What ISN'T Enlightenment?

 

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enlightenment is a loaded word. People who are not living in the reality of it interpret it very differently to each other. It refers to an awakening of consciousness or the expansion of your awareness of your true self. Everything is consciousness (often referred to as universal consciousness, source consciousness or God). Everything within creation is a different aspect of consciousness – a dog, a table, a human etc…

 

The process of enlightenment is source consciousness waking up to the reality of itself within the body-mind perception. So for me, God woke up inside the Claudine illusion so that I could be aware and live in both aspects of myself (this doesn't mean I've finished).

​

The process of enlightenment is a shedding of false beliefs, a loosening of the ego’s control/attachment, and the end of unnecessary mental and emotional suffering. It is a light body activation and an ongoing process. It is often also referred to as Nirvana, Liberation, Awakening, Full Self Realization, Moksha etc. This process also develops our intuitive abilities.

​

The word enlightenment often conjures up the idea that there is a goal or an ending to a spiritual journey. In my experience, enlightenment is ongoing and full self realisation is just another beginning. Rather than seeing it as an attainment (because nothing is actually acquired during the process, only lost and realised) see it as an unloading of unnecessary baggage, leaving you lighter. Underneath this baggage you are already enlightened, you just need to realise it. By ‘realise’ I do not mean realise it through research, I mean become fully aware of it through direct, permanent experience and the permanent integration of our spiritual and human self.

​

What ISN’T enlightenment? You cannot learn enlightenment. Reading a thousand books on enlightenment and understanding their concepts brings you no closer to enlightenment than a person who has never heard of it. Enlightenment cannot be understood with the mind, it has nothing to do with intellect and often describing it is futile. Regardless of how well a person describes it, if you have no experience of it, then you are simply using your mind to understand and interpret someone else’s interpretation. You will never fully understand until it happens to you, and it can happen for you, it is not reserved for special people.

​

Enlightenment is not becoming psychic. You can be psychic and still not attain "Moksha" or liberation when you die. Psychic downloads can give you glimpses of the nature of our reality and the nature of our being, but for the most part they are temporary experiences. Experiencing them, remembering them and understanding them do not mean you are enlightened. They can shift your perception for the better but unless the permanent activation of your spiritual nature/light body is achieved and you are living as a loving person not just acting as one, then the psychic information you receive may be misused or misinterpreted by your ego. True spiritual gifts will eventually develop.

​

When the universe is full of infinite possibilities and infinite potential for evolution, how can anyone on this planet ever fully be enlightened or done? To believe this would be ignorant.

​

Enlightenment is not about having a loving personality. Yes, you should "love thy neighbour", we should be kind to our fellow man, we should be of service to others but this does not mean you are more enlightened than another person, you are just setting out on the right path. When the actual shift occurs, it has nothing to do with emotion. There is no act of loving, you become unconditional love. That does not mean when it happens you walk around smiling all the time and actively loving people you don’t know. You can be a perfectly normal average person, smiling a normal amount, keeping your distance from people who drain your energy, but you do not judge, you are compassionate, because you realise everything as one. You live in and are unconditional love, not the human emotion of love (this is an example of where words are futile).

​

Continuing along that theme… You do not lose your personality. If you were a person who had a sense of humour, and liked wearing jeans and a hoodie, and enjoyed snowboarding, there’s no reason you will stop. Likewise, just because someone has a loving, peaceful, “spiritual” personality, dresses in linen cloth, speaks intelligently and comes out with inspirational quotes, does not mean they are more enlightened than you. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. You don't need to be a monk, bearded or living on a mountain to be "enlightened."

​​

How do you begin the process of enlightenment? I have five important suggestions (bare with me, as a couple may make you say, ‘ughhhh’ but the third will make up for it). Some of you will not like the first answer but it’s very simple: Learn to meditate. You are not going to find the answer outside of yourself. Begin to understand from direct experience (mindfulness meditation and self enquiry) that you are not your mind or your thoughts, but the awareness observing them. This can be referred to as the "male energy" path as it is very passive.

​

Secondly, Bhakti (devotional practice). Devotion to God helps you to open the heart centre and meet consciousness (God) half way. This can be seen as the "female energy" path as it is more active. Both Bhakti (female) and self enquiry (male) together create the perfect recipe for awakening to the traps of your own ego.

​

Thirdly, (and this answer is going to be less popular but is an extension of the first suggestion) take time to do some inner work such as working through trauma and self reflection. This will help to start off the process of recognising the programming and learned behaviours you have acquired that are not part of your true self, and letting them go. From my experience, I got to a stage in my spiritual practice where I had done all this brunt work and eventually surrendered and was able to allow God/Consciousness to meet me half way and do some more for me.

​

The fourth way is energy transmission from another person or intake of the Christ energy through sun gazing as well as solar techniques. Energy can be transferred from an awakened person via touch, sight or intent. Be careful who you choose to receive this from as there are a lot of people out there using different modalities that don't practice what they preach. This process can take weeks, months or years depending on how often you receive it, who you're receiving it from/what it is you are receiving and depending on where you are in your own personal journey. This is also why it is important to do the work (the other suggestions), as then you are speeding the process along, allowing it to be smoother by meeting the energy half way. Without recognising our own triggers and issues, it would be much harder to overcome them.

​

Lastly, sun gazing and solar techniques are designed for the activation of your light body. Please do not go out and look at the sun without any guidance from a genuine authority on this subject. It is more complicated than just watching the sunset and sunrise and issues can arise from attempting these techniques without any mentoring. Sungazing and the associated techniques develop your ability to commune with God/Consciousness and develop the light body.

I personally connect to the Christ energy using these techniques in order to reflect them back to the world (and my Zoom Group on Wednesdays).