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 be continuously present or abide in being? Is it 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? Enlightenment to what?

Because one cannot know the unknown unless one transcends the known, the truth of enlightenment is beyond the comprehension of anyone who has not realized it. In spite of being a central concept in the realm of spirituality, enlightenment remains an unknown reality. Although certain past traditions present valid information on the subject, they can be a distorting influence, conditioning us with their incomplete understanding. 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 aim of the teaching is to expose the fragmented vision of enlightenment so prevalent in contemporary spirituality, and reveal a holistic vision of human evolution and awakening. It is not our intention to put forward yet another oversimplified explanation of enlightenment to satisfy the unawakened intelligence of the general population of seekers. What we offer is a vision of enlightenment for those who seek spiritual wholeness and never-ending expansion into the realm of universal truth.

The teaching is unique in that it does not view enlightenment as the static climax of spiritual evolution, but as an eternally expanding evolutionary movement of intelligence and consciousness bound to our individual potential and spiritual destiny. Enlightenment is not a uniform state, but a realm of entry into ever-growing unity with the heart of creation 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 the awakening to the ultimate possible. It is our individual essence that journeys through the organic process of evolution, progressively shifting through the states of awakening and levels of surrender that lead us ever-deeper into the supreme beyond.

How far we can expand the frontiers of our enlightenment obviously depends upon our spiritual capacity, inspiration, knowledge and intelligence, but of equal consequence is the limiting factor of our own unconsciousness. It is clear that enlightenment is an expansion of human consciousness, perception and existence beyond the confused condition of ignorance, but our vision of enlightenment cannot be complete unless we know, in addition to our potential, our evolutionary limits. Because enlightenment exists only as the reversal of its opposite, we must see it not only in relation to unconditional truth, but to the depth of our human ignorance as well. Our expansion into enlightenment is in fact a process of breaking through the gravity and resistance of the unenlightened reality; it is a power struggle between the forces of the inertia pulling us into the plane of forgetfulness and our ability to transcend them that ultimately defines the territorial boundaries of our human awakening.

Any kind of spiritual awakening we experience occurs only in relation to the level of evolution we have reached thus far. The more our consciousness evolves, the more its standards are raised for its further, more complete enlightenment. By 'complete' we do not suggest the end of enlightenment, but our 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 understanding our human limits within the limitlessness of the divine mystery; our personal enlightenment is only a point of entry into universal evolution and awakening. To presume that one can arrive at the end of truth and reach the ultimate frontier of enlightenment is totally absurd.

Now that the relative nature of 'complete enlightenment' is clear, we can relate it to 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 leaves her personalized identity and earthly consciousness behind. 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. She becomes one with universal evolution, supporting the evolutionary purpose of creation through her own existence and everlasting enlightenment. The soul, our universal self, continues her eternal expansion of light and consciousness into further enlightenment - beyond enlightenment and beyond.

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