Enlightenment in a New Age

We are living in a wonderful time--a time of awakening, an enlightenment in a New Age. What is enlightenment and how are these times different than the past?

"If I could define enlightenment briefly I would say it is the quiet acceptance of what is."--Wayne Dyer

"We are each of us the creative potential inherent in the world, a creative potential that is now being asked to be released that a New Age can be born."--David Spangler We live in a time unique in our known history, where grace is available to all who but ask. What was once true thousands of years ago, when Krishna told Arjuna that only one in millions could reach enlightenment, today, with time appearing sped up, enlightenment is on its way of not becoming such a big deal.

What is enlightenment? Enlightenment is to be filled with light, to be born/borne by light, to feel light, to realize one’s lightness. To be in the place of enlightenment one becomes aware of one’s Self, which, without judgment, is the witness of all that the individual thinks, says, feels and acts throughout time. Since the Self is the witness of the activities in time, it is therefore untouched by time and therefore timeless. There is only the simultaneous unfolding of the NOW. When one becomes enlightened, one lives in a state of timelessness.

And since the Self is timeless, and therefore eternal, there is no separation with the Godhead, or ALL THAT IS. Thus there is no more searching. The search has ended for the one who has become enlightened. After all, it is a very heavy thing not to know one’s Self. Once one stands in Self Awareness all the gravity of the world, of that search, falls away, and a feeling of being light ensues.

Just as a child is not burdened by questions of who he or she is, and so can play freely in the world; so once one becomes enlightened, when one know one’s Self and no questions of the Self remain, when no definitions or belief structures are needed to be held onto to try to fit the Self into, then the enlightened one is a child once again.

When you think about it, a definition is no more than a box. When one lives in uncertainty, because the Self is not known, it is nice to have a little box to feel safe in. The problem is that that box becomes a dark coffin. To be alive one can have no box, no matter how lofty of a definition--whether one is termed a saint, avatar, angel, extraterrestrial, healer, yogi, etc.--because any definition, any box, will keep the light out.

It is very difficult to keep out of boxes in the world of three-dimensional reality. Matter is represented by the symbol of the cube. Look around where you live and what does everyone live in? Cubes! And people are constantly encasing friends, families, enemies, everyone, into definitions: You are a good student. He’s a great football player. He is an evil man. To be enlightened is to be free of definitions, to be free of the finite. My son does well at school. He scored three touchdowns. He murdered many people. Regarding the action does not lock one into definitions. Instead, it allows for one to just meet the action in appropriate ways.

No matter what I do it is not who I AM. Who I AM is so limitless, so magnificent, that no box could I fit into. Yet, who I AM expresses my Self in the physical world in countless ways, with some predominating. To be enlightened is to be merged with the Self so that all actions can be viewed without judgment, just like the sun that continues to shine upon everyone--sinner and saint alike.

This concept is difficult for humans locked into three- dimensional reality and its linear time structure. One will take the Hitlers and Stalins, and then the masters and saints, and say these personalities are bad and these are good. But for one who sees from the eyes of the Self one sees all lives as simultaneous, each full of a multitude of actions. Just as the hero in Herman Hesse’s novel, Siddartha, came to his realization that all sections of the river is the great OM, from its little trickling at the beginning to its great finale when it reaches the sea; the Self sees both the beginning and the end.

To the Self, existence is a learning experience, not to become worthwhile--that makes no sense to the Self who is always aware of its divinity--but for the pure joy of learning or becoming; just as the child’s pure joy of learning before he or she begins to get judged by grades. It is a creative process. To be creative there cannot be a judge standing over one’s shoulder. That is like doing a painting where every time you make a mistake you get whacked on the hand. You definitely will not create anything worthwhile. Instead, you will get a piece that follows certain rules that the judge favors, very controlled, and absolutely no fun in its making.

To be enlightened the world seems like a wonderfully large canvass, free to be painted upon by whichever colors and forms the Self wants to experience. There is no judge.

Now, of course, one cannot be free of judgment when one is locked to the definition that one is a body that is born and will die. By that definition anybody who takes away another person’s existence is very horrible indeed. Not to mention God who seems to do it everyday. However, when one discovers that one is nothing more than energy or light, birth and death become obsolete terms. The physical is seen as condensed light operating on a slower vibration or lower octave. Everything vibrates and resonates with one another.

In the teachings of old, many teachers have tried to separate the spirit from the body. But that is not true. The body is also energy and is a part of the energy of the Self, of ALL THAT IS; as well as emotions and thoughts. There are no separations between any of these. They are simply different manifestations of energy and vehicles with which the Self expresses itSelf.

How to Become Enlightened

How to become enlightened? As there are multitudes of individuals so there are multitudes of paths. Or so it appears. Yet the most important thing one can do is to be your Self. With so many awakening and helping, and so many in the invisible realms assisting, the most important thing is wanting the Truth of the knowledge of who you are. Letting go of all the fictitious veils of definitions. Breathe. Trace your thoughts back to the Silence from which they arise. And be the infinite Space of that Silence.

Pray to God, pray to Whom you really are, the infinite Self, and ask to know your Self. Ask because you no longer want to experience the world of suffering that you created, where you separated your little personality self from your infinite Self; that Self that can only experience the world, itSelf, with love and joy. Do not run away from suffering; otherwise it will chase you like a dog. Just want love and joy as your birthright. Be around those who yearn for God, or better yet, embody God. Give yourself time each day to sit quietly or to walk in nature, where you can listen and feel those invisible ones who shine with the light you are. Relax and breathe, just like a woman giving natural birth, and honor the process with loving acceptance. And you will know that your Self is free; always has been; always will be.

Janaka Stagnaro
www.mindfulness-meditation-techniques.com