Usually it happens to people who have a spiritual experience and then immerse themselves in the spiritual literature, thinking that they now “got it”. They have a lot of spiritual words in their vocabulary, proud of their attainment, and see a lot of ignorance around them. This is by far the most common case, and it’s child’s play.

A slightly deeper version of intellectual enlightenment is the realization of consciousness/awareness, which is more or less permanent. In this case, the persona is seen as imaginary, but it’s not abandoned. Life is acknowledged to be a “dream”, a play of characters, but it’s believed that this is the way it’s supposed to be. Emotional reactivity is still there, suffering is still there, violence is still there (often times a lot of it), but it’s all enjoyed from an elevated perspective. Love is often proudly announced, but it’s impotent, and highly selective based on how another makes them feel (despite endless proclamations). The heart is still closed shut at this point. True love has not been known yet. The vast majority of people speaking of enlightenment nowadays speak from this place. They talk about “shadows”, “integration of two perspectives” and otherwise similar nonsense. They also pride themselves on being loving, and as a consequence, despise people who are not (but they would never admit it, of course).

Their hearts aren’t truly awakened yet. Awakening the heart is by far the hardest thing to do, it is accepting death itself. For as long as you think you’re deathless, your heart is closed. In working through all matters of the heart, crying all your tears, surrendering to all your pain and all your fear, the false self is abandoned completely.

Then your enlightenment isn’t merely intellectual, but the real deal.