Enlightened?

I’m watching the new HBO show, Enlightened, with Laura Dern, and I love it! It dramatically shows the very real struggles of someone trying to better themselves spiritually.

In the story, Amy, the lead, has an emotional breakdown and goes off to a spiritual retreat. While she’s away, she learns how to find inner peace and a connection to something greater.

Watching what happens as she tries to hold onto that inner peace upon re-entry into her regular life is truly magical and heartbreaking at the same time.

She is confronted with her old relationships with her mother, ex-husband, an old affair, and old friends that don’t change overnight just because she says she’s changed. And she is thrust into a mind-numbing dead-end job that she feels is “beneath her”.

Each confrontation with the real world upsets her greatly, as she really feels like she has “found the answer” at the retreat, but the world just isn’t listening. Sound familiar?

I know I really felt like that a lot earlier on in my development. I demanded that the world treat me differently because I had become more “spiritual.” It doesn’t work that way.

In the show, Amy clings to her self-help books and meditation to help anchor her, but the weight of her reality comes continuously crashing in, until, at the end of the second episode, she throws away her self-help book in disgust, nearly defeated.

When a co-worker picks up the book to read it, she begins to see a new glimmer of hope…

I love the way this show presents the idea of “enlightenment,” because it shows that the woo-woo spirituality that has become so popular these days doesn’t really work.

Sure, it’s great to go off to Hawaii or a mountaintop and connect with nature and find your inner Being. That can be a priceless experience. And, self-help books that promote living a more positive, higher life aren’t bad– I even wrote one…

But what happens to your “spirituality” when you are confronted with the friction of your own life?

What happens when your parents push your buttons, or someone disrespects you at work, or someone cuts you off on the highway?

What do you do in moments of stress?

THAT’S where you get to see your level of enlightenment.

You’re only as positive, spiritual, enlightened, etc. as you can be in your toughest moments—those are the true tests.

And in those moments, having all the self-help books in the world at your disposal won’t help.

You need to have developed the “muscle” of spirituality already, to deal with life as it happens.

I see life as a big gym, and each problem, conflict, challenge, etc. gives us the opportunity to grow our spiritual “muscle.”

If we can remain present, self-observant, positive, and conscious in that moment, well, we’ve passed that test and we are ready for the next one (which will inevitably be more challenging, like adding more weight to the barbell).

Conversely, if we lose ourselves in those moments, becoming negative, angry, bitter, anxious, or any other loss of self-awareness, then we need to repeat that test in a different form, over and over again, until we pass.

Have you ever felt like your life is going in circles, that you run into the same types of people and situations over and over again?

Well, now you know why.

And how do we remain more conscious and present in those moments of stress when we are being tested?

Practice self-awareness and build your conscious energy.

Everyday.

The practice will help you in the tough times, believe me.

The same way doing push-ups in the morning help you have the strength to open a door when you need it, doing consciousness exercises throughout the day helps you to be more conscious and aware when you need to be.

Make sense?

And if you’re looking for exercises to help build your spiritual “muscle,” please take a look at my book, 360° Success. It is much more than a “self-help” book. It is an exercise manual for your spirit.

In the Buddhist tradition, they say that the Lotus Flower grows out of the mud, to blossom beautifully.

In Ancient Egyptian tradition, the Scarab beetle was revered because it was born in the dung, and grew by eating the dung and developing itself.

The Alchemists of the Hermetic tradition talk about turning base metals, like lead, into gold.

This idea of using mud, dung, base metal, waste, etc. for spiritual development is timeless.

What is the dung of your life that you can be using to grow?

How have you been using it so far? Do you avoid it? Disdain it?

Or do you embrace it, knowing that only by transforming the dung in your life can you achieve true enlightenment.

Not the “concept of enlightenment.”

Not the “idea of spirituality.”

No.

I’m talking about the real biochemical/bioelectric/biophysical transformational process that happens inside yourself when you start turning the mud, dung, and lead in your life, into something much greater.

It’s very real.

And what a ride!

I’d love to discuss what you think about this.

Please leave your comments below.

And please share this with your friends if you like what you read.