The Way of Enlightened Being

The way of enlightened being describes a way of living based on a web of a fairly small number of interconnected, self-evident truths about life and reality. To live in alignment with these truths is to live the way of Enlightened Being.

Life and Death
Fear and Love
Separation and Oneness
Lack and Abundance
Ego mind and divine mind
Judgment and Forgiveness
Error and Correction
Reaction and Creation
Conflict and Peace
Feelings and Thoughts
Students and Teachers

The Way of Enlightened Being for a Spiritual Warrior
Living Truths of Enlightened Being (self evident)
Vows of Enlightened Being (commitments)

Life and Death

Life is perpetually re-creating itself. I don’t believe that I am a body, nor a mind, nor that there is something personally identifiable as “me” (like a personal soul) that would survive my body’s death. However, there is some essence that I believe can reincarnate into life time after life time, and can have accumulated wisdom and learnings from many previous life times, even if it may not be conscious or remember anything specific or personal from any previous life times.

The closest metaphor is that all beings while alive are like droplets of water, distinct and separate in physical appearance, but sharing the essence of water. Upon death the droplet returns to its source, an ocean of water, no longer recognizable or separate from its source. Life’s essence (our “waterness” or wetness) survives, individual droplets do not. The next droplet may be created from water molecules that were part of many previous droplets. That droplet may include wisdom and learnings from many previous droplets.

Fear and Love

There are fundamentally only two human emotions: fear and love. The opposite of love is fear, although what is all-encompassing knows no opposite. Fear is nothing more than a cry for love. The nature of love is unfathomable. Scientists are discovering the fundamental source of energy from which our entire universe is built. It seems to be vibrational energy, although it is not clear what is vibrating. That fundamental energy has no name, but is called by many names; I prefer to call it Love.

Separation and Oneness

The idea that we are separate beings in competition with each other is an illusion. We are all one, although that statement is conceptually inaccurate (this is the reason, for example, that the bible shows God’s reference to itself as “I am” and not “We are one”). More accurately, all being is one. I am you, we are one. Whatever I do to you, I do to me. Your pain is my pain, your joy my joy. Harming you is harming my Self. Separation implies that effects are isolated, while oneness or unity implies everything affects everything else.

Lack and Abundance 

The idea that there is not enough of something (or anything) for all beings to be happy does not make sense. I refuse to believe in a “God” that would put me on a planet without everything I would need to be happy. That would make for a cruel God, not a loving God. Life is for us, not against us. Therefore, if I do not see abundance, it’s not because its not there, but because I have a blind spot seeing it. All (seeming) lack is an illusion. Coupled with the concept of Oneness, either there is enough for all of us, or there is not enough for any of us. Life is abundant.

Ego mind and divine mind 

The idea that I am a separate being that needs to be protected from dangers and hence must be vigilant and live in fear is the basis of all ego thoughts. The opposite of the ego mind is the divine mind, although what is all-encompassing has no opposite. The human mind is capable of ego thought and divine thought, fear thought and love thought, thoughts of shortage and abundance, separation and oneness, fear and love. I am the listener; that inner voice I listen to is not mine, it’s either the ego’s or God’s. Ego shouts, God whispers. To hear the one, I may need to tune out the other.

Judgment and Forgiveness

Judgment is the assignment of any variation of “good” or “bad” to an event, object, being, or thought. Bad is not acceptable, good is acceptable to the one who judges. All judgment is inherently subjective. Without a judge there is no judgment. Life just is, neither good nor bad. Some religions defer judgment to a divine being, but this leads to human beings still needing to decide what God considers good or bad. For a human being to pretend to know what is good or bad, what is acceptable or not to God, is to pretend to be God. A loving God is an accepting and forgiving God. Life is accepting and forgiving, not rejecting or judging.

Error and Correction 

What makes us human beings is the fact that we are finite, have limitations, and are “imperfect.” We make mistakes, commit errors. The only purpose for error is correction, not judgment, blame, or guilt. Once correction is made the purpose of the error is done, and peace re-established. If we were perfect beings, we would not be human, we would be God. To pretend to be perfect is to pretend to be God, and neither pretense nor arrogance is the way of Enlightened Being.

Reaction and Creation

The ego mind in us reacts, the divine mind in us creates. Reactivity is automatic, unconscious and limited in options (closed minded, binary thinking). Quite often reactive thinking is characterized by either/or thinking. Creativity is intentional, conscious and unlimited in options (open minded, multitude of choice thinking). The reactive mind is a leftover from our lower level reptilian brain. The creative mind is a development from more recent human evolution. Both are part of our humanity. Without either one of them, we would not be full human beings.

Conflict and Peace 

Conflict is a discrepancy between reality and how we want it to be or think it should be. Often we replace outer conflict with inner conflict or vice versa, mistakenly believing we have avoided conflict. Regardless, whether between beings or within a single being, when conflict occurs an energy arises that seeks to resolve that conflict. Unenlightened being seeks resolution of conflict through the elimination of what seems to oppose it. Enlightened being seeks peace, inside and out. Conflict only exists within minds that desire something other than what is. Life itself is always at peace. The sole purpose for conflict is peace, acceptance of what is.

Feelings and Thoughts

The sole purpose for feelings is to feel them. We need not do anything else with them, and feeling them will allow them to pass. When we judge some to be bad and some to be good, we create resistance to the bad ones and desire for the good ones. Neither desire nor resistance will give us inner peace. Quite often this will cause us to try to think our way through our feelings in order to not have the bad ones, or attempt to generate the good ones.

Similarly, the sole purpose for thoughts is to think them. We need do nothing else with them, and thinking them will allow them to pass. When we judge some of them as bad, and some to be good, we create resistance and desire once more, neither of which will give us peace. More often, the judgments and meanings we place on our thoughts cause us to have feelings we like (good feelings) or not like (bad feelings), adding yet another level of confusion. Unenlightened, we may say such things as “I feel like you are attacking me.” which includes an implicit judgment (“It’s bad to attack me”) and a belief (“I believe you are attacking me.”) but no stated feeling (which could be “I feel anxious or scared.”)  

The way of enlightened being knows to feel his feelings and think his thoughts and not confuse the two.
 

Students and Teachers

Life is for us, not against us. Life continually presents us with opportunities to learn from it. When unenlightened, life presents us with seeming upsets, discrepancies between how life is and how we want it, or think it should be. Each upset is a lesson from life, which we can choose to learn or not. Life itself, and each being in it, is a teacher. And each encounter is potentially a holy moment, a healing moment. All beings are students and teachers. Life is a required course. Which lessons we choose to learn is always is our choice.  

The Way of Enlightened Being
for a Spiritual Warrior

A spiritual warrior knows the solution to any issue or conflict lies within himself, and that all true change comes from within. While unenlightened, a being only sees solutions that require external change in the world. The way of enlightened being knows that all change starts from within.

A warrior’s aim for himself is inner peace through the slaying of his spiritual dragons, in order to return himself to his loving peaceful self. He becomes aware of those thoughts, words, actions and feelings that keep him from reaching his own enlightenment: his personal liberation from his fears and desires, his reactivity, and non-alignment with the Truths.

A warrior’s aim for all beings is universal peace by supporting all beings in their personal  enlightenment, by learning all ways to do so, and by extinguishing all desires that may be in conflict with his aims, and while seeking his own personal enlightenment.
 

Living Truths of Enlightened Being
(self evident)

1. Life is perpetually re-creating itself.
2. Life is built from one fundamental energy, Love.
3. Life is abundant, not scarce.
4. Life is accepting and forgiving, not rejecting or judging.
5. The world is a safe place, fundamentally, not dangerous.
6. All being is one, not separate.
7. Life is for us, not against us.
8. All living beings are students and teachers for each other.
9. The sole purpose for error is correction.
10. The sole purpose for conflict is peace.
11. The sole purpose for feelings is to feel them,
    and for thoughts is to think them.
12. To live intentionally, consciously, and creatively in alignment with these Truths is the Way of Enlightened Being.

Vows of Enlightened Being
(commitments)

 I commit:

1. To support all beings in achieving enlightenment:
   living in alignment with these truths.
2. To extinguish all desires counter to achieving enlightenment.
3. To learn all lessons that life offers in alignment with these truths.
4. To strive for full personal enlightenment living these truths.