Why confusion so often precedes Enlightenment

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Drawing from Western philosophy, Zen Buddhism and modern neuroscience, I make the case that states of deep confusion and doubt are inextricably linked to enlightenment

I would be puzzled if someone were to ask me what color my thoughts were, or what the scent of my favorite song was. The questioner clearly does not understand the nature of a thought if they wonder about its color. This is an ontological category mistake. A similar, more nuanced category mistake occurs when we wish to understand the nature of enlightenment. As will be shown, enlightenment does not belong in the realm of the understanding. In its stead, I will demonstrate that aporia is what manifests to cognition. This paper will be framed around the experience of enlightened epistemic shifts (EES) within individuals, and the idea that states of aporia often precede these shifts. I will argue that the relationship between aporia and EES is not merely causal, but that aporia is the manifestation of the transcendent concept of enlightenment into the domain of the understanding. These states are two sides of the same coin, and will be shown as being metaphysically linked. Next, I will examine how this…