Dear Friend,
In this post, I want to introduce you to 1 of the pre-requisites of Taoist enlightenment. You can look at these items as part of a check list of qualifiers to the enlightenment process. If you do not meet one of the items on the list you must develop that attribute, or pursue another pathway.
The First : the Spiritual Impulse
To be successful at enlightenment, you must have a burning desire to know divine truth, and to shape your life by it. You must be drawn to the questions like:
- Why do you exist?
- Why are things the way they are?
- What is reality?
- What is time?
- What will the result of my death be?
- Is there a divine plan?
- What powers the universe?
A life that does not lead to these answers or is not based around these answers must be unsatisfying to you. You must inherently suspect that there is something missing in the way the world has been presented to you. The sensation is often described as a spiritual pain.
Second Qualifier for Taoist Enlightenment
Next, the burning desire must come from a positive desire to know the answer to these questions, and must not be motivated by the fear of these questions. In plain English, you won’t be successful in pursuing enlightenment because you’re afraid to die, and are looking for a way out. You can be motivated by that fear, but it can’t be your main motivation.
If you don’t have the impulse, you will not do the work to become enlightened. You will not make the choices that allow you to change as a person when your work has moved you to a point where enlightenment is a real possibility.
Some people are born with the impulse. You may be one of those people. If you are, what I am saying here has immediate resonance, and you’ll recognize yourself in the words.
Some people can have the impulse activated later, usually by inspirational reading like the Tao Te Ching or a life changing event.
Some people do not have the impulse, and trhough spirituality are looking to meet an underlying human need, usually in the quality of their relationships or in their finances. If you are such an individual, you should examine this article on Happiness.
Master Mikel Steenrod
Keeper of the Gate of Man and Heaven
(Lineage Holder of the 4 Ascendant Spheres Purity Adept School of the Tao)
www.the-taoism-for-modern-world.com