Enlightenment Stage

(conclusion)


Third stage
Enlightenment. This word has baffled many seekers and uplifted many mystics. An experience that is beyond words, that seems too fantastic, but very true for few people. Does enlightenment only choose the deserving? Why is it so elusive? Is it really true? Or is it just a concept, or worse, a hallucination? What is enlightenment, really? How does it look like? Does it look like God? Is it a blinding light from heavens? Or something emanates after meditating for a very long time? These questions, I would say, are rather existential. The only thing that differs is that the questions directly cast light on the pitch-black obscurity of enlightenment. This must be enlightenment's greatest irony: for what is dreamed as Light is nothing but a bewildering darkness.

The word enlightenment often reminds me of the Buddha, whose name has the Sanskrit root word budh, which means "to wake up." Thus, being enlightened and being awakened bear the same potential meaning. When I wake up and open my eyes, I see light. That is how both words are inseparable. But the entire humanity has been sleeping for centuries. We have been living our lives in the lies of our dreams, until it has become very true to us. These dreams are ingrained to the nature of our survival instincts well-programmed by our society. We have been sleeping and dreaming that we can last for eternity in achieving ends of utter materialism. We have forgotten to wake up to the true reality of our purpose. Now it is very hard to wake up. We cannot anymore distinguished the real from illusion. We have lived our lives this way. Waking up and opening our eyes are the only way to see again the nature of our lives. It would have been the easiest way to do. Yet, what makes it harder for us to wake up?

The third stage is perhaps the most misunderstood stage, yet the most fulfilling and enchanting. This stage is very true, at least as real as other stages. Misunderstanding the Enlightenment stage stems from the fact that Light is very real, yet it cannot be touched. Because our minds are often more inclined to focus on something tangible and find it truer than the intangible. It is the same way for Enlightenment. An impasse towards reaching this stage is this strong belief that Enlightenment is real but it is quite impossible to achieve, if not improbable. It reminds me of the first rainbow that I saw more than a year ago. I was with a friend riding a motorbike in a countryside road south of Manila. The rain had just stopped, with dark clouds already passed over the other side of the mountain. As we rode, we saw the whole arch, vivid over wide empty rice fields. The thought of seeing a rainbow made me excited to reach its end. But as we got nearer, it gradually disappeared, which I didn't expect. So it is in Enlightenment. We might be chasing rainbows after all. Nonetheless, that doesn't make the Enlightenment unreal. We do not really seek for Light. The truth, which is much harder than to expect the outcome of Enlightenment, is that we are, indeed, Light itself.

Max Lucado, a Christian author, writes: "The fire of your heart is the Light of your Path." I believe this gives clarity to what Christ means of becoming "the Light of the world." We are Light, but we have to choose to be. But this is beyond the light we know. We usually associate Light with the external flames ignited by its bearer. We thought our teachers, scriptures, traditions, beliefs, practices and rituals are casting lucid intellect and sentiments to our gloomy understanding. All throughout, discovering the external sources of Light is the stage of exploration, yet at the end of the search those dark uncertainties are about to reverse the process. This long sleep finally awakens us. True Light is never found outside, it shines from inside. It is the inner fire that keeps ablaze. After fueling ourselves with the external energies, we ignite our own beacon and become the source of the guiding Light for those who are also in search of their own Lights.

And what is the nature of this fire in our hearts? It is the metaphor of the everlasting power within us. It is always encompassing, because it is physical and yet metaphysical. This power remains ineffable, yet can be palpably expressed by any human being alive. Sharing this power makes it more empowering and exponentially unlimited to anyone's access. We get more of this power when we give it to someone, through physical means: being gentle, intimate, kind and compassionate are just among of its unmistakable evidence. With every expression of this power, it transcends the boundaries of mental and emotional limitations. Our intentions fuel our collective awareness to make this power defy all physical limitations of time and space. This power has its own dimension, when no rational brain can theorize and quantify. It can make things happen, bring wonders and miracles and feats no longer controlled by our senses. It continues to be elusive to the clutch of the spoken word, and freely exists in the realm of the possible.

From this fire that cannot be consumed comes the Light that illuminates the sight of the unawakened. We being the unawakened open our eyes and begin to transmute the separate entities of fire and Light into radiant awakening. This is the stage of Enlightenment, when we as awakened Pathfinders relinquish our craving for external power over material and physical world. Quenching our thirst for meaning wanes, as we become certain enough that the only way to become Enlightened is to live that truth of Light in ourselves and for others. Our job is to extend this indescribable radiance in many ways possible: sharing our knowledge of what is good, being of service to others, cultivating our deeper sense of Oneness, and becoming a Loving brother or sister in the spirit. We harness this enlightened power every time we become attune to our humanity, and thereby to our divinity. This radiant power, from which all power comes forth, is the power of Love.

Pathfinding never ends here. Our questions well up more, this time less existential, since our existence is now clear. We are no more in search for answers, but we explore and expand our infinite potentialities. We ask ourselves "How Loving am I whenever I fulfill my purpose?" When situations get tough, we ask "How can I see this in the eyes of Love?" When opportunity comes to become better persons "How can I do and have things with more Love?" When we see differences and strifes, we ask "What Loving ways can I resolve differences?" When we are uncertain of what will happen in our lives and the lives of others, we ask "What are those evidences of certainty do Love bring?" When we excite ourselves to learn more, we ask "How can I learn more about Love?" And when we see different lives struggling and enjoying one way or the other, we ask: "How can I Love these people without conditions?" We have infinite questions, and definitely, infinite answers.

From the torrential rains of existential questions to the branching streambeds of exploring answers, we now go back to the true source, the oceanic fountain of Light. We are coming to the full circle of the Pathfinding journey. We are not anymore flowing on a single river of answers, much as we do not seek any river to find and validate them. That is, all Pathfinding journeys are simply numerous divergence from the flow of truth that leads to the same origin, may it be religious traditions, spiritual principles, or philosophical concepts. Enlightenment is the rediscovery and reclamation of our enormous and endless spring of insights. Our questions, our means to answer them, and answers themselves come from that vastness within. Reaching the final stage is the beginning of understanding and experiencing Love without the barriers and blocks of reasoning and justifications. Being enlightened is not anymore elusive. It is right here and now. The Light of Love is always with us, waiting for our full awareness. Once we pay attention, it's like coming back again to where we really came from. And now we can finally say that we are truly home.