8 Things You Should Know About
Enlightened People
Do
you spend way too much time under trees hoping for a sudden enlightenment, but
nothing comes. Is enlightenment your ultimate goal in life?
In
this article I would like to share with you some common traits
of enlightened people and give you the opportunity to check out how
enlightened you are.
Here
are 8 characteristics of people who know what’s up.
They live in the now
They
understand that the past and the future are only a mental constructions created
by their mind and have nothing to do with their true essence. In reality, we
always live in the now. When we think of the past or the future it can only be
in the present. Their intense focus on the present lead them to perceive a
strong sense of aliveness in everything around them.
They make nothing a means to something else
They
have no purpose because they are already complete. They enjoy every activity
they do for the sake of it not for what it may bring them in the future. They
don’t spend their time wishing they be somewhere else. They don’t wait for
anything to come. Nothing they are doing is a means for an end. The spiritual
teacher Ram Dass has a sticker on his car that say “I’d rather be here now”.
What are you waiting for?
They are egoless
Because
they live in the now, they don’t care about their “personal story” that is, a
story solely based on their interpretation of past experiences. Their ego
disappears because it is nothing more than a mental construction based on
thoughts. It is not our true being.
Failure,
success, honor, disgrace, recognition or money means nothing for them. Those
are mere social conventions. They don’t need to impress anybody. They don’t
care about what people think of them. They live their life and have no worries.
They realize their body and their mind is not who they are
The
entire cells in our body are renewed every 7 years and our thoughts just come
and go so both our body and our mind cannot constitute the essence of who we
really are. They experienced the awareness, the presence beyond their body and
their mind. They become the witness of their own body and mind, and observe the
world with detachment.
They don’t take life seriously
For
them the world is a playground where they simply witness things happening while
remaining completely detached from them. They understand that absolutely
nothing that happens in the world have the power to affect their true essence.
They don’t care how long they are going to live
Because
they live in the present, the idea of time disappears. We can only live in the
present, and the present is timeless. If we stop thinking, our idea of past and
future disappears. Then, dying in 5 seconds or in 50 years doesn’t matter
anymore. That’s what Marcus Aurelius was talking about when he said “the
longest-lived and the earliest to die suffer an equal loss”, that is, the loss
of the present moment which is the only thing we have. Everything else is a
mental construction.
Since
we always think of the past in the present, it doesn’t really matter whether we
are 70 or 20. Our past is still an illusion; a trick our mind is playing on us.
We are unlikely to be happier by remembering the accumulation of 70 years lived
than by remembering only one great memory that happened yesterday. Anyway,
shouldn’t we enjoy the present moment rather than remember the past?
They live their own life and let others do the same
They
are free and let others be free. They have no expectations of others and demand
nothing to them emotionally speaking. They don’t expect anyone to bring them
fulfillment and are not responsible to fulfill other people either. They
understand they have no right to force people to stay with them. By the way, is
it real love if you cling to others and refuse to let them go? Is it real love
if your happiness comes first and their happiness come second?
They are happy by themselves
They
are back to they natural state, that is, the state of happiness experienced by
little children. Their happiness comes from within. They don’t need anyone or
anything to make them happy. They truly enjoy the company of others but they
don’t cling to them. They are happy being with others but they are also
perfectly happy being alone.
What
about you? How much have you in common with enlightened people? Are you ready
to let go of your current identity and find what is behind? The ball is in your
court.
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