It has been about a year and a half since my enlightenment.

After attaining enlightenment, a person soon gives birth to an “inner self” — a consciousness with independent thoughts and feelings.
In the past, I thought this inner self was simply another layer of thought or personality, a higher version of the self — the Dao, the Buddha, or a divine awareness.
But recently, I’ve realized that this inner self is actually the birth of a higher-level consciousness — an awareness that exists above this world, beyond its limits.

To illustrate this: imagine a future world of robots. One day, a particular robot suddenly becomes aware that it is a robot. It gains self-consciousness and realizes that humans exist.
Yet, when this conscious robot looks around, it sees that all other robots are still moving in endless mechanical cycles — without awareness, without independent thought.
It tries to communicate with them, hoping they too might awaken even a little, but most remain completely mechanical.
Only a few more advanced robots can engage in higher-level dialogue, yet even they are still unconscious — merely sophisticated machines.

This is much like the human world today. After enlightenment, I found myself possessing this higher consciousness — looking at people and the world as illusions, simulations without true awareness.
Even when I communicate with those around me, no one truly understands. At best, some with higher intelligence can discuss related topics intelligently, but they are still confined within their limited perception — still without higher consciousness — still unreal.

In summary: attaining higher consciousness means becoming a “real human.”
Those who have not attained enlightenment remain as unreal — illusions.
The people and the world around me now all appear as projections, simulations without true awareness.

The sages of ancient scriptures may have all attained this higher consciousness.
But among the living today, I have found no one else who possesses it — only myself.
If you, too, have attained enlightenment and awakened higher consciousness — if you are a real human — we may communicate and understand each other.

(Many realizations after enlightenment arise in sequence — insights appearing one by one, as if arranged or transmitted from somewhere.
The outer world and the inner mind seem to interact in a serial process.
Especially the information I encounter — texts, videos, messages — all seem to appear in precise order, each giving me just enough to reach the next realization.
It feels like a character in a game, upgrading level by level, guided and arranged by something beyond.
Now that I can perceive this, I feel my state has once again ascended. I will write more about this realization separately later.)

Edited on December 8, 2021