Yoga teaches us to go within for fulfillment and to recall, to mind and heart, the union of our individual consciousness with the Universal Consciousness. The path to enlightenment will take many different routes for each of us though there are aspects that will be realized by every soul as we progress. Doubtless conviction that there is one source of creation and belief in reincarnation are paramount in this quest. Though various religions and spiritual teachings will call the source of creation by many different names, the message at the heart of most religions is consistent. It is to love one another and to love thyself.
We are all gradually approaching our inevitable enlightenment. A belief in reincarnation is essential as it may take thousands and thousands of lifetimes of progressive assent toward that goal. There are many qualities that we will develop to the fullest as we drawn in the direction of enlightenment. Some are love, patience, compassion, forgiveness and kindness. Each lifetime presents self-chosen opportunities to cultivate these qualities to their perfected states. Life experiences show us what we chose to work on in the present incarnation. We must accept our life experiences as our teachers empowering us and never feel a victim of life’s lessons.
Meditation is a very helpful way of focusing the being and not wasting time and energy in distraction. And service, in any form is an equally instrumental way of unfolding spirituality. Intention, effort and the power of persistence are of prime importance. “The mind which thinks of the all-pervading divinity which it worships, is ultimately, through long-continued devotion, transformed into the likeness of that divinity.” We are our thoughts. We become what we dwell on.
Careful reading of spiritual texts, studying under the tutorage of wise teachers, quiet reflection, and practical application of the sensed truth and the intuited ideas, will gradually bring enlightenment. A steady, regular, persistent endeavor will carry us along that voyage.
5 comments:
Yes we are all on a path toward enlightenment and that journey is very personal. The "likeness of the divinty" can be painted in many different modalities. Each one of us has his/her own idea of what that "likeness" should be. So shouldn't our definitions of "Enlightenment" therefore be different as well? Maybe pure enlightenment is accepting the individuals' differences without judgement or criticism. Is it choosing the "grey" areas unique to EVERY situation versus classifying BLACK or WHITE? Instead of dwelling on the right, wrong or the differences within the many beliefs, you pointed out the opportunity to LEARN and ACCEPT. And if attaining enlightenment transforms us to godliness then is that actually reachable? How often do we accept another's proclamation that he/she is a god? In their eyes their perfected state is alive; to most of us, they are "psycho..." Enlightenment is very personal indeed.
I commend you for putting your thoughts out there to open this conversation. It was interesting to hear the comment as well. I think what is great about this topic is that we can both heed the insight of the commenter, that enlightenment is unique to each of us, and yet still be willing to open a dialogue around the topic.
What does it even means in the first place to "be enlightened"? The word itself is loaded with so many different interpretations for people, that the first step is to really check our world views, our embedded bias and our cultural conditioning which have the tendency to color the perception of the enlightened, fundamental nature of mind.
This is really an inquiry into what it means to be human. What is the basic nature of mind? I perceive the journey not so much that we are working towards, it is not only an act of doing, it require undoing, peeling back the layers of conditioning that have created our images of ourselves.
I am grateful just to discuss this subject matter as it invites people into a contemplative mode in which they can take time to explore some of the fundamental questions often set aside for the task of the moment. I feel as though we've become identified with what society dictates as the "shoulds". As a result, we've lost our sense of understanding about what we are, as the human species, on a root level.
If I could define enlightenment briefly I would say it is the quiet acceptance of what is.
I support that in you that wishes to share your expanding
spirituality through your teaching practice. It is challenging to
find words to discuss subjects like enlightenment, since it is not a
"thing" as I see it. A teacher I am fond of, Adyashanti, says that
words will never quite cut it because they themselves are a type of
"form"; and using form to describe "formlessness" is impossible. It
can, perhaps, point to it. So I, therefore do not agree that "we are
our thoughts". We are vastly more than our thoughts. (What a relief
to me, since I do not control my thoughts, try as I might!)
Paradoxical, though, as often is the case with these matters, because
watching our thoughts, as they do cocreate, is part of skillful
living. And our lives are, for the most part, an expression of where
we put our attention, so becoming conscious of that is wise.
Something I notice that is ever so tricky to word but that I've
longed to speak about for some time....
When we have brief spiritual teaching as part of yoga class, it
engages the mind. What is a concern that I have is that it is very
tempting for the superego to grab hold of what we hear about conduct
or lifestyle practice and have a response of, "Now if I could just do
that, then I'll be a better person". Someone once described the
superego as the part that says, "There's a right way to do your life,
and you're doing it wrong", always judging, always MAKING SEPARATE.
(!) This is high voltage stuff, because if we always hold the idea
that enlightenment is OVER THERE, we keep alive the thought process
that convinces us we are NOT that, that it is a destination, and that
we will either never get there, or it will take a lot of striving.
Striving, always striving, a sick part of our culture, is what keeps
us always thinking we are not enough, haven't done enough, don't have
enough, need something else to be complete. In my opinion,
enlightenment is something we become aware of, and actually, since we
ARE THAT, it is enlightenment that becomes aware of itself. (That's
where it gets so tricky with the words!) In practicing presence, we
become aware of awareness itself. The mind, particularly the SE,
doesn't like that, and that is one place it is helpful to remember it
is not all of who we are, though in our human lives, it has value.
Often times I have listened to the teaching in class and then have
some internal distress over what sounds, though well-intentioned,
like a teaching on "how to do it right", that sounds like it may be
coming from a place in you that is perhaps also striving? Then that
part of me is engaged at a time where I am wanting to tune in to my
body and go into physical practice, and there is no channel for that
to dissipate. (Though I have seen that as an opportunity to watch MY
mind, as it wants impulsively to comment on something I have an
opinion about, and I get to see that and tell it that's not
necessary! Ha) I am ultimately responsible for what feels true for
me or not.
Does this mean it's better to not try? I don't think so. All
spiritual teaching involves words and our personalities blending with
them, and I am certain your intention is one of pure dedication
towards spreading the light. It is this, in me, that wanted to share
the above, too, though, since having this concept pointed out to me
was liberating. It really begs further inquiry, since we then see,
"If we don't need to DO anything to be enlightened, then
WHAT?!" (And, of course, the mind doesn't know what to do with that.)
Some of it is just simply that the practice of awareness takes time,
takes slowing things down to where instead of seeing what the mind
thought was going to be true (in any particular instance), we can be
curious as to what is here now. So sometimes it is just a matter of
having a container where there is enough time to do this. When we
have only a few minutes, there is not this time, and the mind will
just say, "Okay, got it", and then run off with an idealistic view of
what it looks like to "be spiritual". I learned this by going to
retreats where we would be led to really explore a particular area
and I would see things I hadn't seen before that were not hidden,
right before my eyes. Over time I realized the facilitators were
skilled, having done a lot of their own work already, in knowing what
it took to provide the space for us to do our own inner work. A
"safe container" is the term they use, and it showed me we usually
can't rush developing the practice of presence. (Though once the
initial investment is made, we can later access that more readily,
usually quickly.)
Glad to be with you on the journey,
Peggy
But the important thing is not the finding, it is the seeking, it is the devotion with which one spins the wheel of prayer and scripture, discovering the truth little by little. If this machine gave you the truth immediately, you would not recognize it, because your heart would not have been purified by the long quest.
Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum
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