Enlightenment Is Natural

 

Sooner or later, the reality of enlightenment will become obvious and undeniable to you, as long as you seek it out. Of course, as you begin your spiritual search, enlightenment isn’t obvious or undeniable to you yet. Understandably, you might have doubts about whether it exists. Or, even if you believe it exists, you might have doubts about your ability to ever find it. However, it does exist, and—as already explained—there is something deep within all of us that knows it, even if at times this knowing feels faint or far away.

 

Enlightenment is not a special state reserved for the spiritual elite. Anyone can find it. Furthermore, finding it should not take lifetimes, decades, or even very many years. There is no practical reason for this. 

 

Many of you have already had glimpses of enlightenment at some time in your life, perhaps in childhood. Many people get glimpses of it on their first spiritual retreat, in a single session with a spiritual teacher, or at home just contemplating a spiritual book. Although a fleeting glimpse is not the same as a persistent experience, most people start with glimpses. In time, those glimpses become permanent or stabilize. These sudden glimpses suggest that there is no impenetrable barrier between you and enlightenment. Experiencing it can happen spontaneously, even when you aren’t looking for it. And if you do look, you will find it. 

 

Not only should the spiritual search not take long, but it shouldn’t be particularly difficult either. Why should it be? There is no reason why the search for enlightenment can’t be a relatively easy, even enjoyable process. Remember what your goal is. You aren’t trying to master esoteric texts or techniques. You don’t have to change your name, adhere to a special diet, or adopt a new lifestyle or culture. You don’t need to become a saint (nor will enlightenment make you a saint). You are simply seeking to glimpse what is already here—and what you already know on an innermost level—and you are attempting to make that glimpse stick. The enlightenment you are looking for already dwells within you. So the experience of it is always well within your reach. 

 

Finally, as extraordinary as experiencing enlightenment might sound, it actually becomes quite normal. In time, you adjust to it, as you do anything else. The fact that you experience it ceases to be a big deal. Sooner or later, you will even fail to remember that there was ever a time when you didn’t experience it. And, for all practical purposes, you will forget that there is any other way to be.​

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(End Book I Quote)