Not Enlightened Yet?

Author and musician Miguel Chen comforts a practitioner who doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to enlightenment.

Miguel Chen22 June 2021
Photo by Patrick Schneider.

I thought the goal of spiritual practice was to attain some sort of enlightenment or wisdom, but I don’t seem to be anywhere near that. What am I doing wrong?

Miguel Chen: Perhaps you are overthinking it. Let’s consider “enlightenment” or “wisdom” to simply mean seeing things as they really are. If you’re setting a goal for things to be different than they are, you have already missed the point.

The truth is right in front of us at all times. We’re not trying to change it; we’re simply trying to connect to it. This is much less about attaining something, and much more about removing obstacles.

Setting lofty goals can create extra obstacles. Having a goal like “enlightenment” brings with it expectations. Expectations carry a lot of weight. Let that weight go.

In fact, setting lofty goals can create extra obstacles. Having a goal like “enlightenment” brings with it expectations about what that might look like. Expectations carry a lot of weight. Let that weight go. With this simple step, you will have removed some obstacles, and this will surely help you connect to the truth.

When in doubt, simplify. Perhaps the goal can be better understood as a moment of silence. It doesn’t sound as fancy as “enlightenment,” but even one moment of true silence can have a profound impact. When you are truly silent, there are no obstacles between you and the truth. In the space of that moment, what you seek can reveal itself. Just be careful not to attach to that idea either, for the moment you realize you have reached that moment is the moment that you have fallen out of it.

Read more from our #MeditationHacks series…

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Miguel Chen

Miguel Chen

Miguel Chen is the bass player for long-running punk rock band Teenage Bottlerocket. He is a meditation practitioner, a yoga instructor, and the owner of Blossom Yoga Studio in Laramie, Wyoming. In addition to appearing in countless Teenage Bottlerocket press pieces, Miguel has been featured by Lion’s Roar, PunkNews, Full Contact Enlightenment, LionsRoar.com, Modern Vinyl, Chris Grosso’s MindPod podcast, and more.