Expressions of Love
In This Issue
Our New President - Rev. Frank Arnold
Nothing Real Can
be Threatened - Rev. Sue Borg
In Times of Change -
Tama Kieves
What is Enlightenment?
Author Unknown
By Rev. Frank Arnold
I could hardly do a new article for the newsletter this month without something about our new President, Barack Obama. What do you think?
I thank God for all the new we will see. It seems like about every 50-60 years God sends us a new guide. He sent Washington and the founding fathers (well more than 60 years ago) to start a new country. Then he sent Lincoln to keep the country together. He sent Roosevelt to jump start the new economics and fight the big war. And now he’s sent Obama to unite the people and the country. I think this baby country (200 years is only a blink in time) has taken one more big step towards what the Masters of the Far East called – “God’s greatest gift to life and freedom – AMERICA!
I think we as citizens will be asked to do more than we’ve ever been asked to do before. We will have to work together as the new president asks us to. I think he is right when he says the changes may not be easy or quick, but change will happen. Only today (January 22, I heard a new commercial from Starbuck – a great commercial by the way – to come to any Starbucks and sign up for 5 hours of volunteer work – and they will give you a cup of coffee.) It is about working together and helping each other that will accomplish the most good.
I think the days in government where we so often heard, “I don’t want you to know anything and do as I say not as I do,” are over. I like the way Obama talks about transparency in government now. I truly believe he wants to make things better in America, and will help us all realize he can’t do it without our help. Everyone in our Country is free to be what they want to be with a little work and schooling. Thank God for Barack for showing us how anyone can accomplish phenomenal tasks just by being who they are and living in integrity. The energy around his nomination, election and now the inauguration has been so different and so good.
I think now we can clearly see how all the “spiritual” work we have been doing for the last 25 years, not adhering to the fear predominantly heard by so many others,
is showing us how our commitment to peace of heart, peace of mind and peace of spirit, (not to mention peace in the world) is manifesting in ways we never thought possible.
The Course teaches us (but only for 30 years) to give up judgment. I truly think we voted this man into the White House because of who he is and what he represents and his color made no difference. I never dreamt (but always held hope) that I would live to see this happen and I’m sure there are millions who feel the exact same way.
I heard on TV that all during the inauguration, with almost 2 million people present in the Washington DC mall, that there was not a single crime or a single arrest. What does that say about our capacity to work together to make changes – to learn to live in peace instead of in fear. I think we will see things far greater than this even – the world we have wanted is happening – starting now. It is NOW!
I have never felt this good, this optimistic, about an election since the first time I voted in the 60’s. God Bless President and Mrs. Obama, and God Bless Us, with a safe and uplifting journey to far more than we ever thought possible. I think things are going to recover far faster than anyone predicts. With all the love we have been extending out into this world, I don’t think it can be otherwise. This is just the beginning. HOORAY!
******************************
Nothing Real Can Be Threatened
By Rev. Sue Borg
This is the talk I presented at The Salt Lake Center for Spiritual Living on January 18, 2009.
A minister decided a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday Sermon. He placed four worms in four separate jars. The first worm was put into a container of alcohol; the second into a container of cigarette smoke. The third worm was put in chocolate syrup and the fourth into a container of good clean soil.
At the conclusion of the sermon about good clean living, the Minister reported the following results;
The first worm in alcohol was dead. The second worm in cigarette smoke was dead. The third worm in chocolate syrup was dead. The fourth worm, however, in the good clean soil was alive and well.
The Minister asked the congregation – what did you learn from this demonstration?
From the back a hand was raised and a woman, say it was Maxine, our favorite from the comics, quickly spoke up and answered – today I learned that as long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate you won’t have worms.
Was that your first thought, your perception of what his teaching. Bet it wasn’t what Maxine said!
So today I will talk about perception and about changing our minds for a more peaceful perception of the world we see. I’ll talk about miracles, how to recognize a miracle and about how nothing real can be threatened, the premise of A Course in Miracles.
The Course defines a miracle as a shift in perception from fear to Love. It states there are only two orders of thought – love or fear - you are either giving love or asking for love. That’s it. It’s not much more than the Golden Rule. Be nice, be kind and be your loving, holy self.
What I have learned from studying the Course is that we are not here to change the world, but to change our minds about how we look at the world. We either see through the eyes of the ego or lack or through the eyes of spirit – or Love, Christ vision the Course would call it. In learning to see in this way, we learn how Nothing Real Can Be Threatened. My friend Andy always said if it rusts, rots or dies it’s not real. That pretty much explains what is real in this world. Only the Love of God will sustain you in this world. Even the scientists now are stating that this world is nothing more than a hologram, a thought made up in our minds. However, here we are, so we might as well make the best of it until we’re not.
After studying The Course for over 25 years now, this is my latest perception. Life is for entertainment purposes only. It’s like a big fair and we get to choose any ride we want. Some rides are slow and gentle, some are very fast and scary and some are just plain awful. However, we can always change our minds, but only in every moment as Katie would say, about how to perceive the ride or change our mind and pick another – one that fits more closely to the outcome we desire – which I would say for most of us is Peace – peace of heart, peace of mind and peace in our world.
I think we’ve spent way too much time in a state of forgetfulness about the fact that joy is our natural inheritance, and I think it’s now time to bring forth as much joy as we can possibly stand and begin to entertain ourselves in ways that will speak to our wholeness and our holiness and help us to recognize all the gifts we have received. Let’s send our egos, or our littleness, as the Course would say, off to Duluth.
Once you understand that your divine holiness cannot be threatened in any way, you open yourself to a lot more fun and begin to enjoy life in a more meaningful way. Life is Joyful! That’s my motto, and I’ve found that Joy is really contagious and I’d like to expose everyone I meet.
I thought today I would tell you a few miracles in my life that were just the beginning of my awareness that nothing real can be threatened. These miracles speak clearly that changing your mind from fear to Love creates a way for all things to have a peaceful outcome. I know some of you know these stories and I hope you enjoy hearing them again.
Back in 1993, Frank, my husband, had a lawn care business and worked all summer and took the winters off. So each year when spring came, we were definitely ready for some income. On his first day back to work that summer, he suffered a heart attack, but, of course, being a macho man, he didn’t bother to go to the doctor until three days later when he could hardly breathe.
The diagnosis was he needed a new heart valve. We did not have health insurance as I had pretty much retired from corporate America and was doing multi-level marketing, which I’m sure some of you know does not create the multimillions always promised. At any rate, we knew we were looking at a very expensive surgery with no means to pay for it. Remember, I said it was his first day back for the summer, so our money was literally down to $125 in the bank and we knew we needed income to get us through this scary time. Of course, he could not very well have open heart surgery and go back to work immediately.
The night before surgery, the doctor asked him his biggest concern. Frank told him he was worried about how we were going to pay for it. The next morning, just as he was going into surgery, he told me not to worry and said “God’s plan works and mine doesn’t.”
He came through the surgery in fine order. In fact, this is so funny. After the surgery, the nurse came to the waiting room and told me he would be down to recovery in about 30 minutes. Well 30 minutes went by, 45 minutes, and an hour. I finally found the nurse and told her I was worried because he had not come back yet. She said she’d find out and be right back. They told her they took a lot of extra time to sew him up so his tattoo across his chest would match up perfectly. Now, that tattoo is of a skeleton riding a motorcycle into a brick wall – that’s from his life before I met him – and I laughed and told her the tattoo did not have to match. It would be okay for the road to go in another direction.
The day after his surgery, a woman came in to his room and told us that the doctor had recommended Frank’s hospital bill be handled by their organization. To this day, I cannot remember the name of the organization. She asked a lot of questions about our income and in the end, the entire bill, almost $100,000 dollars, was paid in full. Needless to say, we were thrilled and relieved. That was the first miracle. Together we focused on, “I don’t know what anything is for but I do know nothing real can be threatened. Our belief in Love and The Love of God was our focus and we just continued to say “THANK YOU GOD.”
He came home in a few days and began his recovery. (He actually went back to work in less than 6 weeks mowing lawns). But the miracles just keep going. Even though the hospital bill was paid, our bank account by this time was down to right around a whopping $25. So on Sunday after I got ready for church I wrote a check for $25 for tithing. Frank asked me what in the world I was thinking. I told him it was our greatest opportunity to walk our talk which was that we are one with our Divine Source, one with God, and all our needs would be handled.
I have to tell you that during his recovery, we never missed a single payment for any bills we had. Money came to us in the most interesting ways and we just kept knowing that things would work out. One example- we got a check in the mail from a woman who had come to A Course Meeting a year prior to this time. She actually came to our house for class only once. However, something she heard that evening changed her life and she wanted to send a thank you in the form of a tithing to us. The $50 she sent paid the power bill which came in the mail that day as well.
My friends kept saying “why don’t you just go get a job.” I have to admit I had certainly thought about it, but I was “trusting” in spirit and spirit hadn’t indicated to me to go look for a job. (Remember God’s plan works but mine doesn’t). I think we all strive to listen to that voice within, and that was my determination – to do just that.
Not long after I paid that last $25 to tithing, I got a phone call from a woman I had met at Unity. She said she was looking for someone to work in her office and thought I might know of someone who needed a job. She gave me a description of the job and I told her I would think about it and see if I could come up with someone to help her out. Of course, in my heart I knew who that person was, but remember I had retired from Corporate American and I sure didn’t want to go back to a “real” job. However, after riding around in my car and listening to that inner voice, I came home and called her and told her I could do all the things she needed and I would take the job if she wanted me. She was delighted and thus began the next miracle. Once again, God’s plan works and mine doesn’t. I’m quite convinced that the only thing we need to “manifest” in this world is a deeper connection to our source, our holiness, and all things will be manifest for us.
The job was with an insurance company and so now, after the fact, we had insurance. This, of course was divinely guided, too, because in November of that very same year, I had to have angioplasty for a blocked artery in my heart and that bill was taken care of by the insurance we now had. Even in the midst of all these miracles, I really was not very happy being back in Corporate America. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, thank heavens, so I wasn’t spending my time ‘trying” to make things better.
Frank had gone back to work, the income was back, and my friends knew how unhappy I was in the job and now they’re saying “Why don’t you just quit.” Well, once again, I had the same answer – spirit has not told me to quit so I just stayed working knowing I would know what to do and when to do it as instructed by Spirit. In February the company made this huge announcement they were closing their office in Salt Lake City. Now, I understand that was not an inner voice, but I sure heard guidance loud and clear.
Many of the women had worked there for a number of years and were indeed very upset. But you see what happened for me was I didn’t have to make the decision to quit or not to quit. This is a great example (miracle if you will) to see how spirit works if you focus on Love and trust in guidance.
Spirit knows the entire picture and we just have a small inkling so often our decisions are made with very little information (and often they are made out of fear). Always ask for guidance in every situation to see and know your own best good. My asking, or my prayer, if you will was the same then as it is every day even now. “Since I do not know my own best interest, where shall I go, what shall I do, and what shall I say and to whom. This is how I turn my day over to spirit. This is what I say each day when I wake up.
So, because The Big Office back East closed the Salt Lake City office, they gave everyone a great severance package. I had worked there for under a year and my package was the same as those who had worked there much longer. They paid double the earned vacation days, two weeks extra pay and then paid our insurance premiums for another six months. Now if I had listened to my friends, if I had quit when I was discouraged, none of that severance package would have been mine. Once again, God’s Plan works and mine doesn’t.
A cute side note to this. I was truly joyful at the closing of the office. We had a meeting with an out-placement expert. He sat us around this big table and asked each of us how we were feeling about the closing and about losing our jobs. Most of the women were crying and very upset as we went around the table. When he got to me – and I was the last one - he asked what I was feeling.
I told him I was filled with joy and it surprised him completely. When he asked why I thought I was joyful, I told him it was because I had always want to take ballet lessons and I would now be free to do that. I promise you that was channeled information as I have never wanted to, nor have I ever, taken ballet lessons. Tap lessons yes, but ballet, no. Later that day, though, he told my supervisor to keep an eye on me because he thought I was in denial of what was really happening. Luckily, my supervisor knew me well and told him he didn’t have to worry about me.
I have one more miracle story, not related to the above ones, but still such a great story of miracles through gratitude. Also, this is Frank’s favorite story.
When we first met, Frank had a fairly hefty indebtedness to the IRS. I told him to start sending a Thank You notes to the IRS with each payment. Of course, he thought I was crazy, but he did it anyway. Every month he wrote a Thank You note for something that our taxes provide – the streets, the police, the fire department, etc. Less than a year later, he stopped getting a bill with the balance owing. He kept sending his monthly payment, but after we filed our taxes in April, he got a refund check for everything he had paid over the year plus the refund for that year’s taxes.
Needless to say, he was pretty shocked so we asked the fellow who did doing our taxes to check with the IRS about how much money Frank still owed. We thought we knew how much it was, and we knew for sure it was not paid off. The tax guy called us back and told us that there was no debt to the IRS and that Frank would get his refunds from now on.
Now if you don’t think gratitude, and expressing gratitude in every moment is important, perhaps this story will help. At first it was hilarious because he was too scared to cash the checks, but after the call by our tax guy, he cashed the checks and has received refunds every since. We have no idea how this happened, but it ended with THANK YOU GOD.
These stories can make it pretty clear how focusing on the idea of being one with creation, one with our creator and listening and following inner guidance, and being grateful for all that you have in every moment can lead to knowing how nothing real – Your Divine Nature - can be threatened. Peace is possible in every moment. Spirit knows what is best for you and it’s only when we join in our oneness with God that our experiences unfold peacefully. It is only when we act out of fear, thinking we can handle the details, that things fall apart.
These Miracles seem huge, but The Course teaches that there is no order of difficulty in Miracles – that all miracles come from an expression of Love. Sure, these seem pretty significant, but these “huge” miracles certainly led Frank and I to the awareness of the “little” miracles that happen every day when we’re focused on Love, on our goodness, our Godness, and knowing we can give up suffering at any time and ride the fun and easy rides. Even when I forgot my cell phone the other day (and you know how connected we are to those darn things) and went back into the house to retrieve it, I found that I had left the coffee pot on. I just smiled, held my heart and said “Thank You God.” Those seemingly little miracles happen all the time once you begin to know you are not in charge of your own best interest. Miracles as such cannot be created. Miracles are an expression of Love from Creation.
This from the Course sums it up. “When you have learned how to decide with God, all decisions become as easy and as right as breathing. There is no effort, and you will be led as gently as if you were being carried down a quiet path in summer.
Spirit moves in mysterious ways we’ve always said, even through the internet. This is a great story I received in my email. I will finish up today with this parable I received this week on the internet. As I said, spirit works always, even through the internet.
THE PARABLE OF WATER AND THE SIEVE
A group of worshipers invited a teacher of meditation and prayer to
their group. He told them they must strive to acquire freedom from
strong reactions, an attitude of habitual reverence, and the regular
practice of meditation and prayer. The object is to realize One Divine
life pervading all things. "In the end you must come to this realization
not only in meditation and prayer, but in daily life. The whole process
is like filling a sieve with water." He thanked them and left.
After he left, one of them turned to the others. Interesting! But
that's what happens now, isn't it? We go hear a sermon, we pray, we
help the neighbors or offer thanks to God and we feel uplifted and
notice a little change.
Our character improves for a bit. We don't get so
impatient, and we feel happier, but it soon drops off. It's like water
in a sieve, alright. They pondered on the image of the sieve without
getting any solution that satisfied them. Some thought he was telling
them that people like themselves in the world could expect only
temporary uplifting; some thought he was just laughing at them.
They let it drop except for one woman, who decided to see the master. He
gave her a sieve and a cup and they went to the nearby seashore where
they stood on a rock with the waves breaking around them.
"Show me how you fill the sieve with water," he said. She bent down, held the sieve in one hand, and scooped the water into it with the cup. It barely appeared at the bottom of the sieve and then was gone. "It's just like that with spiritual practice, too," he said " one stands on the rock of I-ness, and tries to ladle Divine realization into it. That's not the way to fill a sieve with water, or the self with Divine life."
He took the sieve from her hand, and threw out into the sea, where it
floated momentarily and then sank. "Now it's full of water, and it will
remain so," he said. "That's the way to fill it with water, and it's the
way to do spiritual practice. “It's not ladling little cupfuls of
Divine life into the individuality, but throwing the individuality far
out into the sea of Divine life." Immerse your whole self in God,
instead of just taking a little of God home with you today.” Be kind
and live fully in your Divinity.
This whole idea of time and space is designed to scientifically prove that you already have all you need to have all you want. The rest is fluff. The rest is entertainment. Life isn't about waiting for a storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.
I wish there were words to tell you how beautiful life really is, how perfect you are right now, how safe you always are and of the love that constantly bathes you. Throw yourself into the sea of Divinity – that’s what’s real and that Love cannot be threatened.
God Bless You.
*************************
In Times of Change, Wild Magic is Afoot
By Tama Kieves.
(Note: This article originally appeared in the Fall
Catalog for the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health)
Change, in all shapes and sizes, can definitely bring out our deepest fears--but it also offers us vital encounters with the bountiful magic of life...
We live in crackling times. Change seems to electrify the air, in our individual lives and in the world. The media reports sad stories, dark messages, dire predictions and warnings. Hope is rarely broadcasted from the channels of the mainstream. Rowdy angels rattle our cubicles and turn our retirement accounts upside down—and they will get our attention. But the challenges of our time will spur new and remarkable solutions. The oyster produces its jewels in response to sand. Agitation gives birth to transformation.
I invite you to consider that in times of change, wild magic is afoot.
For most of us going through change, fear pounds on our door. Yet, this discomfort brings an invitation to awaken our passion and aliveness like never before. Something larger wants to express itself in our lives. Pain often nudges our growth or illuminates where we have been holding back on our true selves. Most of us seem to need a pinch of desperation to awaken our honesty and inspiration. As poet David Whyte says, "Absent the edge, we drown in numbness."
Still, when you hit your edge, numbness looks like Shangri-la. When it happened to me, I remember feeling as though I couldn't breathe. My whole world felt like one of those Salvador Dali paintings, where normal reality begins to drip and arc in unnatural ways. I had been a rising star in the litigation department of an elite, big-city law firm. I had graduated from Harvard Law School with honors and with grand expectations about my future security. I had consciously avoided the flimsy foot bridge of risk, but deep down, I knew I wanted to become a writer. I chose law instead because I wanted financial free dom, baubles, and safety—but I hadn't counted on the ruthless mercy of the soul. I didn't know that you can only avoid yourself for so long before the truth hits the fan.
I never imagined that my life could get so out of control (and I certainly never imagined that I'd eventually bless the day it did). But I found myself sitting at a beach in California, watching the waves and realizing I didn't want to live anymore. I couldn't bear to practice law in that office one more day. But I also refused to leave my job, my identity, my income, and everything I knew. Of course, I was fighting the inevitable. The soul's true desire has infinite strength. The creative part of me, the one I had always considered weak, frivolous, and negligible, had the power to bring about depression, rage, and even the willingness to die. I felt helpless and stripped of all my previous powers to function. In the end it was my vulnerability that gave rise to my greatest freedom and joy. I stopped defending the life that was caving in. I let the last precious scraps fall from my hands. Now I was available to spirit. Just a few weeks later, without a viable plan or income, I walked out of my safe career and into the next phase of my life.
I found it absolutely terrifying to walk into the unknown. I didn't care how many spiritual books said peace would come from letting go of control. I read every one of them with clenched white knuckles. "You will find your way," said my therapist. She clearly had me confused with someone lucid and resourceful. Still I came for more sessions. It felt important to hear these reassuring messages.
Gradually I found my way, or more accurately "the way" found me, breath by breath, as it always does. I wrote about this journey in my first book, This Time I Dance! Creating the Work You Love. The alchemy of change had tempered my fear into absolute wonder, and I wrote: "I've become someone who trusts that though I feel as fragile as a flaming leaf in autumn, I house the capacity of a tidal wave, a meteor shower, a white tornado of inspiration. I've become someone who believes that every human being has a tornado just beneath the skin and that we are meant to live our dreams so that we can discover that natural force within us that blows constriction away."
For years now, I've taught personal-growth seminars, stirred audiences, led retreats, and coached thousands. I have often witnessed this astounding alchemy in others. In unsettling periods, courageous individuals begin to discover that there is more to life than what they think they're losing. They turn to new ways of seeing, being, and relating to their experience. Uncertainty gives them permission and motivation to examine their present life and delve deeper into their own extraordinary mystical and creative reserves. In This Time I Dance!, I explained, "Because I had to search for a sense of safety beyond dollar, privilege, and approval, I inherited the ultimate trust fund. I learned to trust in my own resources and the startling generosity of life. You will, too. And, there is no other security."
Like many, I am still tempted to contract with fear during times of distress within our world, and within my personal circumstances. I find my mind whirring away with "What if this happens?" or "What if that happens?" I search for wisdom and strategy through the lens of limitation. But I know better. As Albert Einstein said, "One cannot solve a problem at the level of the problem." I know my distraught identity will recede into the night sky. To embody new answers and perspectives, I will grow new muscles, read new books, mend wounds and memories, ignite new fires, and take bold steps. Nietzsche says, "It takes chaos to give birth to a rising star." A different self will walk into that different life. Ultimately, that's the service provided by the challenge.
Here's what you need to know: There will be stepping stones, places of safety and clarity on which to stand. More than that, it's actually all solid ground, consistent safety appearing as terror in your imagination. It's solid ground upheld by a net. The net is woven with velvet, roses, and diamonds and governed by a band of mighty angels. The angels have support teams. And the support teams have backups and tech support in India. Love is always with you. Love helped you create that job or marriage or bank account in the first place. It will help you create whatever you need this time, too.
Yes, there is wild abundant magic afoot. The woods stir with howls. The world is restless. Part of me is now eager to witness the genius and healing that is evolving on the planet. Change will bring new responses. More of us will now give birth to the divine qualities within us that we ignored while answering e-mails. We are resourceful and beautiful beyond our imagination.
In her book The Gift of Change, Marianne Williamson says, "I think we stand between two historic ages, when a critical mass of the human race is trying to detach from its obedience to fear-based thought systems. We want to cross over to someplace new." Later, she writes, "As we cross the bridge to a more loving orientation, as we learn the lessons of spiritual transformation and apply them in our personal lives, we will become agents of change on a tremendous scale."
This is what I know: You have barely scratched the surface of your true strength. Your love is your light in shadow times. You have tremendous and unique gifts to offer us. Fear whispers to you about scarcity and guarding your limited resources. But you don't have limited resources. There are only finite assets in the known world. But now we are walking into the unknown. We have new abundance to discover and explore. It's not about clinging to the old sources of power that once sustained us. It's about launching into the inspired capacities, passions, and vitality we have always longed to express.
I'd like to offer you three helpful touchstones when facing the unknown:
Stay in the present moment: Your mind may torture you about choices you made in the past. The present moment can heal the past. Your mind may fly into agitations about the future. This present moment creates your future. Focus on this moment only. You are safe right now.
Do something you love: Write a song, work in the garden, or talk to a good friend. You activate different brain chemistry when having fun or expressing creativity. A loving and inspired mind bubbles with new perspectives and possibilities.
Strengthen your connection to the Divine: You are
not alone on this journey. Remember a time when you felt loved, safe, or
at peace in any way. That loving force that surrounded you then
surrounds you now. Step up your commitment to meditate, pray, walk in
nature, visit a spiritual mentor, or anything that feeds your experience
of connection and guidance.
Finally, know that when you feel insecure and inadequate, all is well.
You're right on track. Transformation defies your imagination. A mother
doesn't have to understand or even trust the birth process to give
birth. Your next expression wants to be born. Great and mighty forces
marshal their strength around you. It's your time. You're one of the
brave encountering the new frontier. Change may wear a wolf suit. Still,
don't be fooled. It's wild, abundant magic knocking on your door.
With my love and blessings, Tama
©Copyright 2002-2008 Tama J. Kieves. All rights reserved.
For those of you who are not yet familiar with Tama Kieves, she
is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School who left her corporate law
practice to write and to embolden others to live and breathe their most
meaningful self-expression. Best-selling author of the life-changing
book This Time I Dance! Creating the Work You Love, (which was
chosen as a Finalist for the National Nautilus Book Award, along with
the Dalai Lama's book The Art of Happiness) she is now a sought-after
speaker and career coach who has helped thousands of individuals
world-wide to live their creative dreams. She frequently presents at the
world-famous Omega Institute and the Canyon Ranch six star spa. Contact
her at
www.awakeningartistry.com
************
What is Enlightenment - Author unknown by me
This was sent to me on the internet, but the author’s name was not included. I think it is a great explanation of LOVE. When reading it, I just exchanged the word Love for enlightenment.
Enlightenment is the awakened state of Being.
When all thoughts have stopped and you are in a state of deep inner silence, which is profoundly peaceful and still, you are in the enlightened state. You are so fully present with everything around you that separation largely dissolves and you experience Oneness. You feel the Presence of God or the Divine within you and within everything around you.
It is profoundly blissful. A deep inner knowing arises and yet you are in silence. You come to know yourself as love. Profound insights and revelations sometimes emerge out of the silence. Spontaneous healings can occur.
This awakened state is the natural state of your Being. It is the truth of who you are. It is ever present within you. It is just that most of the time, you are so involved in the world of the thinking mind and the past and future that you are largely unaware of it.
At the deepest level of enlightenment, or Presence, all separation
dissolves completely. The personal dimension of you disappears. There is
no sense of your self in the past or the future. There is no sense of
life outside of the present moment. You have become utterly absorbed
into Oneness and the mystery of existence in the moment.
However, you cannot function in the world at this level. You would need
a team of caretakers to take care of you. I recommend a softer version
of enlightenment --- one that allows you to function in the world in an
enlightened and balanced way.
This means that you are fundamentally grounded in the present moment, but the world of time is available to you. You are in the world but not of the world. You have a sense of the past and future, but you are not identified with it in any way. You know that only this moment is the truth of life.
Enlightenment is also a process.
Each time you allow repressed feelings, thoughts and memories to emerge from the darkness of your unconscious mind into the light of awakened consciousness, you bring more light into your life and your Being. As you continue with this process of liberating yourself from the wounds and traumas of the past, you will gradually become enlightened, which simply means that there is nothing left in the darkness of the unconscious mind.