Ways to Become Enlightened

Spiritual enlightenment is one of the most beautiful goals you can have. But the journey to enlightenment can be long and arduous, and it requires honesty, bravery, and vulnerability.

If you’re a beginner to meditation, try using simple breathing techniques to relax and calm your mind. Then, work your way up to more advanced meditation practices.

Loyalty is a big deal, whether it’s between friends, a work relationship, or on your quest for enlightenment. However, this doesn’t mean you should compromise your core values.

One of the most important things to understand about loyalty is that you must be honest with yourself and your partner. Don’t go out of your way to be loyal to someone you don’t trust or love; it will only backfire on both of you.

Being loyal is not a simple thing, and it can be a real pain to do it well. But, the more you practice it, the easier it will be to perform this coveted role in your life. It’s a skill that will pay off in big ways down the road. So, don’t forget to take the time to learn to be loyal in a beautiful way.

Many seekers are attracted to spiritual teachings that fit their notions of what enlightenment should be like. These may include meditation, mindfulness, metaphysics, altered states of consciousness and mystical experiences.

These practices might be valuable for a seeker’s spiritual growth but are not necessarily an effective path to enlightenment.

Rather than pursue enlightenment, it is often more beneficial to simply practice being present and accepting the journey as it unfolds in front of you. This does not mean to stop pursuing your passions and dreams but to accept where you are on your journey of conscious evolution.

Eventually, this will lead to a point where enlightenment is not a goal but a natural state of awareness. This will not happen instantly but it will slowly evolve over time.

If you want to become enlightened, it’s important to be present. Being present is the ability to focus on one thing at a time, without distractions or stressors.

People who are able to be present often report feelings of peace and clarity in their lives. They say that their senses seem sharper and they’re more alert than usual.

They also feel more relaxed and less anxious. Being present helps them avoid reliving the past or worrying about the future.

If you’re having trouble being present, try practicing mindfulness. This can be done by focusing on your breath, or tuning in to your body’s sensations.

Ultimately, happiness depends a lot more on handling--then letting go of--the negative experiences in your life than it does on self-protecting or repressing them.

Those adverse feelings generally involve fear, shame, or pain. These emotions may not always feel positive or pleasant, but they often need to be brought to the surface in order to make sense of what is happening to you.

As soon as you become aware of your own resistance--or at least, notice its existence and its underlying thought patterns--you'll find it easier to stop. And in doing so, you'll come to appreciate how ego-created negativity serves no purpose.

To purify your mind means to rid it of the toxins, defilements and deceptive mental forces that cause you to suffer. These defilements include ignorance, pettiness, malice, greed, lust and stubbornness.

In meditation, this process of mental housecleaning is accomplished by focusing on wholesome mental factors such as energy, concentration and understanding. This helps you gently replace worldly thoughts and desires with spiritual beliefs that are beneficial to your wellbeing and enlightenment.

The Dhamma teaches that this eradication of defilements is the foundation for liberative insight, the emergence of wisdom. This is the only way to truly transform your life and achieve enlightenment.