Question: Is there a downside to enlightenment?
Answer: Yes.
Enlightenment – acquiring a new, selfless, altruistic nature which gives us similarity and thus mutual understanding with Nature’s single, governing, life-giving, evolutionary force – happens at the expense of our inherently selfish, egoistic nature.
Thus while the aspiring Human observer in us reaches enlightenment, our original, protesting egoistic being suffers, fights – in vain – for its survival.
It is this unprecedented duality, contrast, tension, inner war that gives us a “truly Human”, independent and objective perception of reality.