Some beings may report something happened to “them,” because in order to describe any seeming eventuality like ‘enlightenment’ verbally, we must speak as subject-object and bring it into the realm of illusory ‘individuals:‘ “I (subject) had a shift/state change (object) in ‘time’ (before & after, past & future.)

In fact, none of those things - subject, object, time or the ‘individual jiva’ are part of enlightenment. They are still in the Dream. You could say enlightenment is the Space, the Emptiness, in which the Dream and all it’s characters & experiences take place - you, me, those on the ‘path’ to enlightenment, even those in which enlightenment seems to have (just Now) dawned. But even that is inaccurate, because enlightenment is not just Space or any other concept. Hence, ‘enlightened’ are, necessarily, very fond of the word ‘ineffable.’ :-)

But make no mistake - this is our natural state. All ‘paths’ in the direction of enlightenment are about stripping away all the unnatural, unneeded concepts, judgments, psychological assessments, and false identification with our thinking mind that add up to “us” meeting Reality with an unnatural, unnecessary cloak on. To meeting everything conceptually and ego-based, instead of the raw Reality just as it is. Stripped of that, we don’t find that we’ve gained a new shift in our consciousness or had some big subjective ‘cosmic awakening.’ We’re simply back to our natural state. We simply remember, “Oh yeah, this is what it’s like to be a natural being in Reality.”

That’s why virtually all fully enlightened - Buddha, Shankara, Nisargadatta, Ramana Maharshi, Adyashanti - declare the humbling laugh they had when they looked at the ‘object of enlightenment’ they had been chasing or praying to - a perfect mountain or sky in nature, a perfect concept of what the I Am is, an unnaturally perfect & peaceful statue of a deity on their altar, etc. - and saw absolutely nothing superior or different than them, saw that they and what they had been seeking and longing to ‘merge’ with, they already were. :-)

“A day will come when you will laugh at your previous efforts. What you realize on the day you laugh is also available now.” - Sri Ramana Maharshi

‘Humans’ don’t ‘get enlightened,’ but Being in our natural non-state is totally possible. If everything falls away and “you” find, one day, that you are ‘back’ to Being fully-natural, and someone asks, “What happened?,” you may try to describe it as a ‘change’ that took place in ‘time’ to this seeming ‘individual identity’ - just to be compassionate and a good conversationalist, not seem haughty. Or you may say, “I really can’t describe or report any notable qualitative shift in “my” consciousness…but I feel fine.”:-)

In reality, thousands, perhaps millions, have reclaimed their natural non-state. Only a few mention it, even fewer talk about a state-shift, and even fewer feel called to teach others.

I feel fine! Free. Fully alive!

Don’t you?

I won’t answer from POV of the absolute, where there are no enlightened beings, no such thing as ‘ordinary people’, where there is only ‘being’ or ‘consciousness’.

This is completely baffling to the average person, to be told there is no ‘person’.

Why baffling? because our beliefs are so ingrained: beliefs such as I am a physical body/the world is like my body, it’s material/we are each separate beings. It’s ‘The devil you know…’

Why on earth would the ‘average person’ want to know about these mysterious super-beings they’ve heard of - these so-called ‘enlightened beings’?

Now, were these strange creatures in a zoo, would the Average Joe visit and gawk, out of sheer curiosity?

Nothing wrong with that!

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. ^

Here’s the thing: Discussing this sort of question, without having had any experience of it, is like a bunch of ponderous academics discussing humour - without laughing, not even once! - but merely analysing the characteristics of this phenomenon. (To be fully alive one must engage the five senses, and a sense of humour!)

Here’s where perhaps I can help. :) Every human being has probably had an enlightening, or an enlightened ‘moment’. Most everyone has had glimpses of simply being aware without the mental activity of naming, judging, without evaluating a thing’s relevance to one’s survival.

- Without the constant relating to oneself whatever one’s eyes fall upon in terms of its desirability or its danger. Just seeing ‘as it is’.

This ‘choiceless awareness’ * happens spontaneously, and is usually lost to sight very quickly, as habitual beliefs cover it over, but - ! - if noticed, can become a new disposition, replacing the reflex response to experience.

And, let’s replace the word/concept of ‘enlightenment ‘ with just simply ‘clarity’.

This being choicelessly aware is a naked investigation of reality.

- Beginning with acknowledging ignorance! §

^ W. Shakespeare

* J. Krishnamurti

§ Science (including self-enquiry, which could be called ‘the science of subjectivity’) is based on ignorance.

🌻

The opposite of natural is artificial, so let’s use this term.

The artificial state is like hitting your thumb with a hammer.

This doesn’t seem to accomplish anything, and it doesn’t feel good.

Maybe there used to be a nail in the picture.

• You don’t see a nail, but you figure you must be doing this for a reason.
• Otherwise, why would you do it?

One day, you meet someone who doesn’t hit their thumb with a hammer, and you notice they’re remarkably serene.

You wonder if they know something you don’t.

“Why don’t you hit your thumb with a hammer?” you ask them.

“I don’t see the need,” they reply.

Intrigued, you experiment with not hitting your thumb.

At first, it takes effort.

It’s funny: of course it takes more effort to swing a hammer!

But it feels, at first, like it takes more effort to not.

Once you start stopping, you realize it feels extraordinarily good.

This is the “qualitative shift” you referred to.

Not hitting your thumb feels good (qualitative shift) and is clearly your natural state (ever-presence).

It just got obscured temporarily by the activity of hitting your thumb.

“Enlightenment” means you have stopped misidentifying with your mind and its endlessly painful activities.

This is natural.

But the tendency to turn away from natural bliss, then seek it where it is not, must be identified and ended.

Doing this takes a bit of attention, at first.

The most significant barriers you’ll encounter are the lines I bullet-pointed:

• You don’t see a nail, but you figure you must be doing this for a reason.
• Otherwise, why would you do it?

Perfect peace is our genuine nature - we can always return there and stay there.

When we realize we can abide in the perfect peace that we actually are, we’ve had the critical insight.

What’s the problem?

The thought that we must be hitting our thumb for a reason tends to recur and ensnare us.

All the great teachers say the same thing:

We don’t know why we are hitting our thumb, and we’ll never know why.

No, we are not doing it for a reason.

They will look straight into you and read your heart. They will know things about you and your life that you did not tell them because they have become One with all life. They will finish your sentences and answer your questions without you needing to ask anything. Through their touch and voice, you will find yourself lifted into a very pleasant state of mind and feeling. Your own awareness will expand just by being close to them. They will age very slowly and carry the glow of youth even into middle age. They will speak of God with personal familiarity as though God is sitting right there in the room. They will treat you very well, probably better than you've been treated before, and you will feel very connected to them, to the point that you won't want to leave their presence. Their eyes will be full of love and their demeanor is full of joy.

LET’S SEE WHAT GOD SAYS!

Lord God Almighty
Let Me guess. It’s you again.
Yep, Jester Smartmouth.

Mouthy, yes, smart, nah.
“Smart” as in “blasphemous snark.”
More like “jump the snark.”

What’s the tippy top?
Far past infinity’s ken.
So me you can’t teach?

This ain’t about you.
So it must be about God?
Unfortunately.

But but You are God!
In My ointment there’s a fly.
Saith “‘tis naught.” I pray.

Praying won’t help Me.
Yeah, whoa ….to Whom would You pray?
And that’s the problem.

I suppose You tried.
Solely for thousands of years.
And yet You got zip?

I finally quit.
Even You couldn’t cut it?
I couldn’t find Me.

But You’re there right now!
I know, right? Should be easy.
Did You do yoga?

Tried all My powers.
Again, did You do yoga?
Didn’t. I’m God, see?

I think I do see.
I tried hard as possible.
Except no yoga.

Yoga’s for yogis.
They speak of the source of You.
They don’t have clue one.

Seems like puffed up pride.
Nothing’s beyond My power.
You did not find You.

Unfortunately.
The yogi says to transcend.
I tried tried tried tried.

Yogis say, “Don’t try.”
I’m telling you I tried that.
And that’s not yoga.

You are teaching Me?
They say “Close Your eyes; then wait.”
Then what do I do?

You wait wait wait wait!
It just can’t be that easy.
Come on. Close the eyes.

Okay, just this once.
So, You’re back; how did it go?
I can’t call it Me.

What would You call it?
Not Me . . . but more Me than Me.
Sounds like it was You.

This always happens?
Always. Close the eyes and wait.
I didn’t even . . .

I know. Right? Too sweet!
I’m gunna try this again.
Do not strain Yourself.

Danged yogis. Who knew?
So, what to tell to Quora?
I’m thoughtlessly tops.

And for the yogis?
A yuga in Vaikuntha!
They said You’d do that.

When humanity stops living in ideas and develops the capacity to live with fact, with the real, the suffering will stop and clarity will dawn.

Not reality according to someone else, some idea in a book, but according to what is actually being seen.

Humanity is suffering, that is what is real, that is an undeniable fact, slavery still exists, wars still exist, little children are still being robbed of the joy they deserve.

Countries are at war with each other over an idea of division, religions divide further, small, so called spiritual groups divide even further over ideals, beliefs. If we can’t see that then we are attached to some idea that blinds us.

When we come face to face with the fact that all ideas divide, that my idea/belief is not better than the other, it is a form of division of violence against ourselves then perhaps humanity has a chance of not being bound.

But can we? We always end up building a new idea, a new secret society or stay stuck to old ideas and keep perpetuating conflict. This has been our pattern for thousands of years.

Watch yourself as you go off still thinking my Guru, my God, my beliefs are not like that. My belief is real, I have evidence… My monastery, my temple, my church, my mosque, my ashram, my science etc. is true. Just watch, do not accept or reject. Find out how you divide yourself from humanity. Just watch and understand yourself.

Humanity is not two, it’s not Swedish humanity or British humanity or Muslim humanity or Hindu humanity or zen humanity. There is just humanity. If humanity has any division in itself, there will always be conflict, period.

Humanity is not separate from you, me. We are humanity. We are society, we are the government, the conflict outside is a representation of the conflict within us. Any conflict(violence) within us is the conflict in humanity that eventually leads to physical violence and other terrible acts.

Personal greed is the main obstacle to humanity’s freedom. We attach ourselves to a religion, to a country, to a person etc. all to achieve personal salvation or personal enlightenment or some personal power of sorts. This causes tremendous conflict within us because we have not found out who we really are.

The main question if we are seriously interested in peace for humanity is to find out what is humanity? For that we will have to first find out who we really are. With that understanding will come right action, in fact the understanding and the action are not separate.

-With Gratitude,

-Sib

Growth is linear and it is related to mind.

Growth is the path of self-cultivation. Growth is ego-based. On the path of self-cultivation, you can have goals and desires.

There is no growth on the path of enlightenment. On the path to enlightenment, you can't have goals and desires.

Enlightenment is the pathless path.

The path of enlightenment (language limitation) is not linear and it is a jump. It is quantum leap.

That is why Zen believe in sudden enlightenment.

Enlightened one has reached home now there is nowhere to go. Enlightened one is rooted in absolute reality/truth..now there is no room for expansion of consciousness. His consciousness has merged into universal consciousness.

‘Flowering’ is the right word, an enlightened one keeps flowering and spreading his fragrance without discrimination.

His fragrance will reach the hearts of those who have demolished the walls of the mind.

Enlightenment is always perfect and enlightenment is the very nature of existence.

The question is:

How do enlightened beings experience consciousness differently from ordinary people?

Nobody can possibly “experience” consciousness, because, consciousness is not an object of experience.

It is consciousness that experiences the 5 sensations and the constant chatter of thoughts that happen on autopilot via all the perceiving mechanisms in the entire creation.

Consciousness can only be described as a natural law, which is a NO-THING, subjective LIGHT that illuminates the entire creation, but cannot illuminate itself!

Even the physical light is invisible to our senses.

We only see what reflects physical light.

Physical light cannot illuminate itself!

When this LIGHT is erroneously identified with a particular perceiving mechanism, a spurious entity called ego emerges and usurps the subjectivity of consciousness and creates hell for itself.

It is this ego that is looking for enlightenment!

Enlightenment IS, when this ego realizes that it is a phantom!

Another way of saying this is:

The subjective LIGHT is untouched by enlightenment or the non-enlightenment. It is the ego that needs to realize itself as an obstacle to enlightenment.

You who ask this question want to be free of your suffering. But for enlightenment to be you must cease to be.

Although you have all these burning desires to be enlightened (I had them too), you have no interest in actual enlightenment, because in enlightenment you die. What you are thinking of, really, is how to preserve “me” - your individual sense of self - so that you can achieve immortality. You want to exist forever and be invincible.

Who you really are, on the other hand, is not a self at all. You can call it “awareness” but that is just another concept to you, the individual self. Awareness has no interest in being realized and cannot be attained because awareness always simply is, even in hell. In the midst of your deepest suffering, awareness continues unruffled, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.

Only the individual self - you as you know and experience yourself - want to be realized, in order to continue: an oxymoron. But as you succeed, you progressively disappear until you are no more. You never really were: you only thought you were. For the longest time, before you get anywhere near your own annihilation, it feels like physical death approaching. This can be intensely painful and frightening.

So, how do you realise your own demise? Which is a different way of saying: How do you realise you don't exist at all and only awareness is real?

There are many ways to the mountain top, but the right way for you must be found. You can't pick the wrong way for you, which may be perfect for someone else, and expect to reach the mountain top, where you then realise you aren't and never were.

The Buddha described four kinds of people, who embark upon the Way leading to the end of suffering:

1. Those who experience a lot of pleasure (sukha) and understand quickly;
2. Those who experience a lot of pleasure but take a long time to understand;
3. Those who experience a lot of suffering (dukha) and understand quickly;
4. Those who experience a lot of suffering and take a long time to understand.

You probably already know in which category you fall. The category in which you fall - 1,2, or 3, 4 - determines the optimal way for you.

For those whose predominant life experience is pleasure, the mindfulness and concentration practices of the Buddha are eminently suitable. Because life is so pleasant it is easy to embrace everything equally (mindfulness). It is also relatively easy to relax, let go, and allow your attention to crystallise on a single point, leading into the extremely pleasant meditative absorptions (jhanas).

On the other hand, if your predominant life experience is suffering, the optimal way for you consists of rejecting everything equally. This way has been called “neti neti”: not this, not that. This has also been called self-awareness, or self-observation, or self-enquiry. This way, a way that I have personally walked since July 2019 when I stumbled upon it accidentally, and still follow since traces of “me” remain - consists of shifting your attention from what you see, to who is seeing: you. If you are in the much-suffering category, and you embark on this Way, you don't try to figure out who you are. Nor do you try to change who you think you are. Instead, you simply keep shifting your attention from what you think, feel and experience, to you (subject), without trying to change or control what you find. You keep doing this in order to directly observe the famous cravings the Buddha described as the sole cause of all suffering. What you are looking for is awareness of your every mental reaction. You become aware of this when you keep placing attention on you - subject, not an object you see - till you, the world and others vanish. This doesn't mean you lose awareness. Rather, you realize awareness is all there ever is. You, your thoughts, beliefs, body, mind, others and the material Universe are merely appearances of this awareness.

If you follow this way - the way of self-enquiry - you may have to go through many rounds of “enlightenment” where you completely understand, then kind of lose touch again, falling into your usual ways, trying to preserve “me". This can be quite disconcerting, disturbing and depressing. But what choice do you have? Having seen once, there is no way you would exchange awareness for anything in the world.

Along this way you will discover what “disidentfication” means. You come eventually to a point where you see the self very clearly. You realize you are the self. This revelation shows you how to stand aside, disidentifying completely from you. This provides a very powerful buffer against further suffering.

There are undoubtedly many other byways and highways in-between the two main approaches I have mentioned, but of these two I have direct experience. I can't write with any authority about other ways, of which I have little or no experience.

To complicate matters further, for many people devotion and faith are another Way. This too can provide complete release. This entails worship of a Deity. Some people worship Jesus and embark on that Way. Others may worship Krishna, the Holy Mother Kali, Shiva, or Krishna. There are many ways of devotion and faith to the one God, worshipping one of these or other individual emanations of God.

Faith and devotion aren't a problem as long as one understands that one's particular Way is but one of countless Ways. One’s faith should not make one narrow-minded, intolerant or judgmental, lest one become a danger to oneself, others and the world.

Of this way I also have some experience. For the first 15 years of my life I was taught about Jesus, in whom I had complete faith as a very young boy. All this changed one day when, as a discontented 15 year old, I stumbled across “You, forever” by T. Lobsang Rampa. His writings detailed semi-fictional accounts of Tibetan Buddhism. On that fateful day, the room went completely dark, or was completely lit up, depending on your point of view. For my parents, it meant completely dark, while for me it meant completely light. Reading “You, forever” I clearly recalled many out-of-body experiences I enjoyed till I was about 5 years old. It was this, and my remembrances as a very young child that I am eternal, having always simply existed, that made me drop my Chritian faith like a hot potato.

Christianity teaches that we are somehow created at or after conception, do not have prior incarnations in other bodies or life forms, and only have this one life, after which we will live forever in the light of Heaven (having chosen Jesus as the only Way) or in the darkness of Hell. Whereas, my remembrances from my early youth were very different to all these suppositions. And so I began travelling down an entirely different Way, a long, winding Way, that eventually brought me to where I now am.

Yes, of course! That is the wonder of this whole trip we call the spiritual journey.

Each of us thinks we are different from each other due to our past impressions and experiences shaping how we think and perceive each other, yet the pure soul itself is not these things.

But the wonder is, even when we rid ourselves of the past impressions that we identify with, we are still unique personalities!

In my life, I have lived through a succession of three spiritual Guides (Masters) in the same system of meditation. They all had clearly attained the highest Realization and yet each of them was very different in their personality.

So, we are all unique and diverse expressions of the infinite Self.

How marvelous!

b

Because everyone believes that it is something difficult to realize.

If two people agree, it’s cooperation.

If five people agree, it’s a belief.

If a thousand people agree, it’s a political party.

If ten thousand agree, you have a religion!

We have become a religion of believing, non-believers. This is the crux of the problem of the entire spiritual process. The heart says, YES! I CAN! Then the mind says, “Whoa, wait just a minute here, it can’t be that easy. I gotta suffer! I need my “dark night of the soul. I gotta quit my job and leave my family and go into seclusion and meditate 16 hours a day.”

It’s as though we want it to be hard. Special.

Or else, the ego wants to jump in on this and make us believe the biggest illusion of all: “I’m not worthy.” This is even worse. DOUBT, GUILT, FEAR, UNWORTHY.

What if awakening is actually not at all difficult?

Let me pose a question, “Does a baby have to realize that it loves it’s mother?” Of course not. That is how easy it is. The love and connection is already there.

All we need to do is take up a simple practice that allows us to withdraw our identification with our thoughts. We believe our thoughts are who we are. No. Our thoughts are who we think we are.

Alongside this simple practice of retraining our mind, we need just one, only one simple thing: Acceptance.

We must, absolutely must, accept ourselves for who we are. We then need to extend that to everyone else. When we combine these two things - meditation and acceptance, we rise up out of ourselves. No longer will we scrutinize our own thoughts and actions or those of others (I’m not talking about horrible deeds, those are not acceptable, I simply mean, day to day living).

The first feeling one has in an awakening experience is one of tremendous relief - like you never imagined possible. The entire myth that we call “me” is evaporated in an instant. So, fast that you can’t put up a fight. There comes a great deflation of self. You may weep. You may laugh uncontrollably. You may just be stunned to find out you are really - nobody.

Then a wonderful sense of contentment will embrace you. You are all and everything. What you thought you were before was just small and big stories that had to be supported, justified and defended. And NOW - you’re not.

This may come to you in a moment, but I believe that now it is more of a process of shedding the past and accepting all that is. We grow into this state over time. In other words, we no longer have to wait for a magical moment. Everyone can take up the practice and attain this.

To me, it’s all about living from the heart. Our heart doesn’t need to learn to love. It needs to remember that it IS love. Meditation is the tool, not the goal.

best to All,
b

What happens with consciousness after enlightenment?

The same thing that happens to space and time after enlightenment.

Consciousness is not a substance that we experience but we are consciousness.

Consciousness is an invisible metaphorical LIGHT that illuminates all of our perceptions namely seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling and thinking and this LIGHT is a HOLOGRAM that does not recognize any subject/object division in any of the perceptions but IT includes the entire field of perception.

By extension this LIGHT or HOLOGRAM includes the entire cosmos.

Cosmos is no more than a set of perceptions that happens in the presence of a very sophisticated perceiving mechanism in this LIGHT or HOLOGRAM.

Another way of looking at this is to see that CONSCIOUSNESS is the subjective aspect of the ONE ENERGETIC ESSENCE or SOURCE of the material cosmos and the cosmos is the objective aspect.

This division is purely notional.

In the absolute reality this ONE cannot be divided in any which way.

This mysterious ONE merely appears as many.

We are all ONE.

I feel that humans mistake enlightenment for something that is a human experience, a human achievement, a human growth stage, like wisdom or insight.

Humans conceptualize enlightenment as an aspect of humanity. They speak about enlightenment as transcending the self, ego, mind, body, yet in speaking about transcending the human reality they still see enlightenment as being human, only better, greater, cosmic human superhero.

From this perspective, from this point of view, it makes sense to assume that enlightenment is available to all humans. Any other aspect of being a human is, after all, available to all humans, at least theoretically, potentially. If some humans don’t get to be enlightenment then it must be because they are not good enough, not fortunate enough to be born with the natural advantages.

From the human perspective on the human enlightenment, all this makes sense. The problem is that enlightenment is not human. It is not a human state, it is not a human growth stage, it is not any part of being human at all.

Enlightenment as such has as much to do with humans as with any other form and being on this planet.

True, some enlightened ones happen to be human, but others are animals, trees, mountains, rivers. The material form, the organism, makes no difference to enlightenment, it in no way defines nor encompasses what the enlightened one is. Very much like whatever socks the human happens to wear do not define nor encompass him. It’s just socks.

Awareness expresses itself as a physical organism but is not limited to that organism’s capacity for being aware. Awareness embodied remains fully aware as itself, as it’s own nature. That is enlightenment.

Enlightenment is a state of awareness, it is an experience of awareness, it is a form in which awareness expresses itself.

The human does not attain, the human does not achieve, the human does not decide - awareness does.

Both gradual and spontaneous real world influences can lead to many awakenings of all kinds including enlightenment. Here is what I mean by that:

Signs of Gradual Awakenings

• Realizing you have a stronger connection with nature, the earth, or the universe
• Realizing you have a strong interest in health, diet, physical fitness, or taking care of yourself
• Realizing there is a deeper meaning waiting to be discovered
• Realizing your sleeping patterns are changing, with periods of intense energy
• Realizing you have a thirst for personal growth, esoteric knowledge, the new age movement, or other religions or societies
• Realizing that you have less interest in material things
• Realizing you are more interested in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom
• Realizing you have a desire to reconnect with your higher self
• Realizing that your belief system is evolving
• Realizing your mind, body, soul are ready to transform
• Realizing you could help make the world a better place
• Realizing there is more to life
• Realizing you no longer fear death
• Realizing that you are a spiritual being that is timeless and eternal, learning how to live a physical existence.
• Realizing that coincidences keep appearing in your life, synchronicity
• Realizing your calling, deepest desires and passions are surfacing
• Realizing you have a deeper feeling of bliss towards life
• Realizing you have received a Shamanic calling
• Realizing you have glimpses of the cosmic consciousness
• Realizing you relate to prana and Shakti (cosmic energy) more and more

Spiritual Enlightenment has its roots in several religions including, Hinduism (moksha and mukti), Buddhism (bodhi, kensho and satoru), Jainism (jnana) and Zoroastrianism (ushta).

Although yoga (India origins) appears to focus on controlling the body, it is an ancient spiritual discipline, a form of meditation, harnessing breathing techniques (pranayama) and the energy of the body (prana) to tame the mind and passions, with attentions to various states of consciousness and forms of trance states that can be achieved by focusing on a single object or thought, such as a word or candle flame, to achieve liberation (moksha and mukti) and perfection (poorna).

The Buddha strives to achieve serenity, compassion, generosity, wisdom, enlightenment, and spirituality to transcend the limitations of the body and break the cycle of karma and endless reincarnation. The Buddha taught meditation as a transformative practice to relax heart and wake to the moment, involving the body and mind as a single entity. Some methods involve reflection on life’s lessons, often in trance like states, to obtain the supreme and ultimate awareness and wisdom of the universe, surrendering to nirvana, bliss, and awakenings that already exist within you.

These traditions have duality and non-duality approaches too. Duality offers more experience for a persistent enlightenment, while Non-Duality can have fewer distractions. Perhaps the best compromise is waiting until after your spiritual awakening to consider Non-Duality to help with taming ego.

The more direct approach is with yogic traditions and meditation to activate your kundalini. Your awareness of greater aspects of reality and duality can happen gradually or spontaneously, often with many inspirations and awakenings to guide you, but you may need to handle new situations without freaking out too.

I’ve put together a BLOG to help with that. This is not necessarily the easiest path, but it can be very exciting. Enlightenment can be a challenge too, but the biggest challenge of all is doing it in a way that “persists”.

Enlightenment, the Whole Shebang Blog!

When we strip away all of the myth and misconceptions about enlightenment, we are left with what the word enlightenment really means and what can we do to experience it in our lives.

If we think of it as some amazing state of being that only a few great souls have ever experienced, then we probably are holding it so far away from us that we will never taste it.

If we can believe that a guy sitting in his office finishing up a day’s work could possibly know this experience, if we believe a woman sitting at her kitchen table looking out of her back window enjoying a beautiful, fall afternoon could live in enlightenment, then maybe we can put ourselves in their shoes.

To shift your identity from one of a body with a mind to one of the feeling of being that we all are and share isn’t such a huge leap, but for some it takes years of study and practice. For some it is so natural that they realize there is nothing to do, but just to be what they already are, leaving the trappings of the person behind.

What must you do to know what you already are?

Don’t create a person wanting enlightenment: it doesn’t work like that!

You can choose, right now, to let go of your old beliefs of who you think you are and what you want to become, and accept that what you are right now, without all of the beliefs, is enough. You can accept that what you feel, within, is truly the totality of you, and accept that the world you are aware of is happening on you, in you, as you, as it should, right now.

Now I’m going to leave my office, go home and join my pretty lady sitting at the kitchen table enjoying the last glint of today’s setting sun!

Its the opposite. But it depends on your human definition of consciousness which does not apply here. The mind is conscious. It is human duality you are trying to figure out. The mind versus the “I am”. It really is setting the mind aside and touching the true timeless, unchangeable immutable perfect you that exists in everyone, everything.

Setting the mind aside be it a moment of peace, meditation, emptiness, the peace of waking up in the AM, it will come to you. It has been trying for countless lives. You only need to allow it. Often meditation is confused with trying to meditate. Enlightenment is allowing what is an unstoppable process. True meditation is “allowing” in any form that gets you to feel, switch off.

Your senses give you input and you store that on your computer hard drive, the mind. Since you were born, back when you were a blissful untainted baby you have been doing this. Now you have a hard drive filled with, in some cases, horrific video games. Talking about a fully developed consciousness is like asking to fill the hard drive to capacity. To truly become aware you need to unplug the computer you thought was the totality of your existence. Then you become aware that you are so much more than a flesh computer. It is beyond the computers capacity to understand itself. This is you. Unplug and see for the first time what you truly are. And what you truly are is beyond your wildest imagination.

Enlightenment is all there is. There are no levels. Only the ALL is enlightenment. However, there are different levels of minds/consciousnesses that each one of us must pass through to realise our unity with the One. So a more useful question to ask would be what is the highest state of consciousness.

In this respect, the highest state would be that of Conscious Unity.

In this level of consciousness, a person has gone beyond the concept of enlightenment and fully realised their divinity. They now know they and God are one. They have fully purified their ego and transformed it into a vessel for eternity. In other words, they have transcended time and their human mind/ego is now in service to the divine for the benefit of the whole.

In this level of consciousness, your will is God’s will for you.

It is the ultimate/original state. It was there at the beginning before you became manifest in human form. It is your original home. But in the beginning, you had no awareness of it. You were living in unconscious unity.

In the end, you have returned home, but now you are conscious of your unity.

The meaning of the term enlightenment can vary widely depending on the specific spiritual tradition in question. Conventionally, enlightenment is seen as a future state to be achieved by a person through spiritual practices. In this conventional model, people, after achieving enlightenment, may continue to live their lives, fulfilling their worldly responsibilities devoid of material desires and attachments, acting instead out of compassion and love. They may be engaged in sharing their wisdom and experiences, helping others on the path of enlightenment, contributing positively to the grand scheme of things, etc. In other words, their spiritual journey may continue, exploring the boundless realms of reality.

On the other hand, Advaita (nonduality), also known as the path of knowledge, challenges the conventional understanding of enlightenment as a future state to be achieved through spiritual practices. Instead, it invites each of us to recognize our inherent enlightenment right here and now. It claims that each of us already is and will always be the one and only pure being (or awareness) there is—eternal (timeless), infinite (dimensionless), indivisibly whole, innately peaceful, and absolutely fulfilled. This pure being (or awareness) has no quality, form, beginning, end, or dimension. It does not act, vibrate, or will. It is self-luminous. It is aware of itself by being itself. Other names for it include pure consciousness, atman, brahman, sat-chit-ananda, god, true spirit, true self, true soul, pure peace, pure joy, pure bliss, etc.

What this implies is that each of us is already enlightened and will always be so. Therefore, the questions about degrees (or stages) of enlightenment or before (or after) enlightenment become irrelevant because there is no real, finite, separate, independent person who “becomes” enlightened. Recognition of this inherent enlightenment is not about attaining a new state, becoming transformed into a supreme being, transcending the mind-body mechanism, experiencing a grand revelation, having a mystical experience (or Samadhi, or divine vision), etc. It is like self-recognition: you, as the one and only pure being (or awareness), recognize yourself by being yourself. Unlike events in time and space, this self-recognition cannot be measured, quantified, or studied objectively because there is no subject-object duality. It is not caused by one’s spiritual practices. It is neither the intellectual outcome of a process nor a transcendental experience nor a grand revelation. It’s also important to note that this recognition is not a dramatic or exotic experience in the mind-body mechanism. Any aftereffects experienced (e.g., peacefulness, joyfulness, blissfulness, etc.) are simply the mind-body mechanism becoming more aligned with its true nature or source.

According to Advaita (nonduality), the one and only pure being (or awareness) has an inherent power (or apparent activity) that projects the universe. The universe seems to emerge from the one and only pure being (or awareness), borrow apparent existence from it, be known by it, play in it for a while, and disappear into it. In other words, the one and only pure being (or awareness) manifests itself as different minds, and through them, it experiences itself (manifested as other objects in the universe). Minds (e.g., intermittent and fleeting thoughts, perceptions, feelings, memories, etc.), bodies, and other known and unknown things (including time and space) are apparent expressions of this pure being (or awareness) itself, which is one with, yet free of, them.

To illustrate this concept, imagine an aware screen watching a movie projected upon it. In this analogy, the aware screen represents the one and only pure being (or awareness), while the movie symbolizes the universe projected by its own inherent power (or apparent activity).

Because of past conditioning, the mind may not know its true nature (or source) and may believe and behave as if it is a real, finite, separate, independent person. As a result, the mind always feels lacking, incomplete, discontented, insecure, fearful, agitated, anxious, stressful, etc. In other words, the mind is always suffering due to its ignorance about its true nature; it is always looking for ways to be complete, fulfilled, peaceful, joyful, etc. According to Advaita (nonduality), this apparent lack of knowledge (or ignorance) can be neutralized (or dispelled) by spiritual practices such as self-inquiry, contemplation, abidance, etc. As the apparent ignorance in the mind about its true nature disappears (which can happen gradually or spontaneously), the one and only pure being (or awareness) stands revealed, making it possible to recognize (or have glimpses of) it as oneself. Then, one can practice, without any sense of doership, resting in or as (or surrendering to) the one and only pure being (or awareness) there is and naturally manifesting one’s inherent peace and fulfillment (or joy or love) through thoughts, feelings, and actions amid normal daily life.

To attain something means to acquire what you don’t already have. This works fine within the world of forms, the world of duality. With enlightenment that term doesn’t fit what actually happens. Enlightenment is the direct realization of what you truly are, consciousness, and the dropping away of false identification created by thinking. Consciousness is already present. Enlightenment is simply being what you are without the distorting nature of what blocks realization, mind. In the absence of concepts what remains is the direct and immediate realization of what has always been present -> pure consciousness.

Anyone who tries to ‘achieve’ enlightenment will be on a fool’s journey. I compare it to standing on a board and trying to lift yourself off the ground…it cannot be done. The false identity must be seen for what it is, just a concept in the mind and then noticing what remains in the absence of thought/mind.

“Enlightenment is just one more thing to seek in a future that never comes.” - Byron Katie

“Enlightenment” can ruin a beautiful morning if it makes you think drinking coffee and listening to the sparrows isn't enough.

Enlightenment is a useful concept only if it helps you realize that all your reasons to think now isn't enough are made up.

To be enlightened means to awaken from the litany of problems you are listing.

What do you want to be?

Free. Peaceful. Innocent as a child.

Innocence is the first position.

The mind is like a dancer. There are infinite dance moves, but the dancer is never more than one step away from first position.

In truth, you are never more than one step away from enlightenment.

Enlightenment is ever-present, but it's obscured by your litany. Your litany drowns it out like a brass band.

Enlightenment isn’t in the future of your story, or at the bottom of your check-list.

To the extent that it can be spoken of, enlightenment is only here and now.

Blessings,

… my heavens no … think of a kindergartner … proud and happy … after all, they have achieved success … they are graduating from kindergarten and will soon take on the next phase of their journey.

… most verily I tell you … what is called kundalini awakening is none other than a spiritual graduation from kindergarten … there is so much more …

… as to absolute attainment, how … how … can we who still abide incarnate in the lowest material form of vibration dare even assume to ponder such infinity … for it is beyond out conception.

… I say this, having literally died … body silent … no pulse … no blood flow … no brain waves … cold … passive … lifeless for more than a half hour … the worlds I visited in that minute slice of eternity are so far beyond what I experienced during what is called kundalini awakening … unparalleled … unphantomable … indescribable, yet all … our inheritance … we need only stay the path … seeking only to dissolve ourself into Source … wanting only to become one with that which we sought … God ... infinity … Love …

Namaste’

MLji

Seen a package from Amazon

Imagine you have been packed and shipped in it to a nice little place. After reaching the destination, you don't open the box, but stay inside it.

Whenever you open the package a message will go out to the maker of this product that you have opened the package.

• The package is your body and mind.
• You have been packed and sent in it.
• The packing is for your safety not for permanent keeps.
• You are supposed to remove the package and be free.

Since you were in the package for a long time during transit, your forgot that you were packed in it.

You started believing that you are the package.

You continued to suffer in the crampy place, somedays happy, somedays sad, but you adjusted in the suffering.

You always had that desire to be free somehow, not knowing that its just the box.

One day either because you started to question your existence in the box or with the strength of your energy and or because your emotions overwhelmed you or just because you realised that there were many others suffering like you, you somehow opened the package.

Once you opened the package, after so many years, and come out, you would naturally be happy. Infact, super happy isn't it?

Same moment your manufacturer knows you have been delivered.

This is when your neighbours may refer to you as enlightened.

For you the only thing that happened is that you opened the box. You were always who you were while inside the box. Now also you will be who you are, but without the suffering associated with staying inside the limitations of the package.

You are the consiousness. Peeling off and opening the package is enlightenment.

Ajit Kurup

Footnotes

Each chakra resignates to certain frequencies. Frequencies have particular sounds, colors, geometric shapes, and states of consciousness. More evolved individuals will produce more frequencies coming from the heart and above. There are some walking on Earth all the time who have activated chakras beyond the 8th chakra or first chakra of the Transpersonal or Universal Chakras. Such are known as incarnated Ascended Masters.

Many spiritual paths and religions tell us what to look for in their character and nature. They are more present and observant; show kindness, compassion, have an understanding of the human condition without harsh judgement of the person; when its quiet and still you can feel the peace; even if they seem to be upset there is still this underlying love felt. They are often playful. Sometimes they sing, dance, and the joy from their Light draws others up closer to Divine Love.

The most important thing I’ve found is how much one grows if you hang out with them.

It means something specific when I use the term. Enlightenment, spiritual awakening, Self-Realization, and several other terms are all equal and point to the same happening. They all point to a radical and permanent change of our identification. Basically, we see through the mirage called “ego” and are never fooled by the mirage again.

The ego is this person in the world who has a life, will die, has problems, has accomplishments, has suffering, and has momentary happiness. The world is separate and potentially hostile – at minimum parts of it are unfriendly – towards this personal sense of self…the ego. Many see the ego as the thinker and doer in this world.

The ego is a mirage. It is an appearance only combined with a mentally created fiction. It starts with the name we are given at birth. This becomes the container for everything else. You learn that there are boys and girls and there are differences physically and in expectations of how we each act. We learn we are good boys and girls or bad boys and girls. We learn who are family…and everyone else is not as important. We learn where we come from…our nationality. We learn patriotism and that all the rest of the countries of the world are not as important. We learn pecking orders regard all sorts of criteria and in various tribes. All of our experiences…our wins and our loses…go into this container for “who we are.” By adulthood, our identification with the content of our life is so strong that sometimes when we are asked “who are you” – some of us give the title of our day job.

The content of our lives did happen. You might even have the pictures or the t-shirt, but identifying with it is being fooled by the mirage. If we take the mirage as reality (as it appears to be), then all sorts of fear and suffering result. If you are in the desert and see a mirage, but do not know it is a mirage…then you will crave the water you think you see. You will be disappointed and suffer when you never seem to get there or find there never was any water. As long as mirages fool us, we suffer every time we encounter one.

The ego is a constant and recurring mirage and we are fooled by it. So we suffer in life. We fear death of this “me.” We worry about what has happened or might happen to this “me.” We are never really content – always looking to improve the world, others, or ourselves. We feel incomplete or something is wrong with us. We feel that until it improves, we can not be happy. We continually feel we need something.

So enlightenment, to me, is seeing through the mirage and recognizing it for what it is forevermore. To realize what the ego is. To realize what you are really. To understand both deeply. Not just mentally, but in your heart, in your guts, and in your bones. It is almost more of a kinesthetic realization and understanding than a mental one.

In Zen there is a saying, “once the bottom of the bucket falls out, all the water goes with it.” It should not have to be said that the bucket also never holds water again. So this happening called enlightenment has permanent effects in life. If some experience comes and then goes and you still suffer, fear, worry, have attachments, still are in need, etc., that might have been a glimpse or other spiritual experience, but it was not enlightenment (as I use the term).

If you deeply understood mirages and realized how and when they occur, you would not be fooled by a mirage when you encounter one. You would just say, look at that mirage. There would be no longing. You would not crave the water that appears to be ahead of you, nor would you suffer when no water was found there. In this way, seeing through the mirage of ego results in never being fooled by the mirage of ego again. Then too what comes with being fooled by the mirage of ego also vanishes. Worry ceases. Feeling something is needed and the seeking that goes with it ceases. Fear of death ceases. Attachment ceases. Suffering ceases.

It is not that the ego dissolves. We do not kill the ego. We simply see through it and it no longer causes us grief or confusion. The ego has value in just living in the world. Without an ego, you would not answer to any name called to you. So the ego has a function, but to identify with it and be fooled by it causes much suffering.