Towards Enlightenment

Towards Enlightenment

Essays on Essential Elements of Awareness

By Scott Bogart

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 Scott Bogart

All rights reserved

Other Titles by Scott Bogart at Smashwords:

Enlightened Dating for Men: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/24283

Hacia La Iluminación: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/24526

Discover other titles by Scott Bogart at:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Scott+Bogart

Also visit http://www.scottbogart.com

Click here for video introduction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K54OITIs77I

Table of Contents

Introduction

I. Connection

Spirituality Is Not Dogma

All of Us Are Looking for Peace of Mind

Energy Awareness

Positive Energy Projection

Your Most Important Relationship Is with Yourself and with the Universe

Life Exists in the Present

Your Connection to the Source Comes from Your Values

II. Truth

For Everything That Exists There Is a Reason and an Explanation

Truth Can Vary from Perspective and Context

The Two Levels of Truth

Striving to Understand the Eternal Truth

Bringing Truth to Your Desire to Be Right

The Truth Is Congruent

Using Emotional Congruency as a Barometer

Understanding the Power of Belief

The Power of Sincerity

The Inherent Inadequacies of Human Language

Seeking an Honest Awareness of Why You Do What You Do

Seeking an Honest Understanding of Why Others Do What They Do

Most of the Battles We Fight Are Inside Our Heads

Gaining Awareness of Primary and Secondary Causes

III. Health, Healing and Love

Happiness Is a Decision

Lasting Approval Comes from the Self, Not from Others

Happiness Has Little to Do with Possessions or Stature

The Secret to Becoming Yourself

A Primary Love Relationship Is Not about Completing Yourself

There Is Little Value in the Judgment of Others

Love Is the Answer to Almost Every Situation

The Power of Forgiveness Is the Power to Heal Oneself

Accepting and Embracing All Moments

The Distinction between What You Control and What You Don't

The Essence of Living Is Uncertainty

Healing Yourself by Healing the Earth and Helping Others

The Causes of Good Health

Beauty and Age

IV. Growth

We Are Here to Learn and to Grow

Embracing Change

You Give Power to What You Think About

There Is Nothing to Fear

Living by Your Standards, Not the Standards of Others

Awareness of Your Intrinsic Assets

We Become Good at What We Practice

You Are the Co-Creator of Your Own Life

Improving your Life by Being True to Yourself

Life Is Meant to Be an Adventure

The Practice of Changing Habits

Problems and Challenges Are Gifts

The Universe Will Ask You Questions

Testing a Direction by Living the Result in the Imagination

Inner Dialog Awareness

Finding Your Meditation

Quieting the Mind During Sleep Time

Focusing on Being, Not on Doing

It Doesn't Have to be Hard

Pace Is the Most Important Aspect of Good Timing

Television and the Media Are Primarily about Selling

Most of the Free World Is in the State of Quasi-Mass Hypnosis

Turning off the Television, Reclaiming Your Life

Your Children Are Not about You

Smiling and Standing up Straight

V. Final Thought

Awareness of What the Universe Rewards

Introduction

What is enlightenment? The following are definitions found in various dictionaries:

Having intellectual or spiritual light, instruction or knowledge.

A final blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering.

Freed from ignorance and misinformation.

Having full comprehension of the issues involved.

Arguably, dictionaries may not be the best place to gain an understanding of enlightenment. Theologians and philosophers have studied, sought, contemplated, and written about enlightenment for thousands of years. There are those who have claimed to have reached this state, although at best, this claim can only be made from the human point of reference, that is, from the human definition and the human understanding of that definition.

In addition to the indications of what enlightenment may be that are presented in dictionaries, most who have seriously contemplated enlightenment would likely agree that it includes a state of peace, happiness, trust, and unconditional love. It is a state where there is no fear, no guilt, no jealousy, no judgment, and no wanting. It is living in the present and having a high level of awareness. It can also encompass the following aspects:

The ability to see beyond the visible and to connect beyond the obvious powers of our five senses.

An awareness of both the general and the specific.

An awareness of Universal Consciousness, that is, an awareness of an intelligence in the Universe that goes beyond what we can see, hear, feel, smell, and touch.

A vastly open mind marked by childlike curiosity and wonderment.

Freedom from ego.

Whether or not true enlightenment is a state that can be achieved by humans is debatable—and is also largely irrelevant. What is relevant, however, is that humans indeed have the ability to move towards enlightenment. We have the ability to learn and to have epiphanies on an ongoing basis, so much so that the quality of our lives can be vastly improved. We can also begin to realize many of the aspects described above which are associated with the essence of enlightenment. Therefore, enlightenment is less of a destination, and more of a journey. It is a journey that begins to absorb this essence. If we consciously choose to take this journey, we begin to move towards enlightenment.

The movement towards enlightenment for most will happen incrementally and in relatively short steps; however, this will not always be the case. There are stories of awakenings that have happened so abruptly that there is the appearance of a sudden and drastic change in one's perception and quality of life. Stories such as these often involve people who find themselves at such a low point and deep state of suffering that when the awaking occurs, the disparity between before and after is vastly profound.

The significant epiphanies that many of us experience have such impact on our awareness that the changes can be described as logarithmic. Therefore, if someone has a hugely significant epiphany, the impact of such an event could increase their overall awareness by 10 times, 100 times, 1,000 times, or possibly even more.

What happens when such an event occurs? Let's consider the example of the need for the approval of others. When a person gains complete understanding that they do not need the approval of others, they also gain a significant number of ancillary understandings. This may include a realization that the approval of others has little value to them, as well as the realization that any energy put into gaining the approval of others is usually wasted. Imagine how these understandings would affect the quality of one's existence.

When conceptualizing a step towards enlightenment, the following distinctions must be made: A) the recognition of a truth versus B) the complete understanding of that truth to the point of living that truth on a cellular level. We often understand many things to be true on an intellectual level, yet it is altogether different to take a truth into our hearts, into the intelligence of our bodies, and to permeate that truth into the consciousness of our cells. It is at this deeper level that the truth is actualized: completely felt, understood, and lived. The difference between intellectualizing a concept and taking it into your heart is like the difference between talking about being in love and actually having had the experience. This deeper level of understanding is generally required in order to make a change that is logarithmic in scope.

An additional distinction is that when a truth is recognized and internalized on a cellular level, it becomes so obvious that the question of whether it is true or not is rarely, if ever, thought about again. As will be discussed later, real truth is always congruent: everything lines up, everything makes sense, and everything is crystal clear. It's like bringing a lens into sharp focus. It's the same sensation as having the realization that the earth is round after having believed for years that it was flat.

Returning to the example, when the need for approval goes away and is lived and understood at the cellular level, there will be many changes in thought, behavior, and the entire essence of one's existence. One change would be a marked increase in confidence and focus, since there would be the elimination of the distraction of wondering if one's actions will be approved. Another change would be the elimination of one's potentially obsequious questions to the people whose approval was previously being sought. The result of these changes, among other things, manifests in a newfound clarity and in a realization of strength and maturity.

The elimination of the distraction of thinking about the approval of others is possibly the most profound aspect of the change. The reason is that without this distraction, there is less to think about, which allows one to more closely recognize the true essence of self. It's like peeling away layers of a veil that are keeping us from recognizing who we really are. As more of these layers are peeled away, we get closer to recognizing our true self, closer to a realization of the true nature of our existence, closer to the Source, and ultimately move closer to becoming the essence of truth. When this happens, we have made movement towards enlightenment.

I. Connection

Spirituality Is Not Dogma

There are literally tens of thousands of definitions of the nature of spiritual power in the world today. Many definitions attach the same name to this power, and some definitions have names that are unique. Definitions range from atheism on one end of the scale all the way to an omnipresent force that knows everything and can be all places at all times. Practices range from aestheticism so extreme that practitioners do everything in their power to block all awareness of human existence all the way to equally extreme forms of hedonism.

Dogma is defined as a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by an institution. There exist doctrines and dogma that no one cares about outside of those practicing such doctrines. And there also exist doctrines and dogma that are practically identical to another, yet the leaders of those doctrines have found small distinctions that have lead to wars and even attempts to annihilate those with minutely conflicting beliefs.

Despite these differences, there is one thing that almost all doctrines and dogma have in common—the element of spirituality. Be it the atheist who believes that all spirit is contained, finite, and comes from the self, or the subscriber of a well-defined and rigid dogma, there is a conception of a source of power. This conception ranges from the infinitesimal all the way to the essence of everything.

Spirit is contained in dogma, but spirit does not equal dogma. Spirit is what gives dogma its basic power, not the other way around. Dogma attempts to define spirit and to put it into a box. In most cases, dogma gives temporal power to an earthly dogmatic hierarchy. Yet such hierarchies tend to diminish the power of spirit contained therein since dogmatic rules generally contain aspects that deviate to some extent from the pure essence of spirit. Inevitably, dogmatic institutions suffer a loss of spiritual power that is in direct relation the degree of those deviations.

There has been a trend in recent years to take the focus away from dogma and to bring it to the common denominator of spirit. Part of this has to do with the recognition that dogma is the source of much of the conflict in the world, and that there is really no need to reconcile its various forms. Many have left dogmatic institutions for a multitude of reasons: lack of congruence with the expanding knowledge base; lack of congruence with personal experience and inner values; and a perceived history of corruption, hypocrisy, alienation, and unnecessary conflict.

Others have chosen to continue to embrace their dogmatic institutions due to the strength of the perceived connection to the underlying spirit, the strength of their connection with tradition, the strength of their connection with community, and the personal need for the historical consistency of message. But there are also those who continue to embrace dogmatic institutions for disturbing reasons: fear, ignorance, and to survive the pressure to conform to an intolerant regional society or subculture.

Spirit has been referred to by many names: Self, Nature, Truth, Love, God, Allah, the Source, Energy, Infinite Intelligence, Universe, Universal Energy, to name a few. As a matter of convenience the words the Source will primarily be used in the following pages as generic references to the concept of Spirit.

As one gains a greater understanding of Spirit and the power of Spirit, there is a movement towards enlightenment.

All of Us Are Looking for Peace of Mind

As we think about what we want out of life, many things may come to mind. A primary love relationship, a lovely home, beautiful children, building a business, being financially independent, fabulous health, adventure, being loved and respected, driving an exciting car, creating art, etc.