Are You Enlightened But You Just Don't Know It?

If you're an avid student of New Age spirituality, you will
doubtless have come across the notion that you are "already
enlightened", but you just don't know it?…

Well, I'm here to give you a wake up call. Sorry, but it isn't
true. The fact of the matter is that despite what your favorite
famous New Age guru may tell you, I'm not enlightened and, based
on the laws of probability, neither are you.

Now, if I just rained on your parade, or otherwise ruined your
day by telling you that, I apologize. However, the truth is
always better than some made-up fantasy.

Think about it for a moment…

If it was really this easy, then what have all the Buddhist monks
throughout countless millennia been wasting their time doing?
Why are they giving up their worldly careers, their homes, their
families, and secluding themselves in a life of constant
self-examination; studying endless scriptures, meditating for
many hours a day? Why would there even BE a Buddha in the first
place, if it was just as easy as reading the latest $9 self-help
book from the latest reformed drug/alcohol addict
psychotherapeutic self-help spiritual author?

Sorry. Enlightenment just doesn't just come for the asking. I'm
going with the Dalai Lama on this one when he says meditating for
20 minutes a day during teabreaks won't cut it, and that
achieving Enlightenment is a DIFFICULT thing that takes constant
mindful effort. I'm going with Dick Sutphen who says that
although he's met just about everybody in the spiritual self-help
movement, he hasn't met a single person whom he would call
enlightened.

So how could people get it so wrong? How could we have been
persuaded that Enlightenment is so "easy"? There are several
levels to this.

The first is that people always want the quick and easy answer,
and they will flock to anyone who will give it to them. This is a
well known psychological fact in Copywriting and Marketing.
Skilled advertisers exploit it all the time. Use words like
"quickly" and "easily" and it will increase sales. Guaranteed.

People in America in particular, and throughout the Western world
in general, always want the "magic pill". They want to be
writers, but they really don't want to do the hard work of
actually writing: they want to "have written". When it comes to
Enlightenment, they don't want the hard work and effort
necessary. They want the latest magic pill.

But hey! I've got something even better for you. Guess what? You
don't even have to take the pill. You're "already enlightened",
but you just don't know it yet!

The second aspect to this confusion is that it IS actually true
that the seed of Enlightenment dwells within us all. It just
needs constant watering to bring it to full fruition. If this
were not so, then Enlightenment would have to be something
totally "other" than us: something that invades us one day from
the outside and takes over. However, it isn't. It is within us in
dormant form and is our very nature. It is the task of Buddhism
and other profound spiritual systems to progressively clear away
the debris of ignorance, wrong thinking, and wrong living that
keeps it from blooming fully within us.

That is certainly true. However, from a practical standpoint, it
is completely useless to know this merely intellectually. The key
is to make this come alive, and THAT takes work. It may be the
work of a lifetime and, more likely, many lifetimes. Buddhism
teaches that many Buddhas made the vow to achieve Enlightenment
countless MILLIONS of lifetimes before they actually achieved it!

Hence, to mistake the essence of Enlightenment, which we all
possess within ourselves, as being equal to full Enlightenment is
a very big mistake indeed. The human body is about 75% water,
but just try drinking your mother's cheek instead of kissing it.
Matter is 99.9999% empty space, but just try walking THROUGH your
front door instead of opening it first!

It's the same with Enlightenment. It may be your very essence,
but it is useless to merely know this superficially. Facts may be
facts. However, an intellectual truth is not the same as the
practical realization of that truth. Similarly, the essence of
Enlightenment may live deep down within you, obscured by
ignorance and delusion. However, just because that is the case,
it is still a huge error to then claim that you are "already
enlightened".

So why do many of the leading New Age spiritual teachers maintain
this position? Well, there is an amazing superficiality in the
West, and this sort of philosophy caters to it. Indeed, it is
actually another example of it. People don't want to have to give
up anything. They don't want to make any sacrifices. They don't
want to hear about hard work. They want to have their cake AND
eat it. They want to "have it all". They want to be "already
enlightened", and just "not know it". How lovely!

If you tell them it's easy, you will get rich and successful. If
you tell them it's hard, you won't. Does that sound cynical?
Maybe it is. But just imagine the cynicism of telling people the
job is already done, when it has not even begun! It seems that
the Buddha really did not have to leave his royal palace and
spend years in hardship seeking the truth, as well as countless
days and nights under the Bodhi tree in the depths of meditation.
He could have just remained in his palace, enjoying himself, and
read a $10 self-help book by a johnny-come-lately author. Then he
could "have it all".

We are all so easily deceived in the West, because there is such
an enormous spiritual void. People want fast and easy answers;
spiritual "fast food". They want to be told what they already
want to hear, and there is no shortage of people prepared to do
just that.

By a Darwinian selection process, these people rise to the top of
the self-help market because they are giving it what it wants to
hear. The people who are perhaps more realistic about
Enlightenment, and what it takes, are rather less popular. Their
books go out of print due to lack of demand, or get filed under
"Buddhism", or else you'll find them tucked away and gathering
dust at the back of the shop, at the bottom of a pile of equally
unpopular items.

The fact is that if you wish to make progress at anything,
spirituality included, you're going to have to do something
highly unpopular…

You're going to have to WORK at it and keep working at it. You're
going to have to make some hard choices about how you spend your
time, and your life. You're going to have to get SERIOUS. And
when I say "you", I am talking about me too.

But if you think you're "already enlightened" and there's nothing
more to do, good luck! Enjoy yourself. Chances are though that
next time around….

You'll be reborn as a bed bug!

Copyright Asoka Selvarajah 2005. All Rights Reserved.

Asoka Selvarajah is a writer on personal growth and spirituality, and the author of "The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your Higher Self". His work helps people achieve their full potential, deepen their understanding of mystical truth, and discover their soul's purpose. You can subscribe to his FREE ezine, and get his FREE ebook "Inner Light Outer Wealth" at:
http://www.aksworld.com/AspireToWisdom.htm?imk=Blog

You have permission to reproduce this article in your ezine, website or offline publication as long as you do so in its entirety, and include both the copyright notice and the resource box at the bottom.