Enlightenment

Zen Master Rama, Dr. Frederick Lenz says, “Enlightenment is the state of awareness we reach when our consciousness is one with infinity, with the infinite consciousness of life itself. Enlightenment is not a state of mind, although all states of mind are contained within it. It is the best of all things. The brightest of all lights. It is union with immortality, timelessness and with the temporal, with all the myriad worlds, planes and things that simply can’t be put into words.

“Enlightenment exists within everything. There is nothing that can be separate from enlightenment. But when I talk about enlightenment, when I discuss it with my students, I am referring to an experience, a journey – the journey to light. Enlightenment in this sense is a journey into cosmic consciousness – to be completely aware of eternity, to be aware not just of this moment or this world, but of timelessness, of space, of organic life and what lies beyond it.

“Think of enlightenment as a journey. Today you woke up and anything can happen. You could live any type of life. You could be rich. You could be poor. You could be wise. You could be ignorant. It doesn’t really matter because no matter what happens, there is enlightenment. All the things you see that threaten you and make you afraid, all the things that you see that attract you, the things that you’re indifferent to or perhaps don’t even know about – they don’t really matter. Life is like a dream. It’s transient. For one moment, we’re in the stream of life. We’re awake. We’re having experiences. Then we’re asleep. It’s all washed away. At best it becomes a memory that fades. Death is a sleep and life is an awakening. And in each lifetime, we awaken to a different condition.

“Enlightenment is a journey, a journey into light, a journey into self-knowledge, a journey into beauty, reflection, awareness. The infinitude of being calls us to become conscious of itself.

“Enlightenment is happiness – happiness in the most profound and yet most simple sense. Enlightenment is, as I said before, a journey – a journey into cosmic consciousness. And meditation is the key to enlightenment.

“Meditation is the pathway to enlightenment. Meditation is to stop thought, to silence the mind, to move the ego aside, and to simply be still, open, clear, bright, and fully conscious.”