AN ENLIGHTENED DISCUSSION

Nov 10, 2021 - 03:47 Leave a Comment 2369 views

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AN ENLIGHTENED DISCUSSION

The topic of enlightenment is multi-varied and so can be approached from a number of angles. I’ve posted a few articles on this topic before. In this supposed ‘age of awakening’ (I hope), I've included another post for those who might be interested in reading further on the topic.

As I was editing my third ELYSIUM’S PASSAGE novel, QUANTUM LEAPS, I noticed there was a lengthy discussion on enlightenment. Having written this over seven years ago, I forgot much of what was in it the book until I recently began my final editing. Writing several novels at the same time can mean long delays since the stories are woven as one. For those interested, I will hopefully have most of the series completed within the next couple of years to mark the tenth anniversary when I began.

For those who might wish to read the first chapters of Book One, The Ascent, the following link will take you to the first chapter where you’ll also find links to the other chapters.
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/Elysiums-Passage-Chapter-One

The following excerpt on the topic of enlightenment is from a lively discussion from Chapter 11.

'What you just said, Eli, made we think of an old pop song by an Afro-American soul/rock group called Sly and the Family Stone? They were around long before I was born; I think sometime back in the 60s. Anyway, when you said that about taking me higher, I remembered that line they sang over and over: I want to take you higher. Anyway, that came to me out of nowhere… probably not that relevant to our discussion.’

‘Actually, it is,’ he said, ‘since that’s what we wish to do; to take you higher and higher, far beyond where you’ve ever been before… much higher than this Summit. You ascended this far; still, it’s only a base camp for your journey higher up and further in. Your MMT will provide you invaluable training to enable you to climb to ascend even higher while you remain here. We promise you, when you ascend to your final vista, the view will be so spectacular that you will only be able to see it with your inward vision, not your eyes.’

‘That’s interesting,’ I said. ‘So you both must assume that I’m ready to proceed, as you say, higher up and further in.’

‘Not really,’ Mo said, ‘however, we trust you will be by the end of your paradise island retreat. That will be the time for you to prepare yourself for whatever lies ahead; wherever you are, here, there, or on the earth plane.’

‘Yes, of course,’ I said. ‘Okay, so, tell me more of what this tropical island retreat is supposed to be about? From what your saying, it doesn’t sound much like nirvana, not that I know much of what it means, specifically.’

‘Perhaps nirvana is something you might wish to pursue in Tibet at another time,’ Eli said. ‘That’s not what this is about; instead, this is to clear you of inward clutter so the light can dawn upon you when you’re ready to receive it.

‘Remember, you can’t make enlightenment happen just by contriving it whenever it suits you. Instead, enlightenment is more of an ongoing process of conscious intent, than an actual event. As Mo indicted earlier, the best you can do is ready yourself, so that when the time is right, the light will come to you. And that’s what you will be doing on the island; getting ready to be ready.’

‘How long is this going to take?’ I asked. ‘I don’t think it took Buddha all that much time… all he had to do was sit there under his Bodhi tree for a while.’

‘Siddhartha’s experience was his, not yours,’ Mo said. ‘Besides, his enlightenment had begun long before he sat under his tree; otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered sitting there.

‘The voice of I Am will come to you as an inward understanding or knowingness when you are called. That’s why, as we’ve said before, it’s not about apprehending; rather, it’s about being apprehended – not seizing, but being seized. It speaks not about things, only Self, the hardest thing there is to know. That’s because you’re not a thing, but a god that’s forgotten who he is, a vessel containing God’s essence.

‘When you finally come to recognise the voice, it will always be there for you because it never left you. It’s just that you didn’t recognise it because you didn’t recognise your Self. When you do, you will hear it and know all you need to know.’

‘This might not be a burning bush, I AM type of experience,’ he said, ‘yet what you sense will be unmistakable because it will have come from you, for you, and only you. Not for Eli, not for me, and certainly not for anyone else. Furthermore, you may never know how or where this epiphany comes, but when it does, it will be commensurate with how open you remain to its Presence.

‘That, James, is what you have to prepare for. There’s still too much dissonance within your intellect that gets in the way of clear reception.’

‘So, are you saying I’m too smart for my own good? I said smiling.’

‘If you were smart, you would get out of your own way,’ Eli said. ‘Essentially, your mind, in-as-much as you have allow, has been responsible for what you’ve become. So, try to subordinate it to the voice of the heart… it knows.’

‘I’m not sure I like that word subordinate,’ I said, ‘sounds too hierarchal.’

‘Fair enough,’ Mo said. ‘Obviously, you’ve been listening to those in the Flatlands who so ferociously oppose any such notion. So, if you don’t care for the term, perhaps we could say aligned. Many practices have been developed by highly evolved mystic schools and esoteric traditions that require a great deal of silence to hear what the inward voice has to say when aligned with the heart.

‘You don’t have to be in an ashram since mystical encounters can occur almost anywhere; under a tree, though not necessarily of the Bodhi phyla, in a church choir singing the Halleluiah chorus or swimming with the dolphins. As long as love and peace are present and fear and judgement are absent, anyone may receive divine light.

‘More often than not, enlightenment occurs in silence when no one is present except the Presence. Then it’s gone again, at least until the next time. Still, the peace lingers.’

‘That’s jolly,’ I said. ‘The problem with enlightenment, however, is that it always seems to come at such a great price. Most of the famous mystics I’ve heard about had few possessions and even less money, so they paid dearly for these epiphanies.’

‘The price you pay for enlightenment is not determined by what is given,’ Eli said, ‘but by what is not given – the less willing, the higher the price. Much time and effort are often required to release what one doesn’t wish to release, such as misguided beliefs. These distractions often have to do with outward fixations related to money, relationships and achievements. Although, it might be more subtle than that, such as misguided beliefs that result in pride, fear and vengeance.

‘For this reason, it doesn’t matter how much one has, but what one is. Out of that essence proceeds the desire to dwell within the divine light. The light cannot dwell within until one is first willing to dwell in the light. So, it is with enlightenment… it can only come to you when you are willing.

‘This may require the circumstances of one’s life to be significantly altered – I guess you know all about that. Such disturbances are often necessary to get the noisy, distracted mind to settle down long enough to see and hear with inward eyes and inward ears.’

‘Are you calling my fall a mere disturbance?’ I asked. ‘The fall was so traumatic that the fall guy still hasn’t gotten over it, even after all the loving care he’s received. I’m sure he would consider it far more than that.

‘I’m sure he would, ’ Mo said, ‘But this isn’t about the fall guy. You’re the one, not him, who requires time alone to deal with whatever has been obstructing your vision. As it is often said, it’s difficult to see what’s below the surface until the mud settles. That’s why the ego-mind is always stirring things up to prevent you from getting to the bottom of what you really are… that being your Christ Self.

‘However, when the heart quiets the confused mind, it is surprising how quickly things become clear. This is what it means to be enlightened, if only for a moment.’

‘So then, how does one quiet the confused mind?’ I asked.

‘That’s for everyone to discover for themselves,’ Mo said. ‘For you, it may be a tropical island retreat. For the Buddha, the precursor to his enlightenment was to sit under a tree for a very long time. He didn’t read a how-to book… he waited. That’s the hardest part; letting the mind run its course so the heart’s wisdom may surface and dominate the confused mind.

‘If it was just a matter of reading books, your whole university would be enlightened. But it’s not. Though most of your colleagues might seem intelligent enough, is there anyone in your department you might consider, not just knowledgeable, but enlightened too? Being bright and being enlightened really aren’t the same thing, are they?’

‘I’m not sure they would agree with what you said,’ I said. However, I can’t think of any I would consider being the Buddha.

‘That’s because most intellects fail to understand that enlightenment is not learning about the light, since the light is always present. Instead, it’s discovering the light within by removing the fetters of darkness. That’s the only way we can see things as they are. Light never comes from the mind alone, but from the heart. The mind only gives form to the light when in union with the heart, yet, it is not the light. Remember what you told us about the voice you heard in the mountain meadows?’

‘Of course: nothingness, nothingness, nothingness!’

‘That’s right; nothing is required, not books, not lectures… you need only to allow what’s already within. That, in essence, was the message of the message!’

‘Somehow, I didn’t get that message.’

‘But that’s the paradox,’ Eli said. ‘You must first be willing to let go of what’s in the way. For example, you wished to learn about the meaning of life and so that’s why you studied philosophy. Yet you found that studying philosophy wasn’t enough because anyone wishing to become enlightened must first be willing to surrender all their cherished beliefs in order to hear what the Spirit has to reveal. This requires deep reflection and focus, since there’s nothing more undisciplined than the separated ego-mind.’

‘You see,’ Mo said, ‘this is the price of admission for enlightenment: releasing your ego’s beliefs. But it’s not that much of a sacrifice once you realise what you give up was never what you actually wanted; all those things that held you back from being free and happy. There is nothing about the ego that is desirable since it is that which keeps you in bondage on the earth plane. For you, this is mainly about letting go of what you thought you knew.

‘As you continue to learn and desire only what is true by throwing off the beliefs of the ego and its fearful distractions, you will come to know what you need when you return to the earth plane. Once you know, the how will take care of itself as each step will naturally present itself to you as you move forward.

‘Realise the journey is never over, there will always be new Summits. We never stop ascending; and why would we? That’s the nature of the Infiniverse. But since we are its sons and daughters, that’s our nature too.’

‘Most inspiring esoterica, Mo. So, what about my island get-away on the beach. Is there anything I need to do to prepare, such as building a hurricane-proof hut?’

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Other posts on this blog site related to enlightenment may be found here.

ENLIGHTENMENT
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/enlightenment

HOW TO BE AN ENLIGHTENED MYSTIC
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/how-to-be-an-enlightened-mystic

IS GOD A MYSTIC?
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/is-god-a-mystic

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SUMMARY OF ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE NOVEL SERIES

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This is a series of seven Elysium Passager novels regarding a young British philosopher named James Phillips, who finds himself living in an altered state of reality while still remaining on earth.

After experiencing a near-fatal fall while climbing to the summit of a remote mountain in the Andes, James awakens in a new dimension. He soon encounters two mysterious beings who provide him with a very different perspective on the nature of his existence. Over the next year, before his body recovers from the coma, he is challenged to re-examine his understanding of life’s meaning and purpose far beyond anything he previously believed or could believe.

An engaging and sometimes surreal adventure with intimations of impending romance, the narrative explores the most important questions about life, death, reality, and our ultimate destiny.

The Plains of Elysium (Champs-Élysées) was described by Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, and many other poets as the paradisiac afterlife realm reserved for heroes. As the title suggests, this is about a journey through a passage that leads towards Elysium’s exciting realm of adventures.

To read a sample press review at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/05/prweb15515775.htm

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ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE: READER REVIEWS

The following comments are excerpts from among the first readers, including a number of Amazon five star reviews. To read the full reviews, go to READER REVIEWS on www.elysiumspassage.com or directly at https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/reader-reviews

"A delightful mix of fantasy, reality, conjecture, and humour; Mr Meyers draws the reader into the story with a gentle narrative that captures the imagination, leaving one anxious to get to the next page drawing you into his exceptional world.”

"Quietly, gently, and without imposition, the Author unfolds the pages, creating an intricate, interlocking bridge spanning the chasm between mind and heart. Renewing, refreshing, restoring. In my bereavement, it was vigil and light…."

“Excellently written with an exceedingly deep understanding of this world and the next. The characters are very well written and engaging. I can't wait to complete this book!"

“Takes the reader on both a philosophical and spiritual journey, a journey that at times is both disquieting and tranquil. James, a British Philosopher, can be irreverent and caustic, traits that should have left me cringing but instead made me laugh out loud. Elysium’s Passage is a fun, enlightening and remarkable book.”

“This is a masterful fantasy, becoming a real possibility, as the reader is drawn into the story. The Summit leaves you anxious for the next book in the series, yet also leaves you totally satisfied with the world you have just visited. Genius! An exciting yet calming experience that is not to be missed."

"There was hardly a page on which I did not find at least one sentence worthy of hi-lighting for future reference. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, James, whose personality and passionate verbal exchanges with the other characters kept me coming back for more. I am reading the book for a second time while I wait for the next one in this series to be made available."

“N.G. Meyers has clearly put a great deal of research and thought into what the afterlife may look like, and I like his perspective. It’s an altogether welcoming and exciting vision. The book gives one a great deal to think about and a reassuring confidence that the end of our lives is truly the beginning of life in the next. I highly recommend it."

"I am really enjoying your book, it’s fantastic! It is so incredible and diversified that I can’t really explain it to other people, so what I say is just read this book. Thank you so much for the blessings that you’ve given the world!"

“The humour interjected into a serious discussion makes me laugh out loud. Totally unexpected....l may be in the presence of at least a master, if not a genius. A fair ride into reality... seeking that which is unseen, yet absolutely real.”

“An engaging story of adventure embracing man's deepest desire to search for meaning and purpose, N.G. Meyers takes the reader on an adventurous, thought-provoking journey. This book has substance. It is a perfect blend of adventure and fantasy combined with spiritual philosophy. It ignited my imagination. The author magically weaves a good story laced with wit and humour together with deep philosophical wisdom. This book has it all!”

“An evolution in thought is triggered by many fresh philosophical themes which could inspire readers to re-think their reality and former ideologies that have dictated their lives… the author fires readers’ imaginations to view what could be possible when spirit vacates the body.”

“This is the book spiritual seekers have been waiting for. For me, it granted a great read as well as increased inspiration to live every day with a heightened sense of purpose. I highly recommend it.

“The Summit is capable of hooking readers and luring them to search for Book 2 to discover more about Dr Philip’s surreal trek into the mysterious unknown universe. This thick book is well worth the read and to share…”

“Mind-blowing statements and speculation (‘…everyone is a non-physical thought form conceived in the Mind of God, preserved for all eternity because God’s thoughts never die…’). Many will find Meyers’ journey up the Mountain intriguing—and possibly even life-changing.” (BLUEINK REVIEW)

“In its effort to grapple with fundamental questions about the meaning of life, it raises questions that have echoed throughout the ages, including about where we come from, where we are going, who we are.” (CLARION REVIEW)

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PENDING PUBLICATION OF ELYSIUM’S PASSAGE SERIES

Amazon in 2024

THE ASCENT: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE SUMMIT: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

QUANTUM LEAPS: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

SURREAL ADVENTURES: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

MYSTICAL ROMANCE: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE ELIXIR: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE RETURN: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

1. The Ascent is the first novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage that’s foundational to everything that happens in the following narratives that embark on an adventure that will surprise and delight the reader like no other book.

It all begins with an extreme adventure of climbing a remote and challenging mountain somewhere in the Andean Mountains. Just as James, the protagonist, is about to reach the mountain summit, he falls into an abyss that leaves him in a coma for almost a year.

After being airlifted by a forestry helicopter and flown back to London, where his body remains for almost a year. Eventually, he learns it was not him but his body that was rescued. Several days later, without understanding what happened, he continues to climb to the summit in an alternate dimension of higher consciousness.

Fortuitously, he meets two adventurers on the summit ridge who are no longer of this world. After that, his surreal life leads him to several new adventures in the subsequent chronicles that include a rich mix of adventure, romance, and fantasy, along with profound discussions of philosophy, spirituality and the afterlife.

2. The Summit, the second novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, carries on where James, the narrator and protagonist, is taught more about a multidimensional reality that he finds difficult to comprehend.

Not only does he find he’s not as clever as he imagined, but his off-world companions on the summit demonstrate that much of what he believed about life was not just parochial but wrong. At first, he finds this difficult to comprehend since their teachings are contrary to his limited understanding of non-material reality.

After being tricked into teleporting off a ledge where he was trapped, James becomes aware of the new reality that makes him capable of far more adventures than could have ever been experienced previously in his physical body back home.

Now, if only he would win over the only woman in this life who matters, the nurse on the other side of the veil, who continually demonstrates her unconditional love toward his healing.

Warning: This book may also open the reader’s eyes to a much vaster reality than most might be aware. As with the other Chronicles, there are discussions of philosophy, the spiritual afterlife and what might seem like fantasy.

3. Quantum Leaps is the third novel in Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, where James, the philosopher-protagonist, teleports back to London to visit his body and make contact with the special nurse taking care of it in his absence. Immediately, he feels an inexplicable spiritual bond with her for reasons he remains unaware of.

Now aroused by a renewed interest in matters of love, the beginnings of a relationship begin to emerge as he attempts to reach across the chasm of their worlds. But it’s not until the fifth novel, Mystical Romance, that he encounters her in a way that he finds difficult to believe.

However, before that can happen, there is much about his failed relationships that must be resolved before he is ready to move forward in his new life in Elysium’s Passage. It is during this time he christens his comatose body as the fall guy since it took the fall for him down the abyss so he could learn the lessons he’s now learning.

That will be the next focus of his life, where in his next Surreal Adventures, he is given virtual lessons to release many of his past beliefs about life.

4. Surreal Adventures is the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, which finds James, the protagonist and narrator, escorted by his companions to a remote South Pacific Island, where he is left to reflect on what he’s learned.

During the next forty days, he battles the demons of his past as he works through some rather painful issues from his early youth. Here, in a tropical storm, he encounters an eery suspended spectre of the one he loved yet still resents for abandoning him as a child.

After this, he achieves peace of mind and is ready to return to his lodge to join his off-world companions on the Andes summit. However, just when it seemed things couldn’t get any stranger, a sixteenth-century sea captain sails his ancient ‘ghost’ ship onto the beach. Together, they sail off on a mystical ocean voyage to a couple of virtual islands supposedly in the South Pacific, where he witnesses and, at times, participates in several important life lessons.

Near the end, these encounters help prepare him for a new challenge within the interior of a mountain, where he falls deep into a dark tomb of fear. After being rescued by a mysterious stranger wielding his Excaliber, he continues on to where his life is about to be transformed in the following chronicle, Mystical Romance.

5. Mystical Romance is the fifth chronicle in Elysium’s Passage, which will surprise the reader with a romantic twist of how love is expressed in higher realms. From this lofty perspective, everything about intimacy is understood as within, so without.

After escaping his tomb, James, the narrator and protagonist, makes his way through a maze of tunnels until he arrives at a large oak door, which he opens with the golden key he had been given. There, he steps into Elysium’s Passage’s Great Hall, where his life and recent achievements are celebrated now that his eyes have been opened to perceive a fascinating interior world of wonderment… and romance.

To say more might risk diminishing the multitude of delightful surprises as circumstances begin to open to The Elixir, where James is about to re-enter his earthly body’s existence.

6. The Elixir is the sixth chronicle of the Elysium’s Passage series that prepares James, the narrator-protagonist, to awaken and return to his body in London. Before that can happen, however, his off-worlder friend presents a mysterious equation enshrouded with a light code frequency that will stimulate multidimensional DNA strands within him.

Much of this narration is centred in London, where his nurse unknowingly becomes involved in how the Elixir’s equation finds its way from a taxi cab driver to higher echelons of science. There are many twists in how she unwittingly brings the Elixir to the attention of mathematicians and physicists, after which they eventually discover how to code the equation into a laser ray to stimulate his fall-guy body into full consciousness.

Ostensibly a new Adam, he is destined to return humanity to a higher multidimensional existence. How this happens is filled with intrigue, as is his shocking return to his earthly body.

7. The Return is the seventh and last chronicle in the series where James, the narrator and protagonist, has re-emerged from Elysium’s Passage as he readjusts to life in the third dimension. Many of the events experienced in the previous novels are tied together in an exciting, fast-moving, action-packed narrative over several countries.

At first, it seems all memories have been lost, with his fall guy’s brain not being aware of what happened to him while in his coma. As a consequence, it takes a while for him to be convinced he had been out of his earthly body for almost a year.

Through some rather unexpected events and evidence, along with his girlfriend’s urging, he is brought to an awareness of much of what occurred. It takes a while for his mind to catch up with the changes made in his heart during his stay in the alternate realm. But after experiencing several harsh realities, he discovers what he became within while out of his body. Gradually, he comes to understand the many challenges that lie ahead for him in fulfilling his future mission on Earth.

This book is filled with adventure, romance and personal intrigue that ties together all six previous narratives of the Elysium’s Passage series.