Enlightenment is not a remote state of Consciousness that we need to achieve some time in the future, but it is the very heart of our nature; our true, inner nature. Unfortunately, during our spiritual search, most of us have been alienated from it, so much so that we have even forgotten about it. It is, however, permanently present in our life, but we simply disregard it. Our attention is always engaged by something — distractions, obligations — so we very rarely take the trouble of looking into our self.
Still, if we were able to concentrate our attention on our self, that brief moment of alert Consciousness is enough for us to recognize that the alert Consciousness, free of emotions and thoughts is our true inner nature. In the state of alert Consciousness, thoughts no longer keep our attention in captivity, and we may experience silence.
Then, in alert silence, we recognize the following truths:
1. We experienced the nature of desires, the constant variability of the world of shapes and forms, where nothing is lasting, everything is dialectical, changeable. We is able to abandon its desires and ambitions.
2. We wake up from the hypnotic spell of our personal history. We no longer believe in what we have firmly regarded as our own personal history. This experience may lead us to the point of questioning the truth of what we believed to be true in connection with ourselves.
3. When we wake up from the sleep of personal identity we recognize that we are the free space of Consciousness. We are not identical with the shapes and forms appearing in this space, but we are the space itself, the space that enables the forms and shapes to appear and that keeps the forms and shapes alive.
4. Our internal development therefore does not only depend on our life experience; it depends much more on our ability to divert our attention from the outside world to our internal world. Are we able to turn away from the patterns of Mind, programmed by our Egos, and is there a deep desire to know the true answer to the question ”Who am I?”
5. Real self-control is not born in us out of suppression, but out of the recognition and understanding of the meaning of Life. That kind of self-control will liberate our Consciousness from the state of identification with the world of Shapes and Forms. It will create a space between us and the functions of the Mind, and in that space the ability of seeing and understanding will be born.
6. We are able to recognize the basically dual nature of existence, the fact that happiness is rooted in unhappiness, shall our inner freedom enable us to say yes with pleasure to the things that are happening to us.
7. At present, the program of our internal expectations have already been dissolved, and we no longer identify with our expectations of the other people.
8. We are now aware that our sufferings are in fact our helpers and they may accelerate the process through which the Consciousness wakes up in the body we formerly and mistakenly considered our own
9. We shall readily accept anything and everything the moment brings to us, let it be joy or sorrow, because we will be fully aware that all these are parts of the same game.
10. Everything created for us by others is transitory, but what we create for ourselves will be lasting and permanent.
11. Everybody must find himself or herself what he or she is looking for.
12. Enlightenment is us, we ourselves.
This article is excerpted from the book, Ego, Alertness, Consciousness: The Path to Your Spiritual Home by Frank M. Wanderer.
Ego – Alertness – Consciousness: The Path to Your Spiritual Home
Frank M. Wanderer Ph.D is a professor of psychology, consciousness researcher and writer with a lifelong interest in the mystery of human existence. His work is to help others to wake up from identification with personal history, the illusory world of forms and shapes, and to find their true Self in Consciousness.
In his new book, Ego – Alertness – Consciousness: The Path to Your Spiritual Home, Frank shares his insight on 3 distinct stages in the evolution of the human spirit, and as we evolve beyond the workings of the unconscious mind.
“The truth is that we are the incarnation of Life, we are born into this world as a result of a miracle, and later we are lost amidst the multitude of teachings and dogmas. We identify with our beliefs and we forget who we really are: the pure, unconditioned consciousness. This is the essence of Frank M. Wanderer’s teaching.” ~ Ervin K. Kery, publisher
About the Author
Frank M. Wanderer, Ph.D is a professor of psychology, a consciousness researcher and writer. With a lifelong interest in the mystery of human existence, Frank’s work is to help others wake up from identification with our personal history and the illusory world of the forms and shapes, and to find our identity in what he calls “the Miracle”, the mystery of the Consciousness.
Source: The Power of Consciousness