I hear people use the term ‘enlightenment’ quite frequently in my circle of forward thinkers. Most instances of the word portray enlightenment as a complete understanding of and oneness with the universe and all entities (people, animals, plants, elements) that exist within the universe. Other usages refer to unparalleled focus, clarity or centeredness. Buddhism focuses on the usage of the word as a final blessed state in reference to leaving behind worldly desires and attaining complete tranquility and oneness with the cosmic force. Hence, the Daimoku mantra: “nam myoho renge kyo” which is roughly translated to “to devote oneself” with an inference to the ‘cosmic law’ or ‘cosmic force’ which not only constitutes reality but permeates it as well.

These are all wonderful thoughts that can help many users of the word obtain many spiritual and personal revelations. These revelations or perceptions can be very positive and can help evoke change in oneself, but more importantly, by becoming more positive yourself, theoretically you can evoke positive change or effect on those around you. A wonderful, wonderful thought and powerful in practice.

But not too many people go around saying they’re enlightened and if they do, we as a society are quick to put them in their place.

Let’s take a look at how most people personally view or feel about the word enlightenment. In context, most people use the word to refer to something they’re trying to do to become more enlightened, eg. “Yoga, meditation, personal detachment and letting go of my ego are what I’m using to achieve enlightenment.”. It’s also used in regards to a particular perception or revelation they have become more enlightened about, eg. “Through visualization, I have recently become more enlightened about how to achieve happiness.” This is two different contexts the word is used in, but I believe they are the most common.

We can then deduce that enlightenment is a reference to a level of thought and is usually seen as a goal, and usually one someone has not yet reached or at least not in full and the widespread USAGE of the word enlightenment is in reference to an unachieved or unachievable goal and therefore infers a limit to one’s current state of being or level of thought. This builds in an unconscious belief that you are not already enlightened and you never will be.

This unconscious aspect of unobtainability built in to the word are what prevents those seeking enlightenment from ever achieving it.

What if we take a novel approach to realizing a “blessed state” or “higher level of thought or consciousness” by forgetting this article’s subject word itself and altering our beliefs to abolish all perceived limits on achieving these goals?

One’s own perceived limits on where they already are ARE the reasons why they are there. Whether this means a level of consciousness, a job, a relationship, a house or geographical position. We are where we are because we believe these possibilities exist, eg. “It is possible for me to live in this house with my girlfriend” and inversely, our disbelief “It is IMpossible for me to have my own island off the coast of New Zealand.”

If one believes something is possible, it will then manifest itself in that person’s life one way or another. That is not to say that simply because you really want something, you trick your mind to believe it’s possible and you will get what you want. It means that by changing your beliefs on what is possible, your perception of the world around you will shift to be one of opportunities particularly related to what you now believe to be possible.

It us up to the “believer” to follow the paths presenting themselves and succeed within the possibilities they know are true.

I prefer not to use the word enlightenment. I think we are all already there, we just need to believe it and use it.