Anyone who would be enlightened has to go through the self-realization process.
Q. What is the self-realization process, can it be described?
To realize something is to have the direct experience of it. For example you don’t believe that you can think, you know that you can think because you have the direct experience of thinking. If it is raining outside then you don’t believe it is raining do you, you know through direct experience whether it is raining or not, yes?
What is it to realize self then? It is to have the direct experience of what ‘self’ is, not partially, certainly not as a belief or an opinion, but in its entirety, with no stone left unturned. But how?
At this point, it is important to understand that within you now there is a real ‘I’ and a false I.
The false I is simply everything you think you are, but are not. Whatever you now think you are is not what you are, it is not your state of truth-reality-integrity. Only when you no longer think will you have the direct perception of what you are. That is incredibly difficult for the thinking mind to accept. Why? Because the thinking mind wants to remain in the dominant position that it presently holds over you. It does not want you to regain your power.
The real ‘I’ is what has to be real-i-zed. Do you see the words real and I within the word realize, yes? You have to discover and have the direct experience of the real ‘I’ within you, but in order to do that you must be willing to become aware of the false I, which is everything you presently think of as yourself.
I am speaking of self-knowledge now. To know thyself in totality is a mighty task to undertake, it is not for those who just want to dabble in it. It requires dedication and a desire to discover the truth of yourself above and beyond all else in your life. Anything less will get you nowhere, except more belief and opinion, which the enlightened mind has moved beyond.
What would you give up in your life in order that you might experience the enlightened state? Would you be willing to give up everything you personally love and are attached to in order that you might be free? Can you start now by surrendering, which means giving up, your attitudes, beliefs and opinions? What else is there to surrender? Surrender is simply the giving up of all that is false within you so that you can experience the enlightened state of being.
The enlightened mind does not believe in anything. It does not have an opinion. It knows. It knows through its very state of being everything it needs to know on a moment to moment basis. But that is all it knows. What it doesn’t need to know right now with regard to any aspect of its life [and especially with regard to the man made world], the enlightened mind is content not to know. The enlightened mind rests assured that when it needs to know something, that knowledge is provided in the moment of need. If something is needed for its existential survival, that need is fulfilled. Nothing is lacking, even though to the unenlightened mind, which is looking at the enlightened mind from its position of conditioned ignorance, that might not appear to be so!
Q. What is the relationship between enlightenment, self-realization and self- knowledge?
Enlightenment is a state of being. You could say it is the end state, one might think that it is the goal or aim of the spiritual journey, for want of a better description. Paradoxically there is no goal, except to simply be in the enlightened state, which already exists within you. In other words enlightenment is within you now, but it is hidden beneath a layer of ignorance. That layer of ignorance is everything you think you are, but are not. It is your conditioned past, the thinking personality you call yourself.
So, the aim is to realize the enlightened state. The enlightened state is the real ‘I’, or what ‘I’ the reader, really am.
The self-realization process is the perceived journey from the unenlightened condition to the enlightened state. It is a process of discovering who and what you are not and dropping that ignorance or past conditioning from your mind and psyche. Simultaneously you are realizing who and what you really are, all of which is self-knowledge, the art of knowing thyself. Through this whole process there is nothing to believe in. In fact all belief and opinion is gradually dissolved and removed from the individual man or woman’s mind/psyche. Eventually all that remains is the enlightened state of being, which is A Greater State of Truth, Reality and Integrity than you can possibly think you are.
My next post will be looking at the world of opinion and belief.
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