Enlightenment
The presence of suffering in the world is hardly a new phenomenon. But the presence of suffering in a world with so much material wealth and comforts should, for the thinking person, raise serious questions about the nature of human existence.
Why is it that in a world containing so much — be it technology, sensory stimulation, and even basics such as food — people are still unhappy? What is it that prevents a genuine and lasting sense of happiness from carrying over moment to moment, from resonating in the background of experience like harmony within the choir?
Thousands of years ago, people such as the Buddha taught that achieving a lasting sense of happiness required a reexamination of the assumptions people carry with them about the important things in life. By letting go of things that bring us suffering — unneeded desires, negative emotions, unrealistic or unnecessary expectations — the Buddha and others taught that any person could begin a journey of spiritual discovery which would lead to a powerful state of freedom: the state known as enlightenment.
In today’s world, a world dominated by science, spiritual questions such as these are routinely discarded or ignored. Much of this is a reaction to any form of “religious” thought — religion being associated with the anti-science position of the Western Christian churches — but a lot of this comes from the belief that the realm of the spirit is no longer relevant in a modern consumer capitalist society. After all, this is a world where people now obtain pharmaceuticals when they feel anxious or depressed, instead of chanting Sanskrit verses.
On the other hand, the world continues to suffer in a variety of forms. And there continues to be a desire on the part of millions of people to seek deeper meaning to their lives. It would be easy to label these millions of people as simply deluded; but it would be far more honest to acknowledge these spiritual urges — urges that have existed for thousands of years — and contemplate both their source and potential satisfaction.
In fact, the quest for spiritual meaning and purpose is more necessary than ever before. We are more atomized, more alienated, and more separated from the Earth and from one another than at any other time in human history. We see less of each other with less frequency and, more often than not, only in electronic form such as over the computer or cell phone. We have little to no connection with the food that we purchase, the clothes that we wear, the shelters we call our homes, and the people we call our neighbors. What we call “the family” is little more than a group of strangers who share only their genes and little else; what we call “the community” is simply a patchwork of neighborhoods dominated by parochial, corporate, or political interest.
If we have stayed sane in this environment, it is because we are better medicated, better entertained, and better controlled than our ancestors. But let us be clear: our world today, a world of technology and corporate domination, of the harsh individualism created by consumer culture — this world has not relieved a single person on this Earth from their need for peace of mind. It has only increased this desire, sharpened it, and caused people infinitely deeper levels of psychic pain and discomfort that they are hard pressed to even identity, let alone acknowledge.
And so, today, we continue to suffer. But there are real answers out there, answers predicated on thousands of years of spiritual research done by great teachers in almost every religion. The specific doctrines vary based on the location and language of the teacher who brought the message, but the message has remained surprisingly consistent: seek freedom in all its forms; love yourself with all your might; and if you can, pass the message along to those who might benefit from hearing it. Three simple teachings that form the very essence of enlightenment.
Freedom, the first aspect of enlightenment. What does it mean to seek freedom? It means to look within and to confront the internal obstacles we put in place to our own happiness. Political freedom, marital freedom, spiritual freedom — in any forum, in any circumstance, those who are slaves must, in some form, consent to their slavery. This is a harsh but undeniable truth.
Today, we are the beneficiaries of thousands of years of struggle for the cause of freedom. Great strides have been made, but tremendous journeys still lie ahead. The frontier of freedom is vast, and we have only but traversed the gardens in front of the manor; we have yet to even leave the gate and venture outside.
Love, the second aspect of enlightenment — love of oneself first. All too often, in every country, in every language, people seek the love they crave from the arms of another person. But they refuse to vibrate that love for themselves. This is a great tragedy, because happiness cannot exist without love. Happiness is the fragrance, but love is the flower: the flower must bloom, and then happiness is the result.
Pass it along — the third aspect of enlightenment. It is the third aspect because it reminds all seekers of harmony that all things in this universe are interrelated, and that every individual piece of sentience contains a divine strand of the universe that resonates at the same frequency as the cosmic whole. Just as a wave of the ocean is both separate as well as completely part of that same ocean, and resonates with that ocean, so too is every person distinct yet fully a part of the universe around him. It is an acknowledgment of that all-too-forgotten idea that we march in solidarity with one another; that enlightenment is the birthright of all humans, and where it can be shared, and taught, without too much trouble to the teacher (see the second aspect on self-love), then it should be divulged as best as can be described.
What is enlightenment? Enlightenment, at heart, is the recognition that the presence of the entire universe is both contained and controlled by the vibrations of any single person — the vibrations of their thoughts, their desires, and their hopes and fears. Vibrate fear, and the universe will give you things to fear. Vibrate greed, and the universe will give you things to be greedy about. Vibrate hate, and the universe will give you things to hate.
But this is only half the story. Vibrate love — the strength of self-love that comes from taming one’s fears, calming one’s anger, and relinquishing negative emotions — and the universe will be at your beck and call. What the Buddha taught, what Mahavira taught, what Jesus taught, what every great Master has taught, is this simple truth: love is the key to real happiness in this existence. It is the universal vibration, the missing piece of Einstein’s field theory, and the unifying thread to every force of Nature. Vibrate love, and the universe will give you things to love, and things to cherish, and opportunities for happiness, compassion, and peace of mind.
These teachings cannot be bought or sold, nor can they be programmed into a computer. The sentience in our souls cannot be replicated: peace of mind cannot be invented. Enlightenment is the birthright of all humans — eventual and unstoppable. But it cannot happen on its own. All of us have much to learn while we live out the moments of our lives, but there is nothing more beautiful than the understanding that every trial, every tribulation, every challenge we have ever faced, every moment of suffering, every dark cloud that has ever blocked even one ray of sunshine — all of these things are nothing more than stepping stones to our deeper understanding of the universe, a greater capacity for love, and a widening of our conceptions of freedom: the promise and preparation of enlightenment.
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