Enlightenment and relief

Could the feeling of enlightenment be akin to relief? For example, our sense of self is not just an identity we attach to, but it's a sort of project, preoccupation, an activity that we take to be of the utmost importance.

Important projects are very stressful. Have you ever had a job where you felt a sense of relief whenever you could finally drop the load and take a breather once the task or shift has ended? Previously you were engrossed in the stressful task, a task which had (whether real or imagined) vast consequences if done wrong. Afterward, when you finally clocked out, you felt so good! You got that rush of relief because you didn't have to do the thing anymore.

If we take that analogy to the project of the self, we see that we are so worried and stressed about this task we are performing. Our being is an absolute issue for us (in Heideggerian terms). But what if this project, and the rationale behind it, isn't really a big deal? That you can drop the load and actually be okay? We work on ourselves because we think we won't be okay if we didn't, and so we cling to our identity and its project.

All day today I was so stressed and placed too much importance on little things. I decided to drop the significance of these things and found myself feeling good and found myself to actually not be in a worse state (that I hypothetically thought I would be in if I didn't tend to those things).

Could the self be like this anology? And that if we drop this project/task of self, that we would feel that relief because we indeed are okay and have been from the beginning? Hope this makes sense.

submitted by /u/PthereforeQ
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