These experiences of enlightenment could be compared with many of the stories of conversion, of sudden conversion, which you find, for example, in William James’s great work, The Varieties of Religious Experience. He put together a vast sort of database in the 19th century, of stories and descriptions of these conversion experiences in which a person’s life suddenly and instantaneously was transformed, their life was changed afterwards. But often mostly this conversion experience I think could be described somewhat as an enlightenment experience but maybe there are distinctions to be made between them. This conversion experience doesn’t last permanently, and it’s very rare that it does. One great example that it does of course is Ramana Maharshi, who at the age of 14 went through a enlightenment experience of self-realisation in which he understood, knew experientially, himself, his true self, and his self just shone out like a bright sun. But it took him 10 years to adapt to that, to recover in a sense, and to integrate it to the point where he could begin to communicate with people again normally. And then, of course, the rest of his life, he radiated this vision of reality and great love and charm and wit as well.
Sudden conversion
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