The concept of enlightenment is misunderstood. Maybe it is different for each person. Maybe it is different for each time, for each place. For me and now enlightenment is joyous surrender. Enlightenment is not mysterious or magical. It is not something that cannot be communicated. It is simply, at least for me and for now and for here, joyous surrender.
Surrender. Wu wei. Going with the flow. Gently down the stream. Listening not speaking. Being not doing. Believing not fearing. Breathing not acting.
Joyous. True. Real. Eternal. Courageous. Original. Intended. Childlike. Effortless. Sustainable. Shareable. Birth. Doing unto others. Outwardly looking. Compassionate.
We all experience enlightenment. The questions are “do we recognize it?”, “do we want to recognize it?”, “how often do we move into enlightenment?”, “are there reasons that sometimes some of us cannot or choose not to move into enlightenment?”.
Part of the problem is that we have devalued many words while dangerously emboldened others. Do we really love our favorite baseball team? How often are any of us really “starving”. In my entire adult life I can with great gratitude say that I have gone to bed hungry exactly once, and that was because I was fortunate enough to be visiting a new country but unfortunate enough to have arrived with no local currency after the restaurants had closed for the evening. Do we really understand what perfect is…we sure seem to attribute it to many things each day?
Don’t be afraid of experiencing enlightenment! Don’t be afraid of being complete, even if only for a moment. We Have all felt that little tingle, that smiling feeling like we really get “it” if only for a fleeting moment. Sure you have, I know it.
We just don’t recognize it. We may be afraid of it. We may be too whetted to being the unhappy pawn in our own self imposed miserable or victimized or incomplete narrative. We are so conditioned to believe that happiness and worth and understanding are reserved for some while doubt and fear and want are available to us all.
Go outside (without any electronics!) Sit quietly in a quietish place. Just be there. Surrender to yourself and to life and wind and water. Truly empty yourself and see what happens. Let the birds and brooks and rustling leaves replace the deadlines and ideas of leaves and birds and even brooks.
“In the moment” “in the zone” this is enlightenment. Soulmates and purpose are enlightenment. Sunsets that cause us to stop are offering us enlightenment. We do not need to be afraid of it or of losing it. It cannot be put into a bottle and saved for later, it needs to be calmly walked over towards another sentient being (or maybe a mountain?) and joyously given away. This will strengthen it in us.
The universe is comprised of virtually nothing but enlightenment. It is all around us, we breath it in and even expel it from our bodies. It is what comprises our souls and bodies and all things we move through. It is just there begging silently for us to surrender into it. To give and give in and give away.
Enlightenment, love, compassion, purpose, peace, faith, God, giving, receiving….you say tomato I say to-ma-to.
