Why Would You Want to be Enlightened?

Yesterday, a marketing guru asked me a question that left me speechless.

I had retained Bob to review the copy on my Mystic Warrior website from a sales perspective. He asked about reader reactions. As we talked, I told him how some readers felt compelled, while in the midst of my book, to put it down and meditate. In several cases, they described tingling sensations on the crown of their head and of receiving "downloads of energy and information." I told Bob they were "attuning with God" and how this is a step towards enlightenment.

That's when he asked me the question that left me speechless.

He asked, "Why would you want to be enlightened?"

Bob wasn't trying to be funny and he wasn't questioning whether this would benefit people. He asked me this to force me to think about the question in a more fundamental way. (You might say he was acting as a "devil's advocate.")

When I first heard his question, I couldn't respond. Going through my mind were the thoughts, "Isn't this what everybody wants?" and "Isn't this the reason for living?" But before I could even speak, I realized this wasn't true.

A belief as an idea that you accept as true-regardless of whether or not it really is. Many times a belief operates subconsciously and is never examined. This is what happened to me. My belief seemed self-evident and yet, it wasn't true for most people. Not everyone wants to become enlightened-at least not consciously.

So I pondered, "Why would you want to be enlightened?"

This is not a simple question to answer. "Why would you want to be rich?" is easy to answer.

"So I can buy a new BMW M5."

"So I can travel throughout Europe staying at the finest hotels."

"So I can help others less fortunate than me."

The reason it's easy to answer is that being rich only satisfies a physical, emotional or intellectual desire.

Striving for enlightenment is not a physical, emotional or intellectual quest. It arises out of a yearning from deep within the soul. It's beyond emotion or intellect. It's a craving to return to God, a desire to be completely and totally one with God.

Throughout the ages mystics have described this experience. Regardless of what formal religion the individual might practice, the experience almost always includes: a sense of being beyond time or space and connected to everything, joy, knowingness, paradoxicality, ineffability, and transiency with permanent changes.

Anyone who has ever approached such an experience never forgets it. Thereafter, nothing else compares. Consequently, you are no longer content merely with great food, awesome sex, mind-blowing entertainment, or extravagant material goods. You want enlightenment.

But the fact is, not everyone has this craving or is even aware it exists. So short of sitting in the presence of an enlightened master, how do you awaken it in people? Does it trivialize it to say it will improve your life, that you'll lead a happier, less stressful life? Does it cheapen it to point out that as you move towards enlightenment and eliminate the veils (beliefs) that hide the true nature of God, that you'll begin to develop your inner senses, often referred to as psychic abilities?

Do you mention all these benefits when someone asks, "Why would you want to be enlightened?"

Or do you simply say, "Because nothing else matters."

Edwin Harkness Spina is the author of the award-winning spiritual thriller Mystic Warrior. Receive a free copy of Mystic Secrets Revealed when you sign up for the Mystic Warrior Newsletter with mystical techniques to improve your life and expand your mind.

Spirituality: God has a message for us - nobody's perfect The Daily Advertiser, LA - 14 hours ago But the assignment I found the most interesting as a spiritual columnist was the one in which she asked her class to write about something they did wrong. ...

Spirituality in the Ambulance Service University of Ulster Online, UK - 9 hours ago Her research uncovered levels of Spirituality throughout the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and identified a group of core managers, Rapid Response ...

Stand-up guru Ha'aretz, Israel - Jul 3, 2008 Reifman is not the first to combine business and spirituality in his daily affairs. In the past few years, a number of prominent Israelis from the worlds of ...

Do's and don'ts of stress control and spirituality Merinews, India - Jul 2, 2008 Spirituality is the key. Selection of 'Eustress' over 'Dystress' is known as stress management. We should take care of ourselves. We should be energetic. ...

RTE.ie

Sarkozy to meet Betancourt in Paris RTE.ie, Ireland - 12 hours ago Freed Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt said she was chained up night and day for three years by her rebel captors but that spirituality saved her from ...

Survey: More have dropped dogma for spirituality in US USA Today - Jun 29, 2008 And the wide-ranging ways people construct their spiritual lives could make the so-called religious vote unpredictable in the 2008 elections. ...

Jesuit Spirituality Center in Grand Coteau announces the following ... Opelousas Daily World, LA - Jul 2, 2008 Using the spiritual exercies of St. Ignatius and the rich spiritual legacy of Juiian of Norwich and others, this retreat will offer guide posts to ...

Congratulations to faiths coming together Abbotsford Times, Canada - 8 hours ago It speaks of a maturing spirituality. Far too long religions of the world have been at the root of conflict with each other as well as conflicts between ...

An Amarnath diary: Testing faith NDTV.com, India - Jul 3, 2008 Against my will, inside me an urgency battled the stillness that spirituality seeks. A rebellion was beginning to boil. Because there is a difference ...

Freed hostage Betancourt spent three years in chains Straits Times, Singapore - 12 hours ago I think you need tremendous spirituality to stop yourself falling into the abyss.' 'It was so monstrous that I think they themselves were disgusted,' she ...

Faith411.com - all Vital information and articles related to Spirituality.