Enlightenment
Enlightenment is a loaded term carrying many connotations. Some of which may accurately describe or reflect the actual experience of Enlightenment and others that may not. It is a term that is used interchangeably with the Awakening of the Buddha. The Awakening of Enlightenment is similar to the experience of Self-Realization, the distinction being in terms of duration only. Self-Realization is a recognition of the nature of the Self and its permanence, even if the awareness is brief. Enlightenment proper is an abiding awareness of Self.
Enlightenment can "just happen" but generally it does not. In most situations what is required is Knowledge, Methodology and/or Transmission. The Buddha Awakened through "just sitting" and Ramana Maharshi Realized through "experiencing" the death of his body. There is no question that such direct approaches can have immediate results. The question really comes down to what the Buddha and Ramana both did, how they did it and why it was effective for Awakening or Realization. It must also be noted that in both the Zen Buddhist tradition and in Ramana Maharshi's teaching there is Transmission. Again, the three questions are: What is Enlightenment? How is it Realized? Why?
Knowledge
Enlightenment is knowledge and experience of Self, through Self-Awareness and through Self-Realization. When one experiences awareness of awareness, this is Self-Awareness. The Realization that is Awakening is not an event, it is a process. Through an on-going process of active self-questioning, self-looking and self-seeing one begins to come to Self-Awareness. When this point is reached, Awakening or Realization of Self becomes possible. Enlightenment is impossible without awareness of the Self.
The next logical question is: What is the Self?
There are three ways to look at this question. The first way to approach this problem is from the standpoint of who the Self is. The second path to the answer to this question is what the Self is. Door number three is the challenge of where the Self is. There are many ways to answer these three questions but only the experiential answer counts. Although, this is a basic fact, still it is necessary, useful and meaningful to have some general idea, concept or understanding of who, what and where the Self is.
The shortest - if not the best - answer to who the Self is, can be stated simply as: The Self is Who You Are and it is Who I Am. In other words, there is only One Self between the two of us. The Self is Awareness; the Knower, the Looker, the Seer. It is the Who before there is a "you." Basic Being that Is, that is Aware. Who, is the how, by which every experience is Known. How do you Know? Who Knows? By Whom is all experience Known? By You! Who you are is Ultimate Identity before individuality, essence or form. The Ultimate Experiencer. Who is not two! Who we both are is One and the Same. That is Who You Are.
In a word, what the Self is, Is Space. The Space that is Infinite and Absolute. What kind of Space? Clear, pure, free, happy, crystalline, open, all-inclusive, all-encompassing, all-enfolding, all-enveloping, etc...and, Blissful Space. A Love that is Unitive, indiscriminate, within all, between all and throughout all. Thus, there exists everywhere a blissful, loving peace that is Total Happiness. As Yogananda said an Ever-New Joy that is nonetheless constant, continuous and unchanging. It is cool enough to be carefree, happy-go-lucky and humorous, yet crazy enough to be ecstatic. Words cannot describe this Happiness; it must be experienced. Take every drug or drink you can think of, roll all of their affects into one, while removing any and all of the negative or ill side effects...and you might have an approximation of what this Happiness is like. This is WHAT YOU ARE!
There is no where, where the Self is, not. Strictly speaking, location does not apply to the Self, though direction does. There is an orientation, direction or emphasis that brings one to Self-Awareness. That having been said, the Self is the everywhere Oneness that is nowhere. There is a direction, into Oneness, into Awareness or into Space but...there is no location. The Self is Omni. You can Realize Enlightenment in any direction, in no direction, in every direction, through no method or through any method...it all depends upon your emphasis. Whether your focus is to a point or not determines your emphasis. Where, is as much Here as it is There and equally There as it is Here. This is Where your Self is Now, as Being.
Methodology
Just as there is a what to Enlightenment, there is also a way or a how. If I am already this, why don't I know it and how do I realize it? Good questions. I'm glad that you asked them!
We must begin with awareness. The way that awareness works is in three modes: focused, defocused and unfocused. The unfocused mode is the Enlightened Awareness that has already been described, so we will address only focused and defocused awareness. These two modes of awareness are relevant to our two questions.
So, why don't I know it? The answer is focus. When awareness is focused the experience is everything but Enlightened. Focused awareness is object awareness. When the focal point is objects, awareness is focused. When awareness is objectless, it is diffuse. The objects themselves are not the problem, it is the focusing of awareness that causes identity problems and reality crises. Although, it is possible to Realize Oneness through focusing intently upon a single object...still, the general rule is that focusing awareness distracts one from Enlightenment. By focusing awareness upon objects one is bringing awareness away from one's intrinsic nature, which is happiness. The suffering follows. The basis for all ignorance, illusion or delusion comes through focusing awareness upon objects, rather than upon Awareness, Space or Oneness.
Okay, so, how do I realize it? There is only one way, though there are many ways to go about it. The way to Realize, to Awaken, is to defocus awareness. There is no other way or means. This is it. The descriptions may be many but the basic practice is simple. You defocus awareness by not focusing awareness. Defocused awareness is a transitional mode of awareness between focused and unfocused awareness. If focused awareness gravitates towards objects, then defocused awareness opens away from objects. The emphasis of focused awareness is objects, whereas the emphasis of defocused awareness is Awareness, Space or Oneness. It is not so much where you look but rather how you look that determines whether you are Enlightened or not. Do you focus or do you not-focus? When you see others, defocus. When you see your body, defocus. To defocus is to make everything fuzzy, so that all becomes clear.
To defocus through Awareness, turn awareness inward towards awareness. To defocus through Space, expand awareness outward until it is objectless. To defocus through Oneness, get behind yourself, enter into the other or into the middle between the two.
Transmission
Energy can be transmitted that precipitates, catalyzes or facilitates Enlightenment experiences. This energy is called psychic but it is more than likely composed of gases and/or plasmas carrying magnetic polarity and conducting electric charge that are patterned by frequencies of sound. My own personal experiences, combined with insights that I have gleaned, confirmed or that I share with G. I. Gurdjieff and Richard Rose convinces me that the so-called "subtle" energies are an amalgam of magnetic, electrical and sound frequency forces acting upon substances that are in the gaseous and/or in the plasma phases of matter. In order to transmit the substances of Enlightenment or of healing, one must cultivate them. It is definite that gases other than oxygen can be breathed into one's life. It is possible that sexual fluid, once distributed throughout the physical body can be converted into a gas, possibly carbon gas.
The relationship between the gases and plasmas of the human being may be similar to the relationship between solids and liquids. If this theory is correct, then scientific confirmation should be relatively simple. The sooner we can see these substances through technological means, the less need we will have for unreliable and subjective "psychics." If this is true, then there is no such thing as psychic phenomena. There may well be a physics of the psyche that is gaseous/plasma based. I have experienced so many instances of breathing in lighter gases than oxygen that I am convinced on that particular point. I have experienced the sexual fluid spontaneously being drawn into the bloodstream. I have absorbed magnetism/electricity into my body and experienced the whole range of physical and electrical effects through my own experience of the "Kundalini process." From my own perspective and experience it is all physics or rather it is all based on a physics of psychology.
What is certain is that the energy of Transmission and healing are both composed of the same energies that grow, develop and sustain the physical body. Understanding the one can help in the understanding of the other. I will add that although Transmission is great when it occurs, one cannot depend on it for Self-Awareness, Self-Realization or Enlightenment. The best way to approach Self-Realization is through application of a practical Methodology based on a relatively accurate theoretical Knowledge of what Enlightenment is and how it is Realized. In ten words: Self-Knowledge is Realized through the Method of Defocusing Awareness.
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