Clarifying the Confusion about What “Waking Up” Means.

How can you tell if you are enlightened?

That can be a useful question given that nobody seems to be quite certain what waking up, enlightenment and other spiritual states are. When it comes to enlightenment, which is a state of great clarity, light and profound experiences, we are clear as mud about what it is.

I’ve learned a little about wake-ups and enlightenment over the past 35 years of leading courses about life, love, relationships and spirituality. And the more I learn the more obvious it is that I don’t know much.

I have discovered that most people experience occasional, brief spiritual awakenings, but don’t have the words to express what is going on inside of them. I would like to give you some words which might enhance your ability to recognize, appreciate and welcome these spiritual states when they visit.

In the process of clarifying such experiences we are likely to find out that we are more spiritual than we imagined, that numerous wake-up moments are offered daily, and that absolutely everything on Earth is here for the sole purpose of you waking up and realizing your enlightenment.

Enlightenment

It seems obvious that enlightenment isn’t a place but a journey. And the journey is ongoing. Some people are more enlightened than others, but it isn’t useful to determine who is more or less awake. To do so is to enter into comparative or even competitive enlightenment which is a waste of both time and energy.

The repercussions of enlightenment being a journey are that we are all enlightened, just to different degrees. You are enlightened, I am enlightened. Thats just the way it is.

You can’t do much with your enlightenment…other than ride it out.

Enlightenment sits very differently in different people. Osho is by far the funniest enlightened person I have ever seen. Christ seems, at least by accounts, to have been much more serious.

While it isn’t possible to determine how enlightened someone is by what they do, how they act or their appearance, there are certain indications of the heating up of enlightenment within someone.

I call this heating up: waking-up. And it is almost always accompanied by the letting go of a thought, belief or point-of-view that has been held tightly. This may be met by laughter, tears or both. It always includes greater presence, quieting of internal conversations and an increase in the appearance of the three dimensionality—their depth of field, as you look at them, becomes greater.

I like to consider wake-ups as expansions in the process of giving birth to your enlightened self. As there are contractions in the process of giving birth to a baby, there are expansions giving birth to one’s enlightenment. The closer together these expansions are the more fully one gives birth to one’s own enlightenment.

As I stated earlier, it isn’t that you aren’t enlightened and become enlightened. It is that you already are enlightened and you “realize” more fully your enlightenment.

While your belly button may go in or out, enlightenment is always an inside job.

Best Interest

As you experience more wake-ups you are likely to act more fully in your own best interest. By this I mean that you will focus your attention less on what you do, the content of life, and more on your disposition: your collection of moods, orientation and fullness of spirit with which you approach what you do. Your spirit will guide you.

More of you will be engaged in everything you do: making and revealing yourself as more present, whether you are just walking around the block, driving into work, hitting a tennis ball or chatting with your spouse.

What you do is likely to move to the back seat as you become more awakened, while who you are moves to the front, and sometimes even the driver’s seat.

There is no need to attempt to be enlightened, that would be counter productive, but you might want to invite in wake-ups by laughing more often, letting go of seriousness and lightening up.

Just perceiving yourself as light instead of solid structure is a big step toward discovering the enlightenment that you already are.

But the lighter you get the more important it is to ground yourself so you don’t just float away. Grounding yourself is as simple as feeling your feet on the ground, putting your ear to the ground, hands in the soil and feeling any sensations that show up—no matter how joyous or disdainful they may be.

Enjoy Your Enlightenment

There’s no need to chase enlightenment ever again; it would be like chasing your own tail. Embrace that you are already enlightened. Laugh a lot, cry a little and sink softly into the wonder and mystery of being fully enlightened and only occasionally being aware of it.

 

 

 

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Author: Jerry Stocking

Editor: Travis May

Photo:  Wikipedia