25/30: A bit more on 'preenlightenment'

(The story of L1)

This preenlightenment idea doesn’t originate with me. There’s a man named Jeffery Martin who says he’s studied thousands of individuals who fall somewhere on the enlightenment continuum. He’s outlined four common “locations” of enlightenment, and makes claims about being able to get people on the continuum with 70% success. I’m not impressed with Jeffery’s science and I don’t believe most of its claims. But, there is some signal in the noise. Location 2 (L2) sounds a lot like the narrative self/ego falling away. L4 sounds like the experiencing self falling away. L3 sounds maybe like a profound heart opening? And then there’s L1.

The defining characteristic of L1 is a fundamental feeling that everything is ok. The persistent cognitive process of dissatisfaction in the present moment stops. The negativity bias ceases. All the things you want to be different stop bothering you. It’s not that you never experience negative emotions, but that when you do, they’re contextualized in a background sense of okayness rather than the angst and aversion that’s usually there. The negative emotions also pass more quickly.

Jeffery created “Finders' Course,” which is a several month program that introduces students to a smorgasbord of meditation experiences with the aim of helping them find the methods that work best for them. (This, by the way, is an excellent idea and service and I 100% laud Jeffery for it. I learned SO much through this course). After the course, many students join alumni communities (one of which is called “Perfectly Ok,” just to illustrate the defining feature of the continuum.) As I’ve written before, I’ve felt myself to be in L1/preenlightenment. But through alumni communities, I’ve met others who have as well, and their experiences ring true and familiar.

There’s good reason to be skeptical of all this. People may be delusional or incentivized to report stronger experiences than they’ve had. And also, as far as I can tell this state isn’t explicitly discussed in thousands of years of Buddhist literature (not that I’ve really read that much). Until we really study the phenomenology and neuroscience of supposed L1-ers, we can’t be sure there’s really anything there. But, observing both my experience and others’, I think there are highly compelling reasons to actually do that research. I have good reason to hypothesize that there’s a potential human mind resting state that leaves your sense of self intact but significantly reduces your suffering and makes you a far more desirable member of the human race. I think this value proposition would appeal to many people who hear “no-self” and walk away (regardless of how blissful no-self appears to be for most). It’s an upgrade of our mind OS without any of the frightening prospects. And as a bonus, unlike “higher” enlightenment states, since it’s not about deconstructing the sense of self, most of the relevant approaches are closer to growing up and cleaning up and hence are more accessible.

If I ever get back into a research capacity, investigating L1 may well be my first priority.