To make this Enlightenment-exposé easier to fully understand (and thereby simple enough to readily embody in your everyday lives), I have subdivided the human life into three possible “Zones of Being” – defining the first two of them as follows:

Zone 1 … primal self-centeredness (being “evil” or blatantly selfish)

This is the most primitive level of being, one characterized by a focus that is essentially self-centered – striving to flee personal fears &/or yearning to satisfy individual desires. In this Zone, one’s own survival & happiness (or the survival &/or happiness of one’s own circle of friends & family) is of prime importance. It is not a “bad” level of being per se – it is simply a self-centered one. Humans living in this way strive to attain as much pleasure as possible (thereby numbing the same) and flee from all forms of pain & discomfort (thereby intensifying & ensuring the same). They are often seen struggling to make what IS into what could be or should be. They spend great amounts of energy defending themselves against their enemies (or attacking them in one way or another), punishing wrong-doers, and /or seeking the comforts of material wealth &/or physical safety … This is the realm of the suffering – both those who inflict it upon others and those whose selfishness inflicts it upon themselves. In my personal experience, very few people reside in this Zone.

Zone 2 … moral correctness (being “good” or nice” or “proper”)

This is the “middle” level of being; one characterized initially by an intense dissatisfaction with the incessant sense of suffering found in Zone 1, later by an ever-more-fanatical search for “Truth” (or “Meaning” or “Purpose” or “Salvation”), and finally by the adoption of new belief systems that seemingly satisfy that search. In this Zone, one either feels “enlightened” (when things are going well) or hopes for eventual Enlightenment (when things that are not going well). Humans living in this way are taught (and choose to believe) that Enlightenment is a gradual-yet-strenuous process of “personal growth” (or “waking up” or “becoming a better person”), and that they can engage various techniques or embrace certain concepts in order to “manifest wealth” (or “co-create a better life” or “find true purpose”) for themselves. These individuals (known as “true believers” in religious circles and “light-workers” or “New Agers” in other, less-religious ones) – while admittedly more morally (and often more intellectually) advanced than their materialistic Zone I counterparts – are still essentially self-centered people; and thus know a similar inevitability of suffering (though to a somewhat dampened degree – often in the forms of yearning, sadness, frustration, or disappointment).

In my personal experience, the vast majority of the individuals who make up humanity spend the vast majority of their lives in this Zone. Indeed, these are the ones for whom this book is primarily written – those who “do good” for others out of a sense of obligation or reciprocity, or “do good” for themselves out of a sense of prudence or “self respect.” They focus on learning and growing, and often feel as though they have “made progress” that others have not – leading them to almost as often forcefully inflict their “enlightenment” upon others; supposedly for their own benefit (by correcting them or criticizing them or “saving their Souls”). They justify accumulating “their own fair share” of all forms of wealth (often under the guise of preparing to give to others thereafter) and regularly reconcile their own sins & failings by self-forgivingly (and quite incorrectly) reminding themselves that they are “only human.”

At least as far as attaining any semblance of real Enlightened is concerned, Zone 2 humans tend to adopt any number of relatively vapid philosophies¹ (e.g. Pantheism – essentially the belief that everything is literally a manifestation of God, Reincarnation – essentially the belief that the spirits of sentient beings incarnate into other physical bodies after the death of their own, Karma – essentially the belief that a person’s somehow-recorded deeds will generate commensurate amounts of reward &/or punishment after their death, and Self-Transformation – essentially the belief that engaging in practices like shamanic trance, hypnosis, deep meditation, &/or using hallucinogens can be used to force one to experience a life-altering experience of Reality, etc), follow any number of relatively non-virtuous guides² (e.g. Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Neal Donald Walsch, Gary Zukav, Wayne Dyer, and Oprah Winfrey et al), &/or engage any number of relatively useless practices³ (e.g. reading auras, channeling spirit beings, meditation, astral travel, visualization, yoga, Chi Gong, and various forms of divination – including Tarot &/or astrology).

“Enlightenment is not only the recognition and the manifestation of your own individual experience of the truth. Profoundly deep Enlightenment actually only arrives when your own life becomes actively & compassionately interconnected with all the lives around you – with the tree’s life, with the bird’s life, with the water’s life, with the dog’s life, with the cow’s life, with the friend’s life, with the stranger’s life – indeed, with the life of the whole Universe that so gently envelops you in that one beautifully knowing moment.” ~ inspired by Dainin Katagiri

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Filed under: Enlightening Enlightenment by Scaughdt