WELLNESS

“What is Enlightenment?”

This is like a ‘teaser’! I remember Deepak Chopra being asked if he had attained enlightenment, and his response was “I’m constantly getting there”. If I say that I have become enlightened then, clearly, I have not because being enlightened requires no announcement. Rather like the phrase, “Thank God I’m self-sufficient!” or, I cannot say ‘I am silent’ because, the moment I speak these words, I have broken the ‘silence’ I am claiming!

I feel it is important to first recognise/accept that all our expressions of our experiences are severely limited by the inadequacy of the language that is available to us. We simply cannot express any clearer/better than that which is permitted to us by the confines of language and/or vocabulary. As you all already know, humankind has advanced by giant leaps in its technology, in its material comforts, and in its physical achievements. But spiritually, we are still in the ‘dark ages’. We still ‘worship’ Gods, different Gods depending on the religion that is our birth conditioning, we still pay heed to ‘superstitions’, we still live in ‘fear’ of retribution from a ‘wrathful’ God etc.

Similarly, language has also remained in its infancy. Today, when so much of humanity is becoming more and more aware of the spiritual path, we do not yet have the language to describe our ‘indescribable’ experiences! All the available words seem/sound inadequate and, “until the old words die on the tongue, new melodies cannot spring from the heart” – (Deepak Chopra).

Keeping the above in mind, let’s try and find some acceptable expression of enlightenment. I believe that the dictionary says it means something like ‘to illuminate’, to ‘shed light on’, ‘to see clearly’, and ‘to remove darkness’. This would suggest, then, that ‘enlightenment’ couldn’t be a destination. Why? Because no matter how powerful the beam of light I shine to illuminate the darkness around me, there is always an area that is still in the dark; an area that does not fall within the spread of the light! As I continue to walk down the unlit road with my flashlight in my hand, newer parts of the road come into the beam of the light while still others remain in the darkness. But this does not matter right now because MY CURRENT / IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE / goal is to simply light the path to, let’s say, my house!

In the same way, ‘enlightenment’ can never be complete for me. Whilst I continue to have my ‘Ah Ha’ moments, while I continue to become more, and ever more aware of the perfection of my ‘higher Self’, there will still be some parts that will remain out of my focus. But this does not matter right now because MY CURRENT / IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE / GOAL is simply to align myself with ‘SELFLESSNESS’ or ‘INTEGRITY’, or ‘COMPASSION’, or ‘FORGIVENESS’, or ‘ACCEPTANCE’ etc depending on which aspect of my Self is captivating my attention at the moment. And so, ‘enlightenment’ is a continuum, on and on and, when the circle is complete, I will find myself at the source of my Self and ‘know the place for the first time’.

I would say, therefore, that enlightenment is an experiential journey. In fact, it is the journey, it is the myriad (re)discoveries, and it is the process, all in one. When I started on the ‘journey’ this time around, I had temporary but expanding ‘destinations’ and, as I continue to experience each one, it, in turn, becomes the light to the next one, and then the next one and so on until, once again, I reach that place, the source of my Self, and ‘know it for the first time’. So, it is an experiential ‘journey’ which gives me a ‘sense’ of experiencing a ‘destination’ that I ‘arrive’ at through the process of experiencing.

One more thought I had during my meditation this morning is that, when all darkness disappears and only the light is left then we will no longer be ‘spiritual beings having a human experience’. We will be Spirit Consciousness again, in that place where ‘contrast’ and ‘duality’ are no longer required to make ‘sense’ of our experiences. Then, all that there is will be LOVE, and only LOVE, and we, too, will be LOVE. Then we will be truly ‘enlightened’ and not even know what that means because there will be nothing to reference this against!

I hope you find the above useful. At least it should give you something that you can put your teeth into and come up with some more insights. I wish you joy on the journey.