immediate ENLIGHTENMENTImmediateenlightenment means to be enlightened right away. At that moment,one begins to sit down to face the Supreme Master inside oneself.This is the true self. This self truly belongs to you, and youhad it before you were born, before you were absorbed in greed,hatred or lust. This self is truly your Supreme Master. When youdescend here you should open your mind and listen to what He teachesyou, then you will be enlightened immediately. Therefore, thereis no need for it to be written down, nor for instruction.
..... Itis not easy to bring home these abstract ideas with simple andordinary words, but when we understand that it is deep insideus, and part of ourselves, then we feel very easy and very elated.But this is one of the intellectual enlightenment only. In Zenmeditation, sometimes they call it Sudden Enlightenment or ImmediateEnlightenment, because one word from the teacher sets you freein some parts, or maybe sets you free a great deal, or completely.
But then again, why do we have to meditateafter enlightenment, or after we already understood what the Masteror the teacher wanted to say? It is because we have too many habits,too much knowledge, because one time is not enough to convinceus that we are enlightened. We probably will forget it the nextday. So we should repeat these experiences of enlightenment untilour mind accepts it. It is not enough for the Self to recogniseitself, because the Self has always known the Self anyhow. Butbecause we are in this world, we have to do everything with theinstrument that is the mind, the computer. That is the tool thatwe have to use to work in this world, to bring the blessing andpower of love into the chaotic environment, in order to make abetter world for our children to come.
..... Q. The initiation periods in ancient Egypt, for instance,were at least 7 years. Usually initiation is regarded as a ratherlong process by which one earns enlightenment. It seems to suitour modern life to say "You can now be enlightened!"I wonder how is this so?
M.In ancient times, it was not easy to find a Master even. And ifyou had found one he would test you for long years, very long,like Milarepa of Tibet. He was tested for 4 years with a lot ofscolding and beating sometimes. But today, if you do that, theMaster will be put in jail!(laughter) It is not allowed anymore,and besides with our world's very fast and advanced way of life,we can't just cling onto this kind of method of testing disciples.Today we have to tune in with the modern pace of the society.Of course, it makes more troubles for the teacher, because hedoesn't have time to ground the disciple, to make him earn whatis very precious. But what do you think, if a Master does that'How much longer before he will be enlightened. It takes a longtime. You see, the enlightenment is very fast, but the processof seven years is to test the disciple, and to ground him intomoral discipline. This is very good also, but because of that,in ancient times, not many people were enlightened. Because ofignorance, they crucified Jesus, because not many people knewwhat enlightenment was, and what meditation practice was, it wasso new and so strange. Therefore, today many Masters make it opento the public as a sacrifice of the Master's time, expense anda lot of efforts to bring their disciples into a fast moral standard,and a very high level of enlightenment. It is a different time,and enlightenment doesn't mean that you are completely enlightened.You have a taste of enlightenment so you are encouraged to gofurther with it. In the old times, the Masters didn't do this.They would let you work first and really suffer for it and youwould appreciate it more.
..... Q. It is said that the enlightened soul doesn't thinkor act, he is only an observer and doesn't make decisions. Howcan we live in this world without acting or choosing' It is alsosaid that to act is to disturb the order of nature, and to compensatefor this imbalance, nature will create some opposition. Do youagree with this?
M.Well, you must first be enlightened, and then you will know whathappens! To act without acting doesn't mean that you are lifeless,mindless, without a soul, but that you are simply doing everythingnaturally. It is true that you no longer have to make decisions,you only act according to God's will and you know exactly whatto do. Even if from the outside, you seem to act like everyoneelse, it isn't the case because all your acts are dictated byGod. You no longer have responsibilities and you always act forthe best. But this doesn't mean that anyone behaving without thinkingis acting God's will, because he doesn't know His will. Afterenlightenment we know the original Plan and act accordingly. Beforebeing enlightened, we only disturb it by trying to force our willover the Divine Plan.
..... Q. How many levels of consciousness are there and howcan you find which one you are on?
M.Before we reach the highest level of Truth, we have to go throughfive levels of consciousness. We can know this by recognisingthe light, the intensity of the light we see inside, and alsothe scenery, the heavenly abode we see inside and that we canrecognise. Another way of recognising is through the sound. Eachlevel of consciousness vibrates at a different rate and by knowingwhich sound corresponds to which level, we can know more or lessour own achievement. But after some time, you become expert, andyou will know immediately someone's level. We can judge our levelof inner achievement by our own outward actions, like becomingmore loving, more tolerant, more dedicated to the whole of mankind.
