What IS Enlightenment?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enlightenment is a loaded word. People who are not living in the reality of it interpret it very differently to each other. It refers to an awakening of consciousness or the expansion of your awareness of your true self. Everything is consciousness (often referred to as universal consciousness, source consciousness or God). Everything within creation is a different aspect of consciousness – a dog, a table, a human etc…

 

The process of enlightenment is source consciousness waking up to the reality of itself within the body-mind perception. So for me, God woke up inside the Claudine illusion.

​

The process of enlightenment is a shedding of false beliefs, a loosening of the ego’s control/attachment, and the end of unnecessary mental and emotional suffering. It is often also referred to as Nirvana, Liberation, Awakening, Full Self Realization, Moksha etc. This process also develops our intuitive abilities.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

The word enlightenment often conjures up the idea that there is a goal or an ending to a spiritual journey. In my experience, enlightenment is ongoing and full self realisation is just another beginning. Rather than seeing it as an attainment (because nothing is actually acquired during the process, only lost and realised) see it as an unloading of unnecessary baggage, leaving you lighter. Underneath this baggage you are already enlightened, you just need to realise it. By ‘realise’ I do not mean realise it through research, I mean become fully aware of it through direct, permanent experience and the permanent destruction of the false self.

​

What ISN’T enlightenment? You cannot learn enlightenment. Reading a thousand books on enlightenment and understanding their concepts brings you no closer to enlightenment than a person who has never heard of it. Enlightenment cannot be understood with the mind, it has nothing to do with intellect and often describing it is futile. Regardless of how well a person describes it, if you have no experience of it, then you are simply using your mind to understand and interpret someone else’s interpretation. You will never fully understand until it happens to you, and it can happen for you, it is not reserved for special people.

​

Enlightenment is not becoming psychic. Although this ability is often developed during the process, it is nothing to do with full self realisation of your true nature. Psychic downloads can give you glimpses of the nature of our reality and the nature of our being, but they are temporary experiences. Experiencing them, remembering them and understanding them do not mean you are enlightened. They can shift your perception for the better but unless the permanent merge into unity consciousness (aka full self realisation) has happened, then you are not “Enlightened”. I use inverted commas here because unity consciousness/full self realisation is often what spiritual teachers are referring to as enlightenment, but for me, to use this term would be to suggest that you have reached the goal, that you are done, and like I said before, in my experience, this is just the beginning of another journey.

​

When the universe is full of infinite possibilities and infinite potential for evolution, how can anyone on this planet ever fully be enlightened or done? To believe this would be ignorant.

​

Enlightenment is not about having a loving personality. Yes, you should "love thy neighbour", we should be kind to our fellow man, we should be of service to others but this does not mean you are more enlightened than another person, you are just setting out on the right path. When the actual shift occurs, it has nothing to do with emotion. There is no act of loving, you become unconditional love. That does not mean when it happens you walk around smiling all the time and actively loving people you don’t know. You can be a perfectly normal average person, smiling a normal amount, keeping your distance from people who drain your energy, but you do not judge, you are compassionate, because you realise everything as the self. You live in and are unconditional love, not the human emotion of love (this is an example of where words are futile).

​

Continuing along that theme… You do not lose your personality. If you were a person who swore a lot, had a sense of humour, and liked wearing jeans and a hoodie, there’s no reason you will stop. Likewise, just because someone has a loving, peaceful, “spiritual” personality, dresses in linen cloth, speaks intelligently and comes out with inspirational quotes, does not mean they are more enlightened than you. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. You don't need to be a monk, bearded or living on a mountain to be enlightened.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

How do you begin the process of enlightenment? I have four important suggestions (bare with me, as a couple may make you say, ‘ughhhh’ but the third will make up for it). Some of you will not like the first answer but it’s very simple: Learn to meditate. You are not going to find the answer outside of yourself. Begin to understand from direct experience (mindfulness meditation and self enquiry) that you are not your mind or your thoughts, but the awareness observing them. This can be referred to as the "male energy" path as it is very passive.

​

Secondly, Bhakti (devotional practice). Devotion to God helps you to open the heart centre and meet consciousness (God) half way. This can be seen as the "female energy" path as it is more active. Both Bhakti (female) and self enquiry (male) together create the perfect recipe for awakening.

​

Thirdly, (and this answer is going to be less popular) take time to do some inner work such as working through trauma, inner child work, shadow work and self reflection. This will help to start off the process of recognising the programming and learned behaviours you have acquired that are not part of your true self, and letting them go. From my experience, I got to a stage in my spiritual practice where I had done all this brunt work and eventually surrendered and was able to allow the universe to meet me half way and do the rest for me.

​

The fourth way is Shaktipat. This is a kundalini awakening transmission that will activate your kundalini and propel you along the path of enlightenment. It is transferred from an awakened person via touch, sight or intent. It upgrades our nervous system, breaks up energetic blockages and brings up trauma to be released as it travels up the spine towards your brain. This process can take days, weeks, months, depending on how often you receive it and depending on where you are in your own personal journey. This is also why it is important to do the work (the other suggestions), as then we are speeding the process along, allowing it to be smoother by meeting the energy half way.