I am not enlightened. In fact, you are probably far closer to it than you know. Wait long enough and enough time will pass through you. We’ll all get there.
Like most humans, I still experience fear, insecurity, and ego. The only real difference is that I see my ego clearly as an artificial filter – both a straw dog and a paper tiger.
Many sincere spiritual teachers understand this and some live far beyond it – nearly egoless. Enlightenment is not simply speaking wise words, performing acts of service, repeating mantras, or enduring difficult circumstances and austerities — though all of these can help reveal what we are not.
If you want to understand what enlightenment points toward, consider this: We share a world that most people take to be the only reality — what I experience as a persistent dream or illusion. Beyond this world lies the field of the dead or the garden of delight. It is the transition realm between your body and other worlds. There is always a spirit or guide present there, serving as both gatekeeper and shepherd. Maybe for some seekers it is simply a portal.
I will not attempt to describe what lies beyond that gate in detail, because many who claim to be enlightened speak of it without truly knowing. It can reveal itself differently to each person, but if you know, you know.
Before that gate, we usually release everything we thought we were, except for a few essential qualities we brought before birth and maybe some karma. Love can be what we make or what we take. This is why so many traditions speak of letting go, becoming less, and returning to what we truly are — something that was always present within us. How many teachers have simply said, “Look within”?
Once we pass that gate, many possibilities open. For some, everything is possible. Masters describe this in different ways because subtle layers of “I” can still remain. That is a long-standing debate between schools and methods.
How to be everything and still separate enough to love the Creator, for which we are all a part? It is a mystery. You, me, and all of us are beautiful and amazing — and at the same time, we are barely anything compared to the infinite. We are not more than, we are not equal to, but we are not less than.
Enlightenment, whatever form it takes, involves crossing beyond that threshold. Physical death is a real possibility, but If one returns, they are the same but also something more. Some are quiet, some have a mission, some just witness the beauty of it all while wrapped in states I wouldn’t blaspheme with words. These things are possible. They are real.
Any teacher from any tradition who has no direct sense of what I am describing here is likely not “there yet”. Instead of asking, “Is that teacher enlightened?”—and instead of relying on their quotes, books, or appearances—recognize them by how you feel in their presence and in their silence. Recognize them by the fruits of their actions.
If you would like to practice with us, we meet Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 6:45 to 7:30 AM at the South Beach Park Pavilion in East Boca near pier number 2. If you would like to join, sign up via Eventbrite or Meetup.
Breathe. Drop in. 
Sending love.
Heal. Align. Thrive.
—Dr. Sattva
1YogaWellness.com
