According to Steve Taylor's book The Leap: The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening (An Eckhart Tolle Edition), enlightenment can be more ecstatic than sex. Enlightened individuals undergo a transformation of their ego structure, becoming akin to a hive mind. They do not judge; their body's senses and movements occur automatically, while their consciousness takes a deep rest within their being. Everything in the world, including themselves, happens spontaneously without effort or force.
After enlightenment, a person's mentality shifts from a vertical, hierarchical structure to a horizontal, spontaneously networked state where all functions operate at peak efficiency. Whether an enlightened person engages in sex becomes a meaningless question, as they do not directly decide or control it. They simply experience, exist, and harmonize with the world.
Enlightenment removes the filter of duality, causing much of the tension, effort, resistance, and fear involved in distinguishing between "you" and "me" to disappear. This allows access to pure, original energy, leading to a greater flow of life and energy. This surge of energy is experienced as profound joy.
Here are the most effective methods I've tried and my experiences with them:
1. Embracing Pain: The first method involves getting closer to the pain. This approach provides the most immediate, raw, and intense experiences. In my life, pain has been a universal and abundant presence, making it a readily available resource.
As Abraham Hicks mentioned, the harder things got and the more intensely I felt what I didn't want, the more pronounced my desires became. I could clearly feel what I wanted—good feelings, pleasant imaginings, and a pleasantly uplifting state that lasted for tens of minutes. However, this was contradictory because I also experienced mental pain, tension, and anxiety.
Interestingly, the more intense these disturbances and pains became, the easier it was for me to enter meditation. With my eyes closed and just a few breaths, I experienced deep calm, an expanded sense of being, vibrations, and the sensation of the space around me trembling. This state is difficult to enter when I am relaxed.
2. Engaging with Spiritual Material: For me, this involved reading spiritual books. These books often uplifted me, although this also brought tension, discomfort, and mental pain. Despite this, I felt a mystical energy and a heart-felt ecstasy that was different from joy. I felt invincible, filled with a sense of possibility, and became desensitized to pain, with my body feeling as if charged with electricity.
However, this effect diminished with repeated exposure. Reading the same text again did not recreate the initial feeling, much like how repeatedly eating the same delicious food makes it lose its appeal. The highest energy and emotional joy occurred during the first reading, akin to the exhilaration of first love.
3. Experiencing Physical Weakness: Once, I had a body ache and a cold lasting several days. During this time, I felt pure joy and emotion from simply watching my favorite music or videos. Meditating during this period silenced mental chatter, leaving only pure consciousness, deep relaxation, and a grounding sensation. Although I haven't tried to recreate this state through fasting or extreme penance due to my regular work schedule, it gave me insight into how many spiritual traditions use penance as a practice. The weakening of the body actually aids spiritual practice.
4. Focusing on Things You Love: Similar to engaging with spiritual material, this method loses its excitement over time. Repeating this for weeks resulted in diminishing uplifting feelings, much like stale bread losing its freshness. Constantly seeking new things requires significant effort, which is difficult to maintain alongside work and daily responsibilities. This approach follows the law of diminishing returns, where more effort is needed to achieve the same effect.
5. Meditation: When I am relaxed and meditating well, I feel energy flowing through my body along with feelings of joy and pleasure. However, recreating these sensations is challenging. While I meditate often, these experiences are rare and short-lived. Additionally, painful and distressing sensations and thoughts can arise, persisting even after meditation ends, making it feel like mental torture.
These are the most effective methods I've tried. While many of the laws and methods advocated by Abraham Hicks have worked for me, they are not always consistent. I believe that if we continue on this path, we may eventually align more closely with spiritual beings like Abraham Hicks, and things may start to work as they described.