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