Enlightenment Q & A . . . Day One.

Enlightenment
Questions and Answers.

Q. What is enlightenment?

“Enlightenment is a state of perception beyond the thinking mind, and it is free of all psychological and emotional unhappiness. It is a completely non-problematic state of being beyond the thinking mind.”


Many people think that enlightenment is a very distant and mysterious or even mystical subject, but in my experience it is a very practical state of being. It is a mystical state in the sense that it is beyond the normal level of everyday experience, but it is not unattainable. Why do I say that it is not unattainable? Because many people have had, and are having, the direct experience of this state in their everyday lives right now. Also, I speak from experience on the subject of enlightenment, even if I have my limitations, like not being able to walk on water or heal the sick . . and not being seemingly perfect to the normal conditioned mind, which is itself imperfect! I am however free of unhappiness, which means that I don't hold onto the last moment and turn it into an excuse for me to be unhappy now. I do live in a state of pure and clear perception in which there are no more psychological and emotional problems being created in my life. I let go of yesterday and the last moment and live in this moment, the here and now, free of conditioning or problematic living. And I can tell you first hand, its a good place to be.

I am going to give you feedback from where I am, this place within each of us that is still and peaceful and yet simultaneously full of joy.

Enlightenment is a joyful and clear state of pure perception containing within it direct knowledge about life’s purpose and meaning, and as such it is a state of being which is free of fear, doubt and worry.

But is knowing the answer the same as being the answer? An interesting twist on the subject has arisen with this question.


Q. Is knowing what enlightenment is the same as being in the enlightened state?

Enlightenment is not a theory, it is a state of being, therefore one has to have the direct experience of the state before one can know it. Does that make sense? To me it makes complete sense because I have spent many years breaking down the psychological and emotional conditioning within the thinking mind. To another it may simply sound confusing, especially if they have never experienced a state of being beyond thought.

I had better expand on that.

Q. What is a state of being beyond thought?

It is a state that is centered in stillness. When the thinking mind it perfectly still, then, and only then, is a new state of 'being' realized.

You have to understand that the thinking mind is never still for long. It is always on the move. Thought is movement in the mind. When the mind is still there is no thought.

One has to have the realization, which is a direct experience, of a still mind before one can know what the still mind knows. Up to that point all that anyone has is an opinion born of a mind that has not been stilled!

Tomorrow and on a daily basis we will continue this Q&A process and discover where it takes us . . .

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Health Issues. Where do they fit in with Self-knowledge?

Tim asked a very interesting question on this blog recently with regard to health issues and self-knowledge:

"I have a question..... drum roll... how are common colds, coughs & minor yet annoyingly persistent illnesses associated with the negativity cultivated by the conditioned mind? Would it be idle speculation to draw a connection to a recent bout of 'observing' and the contraction of an upper respiratory infection (which is on its way out, at this time of ... *cough* *cough* ... where's the garlic pills?

Here is my reply:

Hi Tim, nice to have you join us and thanks for your recent comments. Right, you want an answer to a question that so many people have asked throughout time, help! My answer is simply a pointer to the solution, OK? “What YOU acknowledge is what you get in life.”
You want more right? Hmm, well I could expand but really you need to look within yourself, as you’re already doing . . I think you already have the answer within you, don’t you? It was said long ago that we become what we think about. Is that true in your experience Tim? A great man once said “As a man thinketh so is he” or some such . . So, are you responsible for all the good things in your life or not? When everything is going well don’t you want to take the credit . . And when things are not flowing so well and we have a cold because maybe (just maybe, perhaps) we have been lacking in integrity and/or honesty . . Is that a possibility? I’m not asking anyone to believe me here you know Tim, I wouldn’t want anyone to be so foolish, right . . I’m just asking the questions.

I used to be consistently ill and it was because I was NOT being true to life. I wasn't integrated whole and complete. The fact is I have very few colds and virus infections in my life now and I don’t accept that ‘germs’ are responsible for me getting them. I’m free of a believe system! If I did get a cold now I would be taking a very close look at my life to see in which area I wasn't being true, so that I could rectify it!! You want to know more? Anyway Tim, in my experience (not my belief), what you or I acknowledge is what we as individuals will manifest as our life experience. I could be wrong but I can explain the why and the how behind this great movement of life. Are you interested in asking the next question?

Now people, the next question is fairly obvious don't you think? If 'What I acknowledge is what I get in my life', then what makes this possible? The Why and How have to be explored . . . Yes?

Nothing is lacking . . .

Tim left this very interesting comment on my blog and I just wanted to take the time to reply, thank you Tim for participating.

"Thank you for this post, I've been hitting it every so often but never read right through (too busy working). Keep it up! :-)

I've been observing myself recently, and most of the time I observe my personality, nothing else. But the energy to consistently say, "thank you" (inside; for life), which I have maintained recently, indicates the presence of a higher level of being, because the sensation feels so disparate from what the personality would normally dwell on."

Hello again Tim, thanks for the comments, it's nice to know you enjoyed this particular post. I can see that you are serious about self-knowledge, it comes across in your comments and questions, so thank you for participating like this.

Self-observation tends to come in waves doesn't it? Sometimes we are really into it but then we find it hard work and we let it slide . . Hey, that’s OK, no problem, we all have to go through the process at our own speed . . And we all have to go to work and earn a living! I started out very young with meditation/self-observation, some start later and there is no good or bad about it, nothing to label as right or wrong.

I loved your comment about what the personality would normally dwell on. What would it normally dwell on? In my experience the personality dwells on fears, doubts and worries . . . Do you recognize that as the truth in your experience? Sure it enjoys all the good stuff but sooner or later it begins to dwell on the negative issues. . .


. . . and it does like to chatter on endlessly doesn't it?

Yes I agree, the state of being is quite different from the condition of the personality, being is ‘still’ and personality is constantly on the move as thought and emotion. And you used the word ‘sensation’ which is interesting. Are you a Barry Long fan? I ask because he used the word to describe the state of being, whereas I have noticed that most other teachers use the word ‘vibration’ when attempting to describe higher or deeper states of being. In my experience the state of being is a pure and clear ‘sensational-vibrational’ state. The impurity is thought and emotion, which creates a distortion in the psyche and brings with it a lack of clarity.

Gratitude is an important aspect of life. I thank life for all the small stuff everyday, not just the so called 'good' stuff Tim. I've had nothing in my life and through having nothing I discovered that I already had everything. Nothing is actually lacking . . In ’reality!’ The reality of ’being.’

OK, enough for now. Once again thank you for participating Tim, all the best . . .