Looking to turn on my Enlightenment, can someone help me?

I have known from an early age that things aren't as "they" say they are. I have never trusted the government nor many people I have know that don't really know what is going on. Yes, there are UFO, there is an order out there trying to be our masters. Anyway, I am pretty comfortable in that matter. I am lacking in knowledge of myself. I know we are already enlightened but it must be turned on, I call it. I am looking to turn mine on. this is the area I need help in. i have watched many a video and read very, very much on this subject. I saw one film stating it is all so simple that is why we overlook it. so, if anyone can lead me in that direction where I need to be it would be greatly appreciated. I am 57 yr's old now. I was raised in a christian home and it is this that is so hard to let go of. I have found my way to knowing Yahweh, my God, and seem to be thanking Him for everything that happen's to me. It is a hard saying that you are God yourself, or part of Him anyway. So, any and all help and understanding I am needing will be appreciated so very much.

reply to post by Caji316


Hey there Caji316, welcome to ATS.

You will find many people here like yourself who are either waking-up to the idea of enlightenment ... or as you say turning it on ... these are exciting times that we live in and there is much to be learned and absorbed.

You might find it useful to do a search for the particular subjects that interest you (keywords 'enlightenment' etc), and read through some of the threads. It's true to say that you will sometimes come across those who would try to disrupt such threads but push through the minor irritations because there are many gems to be discovered.

Once you have made your minimum post count, you could even start your own thread asking specific questions that you would like to find more information about ... I guarantee there will be plenty of replies and different approaches for you to sift through and eventually find the true course of your own path that is lying in front of you.

Enjoy the time that you spend here on the site and I look forward to bumping into you on some of the boards.

Woody

So"sweeping up around the ashram for twenty years"won't cut it for thee,eh?There are a few paths that might be faster,I know one.Can't speak of it by name and won't tell anyone what to do.But to know what IT looks like it helps to have 'maps'.This method does not always work and is definitely not for everyone,but it does offer speed.At one time one of these "agents" was called "spiritual penicillin"Terrence McKenna tells all.

Originally posted by trueforger
So"sweeping up around the ashram for twenty years"won't cut it for thee,eh?There are a few paths that might be faster,I know one.Can't speak of it by name and won't tell anyone what to do.But to know what IT looks like it helps to have 'maps'.This method does not always work and is definitely not for everyone,but it does offer speed.At one time one of these "agents" was called "spiritual penicillin"Terrence McKenna tells all.

Nonsense.
All drugs do is intensify your consciousness at whatever degree of understanding that you already have. Sweeping up around the ashram in itself does nothing for you.

Radical Understanding is the Consciousness of God.
Will anyone read this book?
www.beezone.com...

reply to post by Caji316 I'll tell you what I believe... NO I WON'T! Because if I did, I'd only pollute your ideas & probably send you off on some ultimately fruitless path. When we get right down to the basics, none of us can know if there is such a thing as objective reality, but what we can know is that each of us will experience whatever there is subjectively.
I'd suggest looking inside yourself, trying to be quiet & see what pops up (meditation).
At the same time, the more specific a person is with their advice, the more I'd take it with a pinch of salt. After all, when we're dealing with matters that can barely be experienced, let alone known: the more a person claims to know, the more delusional or dishonest they must be, right?
Ah, but what if they really do know? Then they know that your path is different to theirs.
Welcome & be well!

A good way to get some enlightenment is to go on a journey. Pack up the essentials, and go exploring out in the woods. Be careful of course, but a lot of the time, being out in nature and meditating out in nature can really help you on the path to enlightenment.

Hi Caji316

Welcome to ATS.

Patience and time will reveal all you need when you need it. Theres no magic door to open, each being has their own process to go through, self awareness is the first step, I would suggest some traditional martial arts to learn more about yourself.. this is the key, knowing yourself and what your intentions are...intention will lead you where you need to go IF your intent is honorable then your eyes will be open as your mind will be to experience different peceptions.

Have complete faith in how you feel about yourself and the world and your quest for knowledge. Know wholley that you are where you need to be (at all times) and the feeling you have is totally valid and the words you seek that resonate to describe perfectly what you feel will cross your path soon enough.

I know it sounds all very passive but its the way its done. Life experience will prove itself like it or not over time..

We must let the butterfly emerge from the cocoon in its own time, if we were to pull the butterfly out 'helping' it get free of the cocoon quicker it will die. Process. Everything has a process.

My very best wishes for you

Have the best day
themuse

Originally posted by trueforger
So"sweeping up around the ashram for twenty years"won't cut it for thee,eh?There are a few paths that might be faster,I know one.Can't speak of it by name and won't tell anyone what to do.But to know what IT looks like it helps to have 'maps'.This method does not always work and is definitely not for everyone,but it does offer speed.At one time one of these "agents" was called "spiritual penicillin"Terrence McKenna tells all.

trueforger

What you are promoting isnt the best idea. ESPecially to an innocent... Psychedelics and enlightenment dont stand on the same side...you should do your research on such things more thoroughly before you go leading a newly awakened mind whose life you could protentially help destroy or lead astray with a silly, shallow idea such as the one you have suggested. You have not even taken into account the variables that could make your statement someone personal nightmare - ie the OPs possible age could be quite young, the mental state could be fragile or the body condition etc etc. and the fact you think that is a 'fast track' shows how out of touch you really are...with yourself and whats going on around you.. SHAME on you.

Im not a flamer but a blindly foolish suggestion as what you made without thinking of the repercussions is completely uneducated and shameful.

Self awareness and personal Honor. You need to learn this too. And I dont mean Pride.
To honor yourself should mean to be respectful, loyal, truthful, JUST, have integrity and be benevolent..

Now be benevolent and have the best day you can.

themuse






[edit on 14/2/2010 by themuse]

There is no right or wrong way, what works for one may not work for other's It can take many lifetimes to turn on enlightenment for some and for others they can reach it in this time.
IT's a lofty goal and just doesn't turn on.

I've seen enough glimpses, that I do believe it exists. To just see these glimpses, took a very stringent practice on my part that I haven't been able to "want to" replicate, at least not yet.

To do so I think the main underlying belief has to be of pure love and peace for all living beings. Live this fully- it is very hard to actually do.

***Eat vegetarian,
"I don't now, because meat grounds me to this so called reality- I prefer not to eat meat though.

Meditate all the time, make your whole day into a meditation practice- this doesn't just mean sitting meditation

Do energy raising exercises

If it is your time you may awaken fully, if not you may see glimpses of enlightenment

I fully believe it is possible, however during my path I learned that it was not my time.


Resources that I found helpful-Awakening to the Sacred: Creating a Personal Spiritual Life (Paperback)
~ Lama Surya Das (Author)

That is a great entry level book that should get you exploring more into the matter.

You don't have to realize anything special. Just focus on what is happening in the present moment and trying to understand what is immediately before you. That is the real mystery.


A Zen Buddhist sentiment is that the harder you try, the farther you are from it. Rather than simply being in the moment. A classic parable is a student asking a teacher how long it'll take to become enlightened. The teacher spouts off an arbitrary amount of time. But the student says he will try VERY hard. So the teacher responds, it'll take you twice as long then.

reply to post by Caji316


Hi,
There are many paths and many ways there- but all of them involve the stripping away of who you THINK you are. Because the thoughts that go around in your head, and the ideas you hold close to you are all created by the Ego and it's interaction with the world around you.. Those are the parts of you which are false. False because they can be readily changed and effected. Your true self, your essence, that which is God, remains constant. It is the part of you that observes your thoughts.
So to find enlightenment- you have to switch the Ego, or the false self off!
Before you can switch all that off, you have to become aware of it.

I recommend reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, its excellent.
And this guy gives a pretty simple explanation of how to do mindful meditation- he demystifies it:
www.youtube.com...

If I had to make an honest recommendation based on my own experiences- do NOT complicate things with such-and-such chant, or whatever ritual, or XYZ theories or philosophies... the easiest path is in making things SIMPLE- not filling yourself up with MORE thoughts and MORE questions.

Peel things away.... become aware of your own presence.

Its not easy, but it becomes easy once you find it.

If you want the short sharp shock approach- there's always Jed McKenna- he puts it incredibly bluntly.

Basically enlightenment is not MORE of you, its LESS of you... and hence being closer to the Absolute, or pure consciousness, or Christ consciousness, or Krishna Consciousness, or Brahman, or GOD.... It is KNOWING the true you.
(all the same thing... i too was raised Christian- all paths search for the same enlightenment, but all religious paths try to teach- which is filling the jug (the mind) more full, when you want it to empty...) .... and it is what Jesus succeeded in doing, and Buddha.
And once you get there, you understand that there is no division between people, between all of Creation, there is only God.

Good luck on your path, I hope you enjoy it

the foundation of what you ask or seek may lead you to see the following..

At the end of the day, what we all seek or should seek is to make the most of our human experience in a way which promotes energy growth and wellbeing. Its essentially the only rational idea of why we live this life... to have a human experience.

I mean feel it all, touch it all, taste it all but not JUST those mortals sins people think of when i say 'it all'. I talking about knowledge, learn, look and live through others eyes, try their hats on. Go to japan to learn how to make sushi...ireland if you want to tapdance. Listen to what people say about this subject but trust yourself enough to listen to your intuition.

Why be one when you can be all. A piece of every expertise there is, catch the scent of life where ever you see it. Thats enlightening to see the world through others eyes.

Thats the human experience. The questioning life itself is the new vibration you are reaching.This vibration is not emotionally reliant or emotionally high maintenance as the one you were raised to be, its calming and the lack of emotions in being 'content' can be quite confronting as a sudden change and not having words to match or to describe your feeling is a shock to the system and just being isnt the same as 'quickening' yourself in a feeling over and again.

All one can ask is that you and I and everyone find peace within themselves before we move on from here..so that we resonate finely enough to transcend.

have the best day
themuse

reply to post by Caji316


O.K. watch this to learn how to be enlightened:

www.youtube.com...

Then you can watch these:

www.springforestqigong.com...

There's a very simple practice called the "Level 1 sitting meditation c.d." from springforestqigong.com... -- it's the "microcosmic orbit" or "small universe" practice for enlightenment.

reply to post by Caji316


... oh and as an aside... there is nothing wrong with being thankful; of feeling gratitude.
In fact, I would say that it would be impossible to find enlightenment without a deep feeling of gratitude... to be able to appreciate the beauty and wonder in the simplest things. To be childlike in how one looks- reeeeally looks- at things, as though seeing it with new eyes.

It's almost as though- when you look at something with a sense of deep appreciation and love, then that which you observe also exists within you- you feel the connection to it... and this in turn becomes easier to feel for other people- the understanding comes, that God is infinite, so ALL is a part of God, so all things become loved and cherished.

And the poor behaviour of others becomes recogniseable for what it is- they simply do not see nor feel the connection- so they need your love, not ire.

I find being in nature helpful for finding that inner peace.
If you live in a city- theres always looking up- the sky is a beautiful thing.

Oh and as an aside you can always go the Peru and take ayahuasca which is to experience enlightenment:

www.realitysandwich.com...

reply to post by Caji316


Try this: In contrast to inward-going philosophies, ascendancy starts from the inner world and believes in the clarification and growth of ourselves as only we know us. An ascendant person thinks, molds themselves into an ideal of their own creation, and derives their self-confidence from that accomplishment and a knowledge of themselves. They have individuality, not individualism, and are less concerned with public perception than actual reality. They know it is easy to convince others that one is competent (pass tests), honest (don't get caught), well-meaning (flatter) and intelligent (memorize facts). They know it is impossible to fool oneself. The goal of an ascendant person is to know himself or herself fully, to discipline that self to the highest standards possible, including ethical and physical and mental, and then to apply the beauty found within to the world without. Where an intraverted person questions whether he or she dares presume to change the world, and talks in terms of rights and obligations, an ascendant person thinks in terms of making things better much as evolution made us better: create ideas, test them, and pick the best and repeat the process on that basis. Ascendant people are confident and moral and lack sneering contempt for anything but bad logic.

be as impersonal as you can be.

Hey.

My main suggestion is to look at the sun.

For a long time I was in the same place as you, and this really turned things on for me!

Start by just looking for a few secods around sunrise or sunset, and then work your way up to looking for longer. Its best if you can have barefeet on the ground and then go for a walk after, but this isn't necessary. Its also very nice to sit in Lotus.

Anyway, I'm not saying that this technique is for everyone, but if it feels right give it a go! The technique isn't so important anyway.

Also, I suggest looking into legal psychedelics such as Salvia Divinorum. Lots to be learned there.

Good luck!
We all go there sometimes!

Tam.

There is a saying - perfection is not achieved by the adding of more things...rather, when there is nothing more needs to be removed.

This case be rephrased as - enlightenment is not attained by adding more beliefs and ideas to someone, rather when there is nothing left to cover their divine nature.

Get close with yourself by getting quiet in Nature...

Perhaps some websites my resonate ~
WingMakers
The Template
Expanding Horizons


Live your Highest Divinity


One
Planet
One
People
One
LOVE

I notice the mimosa and syrian rue are out of stock -- too bad:

www.bouncingbearbotanicals.com...

reply to post by drew hempel I'd be bloody careful with Ayahuasca if I were you. It can open your eyes alright, but it can open them too much too soon also.