| Enlightenment: Difficult or Easy? |
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I was brought up Catholic in a generation that taught going to hell was easy and getting to heaven was very difficult. Consequently I spent more time thinking about hell than heaven and my early life reflected that bias.
This was reinforced by Catholic nuns who offered intense lurid descriptions of hell and all the excruciating tortures awaiting us if we did not heel and follow the restricted and no fun path of redemption. We were told that if the planet Earth was a giant ball of steel and a little sparrow were to fly around the universe and once every million years were to brush its wing against the steel ball, eternity would not have even begun by the time the steel ball would be worn away. That’s how long we would burn in the excruciating hell fires should we continue to sin. We were also told that the feeling of pain caused by burning our fingers with a match would be multiplied all over our bodies ten million times in hell. If by chance we were to squeak by hell and be saved we would still have to spend eons in Purgatory to purify us before we could enter heaven. The pain of purgatory would be just as nasty as hell but it would not be forever. These descriptions were designed to terrify us into avoiding spending all eternity in hell burning and screaming in agony. None the less try as I might I was unable to go a single day without committing sins that would certainly commit me to hell forever, or at best give me 10,000 years in purgatory. To say the least, the future looked bleak indeed. Later, having left behind such horrible tales and entered academia, I became acquainted with Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, certainly more enlightened approaches than the one I was raised with I thought. But soon it became evident that there was no relief to be had here either. Now I learned I was to be subject to lifetime after lifetime of suffering until I was able to escape the horrific Wheel of Samsara. This could be done but it would be most difficult. Liberation involved an austere life of purification, fasting, and sitting in agonizing meditation postures for countless years while clearing away lifetimes of negativity and distractions. I would have to learn to focus my mind, a mind that was likened to a drunken monkey reeling this way and that. Doing this was described as extremely difficult if not almost impossible. What was a young seeker to do? I tried various kinds of meditation, Eastern practices, retreats, heavy philosophy reading and ended up feeling like I was never going to get there, wherever there was. Eventually I came across the Michael Teachings and was treated to a fresh philosophy that not only satisfied me intellectually but also was quite benevolent in it’s description of reality. I embraced this teaching and it became my primary philosophy for many years providing me with endless satisfying explanations of how the world worked, who I was, how other people were, and why. There was only one problem! Michael described a series of stages and levels that led toward enlightenment in the end and this seemed very logical and clear. The only problem was that, because of my earlier imprinting, I tended to believe that it was not possible to be enlightened until the final level of the old soul stage and I knew that I was not at the very end so I had to resign myself to the fact that I would probably not be able to be enlightened in this lifetime. This actually relieved some pressure and worked well for a long time, especially as a younger person when I was distracted by a host of other things. As I got older, however, the limitation of not being able to be enlightened began to bother me a great deal. Meanwhile there were several things at work that kept shoving me forward to question over and over the truth of this apparent limitation. The truth is, I wanted to experience enlightenment very badly and not in ten lifetimes but now. So I went back and studied the early manuscripts of Michael’s teachings and, low and behold, I discovered that selective attention had been in operation. Michael never said enlightenment could not happen until the very end. I believed that so that’s what I remembered Michael saying. But he didn’t. I went back and read a question posed to Michael in the early days of the teaching, back in the early seventies. The question was, “What is the purpose of life? The answer was, “To free the trapped essence and to experience the Tao.” Here was a revelation. Michael did not say, “To wait until the final lifetime to free the trapped essence and experience the Tao.” Reading on I discovered Michael was suggesting that this could happen anytime, regardless of soul age, although it was easier for older souls. Wow! Now this was more like it. Meanwhile I was noticing that as the years flew by, the frequency on the planet was going up in accordance with many predictions, including the prophecies associated with the Mayan calendar. Certainly something of major importance was happening and I felt the speed-up within my own experience. In addition, I was studying the Course in Miracles, the writings of Yogananda, the teachings of various powerful shamans, the writings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (I Am That), Baird Spalding (Masters of the Far East), Eckhart Tolle, and a host of other enlightened masters including the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. As a way of unpacking and penetrating the core of these teachings, I engaged actively in night ceremonial work with medicinal plants that revealed with great clarity the essence of the teachings. As a result I came to some very interesting and liberating conclusions that I will discuss shortly. But first let us explore why enlightenment is considered challenging. The Challenge: Each of our subconscious minds are filled with billions of negative suggestions and thoughts, both listened to and generated, over the dream of many lifetimes (thanks to the false personality). Included here are traumas, painful memories, disappointment, betrayal, grief, loss, anger, shame, and guilt, layer upon layer of junk baggage that must be released in order to rise to higher frequencies and eventual liberation. They cannot be released all at once or we will be overwhelmed and rendered paralyzed. Thus they must be released gradually without accruing any more. The problem is that since like attracts like, this residue of junk tends to re-infect us over and other by bringing renewed trauma into our lives that we then react to, adding to the baggage load. Thus we must train ourselves to not react when we are provoked by painful situations. Ha Ha, good luck. Most of us tend to live in environments driven by endarkenment. That is we are surrounded by unaware people, people who all agree that we are victims and life sucks. This is not the easiest environment to find liberation. We are surrounded by a world of greed, arrogance, self-destructiveness, and martyrdom that generates wars, poverty, and inequality. The world can look pretty bad at times and this is the atmosphere that we are within, seeking awakening. In other words we are in a world directed and controlled by the false personality and to be free we must escape its constant efforts to entrap us. Then there is of course the track record. Of millions and millions of people trying to spiritually grow, how many do you know who have actually succeeded in becoming enlightened? Hmmm, Doesn’t look too promising, right? Wow, the challenges look pretty overwhelming. How is it even possible to consider finding heaven on earth when faced with all this? Let’s see. On the other hand…Liberation can be easy Upon reading the literature very carefully I found the great masters were saying over and over again: “You can do it. Anyone can. It is the most natural thing in the world to wake up; it is, after all, God’s will. You simply must rouse yourself from sleep and there is a part of you that doesn’t want to wake up because it is scary and uncomfortable at first.” They also suggested that (guess what?) you will never, never, ever be able to awaken all by yourself. Thank God there is huge help. The help comes from the most powerful force in the universe, the Great Spirit, the Tao itself, God. Whew. That was easy. With concentration and great commitment you can be enlightened in as little as two or three years. That’s nothing compared to lifetimes of incredible suffering. Here are some major points to consider: 1. It helps to believe that liberation, redemption, or enlightenment can be easy and fun. 2. It can take a minimum of time and effort. 3. It does not require a great deal of struggle and study over many years time. It is reachable and attainable for an ordinary person without special talents or skills, especially now. 4. However it has to be accompanied by an exceptionally strong desire and commitment to become free of the entrapment of the false personality. This has been called in spiritual literature, a burning desire. All you have to do is realize that enlightenment is the end of suffering forever. Now that’s a motivation right there. 5. It does require an exceptionally good set of guides or teachers, all of whom can be contacted from within. A physical guru is not necessary. Jesus, the Buddha, Quan Yin, Mary Magdalene, Yogananda, Baba Ji and many others are totally available to assist and help with a mere inner request. They all work for the big boss, the Great Spirit. Ask and you shall receive the help you need. 6. You need not have it together or be highly purified to begin the process. You do not have to be vegetarian, vegan, celibate, clear, or be some kind of yogi to be successful. Meat eating Tibetan Lamas have been known to be some of the more enlightened beings on this planet. It’s not about the food contrary to popular sentiment. Why? Because we are way more than a body. 7. You do have to have the ability to suspend your skepticism and often. You have to be willing to be proven wrong in what you thought was true. You have to be willing to realize you have been a dumb cluck about a lot of things without attacking yourself for it. This should be humorous. 8. You have to be willing to be sacrilegious, heretical, and outrageous in your new approach. 9. You must be able to be logical and see the lack of logic in what you formerly believed was true. 10. The more you open your heart the easier it gets but you don’t have to have an open heart to begin. 11. You will need to understand and have great insight into the machinations of the false personality. 12. You will need to devote some valuable time to the process of watching your awareness. That’s it. Here is the logic of an enlightened state of mind. 1. Whatever you think becomes true for you. Another way of saying this is that energy flows toward what you think and becomes manifested in physical form. If you think you are a limited human at the mercy of everything then you are because you make it so. 2. The Great Spirit is by definition everywhere, everything, all-powerful, all knowing, and all present in the form of light. If you believe this, it is true and you can take tremendous advantage of this knowledge in a big way by realizing it includes you. If you don’t believe it you don’t get the advantages of it because this truth then remains latent all around you but not activated. 3. If the Great Spirit (Beingness) is everywhere etc. then it is inside you and all around you. In other words you are part of it. If you are part of it, you are all of it because it is seamless. 4. Therefore you have access to the power of the Universe at all times and you are extraordinarily powerful when realizing you are amalgamated with the Great Spirit. This comes in the form of simple awareness; the awareness of being alive without any additional thoughts laid on top of that awareness. 5. You are so powerful that you dreamed up a pretend or camouflage universe where it appears that no Great Spirit exists. When you open your blind eyes you don’t see the light because it isn’t out there. You did such a good job constructing this universe that you can truly be living in it in total ignorance that anything else exists (like being lost in a totally realistic movie; applause here to the expert film maker, you). In this movie you seem to have no power and are a victim of everything. You believe it, so it seems to be true. It has become your reality. 6. The minute you turn your thoughts to the apparently invisible Great Spirit, the great inner light, you are plugged into something much greater than the interesting movie you made. Every time you think of the Great Spirit (God, the Tao) you activate it and you are reminded of who you actually are. With enough referencing this the local unpleasant movie begins to become a bore and the reality becomes clear. This is like someone turning on the lights in the theatre in the middle of your horror film. It kind of loses its compelling distracting nature and you turn around to see that your well-loved, long lost friend has just walked into the theatre to see you. To hell with the damn movie. This is way better. 7. You realize now that you have been in a movie directed by your false personality. You can direct the rest of the movie from your essence self that is in league with the Great Spirit. The movie changes from a horror film to a grand inspirational love story. Eventually the movie ends and reality sets in, a reality that gets better and better. 8. How do you get in touch with your essence self? This is actually not so difficult. You direct Spirit to do that. On your own you will botch the job so you give it to the expert. You focus on your heart and knowing the Great Spirit is here, you say, “In the name of the Great Spirit, I am discovering the presence of essence which is running my life. Every day Essence is growing more powerful and obvious as the main event in my life. So be it.” What you have just done is extremely powerful. A) You have acknowledged Spirit exists and you are activating it. B) You have then become the voice for Spirit indicating that you and Spirit are one. This is an exceptionally bold move, even heretical according to most religions. C) As Spirit you decree as a movie director would, what is going to happen in the coming scene. Period. 9. The more you come from this position, the more enlightened you will be. Jesus said, pray unceasingly. This is exactly what he meant. Become acquainted with how he spoke for examples of the way to behave. He was not tentative, wimpy, or whiny. He stepped up and boldly spoke as an authority. That is how it is done. What about all those layers of negative thoughts and imprinting stored in your subconscious? If you had to go through every one of them it would take you centuries. This is just too difficult. Yet you do have to clear the subconscious mind. So you give that job to Spirit. An excellent way is to assign the job to your allies who then will work for the Great Spirit on your behalf. Yes, you will have to go through some serious discomfort as these layers get activated and brought to the surface. However you know you are on the fast track and it is worth it. You just have to grit your teeth and hang on during those times. It’s actually no worse than the pain you are willing to go through being unconscious and feeling victimized by life. Yes, this discomfort is finite and will be over at some point. You will need to give this work about 10,000 hours. That is the time it takes to become a master of anything, martial arts, fine arts, music, science and so on. If you are practicing clearing daily you can easily do 3000 hours in a year. That is about 60 hours a week, or 8 hours a day. If you begin the day with a powerful prayer and end the day with one, then all you have to do is remind yourself of your awareness as often as possible (at least once an hour) and that will keep the process of clearing going. You can adopt a practice such as the Course in Miracles to help you each day or use some other spiritual practice. You may also choose to be involved in other shamanic practices, sound practices such as listening to brain balancing CD’s, ceremonial work and the like, all dedicated to your enlightenment. This will all support your liberation if you are hell bent on it and unwilling to take no for an answer. Yes, you will have to push past laziness, distractions, and unconsciousness. The pain body (Eckhart Tolle) and the ego will attack right and left. You will be pummeled and hammered but hell, what else is new. You’ve already been there but without the productivity. To make the whole thing accelerate powerfully you can engage in frequent practices of forgiving yourself and others. You can also make a practice whenever possible to mentally give everyone you meet great love, abundance, and well-being. You bless the world and everything in it every chance you get. You engage in daily, even hourly bouts, of gratitude for all the help you are receiving and for having the opportunity to know the Great Spirit directly. Voila. There you have it. Yes, that seems like a lot but it is actually quite fun and easy, especially the more you do it. Try it. You might like it. With that said I want you to know that I am deadly serious about enlightenment being reachable and possible. There is no greater power in the universe than Spirit and if you get Spirit working for you there is nothing Spirit wants more than for you to wake up and enjoy the coffee. How can you fail? Final question: What is liberation? Liberation leads to freedom from suffering and therefore from thought. Behind thinking is simply Being, which is blissful, silent, and powerful. That is liberation. To be there, focus only on the foundational Being, disregard all else. |
