Inspirational Quotes & Stories about
Enlightenment
The path to enlightenment can be as elaborate or as effortless as you
wish it to be. This path ends with the recognition that you are awake.
It is a state of mind that recognizes what already is. You have no need
to change who you are. You have no need to better who you think you are.
You simply need to remember who you have always been. You need simply
extend what exists within.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 46
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inspirational quote comes from.
Eternity smiles and embraces her heroes and guides as they return home.
Their journey has been long, but without distance. It has simply been a
journey from forgetfulness to remembrance, from fear to love, from pain
to peace, and from perception to knowledge. These heroes have traveled,
experiencing all the illusions the world had to offer, and all lies the
ego said were true. And so they will look back at the fear, pain,
illusions and lies, and smile in remembrance, for now through
forgiveness they hold all such memories in light, and by holding their
memories in light they receive understanding. The understanding is this:
every moment in their adventures, every moment in their lives, was
chosen by them in order to remember who they and their brothers and
sisters truly are-the perfect expression of the mind of God physically
manifested here on Earth.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 47
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
The ego, like a hurricane, creates and supports a confusing and chaotic
world, yet if you stay focused on your Godself, you will forever live in
its eye. By living in your Godself state, you will be at peace wherever
you go. You will offer rest to all who come near you, and they will find
comfort and peace in your presence. Those bashed around and worn out by
the storm, though not understanding why, will find refuge in you. For
there are many who know only of the storm. It is their only reality.
They will be drawn to you, and question you about your peaceful state.
You will provide a temporary shelter, and serve as a gentle reminder
that there is another way. They may not yet be ready to leave the storm,
but the next time they remember you they will see a break in the clouds
and a glimmer of light shining through. If only for a moment, they will
experience warmth and reassurance. They will be surprised but not
shocked by the experience, for the memory of this light also lives
within them. That memory has now been reawakened, and it will offer them
peace any time they choose to focus on it.
There will be times when you will forget that you and your brothers and
sisters are the perfect expression of the mind of God. Those times when
you are off-center you will feel the winds, the power of the storm. You
will feel unbalanced. Your ego will have you curse the wind for blowing,
but you will not share in its thought system. You will quickly remember
that the winds are a helpful reminder of the truth of who you are. You
will thank the storm for its reminder, and soon you'll regain your
center. As you come back to your truth, you will again experience peace
of mind and joy. You will offer it to others because it is simply the
natural extension and expression of who you are.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 52-53
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
Keep in mind that this vehicle, the idea that there is a process that
you need to go through to awaken, is in and of itself a creation of the
ego, and thus an illusion. Yet, as is the case with all illusions, its
only value lies in recognizing that it is an illusion and nothing else.
You are already awake, you are already complete and whole, you are truth
and love, and you are the perfect expression of the mind of God. The
truth of who you are, your Godself, is already in you, and it is well
aware of itself.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 74
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
"Life has cycles.
Whatever goes up, comes down, and what falls can rise again. Progress
can be slow: We remember, then we forget, then we remember; we take two
steps forward, then one step back. No matter how enlightened we become,
we still face the realities of daily life.
A lesson on
enlightenment may be learned from the following anecdote:
A young man had
spent five arduous years searching for truth. One day, as he walked up
into the foothills of a great mountain range, he saw an old man approach
from above, walking down the path carrying a heavy sack on his back. He
sensed that this old man had been to the mountaintop; he had finally
found one of the wise-ones who could answer his heart's deepest
questions.
"Please, Sir" he
asked. "Tell me the meaning of enlightenment."
The old man smiled,
and stopped. Then, fixing his gaze on the youth, he slowly swung the
heavy burden off his back, laid the sack down and stood up straight.
"Ah, I understand,"
the young man replied. "But, Sir, what comes after enlightenment?"
The old man took a
deep breath, then swung the heavy sack over his shoulders and continued
on his way.
Socrates (character
in the story) once told me, "A flash of enlightenment offers a preview
of coming attractions, but when it fades, you will see more clearly what
separates you from that state-your compulsive habits, outmoded beliefs,
false associations and other mental structures." Just when our lives are
starting to get better, we may feel like things are getting worse
because for the first time we see clearly what needs to be done.
"After
illumination," Socrates continued, "difficulties continue to arise; what
changes is your relationship to them. You see more and resist less. You
gain the capacity to turn your problems into lessons and your lessons
into wisdom."
10
-
Dan Millman,
No Ordinary Moments
Cited in You Have Chosen to Remember, p. 125-126
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Your brothers and sisters will experience how you act and treat them,
and they will be surprised. They will want to be like you and understand
what it is you are doing in your life to be that way. And you will
smile, but not from a sense of superiority, but from the knowledge that
what your brothers and sisters are searching for, they already have.
They will think of themselves as spiritual children, but you will know
them as complete equals and peers. They will ask you questions that they
believe they do not know the answers to, and yet when you answer them, a
memory will be reawakened, and they will simply remember that they
already know what you are saying. They will understand that the answer
had always been within them, simply waiting for the question to be
asked. You will remind them that all questions they could ever ask are
exactly like that first question they themselves answered. They will
recognize great freedom in this. They will recognize this memory as
true. They will thank you for helping them remember their trueselves and
you will thank them for not letting you forget yours. You will
experience great joy and fulfillment from your interaction with your
brothers and sisters. You will live in joy with the knowledge that all
your brothers and sisters are either living in joy or searching for it.
You will even love and respect those you perceive as not searching for
joy, for where they are in their remembering has nothing to do with
their perfection. You recognize and know them all as the perfect
expressions of God, and it makes no difference where they believe
themselves to be in that recognition.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 79-80
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
And finally, at the
fourth level of perception, you acknowledge that there are no such
things as "bad things." Gratitude becomes your only response to each and
every situation. At this level of thinking, you know with utmost
certainty that nothing comes to you that is not held in your mind. If
properly perceived, the previous statement offers absolute and total
freedom. You understand that you do have the power to determine what
will enter your mind. You know that there is no force outside of you
that brings lessons that should be experienced as unpleasant. When you
are in touch with peace, which is your natural inheritance, you are in a
harmonious state. As a result, you make requests from this state and the
results of your experiences will be harmonious and peaceful.
-
James Blanchard Cisneros, You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey From
Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 237
Read the section of the book that this
inspirational quote comes from.
Footnotes / Acknowledgments
Every effort has been made to provide accurate source attribution.
Should any attribution be found to be incorrect, the author welcomes
written documentation supporting correction for subsequent printings.
For material not in the public domain, selection was made according to
generally accepted fair-use standards and practices.
10.
Dan Millman, No
Ordinary Moments, Copyright 1992, (H.J. Kramer/New World Library).
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