Enlightenment is one of those vague terms imported from eastern philosophy -a sort of carrot on a stick approach to belief, somewhat similar to the protestant belief in the rapture, or the belief of many religious people in the coming of a messiah - living in hope that suddenly, one day, everything is going to be OK.
I am not being critical of these people but just pointing out that they are at a particular stage in their spiritual development which, in time, will change.
God, Jesus, Satan will not be waiting to meet you when you pass from this life. This may come as a bit of a shock to some - it did to me at first, but you will get over it.
As we are all divine sparks of God's consciousness, we have, and always will have, our own individuality which can never be extinguished.
I'm sorry, but there is no merging with 'the All' (again, apologies if this has ruffled any feathers).You will always be personally responsible for who you are and what you do, wherever you are.
When you pass from this life, you will lose your physical body, but continue to exist in a more refined, spirtualized body. You will be attracted to a realm which reflects the ideas and beliefs you held during your earthly life. There, you will work out with the aid of spiritual helpers, what you want to do next :
reincarnate on earth, remain where you are for a time and learn, or perhaps visit a lower realm to try and help other souls move 'upwards'.
When you are spiritually ready, you will be able to lose again the body you are in, adopt a more refined, spiritual body and move into a higher realm. This is the process of spiritual evolution. There is no finite end to it.
The highest beings in the universe are going through the same process - creating, exploring their own consciousness, helping those below and moving up into higher realms.
They, themselves, are still exploring who God really is. It is a great adventure, a journey of discovery and never-ending growth and expansion. You can go as high as you like, or drop as low as you like, but you will always be you.
As in heaven, so below.  |