An enlightened person and you

[Unveiled Artist]

Throughout your life, have you seen or met an enlightened person (awakened, so have you), and if you have, as humans, how is he or she different than yourself?

Why do you consider yourself different?

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I met an 18 year old when I was 21 that was extremely and exceptionally gifted, who had put in the work to read dozens and dozens and dozens of books, and who seemed to know where he was going in his faith, and could provide great answers on religious and philosophical matters. Unfortunately, his life crashed and burned due to addiction, etc.

 

[MonkeyFire]

I met an 18 year old when I was 21 that was extremely and exceptionally gifted, who had put in the work to read dozens and dozens and dozens of books, and who seemed to know where he was going in his faith, and could provide great answers on religious and philosophical matters. Unfortunately, his life crashed and burned due to addiction, etc.

reading books will do nothing. You don’t understand faith, because knowledge can’t have occurred if faith hasn’t already. Fire comes before light.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I met an 18 year old when I was 21 that was extremely and exceptionally gifted, who had put in the work to read dozens and dozens and dozens of books, and who seemed to know where he was going in his faith, and could provide great answers on religious and philosophical matters. Unfortunately, his life crashed and burned due to addiction, etc.

Thinking it over, his story is similar to mine in the grand scheme of things, except he had the patience to read lots of books, while I stuck to read stuff like Tolkien and H. G. Wells and not much more than that.

I also found him a bit more inspiring than me. A bit more sure of himself than I ever was.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I met an 18 year old when I was 21 that was extremely and exceptionally gifted, who had put in the work to read dozens and dozens and dozens of books, and who seemed to know where he was going in his faith, and could provide great answers on religious and philosophical matters. Unfortunately, his life crashed and burned due to addiction, etc.

Do you something in him in yourself that others may see you as you him?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Thinking it over, his story is similar to mine in the grand scheme of things, except he had the patience to read lots of books, while I stuck to read stuff like Tolkien and H. G. Wells and not much more than that.

I also found him a bit more inspiring than me. A bit more sure of himself than I ever was.

Ha. Spoke too soon. Maybe you are inspired but comparing your inspiration to his may distract you from that?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

reading books will do nothing. You don’t understand faith, because knowledge can’t have occurred if faith hasn’t already. Fire comes before light.

Have you met an enlightened person in your life?

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

reading books will do nothing. You don’t understand faith, because knowledge can’t have occurred if faith hasn’t already. Fire comes before light.

ah yes

but doesn’t warmth and light both come from fire?

and aren’t both necessary for life?

nothing grows in the dead of winter in Montana, even though the sun shines bright in a cloudless sky

 

[JoshuaTree]

Throughout your life, have you seen or met an enlightened person (awakened, so have you), and if you have, as humans, how is he or she different than yourself?

Why do you consider yourself different?

Takes one to know one, right?

 

[sun rise]

Throughout your life, have you seen or met an enlightened person (awakened, so have you), and if you have, as humans, how is he or she different than yourself?

"Enlightened" is to me a vague term that I can't translate into my frame of reference. I'm familiar with "illumination" which may have the same or a different meaning.

In terms I'm familiar with people can be on a higher plane (5th, 6th, 7th), can be veiled from their status or unveiled, salik (grounded) or mast/majzoob (God intoxicated and not in contact with the physical world).

In other words, there is a great variety of such people. For example, Meher Baba said that Gandhi would be perfect in three lives after the one as Gandhi which to me means he was on the 6th plane and veiled.

While in India, I had a bit of interaction with a mast called Muhammad who had some apparently odd behaviors

So from my reading and people who I've met, I'd say that their spiritual status has no automatic relationship with their behavior or appearance.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Throughout your life, have you seen or met an enlightened person (awakened, so have you), and if you have, as humans, how is he or she different than yourself?

Why do you consider yourself different?

I know and have known people that exhibit confidence and a comfort within themselves that is easily recognizable and positive, but neither arrogant or pushy. A late friend of mine and mentor was very good at encouraging that self-reliance in others based on what he observed of their abilities that they often missed or downplayed. I consider him to have been a very enlightened person. People like that have helped me gain a better understanding of the world and of myself. I cannot say if that is always apparent externally and I have doubts about it internally, but when pressed to do a better assessment, I find improvements.

 

[SigurdReginson]

When I was a Christian, I had known people that I thought were on a higher "spiritual level." They were people in higher positions of the community that I was in, such as pastors.

Now? No. People I know from time to time can give me wonderful, precise insight that cuts straight to the core, but those people can see me from the outside looking in. That's a form of insight I don't have access to by myself.

Sometimes you need someone to point out when you have a metaphorical piece of lettuce stuck in your teeth, and friends who will point that out are a valuable thing to have!

 

[MonkeyFire]

Have you met an enlightened person in your life?

not in person, but I communicate with other gurus with telepathy.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

"Enlightened" is to me a vague term that I can't translate into my frame of reference. I'm familiar with "illumination" which may have the same or a different meaning.

In terms I'm familiar with people can be on a higher plane (5th, 6th, 7th), can be veiled from their status or unveiled, salik (grounded) or mast/majzoob (God intoxicated and not in contact with the physical world).

In other words, there is a great variety of such people. For example, Meher Baba said that Gandhi would be perfect in three lives after the one as Gandhi which to me means he was on the 6th plane and veiled.

While in India, I had a bit of interaction with a mast called Muhammad who had some apparently odd behaviors

So from my reading and people who I've met, I'd say that their spiritual status has no automatic relationship with their behavior or appearance.

How do you see yourself in spiritual status related to the masters and why so?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

When I was a Christian, I had known people that I thought were on a higher "spiritual level." They were people in higher positions of the community that I was in, such as pastors.

Now? No. People I know from time to time can give me wonderful, precise insight that cuts straight to the core, but those people can see me from the outside looking in. That's a form of insight I don't have access to by myself.

Sometimes you need someone to point out when you have a metaphorical piece of lettuce stuck in your teeth, and friends who will point that out are a valuable thing to have!

I assume we all probably have some enlightenment when we let our guards down without apology among other things by work and what comes natural when the junk falls off one by one.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Throughout your life, have you seen or met an enlightened person (awakened, so have you), and if you have, as humans, how is he or she different than yourself?

Why do you consider yourself different?

Enlightened? Where?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Enlightened? Where?

I know not everyone will like that word. Have you met someone(s) in your life, stranger, friends, so have you that you highly admired insofar they had some sort of unique value(s) to them you don't see in other people you meet regardless your relationship?

 

[SigurdReginson]

I assume we all probably have some enlightenment when we let our guards down without apology among other things by work and what comes natural when the junk falls off one by one.

I think that's the key, for me at least. I'm not perfect, and I have a lot of room to grow, but I'm moving in the right direction as long as I allow that room for growth. I'll be a work in progress until the day I die, and I think that's pretty exciting.

 

[sun rise]

How do you see yourself in spiritual status related to the masters and why so?

That's an interesting couple of questions. All I can really respond is that everything I know and feel tells me that I'm not a master/guru.

When I look for a doctor, an electrician or an architect, I use everything I have to make a good choice because I know they have knowledge I don't but which I need. Then I stick with that choice unless I find a really good reason to change.

In the ordinary world, specific technical knowledge or experience suffices and I rely quite a bit on other people's experience.

In the spiritual realm,it's about who the person is not what they might say or do or how they do it. The question is whether or not they are free from lower motivations of lust, greed, egoism and the like.

But judging that is tricky. For example, I've watched videos of Papaji and Nisargadatta Maharaj to name two. They appear very different but as far as I know, they were both authentic teachers..