How To Become Enlightened: 7 Tips To Achieve Self Enlightening

Not sure how to become enlightened? We've come up with seven tips that you can use to take steps towards becoming self enlightened.

Are you seeking enlightenment?

The expansion of meditative techniques and ideas to the West, pushed forward by the hippie movement and use of psychedelics in the sixties, has led the idea of enlightenment to be a popular one for the English speaking world.

When we're exposed to what enlightenment is and the fact that human beings can achieve it, there's no reason not to get excited. Working on yourself to the point of enlightenment is an extremely difficult, albeit possible thing.

We're going to go over the idea of enlightenment as well as some ideas on how to become enlightened in this article.

How to Become Enlightened

Bear in mind that there are competing ideas on enlightenment and what it means. Buddhist monks will tell you that enlightenment is the end of suffering, a state achieved through lifetimes of meditation that culminate in a human being becoming a boddhisatva.

A boddhisatva is a being that is entirely dedicated to the relief of suffering in other beings. At the same time, this individual is living, walking peace. Legend has it that the Buddha had a certain glow about him, one that radiated positivity and joy.

Other people see enlightenment as a state of being that comes about when you can see life for what it is. You can see the injustices in the world and suggest answers, and you can rightly appreciate the wonders available to us all in our every day lives.

A washed out (yet positive) view of enlightenment isn't quite as noble. Many people think that a weekend retreat to a yoga center will set them halfway to enlightenment. We hate to burst your bubble, but it's a little more involved than that.

This isn't an exhaustive list of enlightenment ideas, so be sure to learn more if you want to.

Is It Possible for Anyone to Become Enlightened?

Yes.

According to Buddhist thought, we all have the "seed of the Buddha" inside of us. This means that each human being has the potential to become an enlightened being through the process of meditation and contemplation of things like reality, compassion, and suffering.

With that said, there's a tale that might be useful as you think about starting down the path. The Buddha gave an example of the time-frame needed to become enlightened.

He said to imagine a giant mountain. Now imagine that two doves carry a silk sheet across the tip of the mountain once every hundred years. The amount of time it would take for those birds to wear the mountain down to the ground with that sheet is equivalent to the length of time it takes to achieve enlightenment.

Keep in mind that Buddhists believe a person to have past and future lives, each one picking up in good or bad karma, with good karma sending you toward a reincarnation that results in a Buddha.

Don't let that analogy get you down, though. While you may not achieve enlightenment during this lifetime, you can work on yourself to significantly expand your consciousness, ability to love, and mindfulness of the world around you.

The following are some ways to do so:

1. Study Religion Closely

Enlightenment can occur, or be worked towards, for people of all religions. Look closely enough at your religion and you're likely to find someone like the Buddha who was a wise and compassionate individual.

Research practices that you can take up that will serve your consciousness and improve your attitude toward life.

1. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the process of becoming more aware of yourself and the world around you. You can become more mindful by becoming aware of your thoughts and perceptions and how they are affecting your relationship to the world.

You might find this to be very difficult, as sometimes our minds are clouded with thoughts that we don't want to address. Tough childhood memories, attitudes, and thoughts about yourself might need to be worked through before you can become truly mindful.

1. Practice Meditation

Meditation, generally, is the process of concentrating on something while you sit peacefully. In a lot of traditions, this requires you to concentrate on your breathing and nothing else.

Meditation is considered a great way to improve mindfulness, and you'll find many tutorials, videos, and talks about meditation and how to use it properly.

1. Work on Empathy

Earnestly trying to be understanding of other people is a huge piece of becoming a happier, more enlightened person. You might think that you are empathetic enough, but there's always room to grow.

Try to think about other people deeply, focusing on their actions and how you would feel if you were in their situation.

1. Study Passed Enlightened Beings

Whoever you consider the most enlightened person to be, try to understand how they got to be that way. Whether you're studying the Dalai Lama or Bob Marley, focus on what practices these people used to get to a point of enlightenment as you see it.

1. Start Practicing

If you want to see any notable improvement to your consciousness or state of being, you will need to do some actual work.

This means having times set out during the day to practice meditation, work on mindfulness, or research religious leaders for you to learn from. You can try different methods and see what works for you, but it's important that you are consistent and persistent.

1. Make a Point to Smile

A key part of improving your life and becoming a little more enlightened is enjoying yourself. You don't have to wait for life to give you a reason to smile, relax, and really dig into the world around you.

Being an open person, one who isn't closed off to opportunities, experiences, or ideas, is a huge advantage if you're looking to work toward a place of true peace one day.

Trying to Improve Yourself?

Whether you're learning how to become enlightened or how to properly do your laundry, all improvement is good improvement.

It's important to do your research and get exposed to different ideas that could help you out. Check out our site to get access to such helpful ideas and more tips on how to better your life.