Jed McKenna’s Spiritual Enlightenment, the Damnedest Thing: Book One of The Enlightenment Trilogy. Although it was very introductory and not entirely practical, it was the only book that gave me a way onto this path, and I recommend it to anyone with the time to read it. From that, I took, for example, the airplane metaphor used in this book: an airplane does not fly because it deserves to fly, but because it is built to do so. This illustrates how the concept of merit makes little sense and is simply a “story” we tell ourselves.
Both my parents are artists, and perhaps that is why I have never appreciated – rather, I have completely rejected – art, poetry, and so on. As a child, I was fascinated by computers and liked reading the manuals. I have never had any interest in “cryptic” or “poetic” explanations. I was always looking for something extremely clear and practical, like a computer manual. And why not? We are not living in the Middle Ages, when things had to be written cryptically for fear of dangers like the Inquisition. Perhaps now is the time to describe things clearly rather than complicate what is already not simple.
I wrote the book I would have wanted to read many years ago – an extremely practical volume, written almost like a “computer manual,” that explains step by step how to attain the realizations usually called “enlightenment.”
I live my life without telling myself stories about how things “should” be and how they “should” not be. For me, the word “should” no longer exists. Moreover, I do not carry the weight of a pretend “identity” – certainly not in some strange metaphysical or spiritual sense. I have no strong opinions about what I am. I do not believe I am “a something” that I must defend at all costs, either in front of myself or others. Ultimately, I do not know what I am. That is all.
Enlightenment is not something strange, magical, or complicated that exists only in ancient texts, a precious secret you have to seek in some underground antiquarian bookshop. It is simply a matter of realizing certain things that we will discuss in this book – things that are extremely practical, tangible, and logical, not mysterious, cryptic, or indecipherable. What difference does it make whether the message is from thousands of years ago or just yesterday? What does it matter who said it? What matters is whether what is being said works.
Before you begin this book, there is something important I want to tell you: read it without preconceived ideas about what “enlightenment” is. I myself wasted a great deal of time wandering down wrong paths because I had very distorted ideas about what “enlightenment” was. Everyone has their own version: some think it is a kind of strengthening of the “spirit,” others imagine that it is linked to meditation practices or to experiencing certain states with strange names, and others still, that it is connected to specific rituals or perhaps even to “ethical” practices, and so on. However, it has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. So, set aside your preconceptions about “enlightenment,” at least while you are reading this book. Suspend judgment as you read, and when you have finished, weigh up whether what you have read is or isn’t useful.
April 2026