Wednesday, April 06, 2016

What Is Enlightenment?

The purpose of meditation practice is not enlightenment; it is to pay attention even at unextraordinary times, to be of the present, nothing but the present, to bear this mindfulness of now into each event of ordinary life”.
-Peter Matthiessen
 
On conscious and unconscious levels I have been seeking enlightenment my entire life without really knowing what it even is.  I have always believed there is more to life than meets the eye.  Perhaps this is based on my personal need to believe I am more than just a random collection of star dust living a meaningless life that matters little now and will matter even less when I am gone.  If I am not yet enlightened I am at least a being conscious of its own existence.  Enlightenment may be nothing more than an expansion of one’s own consciousness.  The more conscious I am the more aware I am.  The more aware that I am the more I see.  The more I see, the more that is revealed to me.  Maybe the equation is Consciousness + Awareness + Seeing = Enlightenment.  When I am conscious, aware, and seeing with an expanded gaze, I am able to see the extraordinary within the seemingly ordinary.  In these moments I am truly present in the eternal Now.  I know this all sounds very esoteric but it is really the stuff of everyday life when life is lived consciously.  We are more than star dust and life is more than random collection of events that fill our days.    

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