I have rounded up the best collection of enlightenment quotes, sayings, and proverbs, to inspire you to see deep within your heart and soul for self-awareness and spiritual awakening.
Being enlightened is a state of awakened understanding. A state where you know your true self and accept yourself completely. You are aware of your thoughts and also reality.
Also See: Zen Quotes
The state of enlightenment is important in Hindu, Buddhist, and yogic philosophy. According to the teachings of yoga, enlightenment is the goal of all meditation and yogic practices — physical, mental, or spiritual.
These positive enlightenment quotes are written by wise spiritual leaders, authors, and gurus to help you seek true enlightenment of your consciousness.
Don’t miss our article on inspirational spiritual awakening quotes and mindfulness quotes for inner peace and awareness.
Best Quotes About Enlightenment
- “Being is enlightenment.” – Osho
- “Enlightenment is always preceded by confusion.” – Milton H. Erickson
- “Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
- “The greatest illusion in this world is the illusion of separation.” – Anonymous
- “We are within nature, just as nature is within us. We are it and it is us.” – Lama Surya Das
- “Enlightenment is the complete awareness of life without mental modifications.” – Frederick Lenz
- “If we dispense with finite enlightenment, we cannot conceive of true enlightenment.” – Timothy Richard
- “The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.” – Nikos Kazantzakis
- “Enlightenment is the journey from the head back to the heart, from words back to silence.” – Jack Brocas
- “Enlightenment, joy, and peace can never be given to you by another. The well is inside you.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
- “I will gain more understanding when I realize… there is no light more brilliant than the light I am.” – Iyanla Vanzant
- “Enlightenment or awakening is not the creation of a new state of affairs but the recognition of what already is.” – Alan Watts
- “But understand that the true basis for awakening to the state of enlightenment is found within ourselves.” – The Dzogchen Primer
- “Enlightenment is not a change into something better or more, but a simple recognition of who we truly already are.” – Anonymous
- “In essence, enlightenment is a way of seeing—that is, of experiencing and relating—to which we had previously been unaccustomed.” – Robert Wolfe
- “Enlightenment is found within the mind, not outside it in various worldly phenomena. It is found in wisdom, not ignorance, in virtue and purity, not evil and pollution.” – William Bodri
- “Enlightenment is not the byproduct of avoiding the darkness in favor of the light. It is the byproduct of taking the light of consciousness and diving deep into the darkness with it. To make the darkness conscious is to turn the shadow into light.” – Teal Scott
Enlightenment Quotes To Awaken Your Spiritual Journey
- “Your imagination is the vehicle to enlightenment.” – Gary Hopkins
- “Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.” – Lao Tzu
- “There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.” – Buddha
- “Enlightenment is found when I am present to my experience and to God.” – Unknown
- “The attainment of enlightenment from ego’s point of view is extreme death.” – Chogyam Trungpa
- “If I could define enlightenment briefly, I would say it is the quiet acceptance of what is.” – Wayne Dyer
- “I went in being me, but not knowing it. I came out being me, and knowing it. It was this that changed my life.” – Anonymous
- “Without doing any harmful act, Abundantly perform beneficial acts. Completely tame your mind.” – Matthieu Ricard
- “To study the way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.” – Dogen
- “So the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this: learn to disidentify from your mind.” – Eckhart Tolle
- “Enlightenment is not the experience of the void. There is no void, only the fullness of awareness appearing as a void.” – James Swartz
- “Nirvana or lasting enlightenment or true spiritual growth can be achieved only through persistent exercise of real love.” – M. Scott Peck
- “The angel looked at the young man and said you are already rewarded with enlightenment, because of your open, joyful, honest, and simple spirit.” – Pejman Aghasi
- “Before enlightenment, a mountain is a mountain. During the enlightenment, a mountain is not a mountain. After enlightenment, a mountain is a mountain again.” – Jed McKenna
- “The ego tries to convince us that we must do things to achieve enlightenment. The spirit knows that enlightenment is not a matter of doing, but a magnificent consequence of being.” – Dean Jackson
Deep Enlighten Quotes About Life
- “You are the universe, expressing itself as a human for a little while.” – Eckhart Tolle
- “Discomfort is always a necessary part of the process of enlightenment.” – Pearl Cleage
- “Enlightenment must come little by little otherwise it would overwhelm.” – Idries Shah
- “Enlightenment is not a goal to be attained, it is a state of being to be regained.” – Unknown
- “Waiting for enlightenment will not bring about enlightenment.” – Khandro, Khandro Rinpoche
- “To achieve enlightenment, one has to accept disgrace and misfortune willingly.” – Lewis Schipper
- “The attainment of enlightenment is therefore the real meaning of human life.” – Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
- “It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.” – Eckhart Tolle
- “When we wake up from our confused state of mind, that is enlightenment.” – Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
- “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung
- “Ignorance has always been the weapon of tyrants; enlightenment the salvation of the free.” – Bill Richardson
- “The ultimate goal is to know oneself fully as well as one’s place in the world. This is the Ultimate Enlightenment.” – Jason Chin
- “What you focus on you become. So always focus on that which is highest, brightest, happiest and most noble of all things, enlightenment.” – Frederick Lenz
- “We need enlightenment, not just individually but collectively, to save the planet. We need to awaken ourselves. We need to practice mindfulness if we want to have a future, if we want to save ourselves and the planet.” – Thích Nhạc Hạnh
- “Enlightenment is life and of itself. Enlightenment is the knowledge of the origin and of truth, whereby truth is self-existing and unchanging. Enlightenment is the universe that exists as it is; Enlightenment is the act of knowing this universe.” – Woo Myung
Insightful Words Of Enlightenment
- “I didn’t change, I just woke up.” – Unknown
- “There are many paths to enlightenment.” – Anonymous
- “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.” – Immanuel Kant
- “In the broadest context, the goal is to seek enlightenment – however you define it.” – Steve Jobs
- “Attachment is the main thing that is blocking your path towards enlightenment.” – Garchen Rinpoche
- “The only difference between saints and sages is the degree or depth of their awakening.” – William Bodri
- “On the pathway that leads to enlightenment, only your heart can tell you what is right.” – Frederick Lenz
- “This Universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.” – Rumi
- “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung
- “The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some superhuman accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it that way, but it is simply your natural state of felt oneness with Being.” – Eckhart Tolle
- “Enlightenment is not an attainment or an achievement. It is a homecoming. Your senses give you the impression that you are experiencing the outside, but you have never experienced the outside. When you realize that all that you experience is within, that absolute homecoming is enlightenment.” – Sadhguru
More Inspirational Quotes
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith.
The term “enlightenment” was popularised in the Western world through the 19th-century translations of German-born philologist Max Müller.
For Enlightenment thinkers themselves, however, the Enlightenment is not a historical period, but a process of social, psychological, or spiritual development, unbound to time or place.
These deep soul-searching quotes will help you to discover who you are and find your true purpose in life.
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