Yeah, dang that is my experience too. Great description. In a nutshell of a short essay this about says it all, in words western. That is wonderful. Thanks for taking the time & concern in posting it.
-Doug in FF --- In [email protected], Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Enlightenment Does Not Mean Being Psychic > > by John Houseman > > [This is the third essay on Enlightenment by John Houseman. His first > essay can be seen by clicking here, and his second by clicking here. > John has written two more essays which will follow, and he will be > avilable for personal enlightenment coaching and counseling when our > EnlightenMentor program debuts in the next few weeks.] > > > "Heaps of rubbish." Swami Ramakrishna, on psychic powers > > > "They are obstacles to samadhi." Patanjali, on psychic powers > > > Most people involved in spirituality have at some point had some > experience with people who are healers and psychics if not being > healers and psychics themselves. Over 2,000 years ago, the Buddha had > a name for the extraordinary abilities of some people to see into the > future, talk to disincarnate beings, miraculously heal potentially > fatal injuries, and display other great powers that defy our common > experiences of life. He called these abilities suffering. Yes, > suffering. In his teachings, the Buddha described three types of > suffering: the ordinary suffering of everyday life, the extraordinary > suffering of terrible tragic events, and the third type he called the > suffering of high mystical states. > > All of the work of experiencing ecstatic awareness, astral travel, > long-distance healing all of this, to the Buddha, was just more > suffering. It was suffering because none of these experiences could > release a person from the illusion of separateness. As long as a > person lived under that great burden of the illusion of separateness, > no matter how miraculous his or her spiritual talents, that person > was suffering. > > From my own experience, I can see that the Buddha was right. > Throughout my long 15-year journey to enlightenment, I studied and > worked with many of Americaís greatest psychics and healers. They > cleared me of much of my karma, and taught me to develop my own > psychic and healing skills. Yet virtually none of them had even the > slightest clue of what enlightenment was. They had not read the > classics of enlightened writing, like the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad > Gita, or the Heart Sutra; they had not plumbed the depths of the > Gospels or the writings of the Sufi saints. Few had sat at the feet > of living enlightened masters to ponder the deepest truths of > existence. As a result, these great healers and psychics who I > studied with were almost totally ignorant of the highest goal of > spiritual growth. > > > Enlightenment is not about being psychic it is about > identification. Enlightenment means identification with God. All the > healers and psychics I know of in America still cling to the orthodox > Western theological position that God and humans are fundamentally > separate. Most will occasionally pay lip service to the idea that "We > are all one," and many will share their rare and precious peak > experiences of unity with the Divine. But almost none live in that > state of unitive awareness permanently. I have rarely met a psychic > or a healer who could say from the core of their being "I am > that, I am awakened God Consciousness, God and I are one." > > About ten years ago, I went to see one of the most highly regarded > healers on the East Coast, a real spiritual powerhouse, one regarded > as a true philosopher and wise man. It took me six months before I > could even see him because his wait list of clients was so long. I > arrived with great anticipation. He asked me how he could help me, > and I told him I was seeking enlightenment. "Enlightenment!?" He > exclaimed with horror, "Enlightenment!?" He was so shaken he could > hardly work on me for the rest of the session. This was one area > where he had nothing to give. My hour with him was a disaster, and I > almost asked for my money back. Truly, many wonderful skills are > taught in Americaís healing schools, but enlightenment, union with > God, is not one of them. And what I have seen in these great healer- > teachers is not the Bliss Consciousness of enlightenment burning > eternally from their eyes, but suffering. In addition, psychic and > healing powers can and do inflame the ego. Many talented healers I > know have enormous egos, which deepens their suffering. > > Just as enlightenment means identifying with God (or Source), the > opposite of enlightenment, suffering, means not identifying with God. > Unenlightened beings take a very small portion of all of existence, > the part that starts at their feet and ends at the top of their head, > and say "This is me." Then they takeeverything else in the universe > and say "This is not me." This is a very lopsided way to divide up > the world, to say the least. And it leads one to feeling alienated, > alone, and scared. It leads to defensiveness, and to the assertion of > oneness at the expense of others. Even for those who find some degree > of happiness in this way of life, there is inevitably a degree of > existential anxiety from this illusion of separation. Surely, this is > suffering. > > A few wise beings, however, are able to break out of the mold of this > highly limited structure of awareness. They are able to see that what > is around them is not composed of separate things and people, but > there is a flowing unity and connectedness to life. These individuals > have shifted their perceptual horizons, made a paradigm shift, and > discovered that they too, are a part of this oneness. It is an > important realization, for they have achieved identification with the > world of the senses. Those who have discovered this truth can be said > to be enlightened on the level of the personality. However, this > degree of enlightenment is so minor that it is not normally regarded > by enlightened masters as a true level of enlightenment. > > From the pool of these few wise beings, a smaller group will go > beyond the dimension of the five senses to see an even larger > reality. They will come to know the multidimensionality of existence, > and they will become aware that they are eternal beings, souls that > live beyond the body. For those few who hold to an intention of union > with God, at some point in their spiritual development, they will > heal themselves to the point where they will release their > identification with the personality and identify themselves with the > soul. Knowing themselves fully to be eternal and beyond space and > time, they are still not enlightened. > > At a still later stage, these spiritual heroes will heal the karmic > wall around them caused by the causal body, which separates the > individual from the rest of creation, and creates and sustains the > illusion of separateness. With the release of the causal body, the > higher spiritual energies of the entire universe will flood the > individual. This creates an awareness of being one with all creation. > Persons in this state of awareness know that everything in the > universe is a part of them. This new identification with creation is > the first level enlightenment. > > However, there is still one more step to go, the most important step > of all. This individual may experience themselves as one with the > world around them, and one with the higher dimensions of elemental > beings, angels, and so on. But a wall of separation still exists > between those beings on the first rung of enlightenment and God. In > the final step, the individual releases his or her identification > with all he or she is, and simply dissolves back into Source. One > returns to the Source of Being, known in Kabbalah as Primordial > Cosmic Light. One says, in effect, "I am All of Created Existence, I > am the Universe, and I give it all to you, God, I give it all to > you." In this ultimate act of love and surrender, the soul returns to > Source, and is then reborn from the Source as Awakened God > Consciousness. The individual has made the final shift in identity > from individual personality, to eternal soul, to Creation, to Source, > and finally, to the Totality. One is finally a fully enlightened being. > > In Tantric Buddhism, psychic abilities are considered one of > the"bonsues" of enlightenment. Traditionally, one does not seek these > powers but seeks enlightenment, and if these higher powers come along > the way, they are a gift to be shared with others in order to assist > them on their own paths to enlightenment. I have found through my own > journey that psychic abilities can be a very useful tool for reaching > enlightenment, but only because I was determined to apply them > towards the ultimate goal of union with God. In addition, in my > enlightened state, my own psychic abilities continue to grow, and I > am always happy to use them in service to others. It is my sincerest > hope that healers and psychics around the country will take a fresh > look at what spiritual growth means to them and re-center their > efforts towards identification with God and the realization of Unity > Consciousness. >
