To be enlightened is simply to be absolutely, unconditionally intimate with this moment. No more. No less.

- Scott Morrison

The key word here for me is "intimate." That's the kind of relationship you have with this particular moment in time, an intimate relationship. Just as when you are intimate with a person, when you are intimate with a moment, you have many layers of awareness. Some of these may be:

• An awareness of the various climates of the place you're in, the elements of time, the prevailing feelings, what's at stake and for whom.

• You have priorities right- What is more important and what is less so.

• An awareness of the ultimate implications of the moment, of its part in the broader matrix of which it is a component.

• A recognition of all that's gone before that may have brought this moment into being.

• A sense of the uniqueness of this moment. It has never been; it will never be again. Thus you know its value.

• An appreciation of the particular worldly focus of the moment (are you telling a joke, taking a walk, writing a report?)

• And of course, you love this moment deeply.

Why not try to be "absolutely unconditionally  intimate" with this moment, right now, as you read these words? Close the book; let your eyes close, softly....

Of course, enlightenment rarely comes all at once, as it did the Buddha as he sat under the banyan tree.

One step at a time, a moment now and again, a glimpse here and there- these are the prized, star-lit experiences that most of us are fortunate to get.

What does it mean to you to be enlightened? Write out your reflections.

Excerpt from Awakened Mind: One- Minute Wake up calls to a Bold and Mindful Life by David Kundtz