This is not an essay on enlightenment but on freedom. Enlightenment differs from freedom in that enlightenment means to let go of our daily issues concerning ourselves and what we want and think we need. Kant may be a well known individual however after a fairly short time I could not help but feel beaten over the head with his ideas on enlightenment. I think he himself is stifling enlightenment by putting more thoughts than are needed into heads already confused by what social freedom is. In many ways I don't think he is enlightened himself by his attitude toward the institutions he is describing.
I believe we as a society expect, as other past and present civilisations have, that our government and ruling parties know best how to attain and keep our freedoms and ways of life. That is where we go wrong.
First gain enlightenment, and with that will come freedom. When as an individual you let go of your expectations, you will let go of your need of governments and religious orders that claim to enrich your way of life.
In his book "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind" Shunryu Suzuki says, "If you seek for freedom you cannot find it."
By saying man is ignorant of his freedoms, or his enlightenment, Kant is himself stifling freedom by suggesting that men/women must attain something more than themselves to be free. Freedom first must come from within. How would you know what you wanted from your governmet, or religious order without knowing yourself first?
