Enlightenment is not like a sudden realization of something mysterious. Enlightenment is nothing but awakening from illusions and returning to the reality of life.
Yesterday at 3:44am via Kindle ·
- Ram That concept is a complete disappointment... Reminds me (not sure why) of this: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html
When I left Christianity, and even before, I dreamed of enlightenment--a life in which I knew I was one with the Universe and could see the strings tying us all together. It would come suddenly, like it did to Neo at the end of The Matrix, and afterward life would still have its trials, but I would be master of them.
I searched my own scriptures--literature and commentaries on Eastern religions--for evidence of this. I became a huge fan of Aldous Huxley and his concept of a perennial philosophy, and of Alan Watts in general. I'm still a fan of these.
I love the concept of there being some universal truth that we keep knocking at the door of, that keeps rising up throughout history despite man's attempts to hide it and so to control his fellow men.
I also love the concept of wu wei, the idea of doing-without-doing, or non-doing, that Watts describes so eloquently in his book, Tao: The Watercourse Way.
Both these men are proponents of being present, of being in the here and now, of knowing who you are and where you are and living right now, not in the borrowed troubles of yesterday and tomorrow. They're both also proponents of the concept that the truth, the best, the most perfect is within you rather than without.
I read these sorts of books for years, picking up more from some than from others, and I still delve into them occasionally and love the concepts that become more clear to me because of them.
So how did I move from this being my primary philosophical material to listening to a middle-aged woman from the Midwest speaking from her own "higher self"?
Abraham speaks more simply, which I need sometimes. Sometimes--most of the time, actually--I like deep thoughts, and philosophical concepts, and to make connections between disparate ideas and speakers, reinforcing my ideas of what a few universal truths might be. Sometimes, though, I want a pick-me-up, a plain-talking how-to manual complete with written exercises on how to be happier, how to be me.
Joseph Campbell advised, "Follow your bliss." How is that different from Esther/Abraham's advice that the most important thing is to feel good? I used to wonder if "feeling good" the way they spell it out was shallow or hedonistic; truly feeling good, though, is neither.
It's fulfilling.
It's interesting.
It's joyous.
It's fun.
It's why we came here.
I don't know what Ram's thinking. (Yeah, I know it's a weird name. His full name is Ramage. Not Ramage-pronounced rah-majh, Indian-style, but Ramage like the power inflicted when ramming something. Deal.) I know that if I had posted something like that seven years ago, soon after leaving Christianity, if FaceBook had existed at the time, I would have been hoping that enlightenment, like salvation, would come suddenly, like the second coming, like Enlightenment to Neo, and that it would be visited upon me when I least expected it, like Christ coming "like a thief in the night," after paying appropriate penance--no, not penance, but the penance-like activity of meditation--and . . . well, it was all tangled up like that. Basically, it would come suddenly, and as a blessing, from outside, even though I knew in my head it was supposed to come from within. The idea of chopping wood or carrying water afterward seemed both noble and mundane.
Abraham's idea of being in the Vortex is my new picture of Enlightenment. Maybe Enlightenment is the state of being in the Vortex more often than not.
When I was a nurse in New Orleans my friend Lucy told me, when I complained that I wasn't enlightened yet, that she thought I was already enlightened. I tried to give the credit to Jesus, that I was conscious of how I thought and felt and acted because of him. I'm just as conscious now, and a little more honest. When I feel my own "dark night of the soul," I take it upon myself to get myself in a better place, rather than waiting for special dispensation from god.
I'm not saying that I'm better than Mother Teresa, by any means, in that regard. Realizing, though, that god isn't just in me but is me, though, gives me a lot more responsibility for how I'm feeling about god, and how god's feeling about me, for that matter. I've found that realization pretty life- and perspective-changing, and it gets a little more so the more I practice that sort of self-empowerment.
Life isn't about putting in years of suffering to come to a reward later--suffering through meditation to come to enlightenment, or suffering through persecution to make it to god's Heaven.
My dad used to say that his black-eyed peas tasted better because he's a Christian than they would if he weren't. Perhaps his faith led him to appreciate black-eyed peas better than I ever could. I don't know.
I do know, though, that the things that I appreciate are better when I'm actively appreciating them. (Please don't ever ask me to appreciate black-eyed peas. Yuck.)
I appreciate my life. I appreciate my girlfriend (she's fucking amazing; have I mentioned that lately?). I appreciate the tips I get at work. And with every moment of appreciation, those great things become even greater. The tips getting better are even quantifiable.
With every new realization, clarification, or samadhi-moment, comes the knowledge that there's that much more that I don't know. And what's really beautiful is that it's beautiful.
There are times that I want to know everything all at once.
There are more times that I really love the act of discovery, which wouldn't be possible if I knew everything at once.
And I think that's all I have to say today. Life is good.
Well said, Faithy. Even without the couple of glasses of merlot, I can appreciate where you've been, and I think where you are coming from right now. --- Ram.
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