Enlightenment

“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him”

-Buddha

Many people from many paths and times have sought the elusive and highly personal state referred to as Enlightenment. Few have noticeably attained such a state in its fullness and many who have, have gone completely unnoticed. There are a few people who have emerged in the world, in my life time, which I believe have attained Enlightenment in its fullness. These people either alive or since passed on might not agree with my surmising but if they have not attained Enlightenment then they have definitely come close.

These people who I believe have attained or come close to full enlightenment are  Mother Teresa, His Holiness the Dalai Llama, and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, amongst others whom at the moment I cannot think of at this point in time. There are of course others from before my lifetime including of course the Buddha, Ghandi, and so many more who have left for us a legacy of teachings as well as an excellent example of the actions taken by those who have attained or come close to attaining Enlightenment.

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”

-Douglas Adams

If we are willing to work past this apparent disinclination as Adams has put it and look at the lives and teachings of those who have gone before us from a variety of faiths and times we may find some subtle guidance to help us along our personal paths. If we truly wish to seek Enlightenment we should be willing to do so with open hearts and open minds. It is especially important to realize that Enlightenment is an internal process and it is attained within the heart and the mind of the one who attains it. Enlightenment will not change your outward appearance, although it may be noticed in your demeanor, nor will it instantly give you all the answers. Many of the answers you seek may come in time but it is not an instantaneous change and comes in stages.

Throughout our lives we may attain moments of Enlightenment and clear view which will help us see through the illusory existence in which we all dwell. Enlightenment will not make you into a super human and will not change your outward appearance, or even change your personal and geographical circumstances. The changes it will bring are purely internal and extremely personal and though you will most likely wish to share the immense happiness and fulfillment it brings you, you will come to realize that no matter how small a piece of Enlightenment you have received you cannot hand enlightenment to someone else and can only guide them to help them to move forward on their own personal paths through example and sharing your own experiences.

This is very well illustrated in the following Zen Proverb:

“Before enlightenment; Chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; Chop wood, carry water.”

-Zen Proverb

No matter how you come to Enlightenment such as meditation, prayer, compassionate acts, or many of the various other paths that will lead you to an Enlightened state of being. There is no one way to attain this state and the same path or paths may not work for everyone. It is up to you to decide based on your own religious and spiritual views as well as your own current state of awareness in life to choose what you think will help you along this path. I personally find meditation and prayer to be very helpful as well as giving back to my fellow man and the natural world where possible. What we must understand as seekers of Enlightenment is that it can come to us but it does not come from outside ourselves it comes from within.

“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.”

-Lao Tzu

Learning to look within ourselves is the first skill that we should begin to focus on if we are truly seeking Enlightenment in our lives. Each day as we live our lives with the intent in our minds and hearts to live in a way that helps us along our path to spiritual awakening and fulfillment.  This is done in many ways by various groups and people from psychoanalysis to meditation and introspection. How you do it is up to you, I personally recommend just taking time to yourself and perhaps practicing one form of meditation or another. I’ve personally found these practices helpful and continue to seek others that might help myself and others along our paths.

Although Enlightenment exists and a mainly internal achievement we as human beings do not live in bubbles and the influence of others can either help or hinder us on our paths. We must learn to filter the interactions and goings on to realize which are helpful to us and which are harmful and toxic. We must also look at practices that have been used over the centuries by those who have attained full or partial Enlightenment and have been sent by the universe or the divine to teach us these lessons.

We all have the ability within ourselves to attain this great wisdom and spiritual fulfillment if we are open to it and are willing to truly awaken ourselves to the experience. If we so wish we can follow and emulate the paths that others have walked such as Buddha, Christ, Ghandi, or Mother Teresa to name a few and build upon them to make them personal to ourselves, or we can just seek the answers within as they did. We can learn from looking within as well as observing others and the natural world around us and connecting to them we can slowly grow closer to what we seek.

The best advice I can give for someone just starting out on a path to seek Enlightenment is to just stay true to yourself and the religious or spiritual path you are on. Also please do what feels right and live for the present, the past is behind you and the future does not yet exist, nor will it ever for when the future comes to pass it is merely a new present.

This is where I will leave it for now. Whole books can be and have been written on this subject and I am sure other posts will come as time passes by myself or in other places. Good luck to any and all of you who choose to truly seek Enlightenment in this lifetime. I truly hope you find it.