I've come across nearly every spiritual master under the sun.
Well, not really, because there are probably thousands of them.
Regardless, once you spend enough time listening to Tolle, Millman, Hahn, Beckwith, Singer, etc... similar themes emerge.
One of my favorite stories is the enlightened master carrying water buckets.
Have you heard this one? I'll tell you about it.
There is an enlightened man in a village (I don't know why all the stories have enlightened men in them, but I don't like it).
An eager disciple seeking enlightenment hears about this man and tries to find him.
After a day or two of searching, the student finds the humble master in an unusual state; he's carrying a long stick with two buckets of water on each end across his back.
"Are you the enlightened master that I've been seeking?," said the student.
The old man just smiled.
"Great master, I wish to be your student. Please, tell me what enlightenment is like."
The old mad set down the heavy water buckets. Stood up tall. Took in a deep breath. And smiled.
"Yes! I see! I understand. Please, master, tell me what happens after enlightenment."
The enlightened man bends down, picks up the large stick with two full buckets of water on each end and continues down the road without looking back.
Great story, eh? I've probably told this same story to countless people. It's pretty obvious, right? Enlightenment is letting go of the load. Once that's done, however, there's still work to do. You pick up the load and you keep living as a human, just like everyone else.
But this one time, I was driving with my girlfriend and telling her the same story.
Something happened that caught me completely by surprise.
I cried. And I cried some more. I full on bawled my eyes out...
In that moment, I understood, embodied, grocked, and realized the truth of the story. I knew in the deepest fibers of my being exactly what it meant to lighten the load and experienced enlightenment.
This "thing" that I, myself, had been obsessing over for decades, much like the student in the story.
Now you may disagree with me. You may think, "well, just because he understood a story, that doesn't mean anything."
And that's fair. Please know that no words could ever fully describe a profound depth and truth that I realized that day. I realized what enlightenment is and means to me. And that, I guarantee, is different than what it is and means to you. You don't have to agree with me or even believe me. I don't care, to be honest. I know what I felt and continue to feel.
I had to laugh: a goal I was fascinated by for my entire adult life came and passed without even knowing it. The irony of that still makes me laugh.
Ok, so...now what? Well, it's obvious isn't it? I have water to carry. I'll be carrying water the rest of my life. I have leaned into being a regular old human more than I probably ever have in my life. There's a reason so many "enlightened" people eventually just settle back into being human. Floating around in spiritual bliss is boring and inevitable. That's probably what it feels like when you die (just listen to any number of NDE's).
So here I am, working a tech job, paying bills, raising children, building an intimate relationship. I feel stress, joy, anger, frustration, elation, passion, goofiness and everything in between. I'm trying new things all the time. I carry the suck, the unknown, and the known, and it's quite heavy.
I can't tell you how liberating it is to simply give yourself permission to be as human AF. That's what enlightenment is. At least, that's what it is to me.
aciern.ooo/enwDo you have thoughts about this post? Feel free to share below...