Essays on Climate Change And Cultural Transformation

Enlightenment: from Europe in the eighteenth century to the Zeitgeist of the global 21st

March 2026

Enlightenment is a state of profound understanding, clarity, and spiritual awakening, often involving the use of reason to challenge traditions and gain knowledge, leading to freedom and happiness, prominent in both the 18th-century European intellectual movement and spiritual traditions like Buddhism, where it signifies the end of suffering. Simply put, it's becoming "en-lightened," or gaining deep insight, wisdom, and awareness, freeing oneself from ignorance.

Consciousness and the Absolute: towards the consciousness of consciousness