Clara Llum is a spiritual teacher who found herself going through a process of spontaneous enquiry very early in her life, revealing the Self as the Unlimited One back in the 1970′s. Since then she has explored most eastern traditions, become familiar with many approaches to awakening to Truth, and begun delivering Satsang in 1986.
Today we will be sharing this interview where I asked her a whole bunch of questions about awakening.
Interview Topic Highlights
· What is Enlightenment? · Misunderstandings about Enlightenment · The value of Beliefs on the way to Realization · Brief visits to the Self vs. Full Realization (non-abiding vs. abiding awakenings) · The Law of Attraction and choosing better feeling thoughts · Quieting vs. Silencing the mind · The role of the mind · Not knowing vs. doubting · The most important thing to know to reach Enlightenment
For the sake of clarity, my questions will be italicized while Clara’s responses will be in bold.
Our conversation begins with us noticing how animated and alive we often are when we express ourselves.
Scott Kiloby (click to check out his beautiful new site!) just published a pair of videos on the topic of reification, a fancy word pointing to how the mind separates things.
In these videos he shares a wonderful discussion on such topics as why enlightenment isn’t something to get, how it’s not something the mind can ever get, the importance of resting as nonconceptual awareness, and how thought is not your enemy.
Let’s explore some of the pitfalls that lead to the experience called non-abiding awakening, as if there were such a thing separate from anything else… This post will be a continuation of a previous post titled How To Make Yourself Unenlightened.
In this post, we will address the following 4 pitfalls:
A wonderful analogy I heard from David Hawkins is that finding enlightenment is like finding the light of the sun. The egoic veils of separation are like clouds covering the sun.
Your role as a spiritual student is not to make the sun happen or achieve the sun shining, but to remove all the clouds that are preventing you from experiencing what’s been happening all along: a shining sun.
In the video above, I talk about the statement, “You are already enlightened” based on this idea, mentioning how the work to be done is removing the barriers and obstacles standing in the way of truth and love.
(I shaved off my beard the other day to see what it’d look like, so you guys get to see my face now.)
Guru SwamiG has released a video explaining that statement as well, bringing up some additional important points regarding the end of suffering.
Hooray! I got an HD video camera in the other day and so I went to the park to shoot some test footage, push the camera’s buttons (literally, not metaphorically), and learn how to use the thing.
I want to give a big big THANK YOU to Psiplex for creating some BEAUTIFUL slides for me to use to lead in and lead out of my videos. He’s making me look totally professional…
So yeah, here’s just a random video of me chilling at the park alongside some gorgeous geese, set in one of my favorite locations on the planet: in the middle of a rushing river.
This awakening of mass consciousness that we’re seeing in humanity today, let’s put it into a larger context so that we can see where this fits. Enlightenment is not the final stage in our journey as spiritual beings, not by a long shot.
I keep going in and out of awakening, experiencing non-abiding awakenings. It’s like repeatedly being temporarily enlightened, but it doesn’t stick. Fortunately I don’t “fall back” as far every time, so maybe I’m getting a little better at this or something…
What’s most fascinating about this is that through lots of trial and error, I’m getting good at detecting exactly what the differences are between the two states and what the pitfalls are that pull me out of the awakened state.
Here are the 4 key elements I can point to that draw “me” out of awakening, or more accurately recreate a false sense of self:
You Are Truly Loved features content designed to guide people towards enlightenment, unconditional love, and living a life of joy through Self-realization and proper application of the Law of Attraction.
Clara Llum is a spiritual teacher who found herself going through a process of spontaneous enquiry very early in her life, revealing the Self as the Unlimited One back in the 1970′s. Since then she has explored most eastern traditions, become familiar with many approaches to awakening to Truth, and begun delivering Satsang in 1986.
