I wrote this piece here in India, while keeling over some nasty food poisoning and staring expectantly at a full moon; hoping perhaps She would miraculously heal me.  I’ve been out of commission for 3 days and it is very clear, India always provides me two of many things…

1) A nasty battle royal with parasites that are convinced they belong more in my stomach & intestines than food.

2) The continued exploration of enlightenment.

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At The Faults of Enlightenment

The cliffs hang deep. They fall past the awareness of sleep. Dreams can never be forgotten here, in this state beyond memory. “To hell with it all,” I said. Clarity clawed at my voice; whispering turbulent winds bullied an unsuspecting sea… “Just be happy.”

The edge is sharp, a razor cuts holes in hopes, jagged and worn. The plates bring food; meanwhile, the earthquake weeps for forgiveness. “I did not wish to remove you from your homes. I did not wish your life collapse and swallow in my hiccup.”

“To hell with enlightenment, just be happy,” I think… I will embrace you even tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados… there is so much people search for. There is no perfect wave, no perfect jump from a plane, no perfect family, and no perfect dinner.

Enlightenment is not searching for perfection… it is finding perfection in the most unusual and disorderly things. Enlightenment is not wishing you had something that you didn’t, but even with nothing always having all that you need.

Poverty stands at one edge of the cliff… vast affluence faces it from the distant peak. At one edge is needing… at the other edge is wanting… and here in the fault are thoughts, hung with clothespins on lines… the wind dissolves any chance to be motionless, dissolves any chance for them to ever dry. In this state we travel across the boundary of wanting… now even the boundary of needing.

Faults run deep. They cut through our psyche and manifest as guilt propelling us to start running… again… we search everywhere outside of us for that which we already possess.

Enlightenment is dusting away the cobwebs… it is peering into our being… not for something other but for something already with. And then, it happens, the spark of understanding that we are already surrounded by enlightened beings. So many in our lives… true, honest, compassionate souls that are living purposeful and happy lives.

Perhaps there are more of us here than we realize. Perhaps this is the awareness of enlightenment… start to see the enlightenment in everyone you meet. There are many between… we are here multiplying in this time of incredible awakening.

The fault in our understanding of enlightenment is thinking someone has something that we do not. The fault is thinking that enlightenment is something special, when actually it is the most ordinary of things. At our fault is not seeing the enlightened nature in every human being.

We can bring out each others enlightenment… we can make each other happy.

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