Personal Experience of Enlightenment: A path to freedom

I would like to share with you some of the things I have learned from my enlightenment. The collective consciousness, God, divine power - whatever you may call the organizing force of this universe - has decided it is time for all of humanity, to receive the gift of enlightenment. It is no longer a question of “if”, rather just when.

I speak of enlightenment as a gift because that is what it is for us. We do not deserve it and there is nothing we can do to earn or attain it. It is there to be given to us. And the opportunity will not pass us by, for it is here to stay.

What people experience when they receive the gift of enlightenment is exciting, to say the least. Each person’s experience will be somewhat different and unique. Instead of describing what it was like for me, I would like to speak to what enlightenment is and is not, so as to give you a better understanding. We all have concerns about it, as that is the nature of the mind.

If you think you don’t, you may want to look within yourself again. Enlightenment is being able to see and experience the world around us directly - without the mind as a filter or go-between. This is enlightenment - no more and no less. When we are enlightened, we still have a mind that wants to run off on its own. But now we get to experience that we are not the mind. We get to see the mind and its machinations as just another process, instead of getting caught up in it. This is sometimes referred to as a state of “seeing”.

Since early childhood, through conditioning, habit and the influence of the six billion people all around us, we have always identified ourselves with (and through) our mind. That has become the norm. Consequently, we never see the world as it really is, as our experiences are always filtered.

What we do not consistently see in the unenlightened state is that the mind is just a process, albeit a handy one at times. It performs analyses, comparisons and judgments to enable us to undertake certain activities. It is helpful when we want to plan a trip, or complete a task. But it gets in the way when we just want to experience love, feel the beauty of a spring day or simply enjoy a glass of water.

In the enlightened state we clearly see the thief that the mind has been, stealing our experiences from us. Once we clearly experience life without going through the mischievous, fear-based mind, we never go back. Why would we want to? There are other states that can accompany enlightenment, such as immense states of bliss. But these states are just byproducts. We can never stay in them for too long, as our body is not made to experience them on an ongoing basis. And even if it could, these states are useless regarding one of our true purposes - the enlightenment of mankind. So much has been made of these states that people’s minds have gotten hung up about them, to the point where they can hold us back.

When I was in India, the group I was part of was interviewed before and after receiving diksha for enlightenment. This was done so the monks could observe what blocks people had to the diksha. We can make the process even easier if we are aware of these blocks. As always, awareness is helpful. As one of the monks said, “If you open the window a lot, you will receive a lot. It you open it a little, you will receive a little”. The first block I saw with some was a willful insistence to hold onto their concepts of enlightenment. We cannot know what enlightenment is until we experience it. Whenever you think you know anything about enlightenment, assume it is a trick of the mind to keep you from it. Fear is natural to have, but too much fear was another block for some. We only have it when we believe the fear-based projections of the mind - about something it knows nothing about. Enlightenment is a simple thing – it is experiencing things without the muting effect of the mind. There is nothing to fear.

Another block is thinking that we can or need to do something to attain enlightenment. By thinking that we need to do something, it is actually another trick of the mind to pretend it has control. Once we insist that we have to be involved, the mind will show us how we are “succeeding” and “failing” at it. There is nothing for us to do.

Another block is having a craving for enlightenment. Craving perpetuates the mind’s grip on us. When my group received the enlightenment diksha, we were told to have a gentle desire for enlightenment, but not to expect anything. Things most easily come to us when we are not craving and obsessing over them. Craving is just another game of the mind, based on what it makes up about enlightenment.

If there is nothing to fear about enlightenment and nothing we can do, and we are going to get it regardless of what we do or don’t do, then what is there to crave? You may want to see what you can become aware of within yourself so as to make your enlightenment process as smooth as possible.