Now here is a word that evokes reactions in others that cover the spectrum of human emotion. To the “New Age” crowd, it is viewed with reverence and as the ultimate goal. On the other side of the spectrum the word evokes disgust and near nausea. No matter where in the spectrum your views or definition of enlightenment lie, and whether you call it “a perfect knowledge of all things, understanding the mysteries of God and creation, reaching a degree of perfection”, or whatever – it is a process – and a goal. So for purposes of this work, we would like to clarify the Barbequian view of enlightenment, so as we refer to it, there will be no emotion evoked at all, just understanding of what we are talking about.
A lot of people spend a lot of time and money on self-help type books, seminars, New Age theories and philosophy in order to become “enlightened”. All of us are searching for something to help us feel like we have a grasp on what is going on around us spiritually, emotionally and more importantly, what is going on inside us. We may have become disenchanted with our social or religious circles, we may just feel like we don’t fit in; we may have self-esteem issues or any number of things that motivate us to become “better”, or improve ourselves. While these are all noble causes and worthy of addressing, far too often we are looking to the outside for the answers to our hang-ups when the answer is inside us. Let’s face it – if you had parents, you are screwed up and if you are a parent, you’ve screwed up your kids! Nobody wants to, but we get our hang-ups and complexes through our relationships, upbringing, and environment and most of it comes about during our formative years. So, the fact is we all have issues and challenges to overcome and hence strengthen our character as well as the whole of the world experience. The beauty of this is that it is exactly the way it is supposed to be.
In Barbequia, enlightenment is the process of understanding our self, others, nature, and the spiritual aspects of life. It is NOT a state of being that comes with a diploma after so much reading, learning, and seminars or even knowing what the hell Deepak Chopra is talking about (although there should probably be a diploma for that). Enlightenment does not come from books or seminars – that is knowledge. Enlightenment comes from experiencing life with an open mind.
It seems that we spend so much time trying to figure “it” out, that by the time we do, “it” has changed on its own and our time figuring “it” out was pretty much wasted. We as humans, just like life itself, are very dynamic, and when healthy, are constantly changing. So it makes sense to make wise use of our study time – especially when it’s about trying to figure things out.
While books and seminars (knowledge) are important, they are just as useless as the beautiful encyclopedia I spent way too much money on and never used, if we don’t know what to do with the information. If we are acquiring information due to a sense of lack or emptiness, or a drive for self-improvement or self-esteem, then we are setting ourselves up for some disappointment and frustration. First of all, information is not always true, and yet there are always threads of truth in just about any information. Knowledge is only knowledge when the information is accurate. The only way to know if the information you glean or choose to accept is accurate is by how you feel about it and how you implement it in your life. If it works for you, then it’s your truth. Useful knowledge will tend to be uncomfortable because it implies personal responsibility for everything we are, do, say, accomplish or fail to accomplish. Useful knowledge will compel us to move out of our comfort zone and address issues we may not want to. But when we do, we feel a degree of excitement, but more so a higher level of power and self-confidence. This in turn allows us to learn deeper and more powerful things. The secret to doing so is to experience life with an open mind.
Notice we say experience life – not live life. Everybody lives life – going day to day with his or her routine, throwing in some fun, excitement while working to accomplish something in the end. Very few people experience life because it requires some letting go of outcomes. It requires trusting that the Universe will give us every opportunity we seek and at the same time simplifying what we seek.
How can one experience anything other than stress in what we know as today’s world? Our values are focused on physical achievement – a bigger home, a nicer car, better clothes, and we go to church on Sunday to feel better about it all because, after all, what we are really working towards is “eternal life” or “Enlightenment”. I don’t mean to offend the avid churchgoer; I only mean to present the possibility that what we say we want and what we do to get it are two very different things. Experiencing life may very well include going to church, but it means realigning our daily actions with our values and letting go of the traditional focus of accumulation and gain as the ultimate goal.