/lit/ - Literature

—uncertain
—quiet
—intelligent
—depressed
—religious

>literary guesses in next post

>>5114863
there's a lot of personal theories and regurgitated statements that are flying (or will soon be) on this thread, so i'll just add my two cents:

for me, the feeling of "enlightenment" (which is very temporary, lasts maybe a day) comes whenever i recognize the inherent simplicity of life. i realize that humans are just complex animals—but animals nonetheless! speaking honestly has a way of following this, and deconstructing issues (both personal and worldwide) into smaller, manageable components comes easily as a result.

perhaps the biggest and most freeing epiphany is that i, as a human, have a very limited perspective and therefore know very little. however we live in an age of freely-available information, and i believe it's our responsibility to absorb as much of it (rather, only the most beneficial) as we can. reading is always a good start.

we know a lot more than our forefathers, but since we accept this as a given, our (on the whole) capacity for critical thought has diminished. one of the most important changes in humanity came from the two world wars, and i would argue that literature changed radically because of it [from the post-war philosophers like camus and sartre to the post-modern novelists such as pynchon].

if you want instructions for your own journey to "enlightenment", you'll have to find them from yourself. read often, every day, if you can; modern physicists (michio kaku), poets, philosophers from both the east and west. try to create your own theories about what it means to be a human, what our responsibilities (if any) to each other and to our environment are, and what problems we face as a society. DO NOT be surprised if your beliefs change over time—people have their whole life to figure it out.

lastly, as a start. i'd recommend lao tsu's "tao te ching". try not to dismiss it an 'ancient chinese secret'—i find that the philosophy it contains is very straightforward and easy to live by. plus, it's only 80 verses or so.
>ps i am 12