Symeon The New Theologian says in his writings, "Our mind is pure and simple. When it is emptied of thought, it enters the pure and simple light of God, and finds nothing but the light." Once again, this is another scholar who believes that heaven/ascension to God/enlightenment is achieved by having a pure mind that is free of thoughts.
Symeon compared the pure mind to an ocean. When a person wades (or keeps their head above the water), you can see everything. Therefore, your mind is focusing on the vast ocean, the waves, the rocks, the sand, and the seagulls. Not much room left them to be thinking of nothing and preparing to ascend to God. When a person dives into the ocean, there is only one thought on their mind...I'm in the ocean. Because being underwater for a long period of times (without scuba gear) is not a natural state for humans, usually the thoughts about the rocks and sand have been cleared out of your mind. You are only thinking about the ocean. If the ocean was to represent God, then would this be a type of state of enlightenment?
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