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5 Paths You Can Take To Enlightenment

By Katherine Hurst
Updated January 22, 2015

Enlightenment creates clear thinking that is not reliant on others’ opinions. If you are an enlightened thinker, you cut through confusion to discover the truth. At the same time, enlightenment is often thought of as an advanced understanding of spirituality and awareness. You can take several paths as a seeker of illumination.

1) Question Everything
Upon passing a considerable wall on their way to university, students in a small city in the UK could not help but notice graffiti in the form of the words “Think for yourself” daubed in large black letters. Despite the university’s clean appearance, the graffiti was left on the wall for several years, no doubt because it reminded the students not to rely on information that they gathered. In other words, perhaps they were being encouraged to question everything in order to move a step closer to enlightenment.

One of the best ways to see beyond inaccuracies and kick-start your brain is to not take information you gather as the absolute truth. Ask yourself where the information came from and how likely it is to be accurate. Consider whether there is more evidence to be gathered to verify or refute what you are told are facts.

2) Go Within
Like countless people, your mind may be overwhelmed with inner talk. The voice inside your head probably chatters much of the time, reminding you to do this and that and making critical judgments. Learning how to sink into the silence of your inner being can cause internal banter to cease and make moments of inspiration easy to capture.

Meditation, yoga, tai chi, mindfulness, visualization and pranayama, also known as breathing exercises, can help you meet your aim to create a quiet mind.

3) Lose Your Ego
Few people manage to lose their ego entirely, but it is possible to drop your ego on a regular basis so that you are able to see the world through non-judgmental eyes. When you observe what happens without letting opinions color what you see, your perception is pure and closer to the truth than when your sight is blighted by your ego.

The process of observing life at the same time as not being judgmental becomes easier with the practice of present moment awareness.

Several times per day, watch what is going on around you and use your inner voice to describe what you see. However, only observe facts rather than adding information. Thus, you would not think, “there is a group of thugs approaching,” since the word thugs would indicate that you had injected a judgment to the scenario based on your opinion. Perhaps you would use the word youth instead to describe the young people heading in your direction.

4) Be Pro Instead Of Anti
If you are anti anything, consider altering the way you think. Adopting an attitude whereby you are not against things that you want to reduce, but are pro things that you want to increase widens your perspective. You will discover more opportunities to change the world and think more clearly than if you are narrow-minded.

Being anti produces a ‘them and us’ approach to life. Before you know it, you have reduced your vision and cut out the ability to understand that which you dislike. However, if you aim to increase what you see as good, your mindset remains positive and you are open to gaining enlightenment. You do not have to support what you feel is wrong, but you can leave the door open so that you are able to observe it in its entirety.

5) Look Through Different Eyes
You have probably heard about the concept of stepping into someone else’s shoes so that you can see things from their point of view. Practicing doing so regularly can help you gain a new perspective on life. People you ignored before will seem interesting, and you will understand everyone on a deeper level.

S Pin It imply observing people’s body language and the way they move can tell you a great deal about them. For instance, if someone walks with their head hanging low and shoulders hunched, imagine how they feel in a physical way, not using your mind but by imagining that you can feel their body language as your own. The weight and tension held in such movements will help you understand that they are depressed.

Access the emotions that accompany people’s movements, and you will recognize how they are feeling. Of course, your observations might be inaccurate, but on many occasions, they will be correct. You can always ask people you know well whether you are on the right track.

Enlightenment does not come easily, perhaps because the process of gaining illumination is the most important part of the journey. However, you can begin your travels by using methods that shake your perception.

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Katherine Hurst
By Katherine Hurst
Author at TheLawOfAttraction.com. Since discovering the Law of Attraction, she has overcome some turbulent times to achieve plain sailing in life. Katherine strongly believes that 'you are what you think', which is why she now lives by the mantra that 'positivity is power'! Katherine’s mission is to share her own experiences of using the Law of Attraction to inspire change and happiness in the lives of all.

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