Tag: enlightenment

Anxious for enlightenment?

Q: What advice would you give to those who are impatient with their daily, everyday lives and are eager for enlightenment?

A: I would tell them that this is quite normal from the perspective of the ego. The ego is always impatient, because the moment is always silent. This causes fear in the ego which makes it run.

I would tell them to accept this about their ego, and that only by accepting it will they be able to let it go and to transcend it.  I would tell them by accepting their ego, they will automatically feel more at peace, and paradoxically, they will be much closer to enlightenment.

See the ego in all its twists and turns it performs in an effort to co-opt the moment, and accept it for what it is — a fear-based collection of thoughts that is desperately looking to escape this scary moment and get security, even if it is imaginary security.  This will do a lot in bringing you closer to enlightenment.

 In other words, don’t do anything about the ego.  To get away from it, just accept it for what it is and make it your new job to watch it.  This will put you in touch with witness consciousness in a hurry and do more for you than years of therapy.

And just like anything else, the more you practice it, the more natural it becomes, the better you get at it, until it becomes completely natural to identify with the witness, not the ego.

Additional thoughts on how to get along with others while healing all involved at the same time.

If you could imagine for a moment that all beings are connected (which they are, just bring your awareness to this.) Now imagine that someone or something has offended you, has been mean or rude to you, or just has a different opinion than you that you really don’t like.

Imagine now that this person is a part of you, like your hand or foot.  Your hand or foot is hurting you, from and injury, infection, etc.  What would you do with your hand or foot?  Would you get angry at it, or try to hurt it in some way?  Obviously not, this would in turn hurt you.  

You would try and heal it.  You might bring it to a doctor to look at it or to get some kind of medicine for it.  Why do we treat people differently then, when they are part of us?

In the future, when you are upset with someone, see what it is that is hurting in them, so that you may help or at least be compassionate with them.  People in a negative state of mind are more appropriately labeled diseased.  They are living out of a negative energy field that is hurting them.  They do not deserve your anger or judgment.

Understanding them would help them be released from their negative state, while allowing you to disconnect more fully from you ego and open your heart.  In this way you are both healed when viewing someone as part of yourself.   This is one of the key steps towards enlightenment.

This approach toward people and their problems is contagious.  When you practice this patience and understanding with one person, that person will more likely practice it with another person, and so on.

Do this next time you have a conflict with someone, either outwardly or in your head.  You don’t even need to take any outward action toward this person.  Just follow the instructions as outlined above, and you will be healed.

Lifestyle tendencies of enlightened beings.

Q: Why do most people who reach enlightenment live in isolation?

A: Wouldn’t you live in isolation too if you didn’t live out of fear?  People are drawn together by the similarities in their consciousness; people hang out with like-minded people.

When someone is more identified with the watcher, though, they have less in common with most people, so there is less of a pull.  They may find themselves dwelling more in solitude, or not then.  70% of enlightened people live away from people.  So this does not mean that all enlightened people are isolated, or that just because you’re a hermit you are enlightened!  It’s just a tendency.

Q: How do they pay their bills though?
A: If you step back at it, aren’t bills like a karmic debt, in a way of speaking?  Your mortgage, your student loans, your car loan, your credit card debt, your taxes, etc., all stem from you wanting something, do they not?

Well, what happens if your karma is running out, and you don’t find yourself wanting anything?  You would probably have a lot fewer bills, right?  So in a way, most enlightened people have “downsized.”

What is the ‘Big Me’ or ‘Higher Self’, and how do I communicate with it?

Q: What is the difference between the small self and the Self with a big ‘S’?

A: If you take the small self, and take away all of its attachments, its opinions, its points of views, what you’re left with is pure witness consciousness, the highest expression of one’s self, the big Self.

Q: How do I communicate with this?

A: First, you have to acknowledge that there is a big Self, and a small self. Then, you have to admit that communication with the big Self is even possible.  Most people do not know about the big Self, and those who do think they have to enter into some trance state — some meditative state — in order to communicate with it.  Just the opposite is true.  The big Self is always there, it’s just that we’re too busy paying attention to, and are addicted to, our day-to-day drama.  Others think it’s heresy to think that we have a higher Self with which we can readily communicate.  Meanwhile, they put an altar at the feet of their egos — that’s the real heresy.

To communicate with the higher Self, we first must admit that we have a higher Self, then we must put faith in the act of communicating with it. Then, we may ask for permission to speak with it.  Then, we wait patiently with faith that communication will come.  In my case, when I am feeling peaceful, either during the day or at night, I will ask “Are you there, Big Me?”  Oftentimes, a voice will come back and say “Yes, I’m here, I’m always here”.  Then I start up a conversation.  And when Big Me speaks to me, I listen, just listen, the best that I can.