The Perception of Enlightenment – by Tashi (Guest Teacher)

My perception of Enlightenment had always been that it was to come through the purification of the senses and the mind. This was a very mechanical point of view and in many ways Enlightenment is as mechanical as the learning of any skill, however there was a big piece of information that had been missing. This was the Higher Self connection.

The Higher Self was something that I had heard talked about while I was at the monastery but the direct training of this was never taught. I now believe it to be one of the last and fading secrets of the tradition that I was part of.

The first time that I met my Higher Self was after being attuned to a new meditation practice by a very unorthodox spiritual teacher. I opened my eyes and there before me materialized a person that looked like me yet every aspect of this person radiated perfection. I knew that this person was me and that this me was my Higher Self – it was my essential Buddha self. This being emanated the love and compassion of a saint and when he reached over and touched the crown of my head, my body dissolved into light.

The next thing that I knew I was flying through plains of light. I experienced in one moment all the pain, suffering and striving that I had faced in my life and I felt it all transform as it was engulfed into compassion so intense that it was all encompassing. This occurred through this life and then the life before and the life before that. I experienced pain and suffering that I had no idea existed within me. Lifetimes of pain met with pure love and compassion and was eradicated from my soul in an instant. Piercing through this compassion a deep frequency of peace arose and I knew then that I was looking Enlightenment in the eye.

This experience changed me beyond words. It was not the complete Enlightenment that I had always sought, but it was a very important window that was showing me that I was now heading in the right direction.

Tashi