I like your story.

I lived with a 92 year old Cambodian Buddhist Monk who taught Vispassnā Meditation for 6 months. Bhante Dharmawara was enlightened 95% of the time. The other 5% he was caught in eddies of fear and the chaos of the ego. I had an otherworldly encounter with Gurumayi that led me to attend Darshan with her at her ashram in Oakland, CA (USA). She is enlightened. There seems to be levels of enlightenment just as there are levels of awareness or consciousness. It seems that enlightenment is on a continuum. I've observed there are individuals operating on a level of transcendent enlightenment.

I feel the peace in you.