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[–] libby 2 points 1 point (+3|-2) ago 

We're just squishy meatheads. We come up with nomenclature to categorize subjective experiences in order to facilitate useful communication.

It's a fact that there are things associated with enlightenment like suffering, compassion, understanding, acceptance, etc. and it's a fact that these are experienced on a spectrum of intensities with varying frequency by different individuals throughout their lives.

Is there something that can be done that causes a state change in a person's mind where those enlightenment qualities start occurring significantly more frequently and intensely all at once, such that a clear distinction between enlightened and unenlightened can be made? Probably not. People tend to exist far more on a continuum than that. Is it possible to achieve that kind of mental state at all? Probably so; it should be possible to reach almost any arbitrary combination of those experiences.

Because it can be used to describe a mental state, I think enlightenment can be a useful concept. But like the pieces composing it, it's probably best described as a continuum. The specific combination is also probably not particularly special, and substantially similar states that lack some features of enlightenment and/or include additional features are probably just as likely.