It occurred to me this evening as I was watching my boys play with their toys in such creative ways - ways I could never have guessed - that enlightenment must feel much like that. It is like a powerful new toy that has so many fascinating capabilities that we can barely comprehend its awesome potential. Alan Watts describes this way of zen consciousness as having a "beginner's mind" clear of judgement and full of wonder.
Within them is so much raw creatve energy that their entire being is focused on becoming the next something. Their bodies are constantly replacing cells to such an extent that they are literally transforming physically, cognitively and spiritually into entirely new people overnight.
For them the world is untainted by culture and tradition and of course ego. But that doesn't mean they are a clean slate. They come into this world endowed with the wisdom of the Universe preloaded into their spiritual hard drives. Only time will tell how their journey through the quagmire of life will shape the content of their mind. Before long the software/mind will come to believe it is the computer itself, but that only limits its capabilities.
Enlightenment is very much like the feeling you get when you discover a button on your boring old toy that you have never noticed before and it makes it do something wonderful. It may still be the same old toy, but your discovery has made it new again. Life is like that. Over and over again we reach a point where it seems there is nothing new to discover, and then a curious discovery changes everything and enlightenment makes everything new again.
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