Enlightenment

It’s funny how a having a blog online where I talk myself through my own spirituality can inspire people to write to me an provoke great intellectual email chats. I have had some really great email exchanges with interesting people from all over the world about religion, tarot, or spirituality in general. I am always thankful that my blog attracts the type of people who want to take the time to write me for those things.

Last week I got an email from someone who wanted to talk about what it means to become “enlightened”. Or perhaps better stated, what is the difference between being “enlightened” and not being enlightened. It turned into a week long continuing email chat and was so interesting. Last night I dreamt that I needed to write about it. Some here I go.

Becoming enlightened is like having a moment where a sudden rush of answers hit and usually it happens without provoking it at all. Some truths we discover are universal, but many more are personal. For me, it didn’t occur during ritual or meditation, it has happened while driving my car, or in the shower, or while doing dishes. I wasn’t doing something “religious”. I wasn’t reading my tarot cards or opening chakras. I wasn’t even technically questioning anything at the moments they have hit the hardest.

A moment of enlightenment is profound. It’s not usually a situation where you ponder things and suddenly the answer appears. It happens because you have grown spiritually over time, and you finally become ready for the answers…. in order to grow more. Almost like a growth spurt if you will. You can’t plan for it. You can’t force it to happen by using tools to obtain it. Sure, they do happen too, but in my personal experience that happens much less often. The first time it happened to me I was 24 years old and it even scared me because I did not understand at that stage what it meant, or why it happened. Since then I have had more moments of enlightenment then I can count. Some are major, and big… some not so big, but nonetheless the answer appears. Some can be almost psychic moments too.

I have had situations where I “knew” something, I could feel it…. but not prove it and that would make me doubt myself. And like magic a week later the answer or proof would come to me without me seeking it out. I’m speaking in general and being vague because that happens so often to me, that it’s now impossible to name an experience. For a long time I considered that “luck” or “intuition”. But another moment of enlightenment has showed me that it wasn’t. For me, it’s part of the growth process and evidence to support my path. Spiritual growth usually means you don’t have to invoke or cause “change” to happen. I so dislike when things are said such as “you have to make a change” or that “change is necessary”. It’s just not a fact at all. (Think about nature. Plants, trees, and flowers all grow…. But you don’t keep moving them all over your yard and have them thrive. They grow best with deep roots) If you are enlightened and on the right path – you don’t have to make abrupt choices or changes. You don’t even get yourself into situations that would cause you to “make a change”. Life is a constant transition, but transitioning is like climbing a latter… one step at a time. Transitioning is working toward something, and having a purpose. Seeking or needing change in your life really indicates that you are not making choices or decisions for your own greater good.

You will see many transitions happen to your mind/thinking when you grow and become more enlightened. You become sharper, quicker, and you see through things that other people hide behind or even lie about to you. When you aren’t enlightened the mind plays tricks on you with games like paranoia, suspicion, hurt feelings, foggy thinking, making assumptions, and emotional outbursts. When you aren’t enlightened you commit things such as little white lies, or you don’t speak the truth upfront to others to avoid confrontation etc. When you are enlightened those things don’t seem necessary. Confrontation often really means “challenge” and being enlightened means you want to face those things head on. Or at the very least you are not afraid of them.

Being enlightened means you understand your physical body too. Your body may not be perfect by any means, but you accept it as it is. More importantly, you understand it. You know when you are ill, you know how to treat and handle that. You accept what you must, you also fight for what you must, and you do it without doubt or hesitation.

Being enlightened doesn’t make you special, but it does make you very different often then your friends or family. Those situations will definitely bring you conflicts too. The answers on how to handle that will come to you when you are enlightened. Each and every situation or person is different, and they will bring their personal issues to the table for you too. There is no standard rule on how to handle it.

There is also a tendency for people who are newly enlightened to become more critical of other people, or preachy, or even believing they can teach others. It’s a bit like being too excited and anxious. It can seem like you are doing the right thing, but it most likely isn’t unless you obtain educational skills. You can’t teach people HOW to become enlightened because you were. There is not a step by step plan, and handing someone all the answers never works out either. Each of us have a different method and path.

I cannot stress enough that you don’t have to be religious to be enlightened. Or you can follow any religion of choice. I am watching and communicating about enlightenment with a friend of mine who is not spiritual at all. I have known this woman for 25 years now and in the last 4 she has grown by leaps and bounds. Her path is 100% different then mine. I would never tell her what she needs, only she knows that… but it is extremely interesting watching her evolve for the better.