ENLIGHTENMENT: EXEC SUMMARY

INVITATION

Perhaps in a moment of discontent we should find ourselves, neck-deep in dukkha, estranged from our once-cherished picture of the world, as it succumbs, like all things, to impermanence. Whether cognized above the threshold of conscious awareness as a crisis of meaning or simply felt as an undercurrent of unease beneath the surface, we have become sensitized to the inescapable absence of a final arbiter, any higher authority, or underlying coherence—the center, as we know it, does not hold.

Experienced predominantly as a dearth of clarity, wholeness, or connection, or perhaps as a loss of reverential awe for the mystery of life, we stand in angst at the brink, recognizing that, devoid of firm foundation, our conditional touchstones—such as societal success, material wealth, or superficial pleasure—no longer provide the promised solace, failing to quell a pervasive sense of disunity. As alienation and disarray set in, we find ourselves adrift in an existential vacuum, unmoored from any sense of dependable meaning, where the edges of our shared reality fray and unravel, engulfing all in confusion.

Yet, even in this desolation, we feel in our core an inexorable pull—to abide in the veritable essence of consciousness, from unshakeable security, and with radiant harmony. We might even be drawn beyond the constriction of a personal story that, like garments grown too tight and claustrophobic, we’ve outgrown, stirring within us the aspiration for nothing less than the peace of unbounded liberation.

Manifesting in varying tones, the pressing need to resolve this meaning crisis and heal our core wound may be experienced favorably as a providential calling to adventure, dispassionately as a skeptical quest for bedrock, or perilously as an awful crisis—a harrowing dark night of trials and tribulations, of gnawing discontent impelling us toward a looming threshold. Regardless of the instigating trigger or precipitating event, whether the message attends personal hardship or the anomie of societal disintegration, arriving early in life or late, insinuating itself like a slow leak or crashing down upon us like a tidal wave, it serves as our invitation.

Out of touch with our own inner being, the opportunity then arises for the superficiality of our transient self to be exposed, turning us deeper toward the unknown.

INITIATION

Guided by hope, our inquiry unfolds, initially skimming the surface and confined to platitudes or mental agitation otherwise devoid of sufficient insight. Yet, as our earnestness deepens, so does our introspection, and with unwavering sincerity, we graduate into a contemplative practice, such as meditation. Akin to sustaining attention into deep sleep, we turn inward to undeveloped frontier. Like bringing a lamp into the recesses of the darkest cave, we remain vigilant, maintaining the strength of presence needed to keep the flame of consciousness alive amid the murky undertow of unconscious forces. As the mind begins to quiet and holds steady, like a record slipping into its groove after a jumble of static, we settle into alignment, where everything begins to fall into place. Continuing to immerse, first gross, then subtle objects of awareness dissipate, until dissolving irreducibly into our undiluted base, we are plunged into the vortex of cessation, weightless and free. Absorbed in embryonic suspension, consciousness qua consciousness—consciousness, unvarnished by any distortive lens—is finally made transparent to itself, unmediated by and untethered from symbolic or imagistic interpretation.

Tuned up, our nervous system, the most sensitive instrument at our disposal, discloses a tacit apprehension—an acuity of crystalline transparency—more subtle than abstract reasoning, more palpable than what is concretely tangible, and unparalleled in intimacy and immediacy. Stripped of all artifice, only naked consciousness prevails. As empirical as any truth claim, the unassailability of this direct glimpse into our unconditioned nature is self-substantiating. Only awareness itself cannot be subject to doubt because only this profound mystery alone cannot be made an object of awareness, as it is the subject that predicates on no object. As non-dual traditions attest, having crossed the threshold of subject-object duality—where the observer, the process of observation, and the object under observation have dissolved—the treasure of our intrinsic, universal nature as the substance in which all form inheres, the substratum from which everything arises moment to moment, is rendered in an unveiling—gripped to bare awareness, anchored in being, seamlessly settled in the plenum of all-enveloping essence.

Verified by direct encounter, the vivid equanimity of this meditatively-induced peak state is nonetheless merely a stepping-stone as the episode is transient and often challenging to sustain when form disperses our attention. Consequently, when we come out of the embryonic womb of meditation and our body-mind along with the manifest world reboots back online the quality of this peak state is not sustained. That is, until one day we come out of meditation, only meditation does not come out of us.

UNIFICATION

Imprinted upon initiation, it is natural to continue our pursuit, much like a hound hot on its scent, with renewed confidence. It has been said that letting go in meditation prepares one for death, a process akin to acclimating to cold water: each immersion making the experience less jarring, more familiar. Similarly, like a needle finding its track on a record, our consciousness begins to slip into these familiar grooves, spacious and free from discordant static, with increasing regularity and earlier in each session. If meditation were dye and we the fabric, each session would be like another immersion, gradually seeping into our fibers until we emerge fully saturated, with a steadfast color-lock. So that as our cultivation deepens, this awareness becomes not only less intermittent, but, as we close the distance, begins to surface—like an underground stream finding its way to daylight, pushing through to the forefront of our experience, much like molars breaking through the gumline. However tenuous the crystallization is at first, diligently tended to as a caretaker would a baby, eventually presence stabilizes, and one is assured that it has established a stronghold of continuity. Energetically on-lock, this presence affixes like superglue, allowing us to carry its clarity and depth into every aspect of our existence.

Differentiated from the conventional ego-identity and its self-concept in the mind, we reach a heightened realization—a supra-mental consciousness that is trans-personal. This apotheosis emerges out of a developmental pattern of differentiation, already established: from an undifferentiated fusion in infancy, to a body-centered self in toddlerhood, and a socio-emotional self in early childhood. In middle childhood, a mentalized identity emerges, specialized in concrete perspectives, and further complexified in adolescence as reflective capacities mature. Though situated in the mind, this meta-cognitive habit cultivates a detachment that may facilitate the leap to supra-mental awareness, transcending mental constructs entirely. From here, supra-consciousness is birthed—a profound awareness that, even if initially residing in the backdrop, once stabilized, remains salient during our everyday activities and amidst the vicissitudes of life. This prevailing condition becomes our new default. No longer confined to meditation, this baseline shift into a new set-point of awareness persists even into our ordinary waking state.

Awakening, as a process of unification along a continuum of progression, is generally characterized by the displacement and dissolution of the separate self-sense, accompanied by a corollary breakthrough to and unfolding unification with a divine center. This unification unfolds in four distinct phases, with each phase converging upon a specific center and dimension of self-less expansion: (1) Transcendental Consciousness, reached around the head, signifies height; (2) Immanent Being, rooted in the hara, symbolizes depth; (3) Radiant Heart, emanating from the heart, conveys breadth; and (4) Permeant Beyond, or Enlightenment proper, penetrating through all centers—the head, hara, and heart—dissolves unbounded and centerless into the timeless divine eternal, the point of both origin and culmination.

Briefly, to provide a sense of the felt alignment within each phase, the following descriptions evoke the direct apprehension of these four degrees of unification:

Transcendental Consciousness is differentiated (and thus detached) from the mental self, poised in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s phrase, with "higher self-possession" of enhanced clarity of presence and scope stabilized around the headspace. Cross-culturally depicted as a halo (nimbus) in iconographic art, the associated sensation can be likened to having a helium-caked cranium. Spacious—affording a buffering prospect as though elevated upon a mountaintop perch overlooking the busy marketplace of ego with its myriad machinations below—the mental self is set in stark relief. No longer proximal in point of reference, the mind is displaced as center of concern, to be silently and dispassionately observed as an object of awareness. Like the hinge to a door (Meister Eckhart), the stationary elbow to the lower arm (Walt Whitman), or the axle of a spinning wheel, this unification with the transcendent, referred to by Robert KC Forman as the Dualistic Mystical State, delineates the stillness of pure consciousness from the obscurations of the fluctuating mind. As a metaphor, imagine simulating an oil spill in a dish tray (head), where oil (ego) floats on the surface, occluding the water (pure consciousness) below, symbolizing the relative murkiness of our conventional waking state. Introducing dish soap (meditation, such as breathwork) disperses the oil so that all the inkiness congregates into a thin strip along the front rim of the dish tray. Like so, is our clear, vast consciousness revealed upon segregation from our personal self-sense, which is retained distinctly and without confusion as a thin strip before our purview, enabling us to have our Witness cake and ego too.
Immanent Being is cultivated by sacrificing that which is lower, as in partial, for the higher or whole, reconciling shadow material from deeply below to redeem and unify within, conducting an overall sense of whole-body infusion, as above, so below. Emptied out through a process of mortification and purification, like the burning of dead wood preparing the soil for roots to plunge deep, this process strips us of excess, leaving us simplified, grounded, and fortified from within. This inner energy field is depicted as an aureole enveloping the body, like an illumined cocoon. A serene indwelling resides, hidden within a haven of concealment and retreat—akin to being enclosed in a cave, an alcove, or sheltered under dense canopies, deep in the wood, enfolded by the landscape. There, recessed like a tortoise in its shell, we are womb-like snug as the idiomatic bug in a rug, softly blanketed and kindled by hearth-light. Here, in the stillness of the now, a profound collectedness settles in, rooted unshakably from the primordial ground of tranquil refuge.
Radiant Heart emanates from the heart, as inward, so outward, spanning with delight in an open-hearted embrace of one-and-many. Depicted as the transfiguration in Christian iconography, variously, a luminous cloud may be employed, or as in the Apollonian solar disk of ancient Greece, rays of supernal light may radiate forth. This emanation evokes a felt oceanic sense of connecting to all shores, inviolably and indomitably bright as to whitewash dim remnants of the subconscious ego, rendered quiescent and translucent, transfused with the purity of innocence, simultaneously bathed and cloaked by a dazzling forcefield of brilliant light.
Permeant Beyond—or Enlightenment proper—pervades throughout, the ego is diffused until the proverbial bottom of the bucket drops. Snuffed out, selfhood is extinguished (Nirvana) or annihilated (fana), and there no longer remains a center of identity. Like a vanishing act, one is nowhere to be found. Ego-death is synonymous with liberation (Moksha), an emancipation from self-constriction, a release into infinite peace surpassing all understanding, immaculate and untouched by time. Miraculously, though the self has died—exposed as illusory (maya), with the self now absorbed in unmanifest source, absent or transparent to the onlyness of one taste—there is resurrection of a post-mortem life. After all, you’re still kicking around, aren’t you?

In sum, by displacing ego-identity, awakening sustains the purified consciousness previewed in meditation into the waking state, allowing this realization to integrate within, suffuse outward, and ultimately permeate all the way through to the ego death of Enlightenment.

TRANSITION

Each of these four unifications—transcendent, immanent, emanant, and permeant—is preceded by a purification, guided by the lure of a teleological touchstone predominating a dimension (or sub-system) of our being. Like beacons, these touchstones illuminate our path. In aligning with their light, we become like a metal shaving to a magnet, inexorably drawn forth as by an attractor field—or, borrowing from science fiction, a tractor beam.

Gross / Mental purification addresses the intellect or mind, and pursuant of truth, intelligence differentiates us from mental objects, increasing clarity to eventually break through to the mystery of unvarnished consciousness free from the partiality of mental lenses whereupon Transcendental Consciousness is reached.
Psychic purification recalls the psychological dimension or psyche, and pursuant of the good, the wisdom of sapience integrates our whole being via shadow work to foster ongoing dynamic equilibrium between assimilation of realized order and accommodation to the unknown, in virtuous service to the mystery of incarnated humanity, whereby Immanent Being is embodied.
Subtle purification attends to our soul, and pursuant of the lovely and beautiful, radiance via harmonic resonance and refinement opens us to the transfiguring mystery of binding, healing, and harmonizing light emanating from Radiant Heart.
Causal purification invokes spirit, and pursuant of liberation, permeance determined by infinite degrees requires our unconditional surrender to the mystery that penetrates through our astounded self into the awesome Permeant Beyond.

Stratified in this schema above into distinct layers by the specialized mind, the dimensions, synergizing in fluid interplay at the intermediary psychic dimension, are suffused with the light that, at its penultimate, synchronizes us with the morphic field at the subtle plane of soul, and ultimately, at its most refined, pervades all dimensions at the causal plane of spirit, from which all manifested domains of influence precipitate and find their formative condition.

PROGRESSION

Introduction

While the scale of awakening progresses through increased unification with the divine center—starting with the breakthrough of the head center with Transcendental Consciousness, followed by the assimilation of the hara center in Immanent Being, the heart center in Radiant Heart, and culminating in the total dissolution of the separate self-sense in Permeant Beyond—awakening can initiate at any of these four locations on the scale. From there—depending on how far along one has already proceeded—progress may occur asynchronously to the next step in the series, or synchronously by expanding into two or more centers in tandem.

Asynchronous Awakening

Heightened consciousness, distinguishing adult humanity from among the animals, unfolds organically as part of our maturation process—from unconscious to subconscious, semi-conscious, and self-conscious—ultimately achieving unification with the transcendent field, where its telos is reached in supra-consciousness, the pinnacle of strength, clarity, and scope of presence.

Supra-consciousness represents a newly available structure of consciousness, stratified above its predecessor, the mental ego, of which it is the Witness. Through a process of self-inquiry and discrimination, our intelligence sheds mentalizing lenses, reaching the height of truth at the apex of unvarnished consciousness, which asserts itself with stark clarity. Sterling clarity is required for consciousness to clearly recognize itself as itself, and only by this reflexive knowing does consciousness shine with the brilliance to illuminate otherwise unilluminated depths.

This breakthrough to supra-consciousness can be likened to surmounting a steep climb—establishing a fingerhold that allows one to pull themselves over the threshold and into the clear light. Thus is this transcendent realization essential before further phase progression can occur, as it sets the stage for integration with psychic purification, emanation from subtle purification, and permeation through causal purification. Reaching the transcendent serves as a definitive marker of spiritual progress, providing a higher vantage point and ensuring that subsequent assimilation occurs within awareness rather than slipping into unconscious evasion. With the light of awareness directly above at a metaphorical solar noon, no shadow is cast, and what can no longer be hidden in darkness is purified within. Bursting forth, the light then suffuses the atmosphere until it permeates throughout.

To help further visualize this process, imagine a dial for turning on light. If you turn it slightly, like a lightbulb forming above, it creates a space around your head transcendent of the ego. As you turn the dial further, the light occupies and unifies your body; turn it more, and your ego is whitewashed as the light emanates from your heart. Finally, if you crank it up fully, you disappear altogether—only the light itself remains. Similarly, the continuum of unification is toward an increase of light, accompanied by greater ego dissolution, as the brightness becomes sufficient to shine through cognitive, perceptual, and affective membranous overlays, to shine as ontic being itself.

Just as water must be tapped from its source to nourish a plant’s roots, absorbed before being released as vapor through transpiration, and only then can the vapor permeate and saturate the atmosphere, so too does the progression through more expansive degrees of assimilation upon awakening follow a precise order. Before the transcendent can be embodied—or more generally, acclimated to—it must first break through. Like a blot of blood on a cloth—focused and distinct before spreading to permeate the whole—the source-point is first unified with as transcendent, then made immanent, emanant, and finally permeant, in that order.

Synchronous Awakening

Whereas degrees of unification follow a phased progression, the awakening of one center is not always independent of the others. Distinguishing from asynchronous awakening as described above, synchronous alignment occurs when multiple centers are primed and ready. In this case, awakening the key center of consciousness instantly catalyzes these centers into a cohesive whole. Alternatively, by appealing to a subtler, more expansive center, greater power is summoned to awaken multiple centers in tandem. Because the subtler encompasses the grosser, invoking subtler dimensions can potentially bypass lesser degrees of initial unification in favor of scooping multiple centers at once in a more comprehensive unification. Thus, the subtler the dimension purified, the greater the magnitude—and later the phase—of initial awakening along the scale.

In other words, not all individuals awaken at the same location on the continuum, nor do all paths progress in a strict 1-2-3-4 sequence. Consider the analogy of a staircase: To gain altitude, the climber can ascend step by step, each stair serving as a bridge to the next, making each subsequent step more likely. However, the climber might also leapfrog up the stairway, bypassing the vantage from each lower stair to more immediately achieve the altitude of a higher platform. While such leapfrogging can accelerate progress, it is not without its liabilities. Too steep a gradient or an insufficient stride can halt progress, and because each stair offers unique affordances, valuable insights that enrich the journey may go unappreciated, requiring longer periods of assimilation and adjustment. Just as a climber can skip stairs, one can scoop strata of earth to attain depth without investigating every layer. Thus, while the sequence of stairs or layers is fixed, the way one navigates them is not. Consequently, one can potentially awaken anywhere on the continuum.

Which dimension ‘directs the search’, and is thereby targeted for purification, influences how awakening progresses along the continuum, with four broad proposed approaches governing the entry point into unification:

Headlong – Associated with the Jhana path or cognitive type, focusing first on the mind, one initially awakens pointedly to Transcendental Consciousness, with subsequent awakenings tending to follow a linear-sequential order as the skeptical mind seeks to verify each step.
Balanced – Common with the Karma path and conative type, tending to the psyche, reciprocal interaction between hara and head can inter-dynamically awaken both centers in tandem, naturally settling into Immanent Being.
Heartfelt – Guided by the Bhakti path and affective type, a more subtle approach sensitive to the soul diffusely refines to Radiant Heart, radially connecting heart, hara, and head in one tender embrace.
Immediate – Unified by the Raja path, rare though it may be, those of exceptional rank with undying constancy can surrender directly to spirit. With self petering out before the commitment to one’s innermost essential identity, a comprehensive unification into the Permeant Beyond pervades head, hara, and heart, all holus-bolus, in one fell swoop.

Conclusion

One’s particular path—influenced by a constellation of factors such as culture, temperament, contemplative practice, individual readiness, and the degree to which intelligence, sapience, radiance, or the permeance of spirit is favored—affects the awakening process, its pace, and how it is experienced. In the asynchronous approach, often associated with the heady, top-heavy masculine process, each expansion along one’s path is typically experienced in order as a discrete stage. In the synchronous approach, naturally linked to a more embodied and balanced feminine flow, two or more centers often awaken in conjunction, revealing them as interconnected aspects of a single holistic awakening rather than sequential stages. In either case, the overarching trajectory remains the same, with both approaches moving toward the culmination of Enlightenment, which necessitates awakening through all centers.

Typically, grosser dimensions are addressed and purified before subtler ones, as the latter, more rarefied dimensions can be elusive and challenging to activate. Just as coarser sandpaper grades precede finer work, so too does the progression from mind to spirit follow a natural order. However, since mind, psyche, soul, and spirit are all operative simultaneously as part of our makeup, each is available for engagement. How this engagement unfolds varies—cognitive perspectives develop with increasing consciousness, perception sharpens cyclically, and emotional tones can continually be refined or accessed. Energy can be directed toward any of these dimensions, yet this does not always lead to the awakening threshold of the corresponding unification. For example, engaging in psychic purification cannot guarantee an expansion into Immanent Being; the path may not be embarked on consciously enough to achieve such unification. Potentially preparing the stage for synchronous awakening, however, inroads can be made into multiple dimensions, which can be simultaneously escalated or ‘heated up’. And by such attunement, we find ourselves drawn into communion.

INTIMATION

In a sense, Enlightenment is unremarkable. Rather than inflating the self, the self is deposed, leaving a space filled with ineffable mystery. This mystery is not something to be attained but abided in, quietly returning us to our essential nature. As the ever-present wellspring of experience, this mystery is unavoidable—not a distant abstraction, but the condition of everything arising moment to moment. Already partaking of these multifarious expressions, appreciation is then a foregone conclusion.

Throughout life’s stages, we are continually drawn to our innate connection with this primordial mystery. In the spontaneity of young children and the innocence of pets, we find effortless communion. As we mature into greater autonomy, it is natural to take on responsibility that displaces the self as our center, to begin a family and embrace the well-being of others. This invites a re-enchantment with the world, allowing us to see anew through the eyes of a child. In elderhood, after pouring all we can into life, we prepare for the gentle dissolution of the self, ready for the final transition, returning to the place before birth.

Yet, an appreciation of this underlying nature, however revealed, is not bound to any single stage of life; its presence is felt in everyday moments. Whether through music, sport, a walk in nature, or the company of loved ones, we are transported into a flow state, aligning with deeper currents. Moments of grace, whether consolatory or ordinary, can present themselves to anyone at any time. Without the need for intellectual sophistication or spiritual unification, down-to-earth folk often exhibit a balanced, stable nature grounded in common sense and unassuming decency, while the devout open their hearts to an I-Thou intimacy with the mystery. As we become mindful of these moments, we resonate with a coherence that blesses both ourselves and others. When embraced collectively, this can transform civilization, illuminating a path to a more interconnected and peaceful world.

Throughout each person’s journey, subtle hints of the divine—clarity, balance, and connection—invite us to turn toward them, gently guiding us along the path. Even before the threshold of awakening is crossed, these qualities are accessible and can be cultivated. Regardless of one’s background, those inclined have the opportunity to release what obstructs these qualities, allowing them to see more clearly, find greater stability, and open their hearts in kindness. Embodying these qualities fosters a harmonious and resonant way of being, aligning us with the deeper mystery of existence. Whether this intimation satisfies or awakens a deeper yearning—to abide in the truth of consciousness, embody as a wholeness within, and radiate this open-heartedly, or to become a mystery unto oneself, surrendered to what simply is—your journey is uniquely yours to explore. The invitation to initiate our own investigation, like the Natural State itself, is ever-present, awaiting our availability.