The Many Stages of Enlightenment

My wife had an experience when her mother died that was quite remarkable. I have worked on various stages of enlightenment because I realized they were important since I was 2 or before years old. However, I'm not sure everyone is like me in this. So, after physically and mentally surviving here on earth I was always interested in how I could help both myself and mankind in the most useful and efficient way possible. I looked around me and thought, "I have experienced many lifetimes of being scientists, doctors, lawyers, farmers, soldiers but now I think I need to spend this lifetime thinking about how I can most efficiently get enlightened and how I can help others get enlightened too.

Because it seems to me that most suffering in the world is caused by ignorance of one kind or another which is literally the opposite of enlightenment. I had seen enough violence in public school and tried to stop it wherever I could. Luckily, in this lifetime at least I never have had to shoot at anyone or kill anyone. So, at least in this lifetime I'm very grateful for this because the psychological traumas from doing this often destroy that lifetime for people having experienced that.

(Even though some might use this experience to become enlightened like Milarepa of Tibet did.)

To me, one of the best ways to become enlightened is to choose not to live where violence is occurring in the first place. Because often violence just breeds violence and revenge just breeds revenge like we see in the middle east right now where this could go on literally for 100 years or more at this point because so many people have been tortured and died horrible and there are literaly millions of people waiting for revenge for the loss of loved ones. So, it literally will take  100 years or more until all the wronged people are dead. But then the problem becomes: "What if they were killed horribly and what if their children or relatives want revenge too?

But, then again this is a problem in the middle east for thousands of years just like it has been in Europe until the last century or two. It has been the same thing.

So, enlightenment often cannot be attained on the battlefield (but then there are rare natures (like Arjuna) who find a way through this too while he was with Krishna as recounted in the Bhagavad Gita.

Bhagavad Gita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, bhagavad-gītā in IAST, Sanskrit pronunciation: [ˈbʱəɡəʋəd̪ ɡiːˈt̪aː]; lit.

So, each person, depending upon where and when they are born and what their circumstances are is going to have a different experience with trying to find enlightenment and peace in any given lifetime.

All types of enlightenment make a lot more sense in the context of multiple incarnations because very few people become fully enlightened and realized in a single lifetime.

I like the way Tibetan Lamas talk about enlightenment the most. They say, "Everyone is already enlightened. They just have to realize that they are already enlightened. Once you realize you are enlightened it is a lot like being on stage and opening a curtain and seeing the audience there. When everything is unveiled you see you were never alone in the first place and that there was never anything to be afraid of of any value ever.

So, a big part of becoming enlightened is starting with the premise: "I"m already enligthened, I just need to accept that I'm enlightened."

But, this is not self delusional either which is why it is tricky.

For example, I can say, "I'm so enlightened I can drive a car anywhere." 

But, if I haven't taken the time to learn to drive and to get a license to drive if anyone rides with me they might be killed.

So, this is the difference between the delusion of being enlightened and actually being enlightened. Because if you are actually enlightened things start happening like you actually CAN drive the car all over the place safely.

But then, it is also true that if you don't believe you can do something, you can't.

So, you have to believe you can be enlightened or you never will be.

So, part of it is accepting that you are already enlightened and part of it is actually becoming enlightened.

So, for example, I have met many many people growing up who would say, "God's going to heal me. So, I'm not going to a doctor." And the next week or month they would be dead.

This was what it was like to be in a positive thinking church in the 1950s. So, it doesn't matter if it is Christian Science or whether it is saying you can drive when you can't. There is believing and then there is the actuality of the thing which is completely different.

But, here's the thing. It's all completely scientific if you study it in this context.

Enlightenment is a scientifically understandable thing for humans to accomplish if they want to just like running a 4 minute mile if you are young enough and the right body type can be accomplished if your health and body type agree with this.

So, for many many people enlightenment is possible in a single lifetime if you feel or think (usually both) that this is important to both you and to all mankind and all life in the universe.

Because in the end if you succeed in becoming fully enlightened in a single lifetime the whole universe and all that's in it will eventually benefit from your enlightenment for all life everywhere.