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The practical, immediate awakening to this all-pervading Being places all beings as reliant on and rightly servant of the Presence. Awakening spiritually entails this recognition of our place in the Totality and, likewise, surrender to the Good, True, and Beautiful this Presence is, and we are as expressions of It. Hence, the person surrenders to the True Self, for the True Self is that-of-God in everyone.
Does this process ever end? Intimacy with Life only deepens over time. So, yes, some beings are enlightened, while they are being enlightened. The joy of the Journey is it never ends. No matter how intimate we are with the Light, there is always more to discover; there are depths of Presence we have yet to plumb.
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Today, I leave us with two questions. First, is it helpful to speak of enlightenment, or awakening? While these words, and others, arose to point to an experience, they may have become trite with over-use and misuse. Second, is it possible anyone who has decided to walk a spiritual path is enlightened, in the sense of becoming enlightened? This would be likely a true usage, if enlightenment is an on-going process for everyone devoted to the life of Grace. If these words inspire one on the Way, good, if a distraction, I recommend they are, then, in need of being forgotten. The main thing is for us to keep walking the Way, and the Way will continue to transform us into the likeness of Life. Our role is not to run toward some spiritual attainment, but to yield ourselves to Life Itself. Whatever realization occurs, it comes as a gift to us, by the grace of One.
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(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2020
*Quotes: Chan Master Sheng Lin. The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination; Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Quran: A Simple English Translation.
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