This “Enlightenment Now” Blog is the first time that I’ve attempted to do a weblog on a regular basis, and is the most writing that I’ve done, since writing a book in the 2000s. Though the blog is posted here, I also post it on other Facebook pages and groups. The purpose is to learn how to communicate better with people as a teacher of spiritual awakening and enlightenment.
Sometimes, I’ve had some difficult comments to deal with, as a result of posting. People accuse me of acting ‘better than’ others because I claim to be Awake, and say that I look down on others who don’t know they are That. Other people repeatedly accuse me of not writing in the appropriate, proper, Non-Dual language. Others are offended that I am not recognizing their level of enlightenment because my words are for beginners and I’m assuming they are beginners. (How dare I assume they are beginners?)
I feel their hurt, behind their anger. I also wonder at the hurt and the arguments over words. I’m not Non-Dual and Absolutist enough in my language for some. However, how does one communicate with a person from the Absolute point of view, when from the Absolute point of view nobody exists at all except Consciousness Itself? Communication is impossible: there is no speaker and no listener. So, how could I hope to speak a novice’s language and help a novice uncover his or her True Nature from an Absolutist point of view? I cannot. I will fail, unless I adopt the dualistic view and treat this novice as an individual, three-dimensional entity. Also, what’s the point of communicating with a novice if they already know everything about Who They Are? There isn’t any. However, ask any novice if they know who they are and see what they say? Awakening isn’t a given, it is arrived at by uncovering the truth, and that is a process that takes practice and effort (from the relative dualistic viewpoint). Do you forget all of your efforts to understand Awakening now that you stand in the Absolute point of view? Do you forget where you came from? Remember, someone reached out to you, too, didn’t they?
In the case of a person who is offended that I dare offer simple instructions or views about Awakening or Enlightenment to people on a FB Group Page, I have a question. How would I know the level of understanding of every reader who reads the page? Also, if Awakening and Enlightenment is the end of ego, then why is a person offended by my words? Isn’t that ego speaking? Isn’t ego saying, ‘Oh, that man, he doesn’t see how very advanced ‘my’ understanding is, he’s talking down to ‘me’? Who is the ‘me’ who is offended? Also, why make the untested assumption that everyone who reads a post is already Awake?
Some people object that I am ‘looking down on’ those who have yet to Awaken to their True Nature, as if by not calling them Awake, I am making the assumption that they are inferior to ‘me.’ I don’t make that assumption because I know that we are all Awareness Itself. However, if we are interested in truth, why would a reader make an untested assumption about me as a writer? Is that inquiry into the Truth or untested assumption?
It’s puzzling how anybody Awakens to their True Nature unless they get some help to uncover that Nature. If the novice feels temporarily inferior and hurt because someone calls himself Awake and claims that others may not be, that is an ego idea (inferior/superior are both ego constructs) and ego/thought-generated feeling that will pass as they understand their True Nature as beyond ego.
It is difficult to make any statement about Awareness, because Awareness precedes all statements and all words. But, “fools rush in where angels dare to tread,” and all of us who attempt to teach are that kind of ‘fool’ and ‘fail often.’ We can all argue about words endlessly but, words will never accurately describe Awareness. I don’t pretend to be a perfect speaker, teacher, or writer about ordinary things. Trying to speak about Enlightenment to the novice is like trying to describe water to someone who never drank it. I can speak in analogies and parables…individuals must experience Awareness themselves to know they are That. I only hope that those who read this blog and these posts, will check their own assumptions about what is being written, and ask questions if they don’t understand something in the writing. I do answer all the questions I can, as time allows. I will be as tender as possible in replying.