I once attended a public lecture by Tenzin Palmo (a Tibetan Buddhist nun). Someone asked her what enlightenment was like. She tipped her head to one side for a moment, thinking, and then said, 'It's like waking up."
Really now ... imagine that you, in the dreaming world, try to explain to someone who has never been anything except a dreamer, what it's like to wake up. How do you explain that difference in your perception and experience of reality, between dreaming and being awake?
Enlightenment is apparently something that cannot be described, but must be experienced first-hand in order to be comprehended.
As far was what "happens" ... who knows? In Tibetan Buddhism they talk about the pure land, where the Buddhas live. But that's about all they say about it. Not a lot of attention is given to it. And this makes sense, because Buddhism is about what you are doing now, about the process of being a Buddhist ... and not so much about final goals or where you think you are headed. As a matter of fact, the teachings say that it will actually hold you back if you focus too much on the goal of Buddhism.
