Oct 20
2008After Enlightenment Then What?
Filed Under (Religion and Spirituality) by Drs Bil and Cher Holton on 20-10-2008
Tagged Under : Religion and Spirituality
Each swept floor prompts another sweep. Every child washed invites another washing. Every lawn mowed requires another mowing. Each breath taken requires another breath.
The sun ascends each morning and sets each evening. The moon glows each night. Tides ebb and flow every day. Birds sing wonderful songs today and sing them again tomorrow.
Oysters open their shells when the moon is high in the heavens. The chambered nautilus creates another chamber in its spiraled shell each lunar month.
When we breathe, we do not stop inhaling because we have breathed in all of the oxygen we will ever need. We stop because we have all the oxygen we need for that particular breath.
When we breathe out we stop breathing out in order to prepare for the next inhalation. We will need to breathe again, however, no matter how perfectly we have inhaled and exhaled.
What these scenarios suggest is what is finished invites refinishing.
So what do we do after we become enlightened? We become more enlightened. Once we are aware that we are one with the Infinite Isness there is a tendency to think we are finished, that we are finished, that we have reached the pinnacle of our perfection.
But nothing could be further from the truth. There is a Zen koan which goes like this: Before enlightenment, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. At the moment one becomes enlightened, mountains are no longer mountains and rivers are no longer rivers. After enlightenment, mountains are again mountains and rivers are again rivers.
An updated version of this Zen saying comes from Unity minister, Jim Rosemergy who reminds us: “Mystics do not turn from the world because they turn to God. They remain in the world but not of the world. Even mystics have bills to pay.”.
Once we are enlightened, that is, once we positively, absolutely, unequivocally realize we are God expressing at the point of us, we remain in the world, but not of the world to demonstrate to others the way to enlightenment.
That is our Great Commission: to fully demonstrate our Christ potential and help others to do the same. It is the same commission shared in Matthew 28:19-20.
We will share the New Revised Standard Version and then sprinkle an ontological interpretation from the New Metaphysical Version of Matthew to add spiritual depth.
After His resurrection Jesus announced to His disciples in verse 19:
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
Metaphysically Jesus was describing three specific nations: our body, mind, and soul. Baptizing the nations signifies purifying our body, mind, and soul from unhealthy worldly attachments.
We are to do this ‘in the ‘name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.’ Name means ‘in the nature of.’ And, metaphysically speaking Father, Son, and Holy Spirit represent the three phases of Divine Order (Mind, Idea, Expression).
So, we are to cleanse our body, mind, and soul by becoming one with the nature of the Indwelling Christ within us so we can divinely orchestrate our experience.
Matt. 20 says in the New Revised Standard Version: “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you, remembering that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”"
Metaphysically ‘teach them’ means to exemplify our talk with integrity. ‘I am with you always’ means we have an indivisible, unshakable, eternal connection with Spirit. To the ‘end of the world’ means going from one level of spiritual awareness to another.
Matthew 20 means we are to walk our talk by letting our Christ Light shine as we achieve one level of enlightenment, one level of completion, to another.
So, what can we do after we are enlightened?
We remain in the world but not of the world. We live as enlightened beings in cities, towns, and communities. We light up the world with our presence. Like the enlightened beings who became enlightened before us we will teach others how to teach others.
We will look like typical men and women, but our values and the manner in which we live, move, and have our being will show our surrender to our higher calling.
We will have human challenges, but we will not be bound by them. We may wear glasses or contacts, hearing aids or pace makers, but we will not be limited by them.
We may take medicine or require hospitalization, but we will not be incarcerated by those things. We may experience a world that is imperfect, but we will not be bound by that imperfection.
We will be in the finishing and refinishing business. We will pot and repot ourselves every day. We will renew and keep renewing ourselves. We will tool and re-tool ourselves constantly.
We will continue to work toward our enlightenment because enlightenment is a verb, not a noun. It is a process, an unfolding, a movement from one exhilarating level of consciousness to another.
