Around in circles

You can't become enlightened in this life. It's just not possible. I tried, believe oh how I tried. It doesn't work. You might think it's working, you might feel you make great progress in certain directions, but in the end you aren't enlightened. You still accumulate great amounts of karma and carry over karma from past lives. 

Now I am not saying one shouldn't try and 'move forward' towards the idea of enlightenment, but I would suggest you do it more as an experience or an exercise rather then any spiritual goal. My spiritual efforts were always like going around in a circle. I would think and feel like I was making huge strides, but after a few weeks, months, years I would find I was back at where I began. Maybe a little wiser, and that's a good thing, but overall no more enlightened then I was when I left. 

There is great freedom in admitting you can't help yourself escape this karmic cycle of rebirth. You let the ego go and say 'Namo Amida Butsu' and have faith that the great compassion of the Amida Buddha will take you past all the karma and unenlightenment that keeps you bound and deliver you to the Pureland upon death. 

And again I say, that does not mean you can't try different ideas and paths to improve yourself, just know it's really not going lead you to becoming a Buddha. So abandon the spiritual ideas and just do the exercises. If you like to meditate, meditate, not because you think it will enlighten you, but because it keeps you at peace. Or on the other hand, don't meditate and just say Namo Amida Butsu and chill.