Enlightenment is not knowledge for the mind nor will it make you knowledgeable. Enlightenment is a progressive series of shifts in being, in who we are and our relationship with the world.
In my case, I was born with a knowledge orientation into a family of teachers. Deeper knowledge has been unfolding since my late teens, long before I woke up. For a while, this mystified me as it seemed unrelated to my life. We could say the training had to start well before the function. (laughs)
Awakening has considerably enhanced those gifts. But I can guarantee it will be different for you. We’re each here to have unique experiences and thus will gain unique things from the process. There would be no point in creating someone the same.
The awakening process will enhance whatever gifts and abilities we have. Our gifts often seem ordinary to us so we may not recognize them. And yet things we might consider gifts may just turn out to be unresolved karma that fades. We may be surprised by what unfolds. Or we may discover our gifts early and develop skills. Everyone is different.
If, for example, we’re an exceptional athlete, awakening can enhance that. It can enhance our understanding of the body and how to maximize performance. In any case, it will enhance the flow, effectiveness, and enjoyment of our work.
Most people I know who are awake have continued to live lives much as before but from a more enhanced place. We’re often closer to our purpose than we realize.
They didn’t become teachers. In fact many don’t really know how to talk about it much. As a friend said post-Brahman, they don’t need to know anything now.
This is a quandary for someone like Rick Archer who interviews “ordinary spiritually awakening” people. He quickly ran out of average people who were both comfortable and willing to talk about their shifts. As a result, his interviews are dominated by teachers – people who are used to speaking on the topic.
But don’t let presence on the web confuse you. Most people who wake up are very typical and continue their lives as before. They don’t suddenly gain teaching skills or genius. They just learn how to live life from a much richer place.
Davidya
Thank you for emphasizing the normalcy of awakening. The mind definitely comes up with all sorts of ideas as to what awakening is, but it has been none of those things for me. It was more of letting old ways of living fall away and embracing the life that is given. It’s kind of strange how the unfolding goes as it has circled from the ending of the story of me to the embracing of the story of me (if this makes sense). It feels like I’m sort of now living my life from present to past with experiences making memories re-surface from the time before the initial awakening. This time there is no person here to accept them, but now the memories are in sharp relief to that “person” I was. There is this strange solidity to them that was absent before. Yet it feels completely normal. It’s been an interesting ride so far!
Yeah – I’d studied the field for years and had to throw out all my ideas about it. Later I realized the basics were accurate but how this mind had interpreted that was messed up. (laughs)
So yes – old ways of living and thinking fall away into a new presence with what is actually here.
I had a couple of whoppers to shed so some apparent loss was experienced until I let it go. Then life got much smoother.
And yes – very well put. But your relationship with that “story of me” is completely different. It’s not a personal story the same way anymore. It’ more like life’s story happening here. Before, there was a claim of mine.
Actually, the solidity was there before but what is experiencing them is no long that so theres that contrast. You may find that whatever charge was in the memories is able to be seen and released, rendering them neutral and without trigger. It’s like theres this background reprocessing of the past that neutralizes it, leading to a deeper peace.
The normalcy is a fascinating aspect. Occasionally, someone makes a fuss about special-ness but it’s very clear this is very normal and ordinary and there is still stuff being worked out. It’s not my agenda that has created any of this. It is simply for me to get out of the way enough for it to unfold smoothly.
Thanks for commenting, Aaron.