Where Truth Comes

            This is an attempt to explain something that perhaps can’t be explained. It is in response to those who are disappointed in teachers they expect to be enlightened and discover them to be just people, moreover, people who sometimes do the crappy things that people do. Expecting an enlightened teacher indicates the person with the expectation does not understand what enlightenment is. It means they would be surprised to find out for themselves what it is if it happened to them. In fact, it often does and they miss it!

Often in these pages it is stated that “When truth (peace, love, oneness, etc.) comes to conscious awareness it does not come to the person or ego.” Also, “There is no such thing as an enlightened person.” This is saying the same thing.

This is what is hard to describe: When truth (pure consciousness) comes to conscious awareness it comes to, well, conscious awareness, not to the person or ego. The person and ego are only appearances in conscious awareness. At first, truth and ego seem to be in one’s mind side-by-side. One’s mind seems split. But if further shifting occurs, the split disappears and it is understood that only pure consciousness is here. The person and ego are seen to be only appearances (illusions) in consciousness, so there is no longer an expectation that the person and ego are going to somehow become truth or truth-like.

Yes, appearances are usually affected by truth coming to conscious awareness, for example a change in point of view, attitudes, values, opinions, and even in one’s material life. However, this is incidental, not for the sake of the person, which is as ego interprets it. Ego views anything happening in consciousness as happening for it and its world. So, a mind in which truth has come to conscious awareness has a person and ego that is affected, but the form of the effects are not what one is aware of. One becomes aware of the dichotomy between, just as an example, still wholeness and the continuing movement of a story of lack for the person until they advance and see that story is an illusion and only the still wholeness is real.

However, no matter what is going on in one’s mind, what others see is only the person going about a person’s ordinary life, not the wholeness now in their conscious awareness. They may see some changes in the one who has had truth come to conscious awareness, but they will interpret this through their own experience and not really understand what the other can now see. They will continue to see a fallible human who, if they are moved to teach, will teach things that seem to the one learning from them to not play out in their life:

“He just gave a powerful teaching about love and then I saw him berate his wife!”

“I’ve learned so much from him, yet I found out he’s formed a cult.”

“Her books have helped me so much, but I found out her kids won’t have anything to do with her.”

“Liz, how can you talk about politics if this is no longer real for you?”

And there’s this about themselves:

“It was so clear that none of this is real, but an hour later I was back into the story, reacting to what my sister said to me…”

These are not contradictions because truth comes to conscious awareness—pure consciousness comes to pure consciousness—not to appearances of people and ego. It may be impossible to understand this unless you experience it because ego’s focus is, naturally, only on it and its world. It comes down to this: The orientation of one’s mind changes, not the appearances in it.

This is, of course, not what ego expects from truth rising to conscious awareness, because it thinks what happens in consciousness happens for the person and the person’s story. And while ego is the center of conscious awareness, this is what seems to happen as truth rises toward conscious awareness. This is one’s spiritual journey, and ultimately, the source of religions and spirituality.

Enlightenment cannot be taught because it happens in consciousness, not to a person. One can teach what they learn from seeing truth, but this cannot be conveyed or made to happen for another. If you are disappointed in a teacher’s ongoing humanity, it is because you are looking in the wrong place to understand enlightenment, to understand truth. It is not in the teacher’s person or ego just as it will never be in your person or ego. It is right here in your mind. It is your mind. A teacher’s teaching resonates with you when your mind recognizes the truth or helpfulness of what they teach. That’s your inner teacher teaching you. Does this mean you should not read or listen to or speak with a person who teaches? Of course not. They can be how your inner teacher reaches you. But consider what they teach, not who they are as a person. It’s the same with you. What are you aware of in your mind? It doesn’t matter how your person shows up.

This contradicts, of course, what we are taught in the world, to look to and to be role models. And that is useful in the world. But the awareness of truth is not about learning about the world or showing up some way in the world. Religions and cults develop when it is used that way. The awareness of truth is in your mind, and you have learned what is real when you understand this. 

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If you have a question the answer to which you feel may be helpful to others, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered in this newsletter/blog.