The picture of Enlightenment I've been building in my mind is the capacity to achieve Te within every minute of one's life, like the Sage's written of in the Tao Te Ching. The most appealling part to me (and the reason that caused me to seek out Taoism in the first place) is a personal battle I have with addiction. What many people seem to think of as enlightenment is not the same concept for the term as I've developed.
For instance, I've read numerous views that place enlightenment as the experience itself that accompanies daily meditation and the successful application of emptying one's mind in this process. To me, the act of meditation is just one of many tools that I hope will translate to true Enlightenment (healthy living another essential from what I gather); that is to say enlightenment will not transpire during the meditative state, but manifest itself in my daily life throughout the day. Enlightenment to me would be being so okay with life, that I am able to not abuse substances to feel okay with life (I would also like to explain "okay" means acceptance, not happiness).
Way simpler than most people on here approach the subject I know. But one has to start somewhere.
