The Myth of Enlightenment
Why spiritual enlightenment is not for everyone
Nine out of ten people who are on their spiritual path would say that the ultimate goal for a seeker is to attain enlightenment/liberation.
A person on such a path would get there by first sorting through the circus shows of the mind. They would practice calmness, positivity, empathy, and awareness, even experience moments of awakening, and ultimately work toward detaching from or transcending the ego in order to merge with Pure Consciousness.
I may have scrambled the order or missed a few key elements along the way, but this seems to be the general outline of things.
The curious creature called Enlightenment
Now as to this actual state of enlightenment itself and what it exactly is — if it is an endpoint or a continuum, a crash course or a life’s study, a moment’s revelation or a gradual progression — is something that I am still not clear about. This is despite numerous new age teachers and seekers expounding on its nature and characteristics, or it is precisely for that reason I am not clear what enlightenment is.
For an entity that is supposed to be well beyond the rational human mind, enlightenment has been surprisingly accessible for many, whether truly enlightened or not, who have defined, analyzed, categorized, and side-effected it quite confidently.
But my beef here is not about enlightenment or with those who have reduced it to a garden-variety concept, a thing on the bucket list, or something that is for everyone. Maybe enlightenment is, in fact, a natural state of consciousness that resides within everyone and maybe every single human is capable of it. But is it really for everyone?
The truth about the path
From where I am camped, spiritual journey seems like a deliberate one-foot-in-front-of-the-other toddle through a mysterious terrain filled with mountain peaks and deep valleys.
Here the concerns of the walker should only rest with the present step taken, be it conscious breathing for five minutes, compulsory quiet time every day or early morning walks for self-reflection. No matter how ordinary it is, it still must only be about that one step.
Because any specifications, labeling, or descriptions about the forthcoming steps will only make a novice seeker drift off from the track as it is the nature of the mind to make presumptions from suggestions.
“The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can’t be organized or regulated. It isn’t true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth.”
Ram Dass
This doesn’t mean the path should be closed to any guidance and grace from surefooted teachers. Lean on your gurus and their teachings as much as you need to, by all means.
But the fact is, your truth is not the same as their truth and your unfolding is not going to happen in the same way their unfolding did.
When there is a formula prescribed for attaining enlightenment or a promise of mystical side-effects one might feel while on the spiritual path, one of the two things is bound to happen:
- The novice seeker will walk the path with great enthusiasm and expectations of what is to come. They would grow impatient over time, crawl to the edge of the spiritual seat, and be on a subconscious lookout for the prophesized sensations. This will eventually cause the spiritual hopefuls to hallucinate the experiences and misinterpret their imagination for the Truth that they are after.
- Or if they’re any smarter they would wait for the sensations to occur, not find them happening at their convenience, get frustrated, and give up.
Neither one is a desirable process.
And I bet the seasoned seekers aren’t having it any easier with overexposure to the idea of enlightenment either.
“Many spiritual seekers get “stuck in emptiness,” in the absolute, in transcendence. They cling to bliss, or peace, or indifference. When the self-centered motivation for living disappears, many seekers become indifferent. They see the perfection of all existence and find no reason for doing anything, including caring for themselves or others.
I call this “taking a false refuge.” It is a very subtle egoic trap; it’s a fixation in the absolute and all unconscious form of attachment that masquerades as liberation.”
Adyashanti
See how there is no easy way with this?
Then what is Enlightenment, really?
Enlightenment is not a thing from the bucket list. It is realizing that there is no bucket and no list; and then turning around and asking “who is this ‘I’ that is making all these lists?” It is to know the beyond but only by knowing the edges of one’s within. No one else can do that for us and there is no way to touch those edges unless the seeker is truly ready for an entire spectrum of experiential analysis of the self, the good, bad, and the ugly.
Much has been said about enlightenment over time, so much that it is now an open secret while it should ideally remain a hidden obvious.
So it is not for us to define enlightenment. It is not for us to plan for it or make it happen. If it is meant to be, enlightenment will find us.
Until then, let’s keep placing one foot in front of the other, one steady step at a time. And when we have mastered that one step, when we are able to put our entire life’s weight on that one step, let’s hope that the next step the universe has meant for us, according to our path and according to our truth, will automatically appear for us to step on.
And who knows, that next step might very well be enlightenment.
If you are plotted anywhere near me on the spiritual graph or if you find my journey relatable, please follow me for more rants, raves, and reflections.
