Enlightenment is Not...

Enlightenment is NOT the development of psychic abilities, is not astral travelling, is not channeling entities, is not a temporary trance state, is not an artificially induced altered state of consciousness, it has nothing to do with "new age" anything, it doesn't involve the past or the future, it doesn't belong to any one specific religion, it doesn't involve conspiracy theories, it has nothing to do with UFO's or aliens, it doesn't involve so-called "ascended masters", it doesn't involve playing with the law of attraction (karma), it doesn't involve visualization, it has nothing to do with vibrations or energy, it has nothing to do with science, it doesn't involve sex (tantra), it has nothing to do with crystals, colors, or vortexes, and it certainly doesn't involve codes, mysteries, or "secrets" of ANY kind. The surreal is not real. There's a reason that Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Plotinus, Lao Tzu, Muhammad, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargardatta Maharaj, Meister Eckhart, and many Zen Masters never taught any of these things. Some of these things are outright false and harmful, others are just simply irrelevant to personal growth, and some of these are quite beneficial to the average person, but when it comes down to Enlightenment, every last bit of everything needs to be un-learned and let go of.

Reality (Awareness) with a captial "R" has no shape or form whatsoever, and is beyond ALL intellectual concepts. The real Truth is eternal and changeless. It has always been relevant, and it always will be. Real spirituality involves bettering ONSESELF by ways of selflessness/Love and higher levels of awareness/truth that help us LET GO of concepts and thoughts because it's concepts and thoughts that obstruct peace (of mind). Spirituality is not the introduction of even more concepts, unless those concepts help us let go of concepts. Peace of mind is silence of mind. Which means that thoughts, thinking, perceptions, views, attitudes, emotions, concepts, opinions, beliefs, and attachments are the source of suffering. Many people say "I wouldn't want to live life without my emotions or thinking" (and that's okay if it's okay with them), but they don't realize that's the ego/mind talking, and if one were even for a brief moment to personally experience exquisite, ineffable, and profound Peace/Silence, one would certainly no longer hold that point of view.

"The less one thinks the more delightful life becomes." - David Hawkins

Enlightenment Is...

To clear matters up, we're just going to spell it out in a very simple, clear, and lucid manner. Enlightenment is.. the PERMANENT dissolvement/cessation of ALL thoughts, thinking, concepts, and emotions of the ego/mind. In case you missed it, the key words there are "permanent" and "all". :) Enlightenment is the ceasing of all concepts, all notions, all ideas, all symbols, all words, all intellectualizing, all emotions, all thoughts, and all thinking. In order to let all of them go, one must be fully aware of them, and one must be watching them rather than being identified with them. When you watch them non-judgementally and without words or emotions, they dissipate into nothingness. When you watch them, you are Awareness, not the mind, and when you are wholly and completely Awareness, the very energy behind thinking is let go of.

How Enlightenment Happens

Just how does Enlightenment, Self-Realization, No-Mind, Liberation happen?

Lao Tzu's famous poetic Tao Te Ching starts with the words "A way that can be walked is not The Way."
Realize that it has nothing to do with the intellect or scientific proof, but that of firsthand experiential verification.
Realize that to truly know, rather than knowing ABOUT, involves BEING that which is to be known.
Realize that the truth doesn't need the approval of the human ego in order to be truth. Absolute Truth already is what it is. It can't be created by the mind.
Realize that because of karma and Free Will, EVERYTHING is perfect as it is, despite all the prevalent negativities in the world.
Realize that everyone is simply being the level of "truth" that they are currently aware of, and that the truth is only for those who want it.
Realize that people can't help being that which they are. "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."
In The Words of Gandhi, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world", and "..lose yourself in the service of others".
Realize that because everybody and everything is One, we change the world in far greater unseen ways as a result of what we ARE, compared to what we do.
Realize that separation, duality, polarity and opposites do not actually exist. All is One, which is Self, which just Is.
Realize that there is no duality of "love" and "evil". There are only varying degrees of the absence of Love/Truth.
Realize that space, distance, form, and time are ILLUSIONS created by LIMITED physical senses and ways of thinking.
Realize that the physical body, and the AUTOMATIC random repetitive thoughts of the mind, are not the real "me" at all.
Realize that you are the Awareness that is aware of the mind and its comings and goings. The more it's watched, the more it disappears.
Realize that everything and everyone is One. The observer and the observed are One. The knower and the known are One.
A Course in Miracles says "...you both HAVE everything and ARE everything."
Realize that there is no duality, no opposites, and no polarity. Nothing can exist outside of Existence, otherwise it wouldn't exist.
Realize that even what the mind conceives and conceptualizes as being "nothing", Void, Unmanifest, or Formlessness, is still within Existence.
In the highly evolved The Zen Teaching of Huang Po on the
Transmission of Mind, it says "It is an existence which is no existence, a non-existence which is nevertheless existence. So this true Void does in some marvelous way 'exist'."
Realize that there can only be varying degrees of things within Existence, like degrees on a thermometer.
Realize that there is no individuality; no "you", "me", "this", "that", "here", "there", "inner", "outer", etc.
Realize that there is no individual "me", "myself", "mine", or "I".
Realize that there is no "doer" doing anything, because that would imply there is an "individual" to do something.
Realize that since All is One, there can be no "other", which means All is Self, or All is I.
Realize that Enlightenment happens by ITSELF when the little self is left to fall away like a disrobed peice of clothing.
Realize that there is absolutely NOTHING to be gotten, grasped, gained, obtained, or attained because The Absolute/Self/Buddha/God already Is.
Realize that Awareness, Consciousness, and Knowing don't require words, concepts, thoughts or thinking.
Realize that EVERYTHING is an irrelevant concept. All thought and thinking is essentially worthless.
It's really just as "simple" as losing interest in all thought and thinking, right now, and not identifying thoughts as "me", right now.
Realize that without the ego/mind interfering, everything just IS. Nothing more, nothing less. All perceptions, views, opinions, beliefs, likes, and dislikes are irrelevant.
Realize that The Absolute is not subject to change, and even "Is" is an irrelevant concept.
Realize all of this... but not with words and concepts. Just let go.

Ramana Maharshi says that "There will come a time when one will have to forget all that has been learned." and Nisargadatta Maharaj explains that "When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you want nothing, seek nothing, expect nothing, then the Supreme State will come to you uninvited and unexpected."

What is Enlightenment?

What EXACTLY is Enlightenment, Self-Realization, No-Mind, Liberation, and why do we want it?

It's the complete and permanent dissolvement/cessation of all concepts, thoughts, and thinking of the ego/mind.
It's the letting go of the very energy behind thoughts and thinking.
It's the actual death of the thinking process of the mind. The individual's self/ego/I literally dies. What you currently consider to be "me", dies, and is no more.
The ego/mind fears that life/existence will end when IT comes to an end, but this isn't true.
It's the realization of what one already is, always was, and always will be, which is changeless and unlimited.
It's the realization of Self as All of Existence, which is Pure Awareness, which is beyond all form, shape, dimension, time, concepts, and the physicality of this world.
It's simply the letting go of the emotions, thoughts, and thinking that mask and stand in the way of the Infinite Intuitive Knowingness and Awareness of Absolute Truth.
It's for those who seek absolute and permanent completion, wholeness, perfection, freedom, peace, happiness, joy, bliss, etc.
It's a profound ineffable love, peace, stillness, and silence beyond bliss and ecstasy, which is well beyond words and description.
It's an innate knowingness of the truths of the universe, because if "one" is Everything, then naturally, "one" knows everything.
It precludes individual will, intentions, desires, wants, "needs", emotions, personality, thoughts, ideas, concepts, and thinking.
It's not the denial of will. It's for those who wish to serve the world/universe in the highest possible way, whatever that may happen to be, in this very moment, right now.
It's for those who want to let go of the little self; the me, myself & I, which is the source of all problems and suffering.

Purposefully creating worldly "success" with thought (the law of attraction) is one goal, while moving beyond thought totally is a different goal altogether. One helps us cope with this physical world, while the other takes us beyond it forever (no more reincarnation). One perpetuates individual karma (positive & negative), while the other frees us of it permanently. "The truth shall set you free."

Some people believe various psychic abilities, siddhis, and occult powers are "spiritual", but the truly Enlightened, such as Ramana Maharshi, warn otherwise and say "Forget about siddhis. They are all manifestations of the duality, therefore illusory. Do not seek them. It's immaterial to spiritual realization. Find out who you are."