Spiritual Enlightenment in a Western Culture

The concepts of meditation and yoga are commonly understood in a casual way by pretty much everyone in Western Culture today, but that was most certainly not the case prior to the arrival of Vivekananda, a young, charismatic Indian monk, at the 1893 Parliament of World Religions gathering in Chicago.  Vivekananda ended up spending about three years in the US before returning to India during which time he wrote four books that introduced Westerners to the classic yogic pathways and established a series of Vedanta Societies to promote the study and practice of Vedanta (one of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy).

Vivekananda was the first, but he most certainly was not the last.  In 1920, Yogananda arrived in Boston, and eventually after making the U.S. his home, established the world headquarters of his Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles.  Much later in 1959, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi first came to the US as part of a global effort to spread his Transcendental Meditation program.  Initially he attracted only small numbers of grown-up middle-class seekers, but when TM caught on among students and when the Beatles followed him to India, Maharishi became a counterculture icon.  There have been several others, but these are the three major contributors. 

In India and generally in eastern cultures at that time, there was a very specific concept for which there was no direct parallel in western culture.  This concept was the belief that there exists an ultimate truth that explains all the happenings in our world and more importantly in our lives.  Knowledge of this ultimate truth was said to only be attainable from higher states of human consciousness that transcend suffering and longing ultimately enabling the liberation from the cycle of rebirth and death of the individual who attains this level of consciousness.  

In the English language, this ultimate truth and associated state of consciousness was called Enlightenment.  More specifically, enlightenment is the development of a comprehensive, in-depth understanding of one’s Self (i.e. who/what you are) and the reality that surrounds that Self (i.e. what it is and how you relate to it) to the point that one attains this liberation.  Its existence is considered a mythology to most, but some few get so caught up in this intrigue that they spend their whole lives in search of this wonderful possibility.  It was and remains to be considered by many to be the ultimate human quest.

These spiritual leaders brought this concept of enlightenment to very receptive Western audiences and left a lasting impression on this very western culture in the form of many new seekers looking for this eastern vision of spiritual enlightenment.  Additionally, they left a layer of trained intermediaries to support these many seekers and solicit new seekers onto the path in lieu of direct access to the guru. 

Most of these seekers were taught during intermittent encounters with these intermediaries acting remotely on behalf of the guru.  These intermediaries dispensed knowledge and techniques like seeds sown on the ground (i.e. the one who aspires to know).  If the ground was fertile, the seeds would germinate, take root, and grow.  In theory, the one who aspires to know will forge ahead and complete the journey of discovery on their own.  

There are two possible outcomes from a lifelong commitment to the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment via these eastern technologies.  The most common scenario is a life filled with the peace and fullness that comes from the practice of meditation and the slow but steady forward progress in the overall journey to enlightenment without actually reaching the goal of enlightenment.  After death, the individual progresses forward on their unfinished journey through the process of transmigration of consciousness by which the seeker will eventually start a new life and continue the process until full spiritual enlightenment is attained.

In some very rare cases, there is another possible outcome in which the aspirant actual reaches the state of enlightenment during the course of this lifetime.  In these very rare cases, the fruit of these efforts is the ‘homegrown’ enlightenment of the pioneering seeker who is largely left to their own devices to fill in the gaps of understanding to complete the journey and interpret the results.

There are only two paths to enlightenment.  One path is the way of the ascetic, and the other is the path of action. The ascetic withdraw from the world to contemplate and meditate as they aspire for their one and only goal of attaining a state of enlightenment.  The ascetic renounces all worldly things at the onset of their search.  They live their lives withdrawn in seclusion denying all worldly things beyond the bare minimum required to survive.  It is a hard and difficult path that is right only for the very select few who are so inclined to pursue it.

The other path is the path of action which is reputed to be the nobler of the two paths.  On the path of action, the seeker does not withdraw from the world to pursue enlightenment.  Seekers on the path of action create a balanced lifestyle that integrates a system of regular contemplation and meditation into their ongoing activities of living a life and contributing to society.  Those on the path of action renounce worldly things by internally eliminating over time their tendencies to become attached to worldly things.  As they progress, they can own worldly things without becoming attached to them.

Most (perhaps even all) of the Western seekers left in the wake of these three gurus set about their spiritual journeys on the path of action.  Each individual seeker custom tailored their Western lifestyle to incorporate as much of the eastern knowledge and techniques as possible.  Guided by their own personal intuition and their personal drive and desire to be enlightened.

These seekers soon came to realize that no matter which path is chosen to pursue enlightenment, there is no escaping the fact that the path can only be tread alone.  On the path of action, you will be in the company of many people, but no one can accompany you on this spiritual journey.  

It is likely that the path of the ascetic will be in much closer proximity to resources who can advise them on this journey.  If in the path of the ascetic has positioned themselves in the immediate company of those who are further ahead or perhaps have even completed the journey, these companions may provide the opportunity to seek their advice and counsel.  

Homegrown Enlightenment is a concept that covers the challenges and dilemmas that are inherent in this process of pursuing enlightenment without the support of any others.  It builds on the important life lesson that if you want something otherwise unattainable, you will find some way to make it or grow it yourself.  All the resources required are at your disposal.  You just have to be clever and pull it all together.  The homegrown enlightenment concept addresses the issues related to crafting a western lifestyle that integrates the proper techniques and knowledge searching and the use of personal intuition as a guide in lieu of learned elders to interpret results and anticipating future requirements.

On the path of action, the seeker who do not have the benefit of these wise advisors will frequently be making major transitions without any external guidance.  Early in the process, the changes that accompany these transitions are relatively simple to integrate without any discomfort, but for those who have begun to advance and those who push the techniques with rounding and advanced techniques, discomfort is a possibility.  In some cases. This discomfort can actually cause the seeker to stop the technique.  One does not have to look very long on the internet to find some who used the techniques but stopped.  Now they are venting their discomfort in these internet rants.

Homegrown Enlightenment is a collection of information for the path of action do-it-yourself seekers of the ultimate truth.  It is meant to share information between these seekers.