What Is Enlightenment?
Jun 22, 2013
AND WHAT ARE “HIGHER STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS”?
Every person nowadays has the ability to experience three states of consciousness every day. These three states of consciousness are waking, dreaming and sleeping. We know these are different states of consciousness because the brain works differently in each state.
In fact, there are four more states of consciousness available to everyone, but we have to train our bodies to be able to experience them. These four higher states of consciousness are called Transcendental Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, God Consciousness (or glorified Cosmic Consciousness), and Unity Consciousness.
Transcendental Consciousness, the experience of our own deepest level of silence, is the bridge to the other states of consciousness. Cosmic Consciousness grows when Transcendental Consciousness becomes stabilized in our awareness during activity and even in sleep. God Consciousness is a further refinement of our nervous system whereby we start to see finer values of perception in activity and during meditation. Unity Consciousness is when we realize that these finer values of perception are our own Self; thus we feel unified or a “oneness” with everything all around us.
When we practice the effortless technique of Transcendental Meditation®, right from the first meditation, it is possible to experience any one or some of these four “new” states. They are called “higher” states of consciousness because each one leads to the next – the fourth leads to the fifth, the fifth to the sixth and the sixth to the seventh.
WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT?
Enlightenment is when we stabilize these four higher states of consciousness in our awareness and in the neuro-functioning of the brain. Enlightenment is something that most people feel is beyond their reach but it is something everyone wants, because everyone wants to be happy; everyone wants to be successful. This growing enlightenment blossoms naturally during our activity when we are out and about, playing sports or going to work, etc., through the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIGHER STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND ENLIGHTENMENT?
The difference is in the time that it takes.
We can experience higher states of consciousness right from the beginning days of practicing Transcendental Meditation and also in our activity. This experience generally lasts a short time in the beginning days, and then it grows until it becomes more and more a living reality. When it lasts all the time, whether we are awake, working, playing or even in deep sleep, then it is enlightenment. Then it is there forever and will never go back to the less happy days we had before.
We can never tell in advance how long it will take for this to happen because everyone has a different nervous system. So this growth of enlightenment could take a very short time or a longer time. Whatever happens, though, life is much better in every way once we have put ourselves on this path.
So, higher states of consciousness grow within us as soon as we learn to practice the easy and effortless technique of Transcendental Meditation.
The growth of enlightenment only takes a very little time from us each day, but we enjoy the wonderful unfoldment of it steadily over time, and what a great time we have while we’re on the way!
By AMR
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