(Ramana Maharshi)
People ask me for a spiritual process; a path towards enlightenment so to speak. Why do we still need to know? Wasn’t the Tao Te Ching written 2500 years ago, explaining the workings of the Way in 10 000 poetic words? Right next to China, around the same time, the Bhagavad Gita emerged in India with even more specific instructions: love Me with all your heart, God says, and do your life’s mission without losing much sleep over what exactly you get for it. Express your drives and karma in a purposeful and passionate way. Yoshua emphasized the love for our fellow beings, and Buddha added compassion for everyone and everything. What else can possibly be added? No, the theory is well-established, now the practice has to follow suit. Now we need you and I to show up and do it! What I can add though is that the process of awakening happens here and now. Everyone is presented exactly the opportunity to let go of all interferences in the best psychological environment possible. God created this maya to bring us Home on the fastest way possible. You know the theory so now bring the feelings on board as well. Our seat of awakening here and now!
I came across J. Krishnamurti‘ s description of rightful living, and I figured that this is as good a description of the process of enlightenment as can be:
To live without any conflict requires a great deal of understanding of oneself & therefore great intelligence—not the clever intelligence of the intellect—but the capacity to observe what is happening outwardly & inwardly, understanding the whole significance of living—which is, relationship and action. Life is action, movement, talking, acquiring knowledge and also relationship with another.
The brain has been conditioned, trained, to observe what is and to create its opposite: “I am violent but I must be non-violent”—therefore there is conflict. But when I observe only violence, the nature of it—not analyse but observe—then the conflict of the opposite is totally eliminated. It is possible to live that way—completely to remain with ‘what is’, then ‘what is’ withers away. Experiment with it.
Right action means precise, accurate action; not based on motive, not directed or committed. The understanding of right action, right relationship, brings about intelligence. That intelligence will dictate what you will do to earn a livelihood. When there is that intelligence you may be a gardener, a cook, it does not matter. Without that intelligence your livelihood will be dictated by circumstance.
There is a way of living in which there is no conflict. Because of no conflict, there is intelligence which will show the way of right living. (Right Living, Essence of J Krishnamurti, by Vinod Mittal)
J. Krishnamurti’s inquiry into our drives, conflicts and fears can be practiced anywhere in in every situation. Stop looking for enlightenment and start mindful living instead. Be one with the activity you are doing right now and enjoy the people you are spending time with. If there is a conflict on your mind right now, be one with that too, painful as it might be. That’s all you can do and should do. Based on J. Krishnamurti’s description there are two different dimensions to tackle the problem statement of rightful living and of awakening. First, figure out what exactly makes you happy, what to do for a living, who to hang out with, and so forth. Second, realize that no change in this world can make you any more awakened than you already are. Here and now is the opportunity at hand to understand the workings of your ego, to let go the weight of the past and to stop worrying about the future.
God wants us to be happy, so look for what it is that you love doing if you feel dissatisfied at the moment. If you don’t feel fulfilled in your current occupation, look for that job, that degree, that promotion or that endeavor that allows you to express your passion with purpose. Same, with your love life and your friends. Look for your soul mate if you are alone, or look for your soul tribe too if the people you are spending most of your time with leave you cold. But don’t believe that any of these changes will bring you any closer to awakening. You can only find more meaning and perhaps a bit more happiness. Awakening comes from the engagement with the present moment, the conflict, the longing, the aspiration, the fear, the excitement. And there you can be assured that this moment is the best there is to get the job done. God has created this maya called life to bring us Home on the fastest way possible. It was designed to bring our emotions on board!
The spiritual author Carl Bozeman’s favorite life motto is, ‘living my dream? No way, may dream is living me!’ There is a lot of truth is in the statement. Once you stop searching, stop reaching for something, you naturally open up to what is. We don’t have to go anywhere, just to see and experience what is. Awakening is the absence of strive; the realization that we are enlightened and always have been. It has to be a natural realization to get to that stage though, an instinctive desire to be still. You can not suppress what bubbles beneath the surface only because you want to be enlightened. It doesn’t work that way. Until that blessed moment in time, follow the paths the spiritual giants laid out for us, dharma, love and compassion and have fun with it. Let the dream you are living unfold through you. Truth of the matter is, it is hard to let life unmask us completely, to be completely open about everything with ourselves and with others. It is a process to get to that stage, but until that moment when we are ready, life leads us right towards it.
Enlightenment is a feeling, a peace of mind, a mind blowing experience of connectedness with the Beyond. It is a Grace of God in the end. Here and now, however, we can be with all of our tensions, conflicts, cravings and aspirations. Let’s not do anything about them, let’s just be one with them. No love relationship, no dream job or lottery victory can take us closer to enlightenment than we are here and now. So let’s be open to the present moment and watch everything that holds us back from God dissolve into nothingness. Dance with the present moment here and now. The seat of awakening is right where we are. Let’s claim it!
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