Yes the Big E, the Mac-daddy accomplishment sought after by nearly naked anti-social men from time immemorial (and more recently naked woman). The spiritual achievement par excellence. Nirvana, Cosmic Consciousness, Unity with God, etc, etc, etc. The thing that’s on everyone’s lips, minds, and internet browsers here at GenSit.
ENLIGHTENMENT, there I said it…
This article is going to focus on enlightenment, but before you get too discouraged, since that’s basically all we discuss (or is it?), I want to examine the concept of “normalization.” Normalization simply means “to make normal.” So, when I say I want to normalize something, I just mean I want to make it normal, and by normal I mean, that which is “occurring naturally.” So, normalization is the process or act of seeing something as a naturally occurring phenomenon. Simple huh? At this point, you may be asking yourself, “what’s the big deal Vince; enlightenment is totally normalized because we discuss it all the fucking time. In fact, I’m tired of talking about it!” If that’s the case, then you’re well on your way to normalizing enlightenment.
What I mean by the above, is that talking about something doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve made something normal. One of the prime features of that which is “supernormal” is that it gets a lot of attention. It’s so radically far-out, different, and spectacular that we just have to focus on it. Here again, something that’s “abnormal” can either be treated in this way, or can be totally ignored. Something that is totally “normal,” on the other hand, barely gets any undue attention. Much like a fixture in our house, say the fridge, that normal thing (or idea) doesn’t really need to be discussed non-stop, obsessed over, or avoided and ignored.
What I would claim is that many spiritual communities and teachers, and there definitely are exceptions, have not normalized enlightenment properly, and have thus made it some”thing” which is hard to get, impossible to attain, or perhaps even unworthy of our pursuit (WTF!?).
On a side-note, I think there is a great value in not getting overly goal-oriented with the spiritual path, not taking ourselves too seriously, and learning how to relax into what’s present, instead of trying to “get” it. I believe that this can happen, and that we can simultaneously have a realistic intention and vector towards ultimate freedom. Surrender + Intention = This.
So, what would it be like if we took enlightenment off its pedestal, or out of the gutter, depending on the circumstances, and integrated it fully into the realm of normality? What would it be like to discuss deep insights into the nature of reality in a normal, if not completely casual fashion? Would enlightenment lose the gusto, the pizzazz, the great Mystery that IT is? My sense is probably not. Instead, I think we could then start focusing our energy on synthesizing enlightenment with the mundane (and sometimes super mundane) world. Enlightenment is merely the beginning of a mature life, in this case. Realizing the Absolute becomes like graduating high-school, after which we can start focusing on effecting profound change and living lives of compassionate service. What do you think?
