Everlasting Sādhanā – On the Edge of Enlightenment

By Kyle Wilfer

Obtaining enlightenment is not an object of desire, but it is simply a place in which you must stand on the edge of. On the edge of a cliff, the wind blowing, the sun shining, and into the abyss of a vast space. In this vast space there is everything that the eye can see, but at the same time there is nothing as the feeble mind cannot process the entirety of what is. Everything, but nothing. There is bliss, but angst as the ego mind wants to grasp the beauty and make it its own – to identify and objectify for its own selfish purposes. “This beauty is mine,” it says as a dark cloud enters. “I want this beauty to last forever,”  it says as the beauty starts fading back. “I need to grasp this feeling forever to be happy,” it says as the light becomes dim. From the stillness of your mind, the witness, the watcher of it all, remains unchanged. It is not identified by where the incarnation is on the path as it is always on the edge of this space. 

The balance at issue is the ego’s desire for control on the path to enlightenment. As long as enlightenment is craved by a true spiritual seeker, the further away the ego steps back. As the witness is unchanged and eternal, however, the path is the path regardless of the desired space the ego is in. Thus the goal is not to grasp enlightenment, but to bring oneself to that place on the edge. Where the ego starts becoming chipped away, erased, and unfolded, and where the witness basks in the glory of Home. Once on the edge, grace is the only thing that allows the entrance into this vast beauty. By the grace of the One, the everlasting, the all encompassing life giving energy, you will enter this space – not by want – but by grace alone.

Aditya rdiyam punyam sari shatru bena shenam: All evil vanishes from life for him who keeps the sun in his heart.