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8/12/2019 Enlightenment: An Initial Discussion
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Enlightenment: Initial DiscussionsBy Dr. Stewart Bitkoff
Introduction
As our society moves forward in its study and growing understanding of different
spiritual paths, one of the things required is a dialogue concerning the nature of personal
enlightenment. Or said another way, after studying a particular spiritual path, for theaverage traveler, what does personal spiritual development look like?
Often travelers start out on a spiritual quest uncertain aout outcome. !aving only astrong feeling that a particular path is calling, unsure where this study will lead" perhaps
their point of reference eing a specific teacher or what they have heard from other
students or read. Sometimes travelers define their search in terms of outcomes such as
reading minds, gaining mysterious powers, spiritual states, eing at peace, or wondering
how learning will set them apart from others# that is make them individually special.
$he following is a eginning discussion concerning possile outcomes of spirituallearning.
Life is Spiritual
%et&s egin y stating the ovious and what all religions and spiritual paths offer in some
way or another" y nature and design, humans are fundamentally spiritual. $hat is, spirit
is asic to our construction and presently understood to e a form of energy which isshared y all things throughout the universe. 'n fact, ancient teachings offer, it is this
energy or spirit (housed in the soul), which gives life, form and sustance to our physicalody, emotions, thought process and conscious awareness.
Second all physical life consists of varying forms of spiritual energy and after we leave
our physical ody, a part of us returns to a dimension that is increasingly most like thisenergy. 'n our modern scientific view, as presented aove, some have chosen to define
man&s spirit, as consisting of a supra life force energy which is somehow connected and
shared with everything else in the universe. *ote this +modern view& is consistent withmany ancient mystery teachings.
'n the physical universe, something which in the past was termed spiritual ether was
credited with generating the physical and was linked throughout our worldly, physicalaspect" as previously indicated, this spiritual directing element provided conscious
awareness and life energy. onsequently it was held all life forms e-isted simultaneously
on multiple levels of physical and spiritual reality" similarly, within each person, each ofthese two dimensions having numerous levels.
't is said, the %ight or Supra %ife orce /nergy (0od), originated eyond the physical andspiritual" and in order to manifest in the physical universe, operates through master
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spiritual energy forms2 directing and creating. onsequently, there is a spiritual form for
man3woman, one for every type of animal, plant, fish and insect variety. urther it is said,
spiritual eings e-ist in endless variety" with every form having its own specific higherdirecting and delineating element or over soul. $hese multiple higher directing elements
are created through the %ight and consist of differing spiritual energy" providing overall
form and sustance to the universe.
Similarly the human soul is made2up of a type of unique spiritual faric or sustance.
$his faric or spirit comprises the soul, has een called ether and provides the soul withlife energy. $he soul has a center or +heart& which governs oth its higher and lower
nature.
By !igher Design, each person and soul has conscious awareness" along with the ailityto create, destroy and freely choose. $his is different than other spiritual forms and is
most like the %ight. onsequently within each person there is an aspect or spark of what
has een termed Divinity" internally this energy (spirit) is our soul&s center and is the
driving force or heart which governs and e-presses mind, emotion, ody and soul. 4henour physical ody ceases, it is this heart or primal directing spiritual energy which helps
lead our soul&s travel to the ne-t place.
Building upon this introductory discussion, it is accurate to say, everyone has spiritual
aility and that a complete life e-presses this dimension. Additionally, in our moderntimes, it is recogni5ed every person is unique and different" therefore one would e-pect
endless levels of spiritual aility and capacity" these levels dependent upon each person&s
individual nature, development, focused learning and what some term luck or destiny.
Increased Capacity
4ithin some spiritual traditions, it is understood and taught that enlightenment orincreased spiritual capacity occurs within the ordinary alanced personality. urther
enlightenment is a possiility for everyone and may e reached through a course of
guided study. 6ememer enlightenment does not free us from eing human" it helps usy adding another level of capacity, which at times, helps us transcend ordinary thought
or consciousness. or every one, life is a series of ups and downs and to e human means
we react physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually to every day events.
urther individual spiritual paths teach, far elow the surface of our every day personality
there is awareness, consciousness and a guiding presence which is our lasting, true
spiritual nature. Daily as we are shown through directed learning how to dip into thisocean of awareness, we connect with another level of our consciousness and reality" this
aspect is always in tune with the %ife orce and emerging design of life around us and
within the universe.
/nlightenment is higher spiritual awareness which comes and goes2 depending upon the
situation. $his capacity is individual and varies within each person. 'n order to have this
capacity come forward, routinely, there must e a alance within the personality" a period
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of e-tended training and what is termed latent +sincerity.& Basically what is meant y
+sincerity& is that higher ailities and learning are not sought for personal gain. $his
higher connection is sought ecause the traveler loves and wishes to complete self ymerging with the Divine.
0enerally what is meant y a alanced personality, is one that is +normal& within thesociety in which the traveler finds self, and for the most part is free of psychological
pathology or e-cessive need and unalanced desire. 't is generally understood, that in
reaching for enlightenment, something additional, and which has previously een asleep,in the traveler, must e added. $his is done through a gradual quieting of ordinary needs
and awakening what has een asleep to slowly come forward. 4hat slowly awakens and
emerges is our own latent higher consciousness" this inner awareness is not static, and in
the average person comes and goes, depending upon the needs of the situation.
4ithin many spiritual traditions, travelers have a profession, participate in the every day
affairs of the world, and within their own culture for the most part are viewed as ordinary
citi5ens. Added higher capacity is used in everyday life to enrich, elevate and serve theemerging design.
8owers, healing capacity, reading minds, higher awareness, intuition, dreams, and visions
as genuine" are y products of a higher state of consciousness. $hese events3capacities
come forward to add a nutrient or provide another dimension to every day life. $hesehigher capacities, to know and act, are organic e-tensions of an emerging pattern, have
multi2level usefulness and generally are not to e viewed outside their own specific
conte-t.
9ost travelers when they wonder what it is like to have higher consciousness, or to e
enlightened, have a fanciful, dramatic, over stimulated view of this awareness. As frame
of reference, television shows and accounts of e-traordinary people, present e-citingphenomena like reading people&s minds, performing miracles and seeing into the future.
:et it is precisely this e-citement and over simplification which stands in the way of the
emergence of these ailities.
Also within many religious and spiritual traditions, rarely, is there a straight forward
discussion aout this varied potential and phenomena. $he ma;or reason for this is the
one cited aove and in ages past this awareness or spiritual capacity was oftenmisunderstood and anned. urther it is e-tremely difficult to accurately capture in
written or veral e-pression, these phenomena" they originate from another dimension,
have multiple variation, levels of meaning and y necessity take on a presentation that isorganic to the specific situation. Also they do not translate well to differing
circumstance. inally these capacities cannot e taught, only developed" similar to any
latent physical or mental capacity.
Humanitys Higher Potential
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All spiritual learning, or the road to enlightenment, egins y e-amining and
understanding who 9an (4oman) is. 4hat is the higher potential of humanity? 4hat
do the great religious and spiritual traditions say aout each person&s individual reasonfor travel through the universe?
4hile traditions vary, here is a composite or one view of this potential. By design,man3woman is a multi2level and spiritual eing who enters the earth phase to e-press
many aspects of self, reach toward completion and serve as a representative of a =ing.
All these forms of earthly e-pression are integral to the Design and the emergingindividual life, learning pattern. Always the highest e-pression is self2less service that is
aligned with the higher destiny of the universe. $o connect with this potential and
destiny, man was orn incomplete with an inner restlessness and yearning. $his unease
pushes the traveler forward seeking the missing piece" often in divergent forms ande-periences. %ife is the great classroom and within the search, the traveler is encouraged
to en;oy the many aspects of healthy living. inally, when the missing piece is defined as
spiritual, real or conscious spiritual learning and service emerge. 'n time, as the traveler
matures, responsiilities and increased spiritual capacity are added and the individual iscompleted. $his completion is necessary to oth fulfill individual potential and help
make the world a etter place.
9an&s irth right and potential is to govern a vast personal spiritual kingdom. $his
potential is aligned with the !igher Destiny and as the traveler ;ourneys through themany worlds" the traveler continues to e-press self in relation to the !igher 8otential and
>niversal Design.
!igher spiritual capacity has numerous forms and comes and goes" it is dependent uponthe situation and its usefulness within the !igher Design. 't is a dimension that is to e
used in service to others. 't is not for the individual" it is to e used in connection with
humanity and to help people reach higher. $his latent wisdom and capacity e-ists withinevery one# emerging when conditions are aligned. $hese conditions often include# right
time, right place and right people.
The Completed Person
%ife is filled with seemingly endless forms of e-perience, learning and potential. 't is the
same with higher capacity and aility. $he completed person, one who has attainedwithin their own ordinary personality a level of alance and added spiritual capacity,
lives a full life like others. A complete life is one that is filled with responsiility, eing
part of the community in which one finds self and serving a higher call.
According to tradition, on one level, travelers are all equal# ;oy, reward, love, happiness,
sacrifice, work, suffering and death are all part of the human e-perience. !owever whatsets the spiritual traveler apart is that through the 0race of the 8ath" the traveler has
added natural, latent spiritual capacity" which y design and function is to e used in
connection with helping others.
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