144. Enlightenment

© 2006 Athene Bitting, All Rights Reserved

CXLIV

The Nature of Enlightenment

Questions:

1. What is enlightenment?

Enlightenment is the experience of being touched by the Spirit of Truth. What the SoT touches, never goes back to what it was. It always enjoys that special wisdom, which integrates into the Soul Body/character.

The Buddhist meaning of enlightenment is different from the one that we employ. The Buddhist terms [Sotnãpanna, Sakadãgãmi, Anãgãmi, and Arhat (Sãvaka-Bodhi), Pratyeka (Pacceka-Bodhi), supreme Buddha (Sammã-Sambodhi)] describe what we call Initiations and missions. These are major steps along the climb to spiritual maturity. In this context, we can understand why so many followers of Buddha yearn for “enlightenment” as described in the religious texts.

It seems like a birthday party on a spring afternoon with strawberry sorbet served on angel food cake under a cherry tree in blossom beneath a sunny sky. Sigh. Well, studying further, you can see that this bliss is reaped through experience.

Besides the word we are using here, we can also substitute epiphany, light bulb, change of attitude, shift of consciousness, Finger of God, whack on the side of the head, and gaining wisdom.

Luckily for all of us, this is a frequent occurrence. Our Guardian Angels are constantly working to arrange our next enlightenments. Each experience of this type creates a permanent change in the Soul Body, the Mental Body, and the Astral Body. It bestows gifts that make life easier to navigate.

2. How do we achieve enlightenment?

During the course of a year, you are guaranteed at least one enlightenment right around your birthday. Happy Birthday! Here is the general process:

☸A person becomes frustrated by the familiar pattern of a neurosis. The Astral Aura looks like an egg covered by kaka. We need some of this cleaned away so that the light can shine through.

☸The seeker works to clear away the pollution him/herself (through meditation, reading, or psychotherapy). Self knowledge can be a tricky proposition, unless one knows the trick of observing how others react to your presence and behavior. Or the Guardian Angel perceives the need to strike through the nasty outer coating—usually during the open-key period. She then calls the Enlightener Angel (Remliel), who brushes away certain elements of a person’s life that have been standing in the way of a clear view. It might not always be a fun experience.

☸By either means, an opening is made in the kaka and the seeker feels vulnerable, like a chrysalis in its unformed stage.

☸The Enlightener Angel moves in and drops a thought form into the crown chakra.

☸The thought forms sinks down to the Mental Body and the Astral Body and then the physical brain as a NEW ATTITUDE.

There are many methods to pursue enlightenment and we will list a few of them here.

☯Pray that you and everyone have enlightenment in a fun and easy way.

☯Examine your last challenge during your day. How did your choices or behavior create the chain of events?

☯Ask yourself: “What one thing obstructs my enjoying this moment?”

☯Clean out your heart chakra and see what comes out.

☯Ask for advice from some religious stranger.

☯Read Hexagram 18 in the I Ching: Ku— Work on What Has Been Spoiled.

☯Invoke the Spirit of Truth and then look in the mirror.

☯Ask your enemy what he/she finds wrong with you (if asking doesn't jeopardize you).

☯Ask your Guardian Angel for her opinion.

Okay, so you see I’m having a little fun with this. Big surprise. At any rate, every one of these approaches will bring you enlightenment of some type.

3. Are there major and minor enlightenments?

Youbetcha. They come in all sizes and shapes, colors and sounds.

We can have little bitty ones that allow us to solve specific problems in everyday living. For instance, if I were to have an abrasive relationship with someone at work, I might seek enlightenment about this and then find the mental key to gaining empathy for my co-worker. I might also acquire some people skills that would improve my interaction with this person and build a good relationship.

Then there are the practical enlightenments that solve neuroses. These are big because they mark the end of struggles that might have lasted for many lifetimes. As an example, say I had a fear of heights. Before the enlightenment, I was ruled by my feelings about heights and falling. After the enlightenment, I would get the idea of how to gradually get used to heights and to eventually become fearless in working and relaxing in such places. In other words, I would find the prescription for healing my Astral Body.

It is important to mention here that knowledge of past lives doesn’t usually help to heal an Astral trauma. In fact, just reliving the harmful incident usually deepens the Astral wound. It is best to focus on the answer rather than the cause.

Yes, they get bigger. There is a transformational type of enlightenment. It bestows on the seeker a virtue that was unlooked for. The disciple is thrust into a stressful situation of duration. The long slog of experience compresses the character like the earth compresses carbon. The carbon becomes diamonds; the character similarly becomes firm, clear, and strong.

Using my own life as an illustration, I spent over ten years as an eldercare manager. My aunt and my mother both became invalids simultaneously and I needed to oversee their individual physical care and their separate households. No, I didn’t like it at the time. No, I wouldn’t want to do it again.

The offshoot of the whole experience was that I became patient. Strangers meeting me for the first time would tell me that I was patient, so I guess it showed. The transformation was so gradual that I couldn’t have told you a specific moment of change. However, you could finger the hour that the Enlightenment Angel dropped that thought form into my crown chakra as some time before all the responsibilities locked in.

Now for the really big act: enlightenment that acts as a virus. How nice. You can catch enlightenment from anyone. Have a tissue. Socio-psychologists call them mnemes [neémas]. Mnemes themselves can be either good chi or bad chi at the offset, but they have a curious long-term effect of raising the bar of ethics for the entire population. It’s that old model of a ripple effect, except the ripples never quit and they gain momentum.

Case in point is the social power of women in human society. Compared to 2,000 years ago, women have almost achieved parity with men in their ability to work and mate and purchase. Almost. And it all began with one woman receiving the thought form of personal equality.

4. How is the Spirit of Truth involved?

The SoT is the Office of Transformation, and enlightenment is a transforming experience. So they always accompany each other. They both involve change. They both move you forward. They both add Personal Power Points to your spiritual bank account! Yay Truth!

5. What happens to the Astral Body?

Healing happens.

What happens to the Mental Body?

The MB expands temporarily from the stimulation of a new idea. Then as it processes the possible outcomes of the NEW ATTITUDE, it generates archetypes around the aura. These archetypes depict the seeker acting out the beliefs of the new thought.

What happens to the Soul Body?

With each enlightenment, the Soul Body takes on a more mature appearance (less childish). As it acquires virtues and wisdoms, it becomes more beautiful, more solid, and more glow-y. It’s really fun to look at your Soul Mate (who is always with you at the 6th dimension) and observe the developing goodness.

6. How is this different from Illumination?

Illumination is a gift of opportunity to those who might be in the position to spread a movement or transmit a truth. It is a temporary blow out of the Mental Body, which expands to nearly triple its normal size and brightness for a few days. The disciple will experience a peculiar frame of mind, in which many questions are answered and complex ideas seem simple. Then the music dies down, the lights dim, and the clarity goes away. Sometimes a few of the revelations stay with the person, but not always.

Enlightenment is a permanent shaping of the Soul Body. It is gained through sincerity and work.

7. Draw or describe one of your helpers.

Helpers can bring enlightenment too! When you are trying to solve a puzzle in your life, sincerely ask for anyone who is interested to come and teach you how to get it right.