Enlightenment occurs when we discover and recognize something that is more important. When you awaken to something that has infinitely greater spiritual, moral, and philosophical value than your personal problems, when you discover a higher perspective that is inherently more meaningful than the woes of your wounded self, those problems and woes won’t necessarily disappear, but they suddenly appear to be dramatically less important. Now, in a deep and profound and significant way, you are just not as interested in that personal world any more. And that’s how you find liberation. It’s not because you work through your psychological problems; it’s because you begin to lose interest in them. The discovery of that which is higher is the secret to becoming a dignified, self-respecting, caring, and spiritually liberated human being, right now.
~ Andrew Cohen
These demons of our own egos will start to fade and disappear the same moment we won't share our attention to them.
ReplyDeletePerhaps someone would ask: which one is the cause and which one is the result - do the ego-demons fade because we have guided our attention towards deeper meaning - OR - are we able to turn our attention to deeper meaning because we have been able to conquer the demons of our ego (the Legion)?
I feel that in the past five or six years I have gradually become more and more enlightened. I know I am not fully enlightened, but I notice a difference between where I was back then and where I am now. My personal problems back then were like big dramas that I was participating in without knowing. My spiritual journey has helped a lot since I first began. All we can do is grow.
ReplyDeleteOne other thing - I used to think that to be enlightened meant one is perfect. Now I don't think that is completely true. It is human to make mistakes. An enlightened person learns from their mistakes, though.