Enlightenment

I once was hiking along a wooded trail when I came upon a very large tree. Most old growth trees have been cut but this one was protected in a national forest. It was so beautiful, I had to stop and admire it. As my awareness focused on the tree, I realized that I was communing with it. I could feel its consciousness. In my infantile ignorance I asked, “What kind of tree are you?” Tree said, “I am that I am. To name me as anything diminishes my existence.” I then asked, “How old are you?” Tree said, “I have always been and will always be. To place me in limits of time diminishes me.” I was beginning to understand that this tree’s consciousness was in a place I had never been and had no concept of. It just was while my consciousness was ping-ponging among various linear attitudes. I thought, this must be what enlightenment looks like.

How to get there? Carl Jung saw enlightenment as a process he called Individuation. He saw this process as increasing consciousness by learning to place awareness in the middle of polar opposites. Our energy system works in opposites, hot/cold, up/down, conscious/unconscious etc. Enlightenment, or individuation, is in the middle. We can’t live in either polarity all the time or the energy system naturally must compensate by pulling us back to the other end. Neutrality, like the tree, is where we are going, not to the positive pole. New Age thinkers have us believing that if we are positive, then we are on the right track. Since we have been, historically speaking, negative, this may make immediate sense, but in the end, neutrality is where we really need to be.

Another way to begin paying attention to the unconscious is through symbolism and synchronicity. Symbolism can take on any form. It may be noticing how often you hear a particular phrase or word. If you say a word, and at the same time hear it in a song and you notice it, that is synchronicity. Perhaps you see a set of numbers often or in pairs and this brings meaning to you. It could be a book falling off a shelf just as you walk past. If that happens, buy the book and read it! Synchronicity is the ability to extract meaning from noticing symbolism. Synchronicity and symbolism show you your connection to the all and it guides you along your journey to center.