By Jafree Ozwald
www.EnlightenedBeings.com
"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has
the courage to lose sight of the shore." ~ Andre Gide
Becoming self realized is the first step on the infinite journey towards enlightenment. When you're self realized, you are living each moment in a deep intimate connection and love affair with God. There is no more separation from the Divine. You are awakened to the realization that you are pure untainted divine consciousness, knowing you are beyond time, space, beyond form and formlessness. You realize you are that which is beyond the mind. You are beyond every concept of "you".
When you start on the path to self realization, you stop unconsciously following every thought the mind thinks. You will hear them, see them pass by, and yet somehow mysteriously you don't buy into them, believing that they are real. You've become so consciously aware of what's happening that you cannot become hooked by the mind, attached to dreaming another dream. You are clear that this is just the mind passing by, and instead you explore an intimate connection with God. The highly intelligent divine conscious Universe that surrounds you, lives inside of you, and is breathing you now.
A truly self realized person knows no fear. They are constantly full of joy, appreciation, love and laughter. They realize that every atom in the universe is connected to the highest source of love, life and consciousness, and deeply understand that they themselves are also that. They see no human as separate from the multi-dimensional spiritual being they are, who is currently showing up in 7 billion different forms on this planet. The self realized being is not attached to the form. He or she has recognized the divine play of consciousness that is happening through the bodymind, and through this understanding they can relax and truly let go. It is impossible for a self realized being to get lost again in another drama, losing themselves in anger, desire, fear, hopelessness or sadness. They may experience these emotions as a way to explore the diversity of life's sensual experiences, yet there is no addiction, attachment or avoidance to any mental or emotional pattern that arises anymore. They are truly free from any form of anxiety, pain or suffering anymore.
"And this is a miracle: the moment that you realize that there is no way to make a home, then this whole existence is home. Then wherever you are, you are at home." ~Course in Miracles
The first secret step towards self realization starts with accepting the fact that you are the very center of this infinite Universe. Because the Universe is an infinite field of space and timelessness, every point on that field thus becomes the center of the entire field. Its hard for the mind to imagine, yet infinity means there is no absolute end, and this makes every atom inside your physical body the actual center of Infinity. There is always a smaller microcosm within each microcosm, a center within the center, thus you are physically an infinite being on an atomic level.
Knowing you are physically the center of the Universe, you begin to see reality forms around you like a wheel. You are like the hub of the wheel, and the spokes are your thoughts and feelings. Your manifestation and experience of reality is an extension of your every thought, intention and gesture. The spokes all connect to the center, and everything that happens in the periphery of your life (the outer world) is dependent on what's going on at the center of you. If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you'll notice the entire world seems to be going against you. If you jump out of bed totally excited about your day, the most amazing things will manifest for you all day long.
The second secret on the self realization path is revealed by a deeper exploration of the feeling, sensation, knowing, and experience that you are this infinite eternal being. A transformation happens when you continuously dive into the center of the center of the center of each atom inside you, experiencing that you go on and on into your experience of life for infinity. The intellectual "head knowledge" around this fact is not enough however to open up to the spiritual experience of it. You move into a delicate heart space that feels like the source of love itself. This where you lose yourself, and let go of your identity of the limited human being you believed you were. You suddenly realize that you are this love that is much much more than the world can contain, and you cannot return to the world of lack and limitation. As you consciously step out of the small fish pond you were swimming in, you start experiencing the vast unlimited ocean of existence that is and was always all around you. 
The third step on the path towards self realization is one of my favorites. As you accept and integrate the experience that you are infinite, timeless, eternal, without beginning and without end, then your body truly begins to relax and you start having more fun in your life. All the stress that was once being carried in your neck, back, jaw and shoulders suddenly goes away. Nothing seems to bother you anymore. There is no limited powerless ego personality carrying your problems anymore. You've simply stopped identifying with thoughts, and are spending your time relaxing into the spiritual truth of what you are, feeling limitless, free and all-loving.
When you access this relaxed freedom inside you, it makes you stop taking life (and yourself) so seriously anymore. Instead, you laugh with those people and situations in life who used to bother you. You enjoy the dramatic play of creativity pouring through everyone and everything. You relax into the harmonic symphony of duality that is happening through you and around you. This relaxation is not just a one time deal, its a constant deepening and surrendering that continues each moment of your day and evening. This process opens you up sensually, sexually and spiritually throughout everyday of your life, which fuels even deeper understandings about the multi-dimensional limitless being that you truly are.
There are many wonderful results from choosing to explore the path of self realization. As you practice realizing that you are pure awareness itself, and find that you no longer can become identified with the thoughts that you think, you find that you don't have to try to control your thoughts or micromanage your internal state anymore. There is such an obvious separation between you are your thoughts, that you cannot become identified with what dark realms the mind may wander into. The experience of living in a human body becomes soooo blissful that you don't even have the need to try focusing your mind in a positive direction. The hopeful, positive, life affirming thoughts just become like little campfires sitting next to the glorious Sun that you've discovered is inside you.
Another divine benefit from this practice is that the more self realized you become, the less demanding, needy and impatient you are. We simply stop feeling demanding, needy and impatient when we realized our deep intimate connection to the God source. As the ego begins to have less and less grip on you, your need to control life fades away and eventually dissolves. You simply have less desire to change your outer world because your inner world is so sensually alive, divinely intelligent and truly ecstatic to experience. Your kundalini awakens on its own and you become like a walking talking state of orgasm. Every breath you take brings new sensations into the body of utter enjoyment of the divine.
As you start feeling God is alive inside you, then you can only see God on the outside of you. This everyday experience causes you to relax on a profound level that there is nothing the ego can do that can shake you. Whatever your ego desires in the outer world is like a child's toy, compared to the network of deeply sensual erotic blissful connections bubbling up inside. The outer world is always a reflection of what you are paying attention to on your inner world. When you see and feel the divine inside you, you can only see God in everyone's eyes. Now I'm sure you're wanting some more practical techniques on how to bring about the self realization experience into your life. First, you must know that this divine state of bliss is very subtle, light and extremely delicate and thus can only be reached through very gentle, relaxed, and delicate means. So you first need to entice the hungry demanding desiring ego/mind to slow down, relax and come to rest. You must practice sitting very very still, meaning physically bringing your body into a non-moving state, as if you were a sitting solid statue, not moving a single muscle. The body will continue breathing for you of course, yet the mind will want to wander. Your job is to keep everything still and simply relax. When being completely still, simply watch what happens.
As you practice being physically still, allow the mind to remain unfocused. Don't follow the mind when it starts dreaming up another dream, or fantasizing about the way life should be or shouldn't be. Just be like the sky, without boundaries or borders, vast and undisturbed. Relax as deeply as you can into this experience. Perhaps 3 minutes a day is a good amount of time to start with. If you can remain completely still, allowing the body to breathe you on its own accord, while the mind is totally unfocused for all 180 seconds in those 3 minutes, self realization will find you very quickly.
Another very practical tip is to watch what things you do, eat, drink, say, watch, listen to and react to which hinder you from becoming more quiet, silent and still. When you find out what those things are, simply stop doing those things, or do them with more awareness of the stillness inside. This path is all about becoming 110% devoted to finding complete stillness inside you. The more often you practice, the more things will arise, and you'll soon become even more sensitive and conscious of what works for you and against you. Eventually in time, you'll begin to trust yourself completely and realize how extremely powerful and enjoyable your life has become through practicing stillness.
In order to have any level of long term success with this monumental stillness feat, you must be very gentle with yourself all along the day. Give yourself permission to be alone as often as you can. Face the fear of loneliness, and embrace the feeling of being connected with the Divine. In this quest, you must give up all your addictions, for they become a substitute for finding God. Be free from your attachment to those habits, people and things which you know never really satisfy you and only make life harder and smaller. This is about finding what really satisfies your soul. This means finding the source of love itself and abiding there.
"Be surprised at nothing. Let peace and stillness flood through you and envelop you completely in its cloak. Put on the whole armor of love - and yet feel, feel very deeply. Let tears flow, washing away impurities until you feel clean within and clean without. Become like an empty vessel ready to be filled with life's nectar." ~Eileen Caddy
If you can practice stillness for an hour a day your mind will start to become more quiet. It may take you only 2-3 weeks before the initial states of self realization start to settle in. If you can only be still for a few minutes a day it is a good start, yet don't expect too much. The more amount of time that you can invest into stillness, the faster Self Realization will occur. If you have a very active mind, something good to practice before you attempt to be still, is to practice for a few minutes keeping your mind focusing on ONE thing. This means one spot, one thought, one direction, one word, sound, number...anything that is the same one thing. You want to do this in a relaxed way, with close to zero force and control if possible. The mind will pull at you, like an wild elephant of the jungle who is chained to a circus pole. You simply ignore the mind, and return to the one pointed direction of focus. This practice will build the muscle that you'll need to remain focused on being unfocused, and laser through all the unwanted garbage of thoughts that can bubble up.
Every thought the mind is projecting onto the outer world can be a form of distraction or used as a path towards awakening. It all depends on if you realize your true infinite nature. Self realization is not that difficult, its just another way of experiencing life. Yet, you must courageous, willing to explore the unknown, divine into something that is more profound, real and fulfilling on your inner world. This path is about holding on to nothing and letting go of everything inside you. The habit of surrendering to the stillness that abides at the core of the whirling wild hankering mind is the key. With patience and practice you will find a new way of experiencing life that is without tension, anxiety and fear. The journey towards self realization is one we have all been attempting to experience for lifetimes. Enlightenment is the final destination, the goal of human life, and the reason you've been placed here in this school called Earth. As you practice being still, and realize that you are the God Source itself, the very creator of reality, you will begin to relax about everything and feel this deep ecstatic peace inside your body. This profound loving feeling provides no other choice than to have compassion for everyone who is not experiencing this exquisite state of orgasmic energy, and show them what they can do to find it within themselves. Today is your day to take this first step and explore what a self realized life is like for you. Go gently and always remember to enjoy the journey along the way. Its about relaxing into this Universe, realizing the essence of who and what you truly are. It is quite the infinite magical ride...
