The Frontiers of Enlightenment

Is enlightenment freedom from the mind? Is it the realization of pure consciousness? An awakening to the dimension of love? The ability to abide in being? Is enlightenment multidimensional or can it be reduced to a single state or realization? Does it imply a complete understanding of reality? What do we really mean by enlightenment?

In spite of being a central concept in the realm of spirituality, enlightenment remains a secret reality. Although certain past tradi­tions do present valid information on the subject, their understanding is generally fragmented, and therefore can be a distorting influence. Rarely, if ever, do they point to complete self-realization and the state of wholeness. Due to their limited vision, they tend to compound rather than resolve seekers’ confusion and projections with ambigu­ous and conflicting interpretations, often twisting earnest yearning into pure fantasy. With so many incomplete teachings saturating the spiritual scene, how can we reach the clarity of mind necessary to grasp the true nature of enlightenment?

The teaching is unique in that it does not consider enlightenment to be the static climax of spiritual evolution, but an eternally expand­ing movement of intelligence and consciousness that is unique for each soul,. Although rooted in the inner realm of universal subjectiv­ity, the enlightened reality can only be accessed through the awaken­ing of our individual subjectivity; the presence of the personal I am is what makes awakening to the ultimate possible. It is our individual essence that journeys through the process of evolution, progressively shifting through states of awakening and levels of surrender that lead ever deeper into the supreme beyond.

How far we can expand the frontiers of our enlightenment depends upon our spiritual capacity, inspiration, knowledge and intelligence. However, of equal consequence is the limiting factor of our own unconsciousness. Because it exists only as the reversal of its opposite, not only must we see enlightenment in relation to uncon­ditional truth, but also to the depth of human ignorance. Our expan­sion into enlightenment is not only an evolution of human conscious­ness, but a process of breaking through the gravity and resistance of the unenlightened reality. It is the power struggle between the forces of the inertia that bind us to the plane of forgetfulness and our ability to transcend them that ultimately defines the territorial boundaries of our human awakening.

The more our consciousness evolves, the more its potential expands for a further, more complete enlightenment. By ‘complete’ we do not suggest the end of enlightenment, but our relative comple­tion in the realm of human enlightenment and the realization of wholeness. The concept of complete enlightenment must be seen from the perspective of the infinite and eternally evolving truth of creation, unfathomable by individual consciousness. No one can be said to be completely enlightened in a literal sense, for to apply the notion of completion to the realm of truth presumes its finitude. We must treat the idea of enlightenment with a humility born of an understanding of our human limits within the limitlessness of the divine mystery. Our personal enlightenment is only a point of entry into universal evolution and awakening.

Now that the relative nature of ‘complete enlightenment’ is clear, we can look at it in the context of our earthly dimension and human identity. Not all souls are destined to reach exactly the same level of realization, but we can make the generalization that although there are many stages of awakening, the ultimate frontier of enlightenment for a human soul is her liberation, the point at which she transcends her personalized identity and earthly consciousness. Liberation does not end the soul’s evolution, but it does end the human journey of the soul. When she transcends the plane of lower intelligence, the soul merges with the realm of pure subjectivity, leaving the human ego behind. In doing so, she becomes one with universal evolution, supporting the evolutionary purpose of creation through her own existence and everlasting enlightenment. For the soul, our universal self, the expansion of light and consciousness into further enlighten­ment is eternal — beyond enlightenment and beyond.