I'm not sure, but I think you're thinking of enlightenment as in "the age of enlightenment", whereas the quote is about the zen/buddhist idea of "enlightenment (as in, even after reaching enlightenment, nothing much changes materially).
This resonates with my recent attempts to find meaning and purpose in things I do. As you point out, it's almost the same things I do, but some seemingly small things seem more meaningful...