Bodhisatvas and do you know any?

[vervex]

I liked what you've said here. It somehow reminded me of this:

Enlightenment is of the moment, is an opening to intelligent infinity. It can only be accomplished by the self, for the self. Another self cannot teach/learn enlightenment, but only teach/learn information, inspiration, or a sharing of love, of mystery, of the unknown that makes the other-self reach out and begin the seeking process that ends in a moment, but who can know when an entity will open the gate to the present?

Yes, I hadn't read this quote before but it does sum it up quite nicely. Enlightenment is living in that moment of awareness.

I have no ambition to become enlightened. My efforts to try in the past resulted in miserable failures.

You know, in regards to self-realization/enlightenment, it's not really something you pursue (or an ambition). At least in my case I wasn't pursuing anything when I discovered/remembered my true nature. I began reading a book featuring conversations with Ramana Maharshi and a few pages in I just had this "ohhhhh" and "aaaaahhhhhh" moment, as if I finally found the switch to turn on the light in my mind. It was always there, I just never really knew where to look for it. Actually, I didn't even know what to look for!

Putting it simply, when you are in a state of calm and you have silenced though thoughts, contemplate your nature and ask yourself "Who am I?". You might be tempted to answer "I am a woman/man", "I am *my name*" or even "I am a seeker/wanderer/teacher". But all these answers are only roles we play in this lifetime. When you are not playing these roles, Who Are You? Who is the self beyond all these roles, beyond this human incarnation? Who is the you beyond the ego?

You might not have an answer. You might say "I don't know", and that is perfectly right: The self is everything and nothing. Your mind cannot conceptualize it (hence the silence). It doesn't respond to any name, definition or label. The nameless self is what it is. I am that I am. It is pure beingness. Its nature is to be, its nature is pure awareness.

Who am I?
I am.

Anything that comes after serves only to define it and therefore limit it.

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Hope this helps a bit! If it doesn't Ramana Maharshi explains it better than I. And if still it doesn't come, worry not, if you truly desire truth, it will come one day, whenever you are ready.