There is a reason they teach about trying to reach enlightenment

Its to avoid falling into the void...the void that is a part of the human condition.
The more spiritual your journey the more voids you have to conquer - the harder it is, the more you need to try.
The great magi were taught about the "mysteries" - these were not something that they had to solve, but these were ways of being and when embodied they would change the person forever.
And when understood, the great mystics of the past could transcend the pain of the body.
I tussled with this for a while and then realised that the "pain" they talk about is psychological pain.
Pain caused by others, by their words, by their actions and by their emotions ( or lack of ) and pain inflicted on the self.
I talked to an old man today who told me about all the books that he had collected over the past 60 years.
He had books that were first published in the 1800. What a collection. We talked for a while and it was nice to listen to this old fellow get so passionate about his books and about all he had read all his life. He had a rant about this and that and so did I. I hope he enjoyed his little talk. I did.