Enlightenment Re: Post #766
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We must be very careful about the difference between growth and "parlor tricks". The East Indians make it very clear that "out of body", bi-locating, levitation, etc. are only parlor tricks. They argue that if you don't know what you're doing in one place what's the point of not knowing what to do in 2 places or while floating on the ceiling. Our purpose is to find our obedience, and because of that learn moral certainty. None of this has anything to do with enlightenment. Moral certainty applies only to one individual at a time and only to the exact moment of application. Moral certainty isn't true one moment from now and doesn't apply to anyone else at any time. Enlightenment is defined as “spiritual understanding” and further as “critical examination of previously accepted doctrines and institutions from the point of view of rationalism”. Both understanding and rationalism are functions of the ego. We must make up our minds. Do we want to understand or do we want to grow? Enlightenment is another parlor trick of the mind to keep us diverted from pursuing obedience that will yield the moral certainty that brings our destiny, purpose and happiness. We can invest our lives to die smart or die happy and fulfilled. Which pursuit is a choice. Disappearing and appearing at will, and enlightenment are both futile activities. Nothing personal is gained from them and, at best, they are merely egotistic methods to impress. Only others suffering under the same delusion of their importance can be impressed. Those in earnest pursuit of spiritual growth will notice only that you’ve “missed the bus’ while becoming a spiritual “understander” who can disappear at will. All of these things are the fodder of philosophers. The content and understanding is useful only if you are planning on becoming a philosopher who must quote other philosophers to be taken seriously as one. It gets back to understanding, which serves no purpose, except to teach another or document what is already known. Learning occurs from listening to various points of view. I encourage everyone to expose themselves to as many diverse views as possible. But it serves us no purpose to understand or analyze any of them. Each will either ring true or it won’t. The points of view that are true for us personally will resonate. That’s how the spirit works. Let all the other opinions simply pass through us. Further, the ones that do resonate will only resonate at the right time in our lives when we have the appropriate collection of beliefs in place. The belief, in and of itself, has no value. Belief is a framework for experience, and experience, through obedience, alone leads us to moral certainty. Our pursuit is not Truth but it is moral certainty. Everything else is noise. The ego feels very satisfied when we think we have won a logical argument. We feel we’re “right” when we don’t accept another’s point of view and consider that a “win”. Rejecting opposing opinions is very satisfying and vindicating, but serves no personal purpose. Just because a truth doesn’t resonate for us doesn’t mean that it isn’t legitimate and true for someone else. Once we have found our own personal purpose, we may want to share what we learned to encourage others toward an easier path than the one we took. When our own initial search and development is complete, the drive to share is probably the feeling referred to as enlightenment. Like so many things in life, however, if enlightenment is what we seek, we’ll be denied. When we don’t care about being enlightened, and only want to do what we were designed to do, then we’ll acquire the enlightenment we’re indifferent to having. Life is full of such irony. It is best, however, to smile and recognize the irony, rather than wasting energy trying to defeat it. Life is an adventure that we are designed to enjoy. Whether we do or not is determined by whether or not we’re willing to accept our current experiences or are simply becoming frustrated that we haven’t been dealt a different set of circumstances, including additional understanding. Cherish what we have been dealt. Many of you already know that I believe we ordered exactly what we are being dealt. Our life is the perfect opportunity we need to grow into the happiness we deserve and are designed to have. Leave enlightenment to those who want to glow in the dark. We’ve got better things to do. SlaveMaster
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