the easy part

Enlightenment is the easy part

When we are seeking enlightenment, when we are pursuing that spiritual quest, we tend to think of enlightenment as the ultimate goal, the end point, and the most difficult thing to achieve. One of the curious things about enlightenment, though, is almost all one's preconceptions are completely turned on their head, when enlightenment actually happens. For example, you have probably heard the teaching that enlightenment is already within you. You are already enlightened, you just haven't realised it yet. It's true, but it's also playing around with words, really, because enlightenment is the realisation of enlightenment. And that's just one example, though, where this transformation, this change in one's consciousness, really brings with it a total change in one's concepts and understanding of enlightenment.

And one area where this change is completely, is to do with this aspect of enlightenment being difficult, the most difficult thing. That's true beforehand, and afterwards it seen as the most easy thing, the simplest thing, because it's a non-doing. It's a simple relaxation into who we are. And there are things that are more difficult. That's why I say here: enlightenment is the easy part. Enlightenment is a dis-identification from the ego, and from all the things that the ego has consciously attached to: perhaps one's status, one's place in society, one's name and family, one's nation and religion, one's wealth. You know the almost endless list of things that we can identify with. Enlightenment changes that, and we are no longer identified with those things. But they still exist, of course. I still have a name. I still have thoughts, thoughts arise, emotions arise. The only difference is this lack of identification, which tends to mean that the thoughts and emotions are more transitory. Without identification there is no attachment, and no repulsion either. Thoughts and emotions arise and disappear more easily when there is no identification with them.

These things that we have conscious awareness of, don't really cause problems after enlightenment. However, there is an area which still needs attention, and that is our shadow. Ideally we should really work on the shadow element of our psychology before we even think about enlightenment. But perhaps we get enlightened without really having cleaned out our basement, and then great difficulties can arise. With enlightenment there's really no tendency to work on oneself any more. Nothing is felt as a problem by oneself, and in isolation there is no problem. However, even an enlightened one typically interacts with other human beings. And all those interactions will still be tainted by any shadow psychology that is still present in the enlightened one. The one who is enlightened won't feel it as a problem, but it can cause a lot of pain and suffering to other people still.

The difficulty arises because the shadow element is still forming part of our ego, but in an unconscious way, without full awareness. It's been buried. So its way of influencing our behaviour is devious: it's through projections, transferences. It leads us to subtle manipulations and exploitations of other people. And whilst we have no awareness of these processes, they will continue, enlightenment or not. It's particularly dangerous when an enlightened person becomes a master, starts teaching. Seekers will naturally tend to invest a lot of authority in such masters, and quite often will reduce their natural defences against being exploited, abused, manipulated. It's a delicate business, and masters who accept disciples rely on a surrender. And if that surrender is to somebody who still has an unhealthy shadow, then the disciple-master relationship is unhealthy, extremely unhealthy. The master will abuse it, perhaps unknowingly. And the disciple will suffer and be further traumatised by the relationship.

So with or without enlightenment, it's important that we look at our shadow. These are the elements of our psychology that we have lost full awareness of, because we've deemed them to be unacceptable: the petty envy, the jealousy, the lust, the possessiveness, the judgmental attitude. There are many aspects of our psychology that we can push into the shadow – whatever our superego deems to be unacceptable will end up there. And from there those shadow elements control our life without us realising it. They are the dominant factor affecting our behaviour, even though we don't see it. And it causes a lot of strife and misery, with or without enlightenment other people will suffer if we have not dealt with our own shadow. And it is difficult. This is why I say enlightenment is the easy part. Enlightenment comes for free in a way. A shadow takes a lot of work, takes humility, takes a certain attitude that one still has a lot to learn. And it usually takes years of therapeutic work, requiring a lot of mirroring and honest feedback from other people. We've become blind to our own shadow. That's why it's so difficult to deal with.

The shadow, the shadow, that's the most difficult part.