How to Become Enlightened

When I introduced my readers to the concept of becoming aware of Your Shadow, I made the assumption that most people spend the majority of their time rooted in the Present Moment.

However, that was presumptive of me because no matter how Conscious we are, and no matter how much yoga or spiritual work we do, we still live in a society governed by Time.

We’re still working 5 days a week, counting down the minutes until we can go home (or log off), counting down the days until the weekend, and counting down the months until vacation on a dizzying, never-ending loop.

We are still entertaining ourselves with media that pulls our awareness into an artificial world – where ruminating about the past, and feeling dread about the future is the norm.

So this article is going to dig a little deeper into getting to know your Self, so that you can become less distracted by the external world, and more deeply rooted in the elusive Present Moment – where the fun parts of spirituality, such as Enlightenment, begin.

I am going to offer practical advice on making yourself a clear enough channel to root yourself in the Present Moment and work with Your Shadow in an applicable way, so that you may experience, first hand, what it means to be Enlightened – deeply connected to the Highest version of your Self

So first thing’s first – How clear of a channel are you?

Your Shadow is always going to have a slightly lower vibration and be slightly less conscious than you, with some exceptions, like when It shows you something important that you might have missed.

So if you are going to be doing any sort of meta-level spiritual work, it starts with You, and you want to make sure that you are real with yourself, and not doing any spiritual bypassing.

It’s important to know where you stand as far as the quality of your interactions with the external world, and your overall sense of well-being.

How do you spend your free time?

Do you zone out and watch TV, YouTube, or passively observe others/build a virtual identity on social media? Or are you making a conscious effort to have real life experiences? Like going to in-person events, connecting with friends, connecting with your Self, being creative, exercising outside in the Sun, etc etc?

Even music can be used as a form of escapism, and it’s important to be mindful of the energetic quality of the music you listen to, as well as how much time you spend listening to music.

For example, would quietly meditating and focusing on your breathing – letting your mind process your day-to-day challenges while driving – be more productive than listening to music? Or instead of listening to that new album, why not dust off that old piano of yours and write something new yourself?

Not to say that you shouldn’t observe and appreciate what other people bring in to this world. But you, too, have creative abilities that you might not yet be aware of, or simply haven’t given enough thought/attention to.

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You’ll also want to make sure that you are rooted in Reality far more than the virtual landscape. You might begin to notice that there are a lot of shady characters in the virtual landscape (social media).

It’s easy for people who are barely more than strangers to you, who you met that one time awhile ago, to keep tabs on you, and remotely impose on your Energy Field with social media. Being mindful of the amount of energy and information you share with the world is important before doing any deep spiritual work.

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Next – I mentioned that your shadow knows all of your secrets. It’s true. But do You know all of your secrets?

Growing up I had a couple of habits and interests that I felt very ashamed of (that were not in alignment with my Soul and Life’s Purpose), so I tried to hide them from everyone else. I also had a tendency to hide them from my own Awareness. The devious part of me that enjoyed those questionable things would split my personality to avoid facing whatever behavior/habits I needed to overcome.

“Well I know other people do this so why should I feel bad?”

“Nobody will find out anyway, so who cares?” Etc etc

It’s important for me to mention that nothing you do is really done in secret. Your Shadow has a tendency to reveal to other people the things that you do that are not in alignment with Your Soul. As soon as another person becomes aware, thanks to some “unlucky” coincidence that your Shadow manifested on your behalf, you are exposed and then forced to be real with yourself and address that issue.

It’s also important to make sure that you are being real with yourself about the things we less openly discuss with other people – like dating, drug use, and what you do/look at when you think nobody is watching.

You probably don’t have to become celibate to progress spiritually, but Soul ties (and Shadow ties) will most certainly occur with people you get intimate with, and that’s going to happen whether or not you tell yourself “Oh, no. It’s just casual so it doesn’t mean anything”.

Do you really know that person you are getting intimate with? Do you know who they really are and what their secrets are?

Because those things will most certainly have an energetic impact on you. Giving a significant amount of your Life Force Energy to another person, for a temporary experience, could alter the course of your life, as well as the potential timelines that you may or may not be able to explore in the future.

Without judging yourself, it is advisable to make sure that your choices with dating are in alignment with who You, deep down, know you really are. That you are treating other people with (and being treated with) an acceptable level of common decency and respect, and not attempting to manipulate or use anyone in an underhanded way (and not letting other people use you).

If you are getting involved with people for validation, or because you dislike them and want to control them, or to overcome some subconscious issue from your past – then being celibate, even for just a short time, and re-discovering your “baseline” might be helpful.

If you are developing virtual relationships with people you don’t know in real life, or visiting websites that you wouldn’t tell your employer about – you must know that there is an extremely high energetic price that comes with these activities.

Social media, virtual relationships, and frequenting questionable websites cause you to build a virtual identity that isn’t rooted in Reality – giving life to alter egos who operate under your awareness, and in a very insidious and energetically taxing way, which I will probably write a detailed article on at some point.

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Drugs and alcohol tend to split the personality of the user, and make spiritual development very difficult. If you go out for a night of drinking, a different (temporarily more confident and euphoric) version of you surfaces that may not align with who you really are.

Then over time you begin to develop surface personalities that fight for control – sober you vs. drunk you. If you are dealing with an actual addiction, that makes spiritual work very complicated. Because then right alongside You, every moment, is that alter ego of yours who is addicted to something, ready to barrel back into your Reality the moment that you show any sign of vulnerability.

Do you really want that alter ego to potentially gain spiritual abilities alongside You? You would probably want to subdue that alter ego first, by overcoming your addiction (and getting professional help doing so if necessary).

If you are consistently taking a substance to relieve emotional pain or to feel good (something not prescribed by an actual professional), you probably know deep down that there are uncomfortable emotions and memories that you are putting your Self off from facing.

Even drugs that are “natural” and socially acceptable may be unhelpful if you are using them too consistently or in an unconscious way (Unconscious meaning – you wake up in the middle of the night to take them, you take them first thing in the morning, you take them every time you feel slightly disillusioned/uncomfortable, thus forgetting how it feels to be sober, etc etc).

Your more insidious shadow selves will actually use weaknesses that you have with substance use and/or alcohol to “break through” whenever you become vulnerable enough. The most glaring and obvious example is becoming drunk, acting like someone you are not, and then blacking out (who do you think erased your memory?).

Drugs that are not as hard as alcohol will much more slowly and subtly attempt to take control of your thoughts/actions, over an extended period of time. You might look back after a few months and realize your personality and habits have done a 180, and that could be just as energetically taxing as addressing an addiction to harder substances.

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There are probably spiritual gurus who will give you meta-level advice and tell you that you can excel regardless of your habits and lifestyle.

That’s partly true, but if you are highly dependent on substances, validation, or lack control over your behavior/emotions, then those spiritual gurus might be giving you advice that is helpful for your Shadow selves, but completely useless for you – the Person.

You need to know the things that you do, and to see how they impact your well-being. You can make corrections as you go, and there is never a need for you to judge yourself for anything you are struggling to deal with. Awareness is the first step.

We live in a sometimes strange world and many of us have deep and dark secrets. We tend to adopt habits (good and bad) from people we grew up with. It is what it is, and anything can be overcome if you go easy on yourself and become less willing to turn away from the parts of You that you are afraid or ashamed of.

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Lastly, are you easy to provoke? Non-reaction is the best reaction. People have big egos and they are willing to fight to protect their egos. You benefit from becoming aware of the triggers that cause your sense of self (ego) to become inflated.

You need to be willing to experience an ego death any time that serious conflict arises, by calmly becoming Conscious of – rather than reflecting back – someone else’s depravity. It doesn’t mean allowing people to walk all over you, it just means exercising control over how you choose to react.

Controlling how you react is how you protect and empower your Consciousness – your Infinite Intelligence. That is how you become incorruptible

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Emotions are meant to be felt, but they also need to be controlled. If you can act normal and not project any bad energy when family, friends, or strangers incite you, you are at a solid baseline and ready to work on the meta-details of shadow work. You are ready to become Enlightened.

If you are still getting into arguments, or have trouble controlling your emotions, pay closer attention to how you rationalize projecting negativity or doing/saying things you regret later on.

Let yourself feel the energetic consequences of those negative interactions. Don’t hide from shame or embarrassment – let yourself feel in to it and remember how uncomfortable it is, so that those mistakes don’t happen again. Your emotions exist to be acknowledged and appreciated for what they show you, not avoided.

Conflict with other people may indicate that there is something within you that you need to address or pay closer attention to.

Your frustration with other people is always valid, and so are the emotions that you feel, but you should also be able to recognize when your emotions become (or became) inflated thanks to your ego or an insidious Shadow identity you have yet to become aware of.

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As you master the art of non-reaction and overcome what appears to be everyone else’s egoic urge to “get in to it” and argue with you, You may realize that, internally, you were irked pretty badly.

But you will feel immense relief later on if you didn’t outwardly project negativity, or fight that other person back when the interaction took place, because it tends to be the case that most arguments and conflict are rooted in some sort of genuine misunderstanding.

It is much more difficult to back track on slighting or attacking someone if you couldn’t contain your reaction. Because then you have to apologize, you have already hurt that other person, and it’s messy/takes more time/energy to process everything

Still – go easy on yourself because this Conscious/Enlightened approach to dealing with conflict is literally the opposite of how mainstream society has taught us to act and deal with each other’s diverse personalities.

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Try to recognize if there are toxic people in your life who cause you more harm than good. You have a choice over who you surround yourself with.

If there is no way to remove yourself from certain toxic people (family, co workers, etc), then congratulations, they will be your best spiritual teachers. You will have no choice but to master the art of non-reaction.

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What I have discussed in this article are the basics of becoming a person ready to manage the meta-aspects of your Human Program, to become Enlightened. This is where the fun parts of spirituality begin, and the time/discomfort/pain of getting to the correct baseline are absolutely worth it.

Life becomes a lot more stable and enjoyable when you master the art of remaining calm, and owning up to the parts of your Self that you might have been afraid of, thanks to your old programming/conditioning.

And don’t feel like you could possibly be falling short when you face those challenges, because we exist in a world where a lot of us keep secrets and expect way too much from other people.

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Nobody can be inherently better or worse than anyone else. Even the definition of Enlightenment is malleable. We are all Enlightened in our own way no matter how Conscious we act, and no matter how much time we have focused on spirituality.

You were dealt the hand that you were dealt when your life here began, and if you are facing a lot of challenges it is not because you are “less than” in any way – it is because your Living Soul knows how powerful, intelligent, and strong you are, and that You are ready to begin the process of reclaiming (remembering) your Power as a Human Being

Overcoming the parts of you that you run or hide from will give you the greatest gift that you can ever give back to yourself. Better than any worldly possession, temporary feeling, or idea that you have of a perfect relationship or life situation.

Remembering what you’ve forgotten. How perfect and suitable everything in this moment already is. Being able to be here, right now – is the ultimate freedom

Reclaiming your right to simply exist, and fully accepting every part of who you are.

That is how You become Enlightened.