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In-lighter-ment

For much of my life I have longed for some conceptual utopia of spirit, out of reach and made unattainable by my constant seeking, which some have called  enlightenment, the big "E".  Pondering this, I found myself rebelling against the futility of reaching toward something outside the immediacy of this moment.  In the spirit of revolt, I decided to embrace the notion of in-lighter-ment instead.  


Enlightenment (as a loaded term and not the experience it points to), seems to signify a destination and a "getting there".  It is akin to winning the ultimate spiritual lottery.  In keeping with this analogy, I have never felt confident that I was going to win the powerball,  it being wholly outside the sphere of my own effort, not to mention the glaring problem that I don't buy a ticket.  Enlightenment seemed to separate the spiritual populace into the "haves" and "have-nots".  


So I coined a new term, limited, as all terms are, by the conceptual implications of the language that houses them, but it is the best I have in the moment. "Inlighterment", the big "I"... "lighter" merely points to "a bit brighter" and so "inlighterment" is a state of "lighter" instead of "lightened", brighter instead of brightened.  It's a process instead of a destination.  Its like a savings plan rather than a crap shoot.  I can attain "a bit brighter" right now.  I can shine a bit more, perhaps microscopically, day by day, moment by moment, breath by breath.  And if I black hole into humanness, so what? I can choose again and again.  I can breathe.  I can listen deeply.  I can be and in being, choose to let go of a little more fear than yesterday and shine a bit lighter, one choice at a time.

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering
May all beings never be parted from freedom's true joy
May all beings dwell in equanimity free from attachment and aversion.
May all beings experience in-lighter-ment.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"Every sock begins with a single stitch."

That was my Inlighterment moment of today. :)
January 6, 2012 at 9:42 PM
Wind said…
Thank you for inviting us all to this moment. And I love that the chances to start over are never ending. That's the best part of this whole tangle!
January 6, 2012 at 9:59 PM
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