Wordly enlightenment

Enlightenment is a difficult word, since it has so many different meanings. For some "enlightenment" is about a period of history, for others it's about spirituality.

I don't believe that we can actually say anything meaningful about spiritual enlightenment. But we can speak of a worldly enlightenment. Worldly enlightenment is about being aware of everything that happens in your mind and with your emotions.

Here's an example. You're driving to work, and when you arrive you realize that you can't remember anything from your drive. You know that you drove to work, but can't remember a single thing since you got into you car. When you arrive you 'wake up' and realize that you have been doing something without even being aware of it. That's enlightenment.

When you drove you weren't really aware. Your mind didn't really need the sense of YOU to drive to work, and since you had nothing to think about, your 'you' dissappeared. So, in some sense, you were taken over by processes in your mind and you lost your self to those processes.

The same happens when you get very excited. For instance, angry people are no longer aware of their anger. They ARE the anger and the anger is controlling them. They loose them selves to feelings.

At other times we even think we are aware when we really aren't aware. When you read a book or when you spend hours thinking about some issue, you forget yourself and you're not really present. You mind has gone to another place, and you forgot where you were.

So, being enlightened in the worldly sense is to be aware of all the things that you do, think and feel, while you do, think and feel them.

But, how aware or enlightened can we get? Is there an upper limit? The answer is yes, at least when it comes to worldly enlightenment. That limit is when you realize that the idea of who and what you are is a mental construct. That you actually create yourself in every moment. When you get to that kind of enlightenment, you're done, and you will have to work real hard to become  unenlightened again.


Before that upper-limit the benefits are huge. You will be able to register a lot more of reality in any given moment. You will realize what this particular moment can lead to, and you'll be able to 'spin' every moment towards what ever you want. It's a huge, huge difference. It's like being the best you can be, all the time, and not just in a few glorious moments in life.

Oh, one more thing: spiritual enlightenment is the only way to continue past the upper limits of worldly enlightenment. I will get back to spiritual enlightenment in a later post.

For now, just think about it: Can you be better than you are right now? If you don't think so, you're probably already enlightened or, more likely, in denial about your faults.

And here's a warning: Going for enlightement means that you will face every flaw, every fault and every mistake you ever made. But, in the end, there will be no flaws, faults or mistakes left. You will be in the moment, making informed decisions and you will know where that decision will lead.

It's simply a great way to live.
react to reactions in other people, that you weren't able