Amazon What is Enlightenment Amazon.com - The Enlightenment Kindle - The Enlightenment Category:  Spirituality Publisher: Socrates Books ISBN-10:  1466209356 Pages: 145 ISBN-13: 9781466209350 The Enlightenment is a collection of readings, containing the highest spiritual essence of sacred knowledge, embodying wisdom, strength & the divine power of transformation. The Enlightenment is a collection of readings, which contains the highest spiritual essence of sacred knowledge, embodying wisdom, strength and the divine power of transformation.   By reading The Enlightenment you will benefit from:   • a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things.  • a communication with or understanding the mind of God. • the realization of the non-duality of the observer and the observed. • an entirely new consciousness whereby everything is perceived as a unity. • a passage beyond the material world into a thought-transcending realm • a deep interior peace and a state of complete emptiness.  • the discovery of one's own inherent goodness.   These are all experiences along the path to full Enlightenment.   "Enlightenment is not the achievement of something, but the absence of something". It is a state where the ego and the small self have been transcended. - The Enlightenment   Anyone is capable of attaining Enlightenment.   It has been claimed that Enlightenment cannot be described in language, expression or communication of any form. Paradoxically, the understanding of these truths, described in this book, is itself part of the Enlightenment experience.   “Reading The Enlightenment will inspire you to embrace the values of peace, love, respect, morality and harmony. Nicholas Socrates’ The Enlightenment is an inspiring and timely reading and serves as a gentle reminder for us to collectively act on bringing forth that Enlightened Society. Doing so will make this world a better place to live." - Maria Josefa   “The Enlightenment is the paramount anthology of spiritual and blessed knowledge.” - Rahman   “The truest test of your life is what we do for one another; The difference you can make in the lives of others.” - The Enlightenment   “Asking you to turn inward, claim your mastery and plant the seeds of peace.” - The Enlightenment   Socrates is a well wisher of humanity and wants people to use his experience and attained wisdom for the betterment of universe and humanity. His message is a reminder to establish Peace, Love, Happiness, Truth, and Unification in the world. - Muhammad Akhtar Pervez    “Nicholas gives us hope when he says, “Understand this absolute truth; that there will be peace and prosperity in the world.” - The Enlightenment             Excerpt A collection of readings, containing the highest spiritual essence of sacred knowledge, embodying wisdom, strength & the divine power of transformation. The Enlightenment is a collection of readings, which contains the highest spiritual essence of sacred knowledge, embodying wisdom, strength and the divine power of transformation. By reading The Enlightenment you will benefit from: • a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things. • a communication with or understanding the mind of God. • the realization of the non-duality of the observer and the observed. • an entirely new consciousness whereby everything is perceived as a unity. • a passage beyond the material world into a thought-transcending realm • a deep interior peace and a state of complete emptiness. • the discovery of one's own inherent goodness. These are all experiences along the path to full Enlightenment. "Enlightenment is not the achievement of something, but the absence of something". It is a state where the ego and the small self have been transcended. - The Enlightenment Anyone is capable of attaining Enlightenment. It has been claimed that Enlightenment cannot be described in language, expression or communication of any form. Paradoxically, the understanding of these truths, described in this book, is itself part of the Enlightenment experience. “Reading The Enlightenment will inspire you to embrace the values of peace, love, respect, morality and harmony. Nicholas Socrates’ The Enlightenment is an inspiring and timely reading and serves as a gentle reminder for us to collectively act on bringing forth that Enlightened Society. Doing so will make this world a better place to live." - Maria Josefa “The Enlightenment is the paramount anthology of spiritual and blessed knowledge.” - Rahman “The truest test of your life is what we do for one another; The difference you can make in the lives of others.” - The Enlightenment “Asking you to turn inward, claim your mastery and plant the seeds of peace.” - The Enlightenment Socrates is a well wisher of humanity and wants people to use his experience and attained wisdom for the betterment of universe and humanity. His message is a reminder to establish Peace, Love, Happiness, Truth, and Unification in the world. - Muhammad Akhtar Pervez “Nicholas gives us hope when he says, “Understand this absolute truth; that there will be peace and prosperity in the world.” - The Enlightenment

A REVIEW by MUHAMMAD AKHTAR PERVEZ
No doubt revealing the message of universal wisdom is a very innocent desire for peace “The Enlightenment” is a mess among many books with the same title; and many writers claim almost the same realities with a little difference in subject matter and approach. Declining or enhancing, Nick makes his stand with other writers, similar in content, but with a different form and approach.

He broadens his intention by saying, “The intention is to share this received wisdom”. Is it possible to share one’s spiritual experience with others, in a way, that they should believe and feel it the same; as Socrates did? This question will be asked by the readers; could the author manifest his spiritual claim? In his preface Nick says, “Enlightenment is not the achievement of something, But the absence of something”. He wants to guide people to find out for themselves the “something”, in their life, to dissolve, within themselves, for the attainment of enlightenment.

Nick claims the intense reading of sacred scriptures and secret teaching; yet he does not envisage any hidden truth of the universe or of daily life. No doubt he is well wisher of humanity and wants the people to use his experience and attained wisdom for the betterment of universe and humanity.

He preaches belief without forcing readers to believe. He is a pantheist and wants us to understand the universe under the theory of Pantheism. He wants to improve the universe and promote peace. He quotes wisdom from sacred scriptures and secret teaching. He longs for promoting peace, culture and education throughout the world. For advancement in life, he wants the universe to follow one belief; but he does not provide some platform to materialize that. Readers would ask how?
It is the time when a group of scholars predicting big disaster and the end of world in December 2012.

Nick gives us a hope when he says, “Understand this absolute truth; that there will be peace and prosperity in the world. In order to keep the balance of peace and prosperity, Work for the satisfaction of God. Therefore; Everything is settled satisfactorily”.
What a great message for the life and peace.

Nick’s spiritual experience and secret teaching are not only for himself, he wants to come to the real practical life and provokes every individual to work for the betterment of the living world.

It is very strange that he does not try to establish any organization, he looks for neither any political nor religious platform; he invokes individuals to come forward for promoting peace and working for betterment of humanity, instead.
Suddenly he jumps into the era of music and dance. Chapter 26 opens with the heading line reading “Everything is alive and dances”. Common readers feel very easy coming out of spiritual happening and philosophical dictums to the pleasures of music and dance. He appreciates the noise, being an essential part of music.
Ecstatic state does not dominate long. In chapter 27 he advises to be away from noise and dust and meditate being away from life. He calls it “retreat” and leaves the reader stun in controversies.

Positivity, optimism and peace are the main features of this book. Each phrase is a wise saying; with a stream of meanings running in the background. The Enlightenment will emerge as a reminder for the sacred scriptures and secret teaching along with the spiritual experience of the writer; which is not an innovation but a profound truth already known and discovered.

Every chapter reads a wise heading. Some of the phrases are from the Holy Scriptures; but he wisely avoids nominating any scripture. Some of the phrases, dictums, discovered truths, Author’s spiritual experiences, philosophical and pantheistic terms are very meaningful.

Conclusion: If you are going for some story, fiction or novel that is not there. Here is Nick Socrates and his book “The Enlightenment”. I thought, in the beginning, he is a preacher or a priest. But I did not find anything about the sin and punishment. He wants to guide without arousing the feeling of any faith. He is no doubt a thinker, a pantheist and a preacher of love and peace. All that his book contains is the: Spiritual experience of the author. But he did not claim discovering any truth; he did not pose a Buddha or any reformer. His message is the reminder to establish Peace, Love, Happiness, Truth, and Unification in the world. He reveals his purpose in the preface.

I am impressed by his knowledge, study, and spiritual experience, you might feel the same. After reading his book, I want to meet him. Every reader will ask how to attain what he reminds or preaches. There should be a second book coming up soon, revealing the ways to materialize his teachings in the practical life.

Reviewer: Muhammad Akhtar Pervez


Review of THE ENLIGHTENMENT by Nicholas Socrates Reviewer: Ruel Chavez
Socrates, Nicholas. 2011. The Enlightenment. Socrates Books. 105 pages.

An Assessment as to the Content of the Book
I find in “The Enlightenment” a writer who is overwhelmed by the grandeur and mystery of life. In this “review” I want to join him in his amazement and wonder of everything that is… Actually, I am hesitant to call it a review for it is not an appropriate word and an inappropriate response to the book. If people would still stick to the idea of review, let me say beforehand that it is not a typical kind of review but a response to a conversation initiated by the writer. How can you review a book that goes beyond logic or has logic of its own? How can you review a book coming from a spirit deep within? Something will escape you. Each word is a world, a book, a seed, and a potential tree. In the latter section of the book, my initial impression was confirmed by the words of the author himself. The world is made of words. “Words shape worlds.” They are mysterious. They are “thought containers.” Instead, let me call it a “journey”…a journey through the book. Let me share what thoughts enter my mind as I go along, as I journey through the thoughts of the writer. This is the kind of impact this book can do for you.
An Orientation
The Preface is good place to start for it gives the reader the orientation of what to expect in viewing the panorama “painted” by the writer…painted with “words”…surprising words!
The book is difficult to assess. There is a mixed feeling in me. It is one of a kind and the first kind I have ever read in my more than twenty years of reading a book. Yes, I read few books somewhat like it but totally different. Those books I read are similar in a sense that like the “Enlightenment” are written in poetical terms and in a philosophical manner. But those books never combined the two. The Enlightenment surpassed them all for to my limited knowledge of both philosophy and poetry, the author is paving the way to a new literary genre – “poetical-philosophy.”
The book is both difficult and easy, refreshing and intimidating… refreshing and frustrating. Intimidating because of its grandeur and depth…in words and thoughts. Frustrating because you cannot take hold of it…it is boundless…it is like a liquid that escapes your hand, a thought that eludes your mind…a journey that I do not know its end. When I reach the finish line, I felt that I am just starting for another run. The book calls me to reflect…and reflect…towards a journey of a continuous reflection. It makes me cry. I know I will subject the Enlightenment for a repeated rereading. I thank the author for the gift of giving me a copy of it.
I find the ideas profound, the wealth of experience that formed those thoughts and words. I can’t find a word to describe the author’s choice of words.
It is a different “orthodoxy” if orthodoxy is a proper way to describe it. It is ambitious in its dreams – world peace and the improvement of it! The Enlightenment is concerned about the future,
The book is about opening the door to spirituality, to a festival of ideas for the future of humanity. It is about addressing what the world needs. Enlightenment is man’s only way to salvation…finding the ultimate truth.
The book opens a series of questions to another series of questions and still to another and to an unending series of questions. To arrive at that conclusion is to come closer in your journey to finding the ultimate truth…for the ultimate truth is that you will never arrive…you will be in a constant journey. And with that you have finally arrived.
Reading the book, you will find peace a constant theme in it. But I asked, what kind of peace? Is it the peace of a lonely man on planet earth? Or is it the gift of peace from the divine?
I suspend my question for you will not find the answer after you reach the last page of the book. And even after reaching the last page, you will be left to yourself contemplating what is it that you have read.
The book is a lesson on humility. It teaches us to imitate the child that no matter what station in life we have reached, we should never forget to laugh and to smile.
The book is about the dawning of a new era. The new era for humanity and for the world…the binding of the spirit and the matter into one.
This is so far the kind of orientation I received from reading the preface for without it, I will be lost in my journey throughout the book.

Start of the Journey
I start my journey in the content proper. I took down notes while beginning reading chapter 1 but when I reached chapter 8, I stopped writing. I might lose what I am supposed to gain. Grasp the spirit of the book for it is alive. There is life in it. The spirit of the author lives through the words written in it. I consider writing about that spirit not a proper response and so I stopped not until I reached chapter 42.
Let me share what I found from chapters 1 to 41.
The book talks about “the new spirituality.” It speaks about Eastern faith going West and the Western faith going East and both traveling all over the world. It tells us about the wisdom of both the ancient and the modern, an enlightened society, a journey within, a journey to change the world.
It speaks about the transformation of human consciousness. I find somehow that each chapter is almost similar with the previous ones but different at the same time. Each chapter serves like a separate lens in seeing the same thing…and so as result, we have in this book a perspective of life and reality coming from various lenses. Though the title of each chapter differs from one another, it is hard to identify specifically the difference for you are in its midst…all I can do is wonder…
The book appears to be simple. I can read it in one sitting in less than two hours, I can write a review of it…but that would be missing the substance of things…and I find it disrespect to a reality of great grandeur passing before my presence…
While reading, I cannot avoid to compare my limited knowledge of the modern world with what I am witnessing. In the modern world, we make easy things complicated. In the book, I find a different world…a world that makes profound truths accessible and simple without losing its profundity.
Chapter 7 talks about “Contributing to Peace, Culture, and Education throughout the World.” The author understands the time but gives a different answer. I see in his words that much of orthodox talk is anemic in terms of action, which is contrary to what you will find in the book.
Some books can be easily digested. This one mystifies me but it does not make me sick. It causes me to stop, ponder, smile and reflect. It causes me to close the book, to be read again when my mind and spirit are prepared…


The book speaks about the spontaneity of life. I was looking for a logical arrangement of the chapters and the words but it seems there is none. It has its own arrangement. It is “chaotically” and beautifully arranged. In latter part of the book, I realized that the writer affirmed both chaos and order, one and many, u nity and diversity, change and certainty. How does he do it? I simply don’t know.
Reading the book, I am reminded of the fact that indeed it is great to be alive. This is existentialism at its height…a hunger for something…a hunger and thirst for more…There are too many ideas but too little time…The author affirms the beauty and study of the individual.
The author talks about the importance of meditation, waiting, solitude, serenity, and silence. The spirit behind the book is so peaceful and quiet. It is a rare kind but very strong.
Chapter 81 is the most surprising chapter. Somehow, I anticipated it and at last I found it! It tells about the eternal evolution of humanity, an individualized expression of the universal presence…“you are the world”…“the world is in you”…the world is at your disposal…
What is Enlightenment?
My impression of enlightenment based on what I understand about the words of the author is the state of both rest and continued search. It is indefinable. You can simply describe it but you can neither grasp it nor control it. Enlightenment is about being in a constant journey and the experience of arrival. It is about acceptance of all there is…the one and many, the individual and the whole, chaos and order, change and permanence, being and becoming…
Profound Ideas
Examples of profound ideas that I found as I journey through the book…ideas that I could relate:
“You are the experience.”
“You have a unique relationship with yourself.”
“Watch what you are creating with your thoughts and your actions.”

“Assume authority and take responsibility for your world.”
“Remember what you have truly come here to do.”
“Your entire life unfolds every moment.”
“ Freedom from time. Freedom from your story.”
“For the sake of you future; do not waste a moment.”
“We become what we behold.”
“ Everything is in the moment. There is just this moment. Every moment is now. There is only now.”
“Stop and smell the flowers.”
Few thoughts are familiar. Many are new. Each stands on its own. Each defies explanation. Each has a beauty of its own. To me, the quoted statements above, speak about the glory of being here and being alive in this specific time in history and place in space. This is humanity at its best. The height of human existence!


THE ENLIGHTENMENT. A REVIEW BY JEANNE SAN PASCUAL
We’ve become so used to a fast-paced and ever changing society that sometimes we are so focused on expanding our financial and material growth that we forget about our spiritual growth. And there are few books out there that exemplify the struggles, challenges and opportunities for spiritual enlightenment as this book does. This alone would make this an interesting book, but what makes it worth the mention is the way the author advises his readers on dealing with life’s challenges. One statement in the book that really summed this up is, “Everything depends on you, as a human being. For the sake of all mankind, and your life in particular see it through to the very end to the best of your ability.”

This book is about getting to the heart of each and every one of us through the path of positive experiences that are intensely transformative. This book is not challenging to digest at all because it
provides practical, meaningful direction about the process of spiritual growth. How does one make a difference? How do we unify our beliefs? How can we see seek the perfection of our spirit? It results in a book in which the narrative voice of the author comes through. And precisely because of that, Nick Socrates doesn’t come off too saintly to be unbelievable. He is essentially telling us that being enlightened is a refuge for people of all backgrounds.
There is a bit of a self-evident pattern in his writing that I fully expected not to be impressed by this repetition and yet I was moved and touched. He is admirable in the way that he continues to bridge spiritual differences and deal with life’s obstacles. Herein he says, “The truest test of your life is what we do for one another. It’s the difference you can make in the lives of others.” The author understands this so well, that sometimes when a question pops into my mind; it would be then answered in the very next chapters. I actually found it to be incredibly helpful in learning to accept and understand enlightenment can ultimately lead someone to be a happier and more peaceful individual that he compounds by saying, “Asking you to turn inward, claim your mastery and plant the seeds of peace.”

If you've ever wondered about the limitlessness of human capacity and the underlying interconnectedness that we all share then this book will help you set your sights more accurately. It demonstrates that the world is not as we see it. There is a richness and depth inside us that has been left untapped that we can't even begin to comprehend it.

This book is definitely the most unique spiritual book I've ever read, if for nothing else, because of the nature of how it is written and the unorthodox way it tackles every chapter. If you want to be reminded of what wisdom is like, this is definitely a five star recommendation. And don’t we all need to be reminded every once in a while?