Spirituality--What You Need to Know About Enlightenment

Across the globe, it’s very common for
spiritual seekers of all types to believe
that enlightenment is something that
you find through painstaking searching
and sacrifice.

Tales of magicians and gurus in distant
lands such as Tibet and India entice
aspirants to travel abroad for a glimpse
of enlightenment.

These beliefs appear to have formed
largely due to what we believe to be a
corruption of mysticism, an unhealthy
emphasis on escapism and fantasy
instead of authentic spirituality.

Contrary to popular New Age thought,
our findings show that becoming
enlightened mostly involves giving up
suffering, though not how you may
think.

Surrender your need to be attached
to your conscious mind--your non-stop
thinking mind. The root of your misery
is the attachment to the collection of all
your fears, defenses, expectations,
ego-self demands, worries, dramas,
and other mental constructs.

Seekers are dismayed they don’t find
enlightenment in exotic locals and they
may be shocked to realize that it can be
found in their own living-room, sitting
quietly by themselves.

They may be even more shocked that
some of the most enlightened people
they will ever find are not in the New
Age movement. They are the everyday
types you find in all walks of life: taxi
drivers, wait-staff, artists, business
owners, construction workers, pilots,
housekeepers, and others (but usually
not politicians!)

Enlightenment is simply absolute
detachment from your conscious mind,
accessing your higher-self (or “God-self, ”
or “God,” etc.). Therefore, enlightenment
doesn’t really exist. It’s an absence, not
something to acquire.

It’s the opposite of monkey-mind, when
your mind is racing and obsessing over
things, and a peaceful state of mind
seems light-years away.

Meditation is one way to “become
enlightened.” We can assure you, if you
haven’t already found out, that
meditation takes practice and discipline
and you won’t get the hang of it or in the
healthy habit of doing it regularly after
just a few sessions. Your subconscious
mind will resist it at every turn in the
beginning. It’s your mind’s way of
attempting to maintain control, to keep
you in the monkey-mind mode. But
once you get in the habit of regular
mediation, detaching from mind-
chatter becomes easier.

Directing your focus toward one single
thing exclusively for at least 20 minutes
(much easier said than done), such as
your breathing, or the terrain in front
of you as you walk, instead of your
thoughts, is what meditation is all
about. It is also, with practice, one
sure way to become enlightened. The
more detached you are from your
mundane mind, the closer you are to
your true spiritual self.

By the way, one sure way you can tell
if you are still chained to your thoughts
is if you are actively passing judgment--
judging your experience (instead of
simply experiencing it), yourself, or
other people, for example.

We also believe that the closer you are
to a consistent state of enlightenment,
the more you realize that you can’t
avoid negative thoughts, such as
annoyance at a rude individual sitting
next to you on an airplane, but you
certainly can detach from those types
of thoughts on your way to a more
blissful mindset. Your mind will react
the way it will react and the best you
can do is acknowledge it, while
distancing yourself from it.

It’s okay to have believed the falsehood
about enlightenment being something
that you discover, like the pot of gold at
the end of a rainbow. But now you
should act on the truth--that
enlightenment is simply a lack of
attachment to the constant dialog in
your mind. Start detaching from your
mind now to improve your life.

Copyright © Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo