Without light, we cannot see. To receive light and thus be capable of perception is "en-lighten-ment." Therefore, enlightenment is the awakening of consciousness, the perception and understanding of reality, objective reasoning. To receive light, it is necessary to remove that which obscures it: our defects, vices, mistaken psychological elements, etc.
"To emerge from within this misfortune, from within this unconsciousness, from within such an unfortunate state in which we find ourselves, is only possible by [our defects] dying within ourselves... How could we awaken without first dying? What is new arrives only with death! If the seed does not die, the plant does not sprout. The one who truly awakens attains, as an outcome, full objectivity of his or her consciousness, authentic enlightenment, happiness." -Samael Aun Weor, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
"Enlightenment comes to us when we dissolve the pluralized “I”; when we have indeed died [psychologically] within the 49 levels of the subconsciousness." -Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic
