This is what I started to think of in my journal, but I'd figure I would open it up for discussion. I wrote a much better version in my journal and posted it on my blog...but here it is:
“To awaken from the illusion is then to undergo a radical change of consciousness with regard to one’s own existence. It is to cease being under the impression that you are just “poor little me,” and to realize who you really are, or what you really are behind the mask.” – Alan Watts
Enlightenment is our desire to awaken ourselves into another state. It is about going beyond your current self and empowerment. There are many paths of enlightenment, this internal alchemy of the self. Enlightenment is our desire to change ourselves, from silver, to a new state, gold. It becomes not just an “oh poor me” anymore. Self Pity has no place within the path of enlightenment. Yet if you do not know your Self than how can you change the Self? The first goal of an initiate is to learn about themselves. These are our flaws, strengths, wants, needs, desires, personality, values, etc. Can you fill a page or a book, or does it go beyond just mere simple words?
Early when I looked at this quote, all I could think of the process of change and ridding one’s self of illusions. I first asked myself the question above, what is enlightenment? Is the goal transformation? Transformation into what? Does this transformation empower you? How does it empower you? Does this transformation give you the tools you want? What are these tools that you want or now have? If the process of enlightenment has helped you past the illusions, what are these illusions? How has the current path helped you with these illusions? How, what, and why these are important questions to relentlessly ask the Self.
Enlightenment has become to me, a path of transformation, a change in the way we think and we act. Ever heard the saying, “What would Jesus do?” I once, told myself “Act like Buddha.” We choose to try and emancipate a certain role model within the paradigm of thought that we are trying to achieve. What is religion, philosophy, the “way of” but a process of changing us to be a certain type of being? When we have Buddha as our role model, we are trying to make ourselves be compassionate and free of suffering. On that road though towards the “enlightened” state of Buddha, there are many inner changes that goes through.
There are many stages through this process, i.e. novice, initiate, apprentice, then journeyman, knight, adept, magus then there is the master, grandmaster, arch-something. Or an extremely simple way of it is beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert. As the beginner we are a mere a student learning about the basics of this path that we have chosen. As an intermediate we have gone through a process of initiation and truly joining the path. This is where our knowledge becomes more advanced, it is no longer just books, but applying the most basic steps. Then when we are proficient we become “advanced” within our path. This is where we are not just a mere student, our knowledge, our transformation is far from the beginner we used to be. This is where say in a craft we are journeyman, or we are a “knight.” When we hit the level of expert, this is where we are recognized as a master of our path. The inner alchemy we have gone through has become rather refined and that the person we were as a beginner is no longer as recognizable. Yet there is still more to learn and more to refine. This is the stage where we are most often the teacher, versus the first three stages. The first three stages, especially the first two is that if discovery. The third stage is still part of this discovery but it is more refinement than anything which is where it slides into Master. We all learn from each other, but this is the general path towards enlightenment. We are always students, always learning. I would like to point out even with those four stages there can be many sub-levels within it. This is just a general guide.
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