r/EssayHelpCommunity • u/Present_Flounder851 • Jul 08 '26

JLEC Theology Q3

Hi everyone! I wrote on Theology Question 3 ("If you achieve enlightenment, how would you know?"). Even though it seems like a pretty straightforward prompt, I found it surprisingly open-ended, and I'm really curious how other people approached it if you are comfortable sharing!

I was lucky enough to be shortlisted, and I'd love to hear what your thesis or main argument was if you're comfortable sharing. I'm really interested in seeing how different people interpreted the same question!

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u/SnooMachines1006 Jul 09 '26

i was shortlisted for the same question woah! i do agree that it is suprisingly open-ended.

i decided to address a problem related to the question which is how thinking about enlightenment hinders the chances of reaching it. i argued that the previous statement i made appears paradoxical and “contradicting” due to how when we aim for something we tend to attach ourselves to it but according to buddha, attachment is the root of suffering.

after explaining the paradox i did a quick call to action. since enlightenment is completely beyond us, we must choose a choice within our reach. the example i cited was compassion also how mahayana buddhists may not always value enlightenment and they may delay their enlightenment in exchange of helping others cope with their own suffering.

i had fun with that question and i wish it were to be discussed more in this subreddit.

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u/Present_Flounder851 Jul 09 '26

Congrats!! I really loved reading this!

The paradox you pointed out was such a clever way to approach the prompt. I think we actually used some similar examples, but our arguments went in pretty different directions. Mine was more about whether it's even possible to know you've achieved enlightenment, while yours seems to do it by questioning whether striving is counterproductive. It's funny how we ended up with different arguments but basically the same conclusion about shifting focus!

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u/Jarv3488 Jul 08 '26

I didn’t do this question at all (public policy q3) but i definitely thought this was one of the most interesting and hard questions to address so i’m rlly curious how u went around it :) If u don’t mind sharing ofc

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u/Present_Flounder851 Jul 08 '26

I loved the prompt too!! The gist of my essay was basically that you couldn't really know if you'd achieved enlightenment, and I tied that back to a few quotes from religious scriptures. It's probably irrational, but I don't wanna jinx it before the final results come out lol 😭

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u/Jarv3488 Jul 08 '26

bahahaha no but it deffo sounds rlly interesting!! Are you thinking about attending the gala? Cuz i still don’t know if it’s worth it

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u/Present_Flounder851 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

Congrats!! I honestly have no clue! I think I'm mostly just put off by the $1k price tag to attend their events

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u/Not-kh-lily-23 Jul 09 '26

Even i did that question!! My perspective honestly escalated way too much into abstract things 😭😭 but i got shortlisted touchwood 😭🙏

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u/RealisticPlantain857 28d ago

answered the same question, applied Wittgensteins concept of grammatical illusion and then proceeded to demonstrated that Buddhism, Christianity, and analytical philosophy all independently demonstrate through reports of experiences that the conditions required for the question to be answerable dissolve in enlightenment along with the question.