Pointers

Enlightenment is direct experience of reality as it is, untainted by thought or conditioning.  Advaita is a philosophy describing reality as it is--non-dual, unbroken by subject and object, sans perceiver, perceived and perceiving, One without a second--but it must do so in words that cannot quite escape the baggage of conditioned thought.  Advaita points, enlightenment reflects.  Advaita describes an autonomic nervous system, while enlightenment is the heart, itself, beating in accordance with its nature.  Our heart beats continuously, although we rarely heed it.  Advaita turns our attention inward--a first, critical step in the "how," "what" and "why" of awakening.