There is no opposite for enlightenment. Because as a meaningful term we have conditionally created for ourselves, it becomes just another target to pursue. If you take out the perception of time (which is born in the mind) then the whole idea of enlightenment collapses on itself.

It's an illusion that we are not free so how can there be an opposite for that state. This state of "enlightenment", if you will, is the nature of all that is. It has no opposite. That which we process and believe to be real is make believe and it has no reality.

The prison is built around us in form, time and space and in that mix we have formed an identity for ourselves which must see itself as a credible individual living his or her life. Everything has been built up around us from infancy and has only become more dense as the years have gone by.

If anything and if it must be put into terms, enlightenment is the result of not adding but the taking away of our conceptual selves in order to make transparent what we already are. It's a callapse of an absence existence and we are what is left. In that recognition, it's realized that we have always been here. And every want and desire to become better than what we are at this very moment was a disguise for that very nature we all have within us. The mind can only turn that which is otherwise still, peaceful and whole in fragments and peace meal in order to keep churning it's own illusionary existence. It's finely skilled in the art of perpetually deviating what we truly are into separation and fear.

Textbook answer would be "Ignorance".

And I think I can prove it linguistically. Enlightenment means "in the light". So the opposite of it would be "in the dark". "In the dark" is an idiom which means In a state of ignorance

Q.E.D. :)

Seeking enlightenment.

To me, if enlightenment is spiritual awareness, the opposite is lack of spiritual awareness, or being unenlightened or unaware. Some people may think of it as being spiritually asleep.

Ignorance isn't a bad word to use to cover that, though it may not define what you want to say precisely enough. I have appended the definition of enlightenment below - and it does mean more than one thing depending on context, and it is, to an extent, the context that gives the clarity. 'Ignorance' used in that context could be appropriate.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/enlightenment

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignorance

Sri Aurobindo, the seeker who's work inspired the "Internal Yoga" (I think that's what it's called) did a internal journey with his consciousness onto the mind of the cells that make up the body. This search spanned many years.

He describes that there were layers of consciousness within every cell within our bodies that is accessing a database of consciousness that contains all the joy & all the suffering ever experienced by any human body since the inception of humanity.

He started going deeper & deeper into the layers of consciousness, (I believe into the lower astral plane), where he encountered more & more darkness in the form of suffering, disease, pain, anguish, abuse etc until he finally reached the very depth of "in his words" pure evil. Everything that was one way, the opposite of that existed down there. He describes an impenetrable wall of evil. But his instincts kept guiding him to go further & he began willing himself to penetrate this wall of evil.

I don't know how long it took him to break through, but break-through, he did. He described that as he kept pushing & pushing he could feel that the breakthrough was imminent & then suddenly it gave way & he was in the presence of a blinding light of the divine. At this stage he experienced something similar to enlightenment.

I think this is what is hinted at with the symbol of the snake swallowing its own tail, or the yin/yang, or the "as above, so below", or any opposite energies balancing each other.

By the way, the philosopher Itzhak Bentov, I believe, stumbled on this same realization. (Read Stalking the wild pendulum)

So what is on the other side of enlightenment? The beginning of the journey towards enlightenment.

Enlightenment for me would mean transcending the egoic state of suffering and desire. I guess the opposite, for me, would mean being stuck exactly where most of the human race is ( including myself a lot of the time) attached to the self conceptualized me with all the wants and suffering that connotates. Instead of looking at the world through an opaque pane of glass, with enlightenment the opaqueness lifts and we see everything with clarity ( at least that's my perception). To sum it up I think we're living the opposite of enlightenment most of the time and only when we begin to awake from that unconscious state do we start to take steps in the direction of enlightenment.

My very first reaction to this question, and the word that popped into my mind, was this:

FEAR.

Fear makes us walk away from things we do not understand.

Fear makes us refuse to pursue our curiosity.

Fear keeps us from learning the "Truth" about everything we care to imagine or believe.

Fear is the enemy of knowledge and enlightenment.

Ironically, fear also keeps us from learning about that which we fear.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". I believe FDR said that gem...

Lots and Lots of Light and Love, Jai

There is a great saying by "Jonah" (see www.jonahlifeinstitute.com)

"There is no seperation in all that exists, and when this is understood upon a heart level, enlightenment simply is."

With that being "Understood upon a heart level" I would say the opposite of enlightenment is "SEPERATION"

How about ignorance.

I believe that the opposite of enlightenment does have to do with a lack of spiritual awareness or being unconscious spiritually. But at what point in the level of awareness does one become truly enlightened? Is it with the first awareness of thought or does one have to be at a certain level? I believe that once there is some consciousness then from that point one can only go deeper. The thing about enlightenment is that once you are there you can never go back into unconsciousness or ignorance as described.

My understanding of enlightenment is becoming aware of the all knowing or becoming one with the omniscience, omnipotent, omnipresent. You get a glimpse of the all knowing. Therefore, the opposite would be not knowing all.

Many seem to think of enlightenment as (all knowing) but really if you look at any Zen Koan, you will see that all of those stories of enlightenment do not mean after finding the answer the person was (all knowing). It simply means he was troubled and could not understand, even deeply bothered at times, but after a while through something said or something experienced, he was enlightened.

Here is an example: two monks were traveling together, they came to a stream and a women was there trying to cross. The two monks needed to cross too. The one monk said, "hop on my back, I'll carry you across." They went across, and then on their way. Finely after many miles, the one monk says to the other, "I can't stand it any more! You know very well it is against our rules to even touch a girl and YOU! You carried her on your back across the water and mud!" The other looked back and said "I carried her across the water and mud then left her back there by the stream. You have been carrying her in your mind all of this time, and still have her in your mind now." With that the monk was enlightened.

I say my self say many times I was enlightened, I have many times over the years had experiences of enlightenment. Those moments of "Oh wow now I understand, everything is so clear now."

So for me the opposite is still being in confusion, no clarity of understanding, this includes worry, angry, fear, hate and other expressions of negative thoughts or feelings.

The opposite of to enlighten someone would be to lie, deceive, mislead, manipulate.

The opposite of a state of enlightenment would be a state of confusion and despair.

Irrogance, that is arrogance due to ignorance.

The opposite of enlightenment is spirituality, religion, life, and you.

The opposite of Enlightenment is learning what you do not know, and acquiring the skills, wisdom and knowledge over time for the future, and to share with others on your journey of life!

We may not all know some of the same things, but in essence some of us may know of other things, that some may not know of. It is like learning a new skill with a group of people, and you realized that what you were doing all along was incorrect, because you did not know the proper way of doing it, or you were not enlightened!

the opposite of enlightement is not enlightement. meaning someone that did not reach the light the truth by transcending this world. some see enlightement as a title but it is not because no one can tell if one is enlighten. the only one who knows is the one who is.

Hello Adel, enlightenment is clear understanding, unfolded, expansion so the opposite would be quarrel, folded, imprisoned or in other words a falacy held as an established opinion ... the meaning behind this drawing by Pierre-Yves Trémois "Apocalypse" is clear ;

http://www.artvalue.fr/auctionresult--tremois-pierre-yves-1921-franc-pour-l-apocalypse-2169559.htm

have a great day :)