This is the first installment in a series of posts, Seven Degrees of Illumination.
Introduction
Sometimes we get caught up in the blame game. We want to believe our problems are the fault and cause of external forces and influences. We choose to believe we are separate from everyone and everything and especially from those who are unsupportive of our intentions. This is based on an underlying presupposition that the “I” which is “me” has need to defend against everything that is “not me” in order to survive.
Any belief that supports blame seeks to fool us into thinking we can be free of the “burden” of accountability. It surprised me to find that it isn’t change that I feared – rather it was being accountable.
Blame seeks to abrogate accountability for our experiences onto other people, circumstances, etc., rendering us ignorant to who we are. Continuing the blame cycle can lead to a habit that’s hard to break.
You can take conscious direction of your life by taking personal accountability for your choices. Accounting for yourself is probably something you are already doing and may just require a little tweak to achieve greater self-awareness.
About Context
Context is the environment in which something exists or operates. The stages are not clear cut across the board of every context in your life. In some instances, bliss rules while in others chaos still reigns. Every context will have its own stage of illumination. Identifying each stage of illumination in each context may take some time, yet is fully worth the effort.
The Secret Formula
Self-awareness is the “not too secret formula” for enjoying a life of noticeable abundance, honest happiness, and measurable success.
Over the next several posts, we’ll investigate seven aspects of awareness we call degrees of illumination.
Please feel free to comment on each stage as you read along.
Resources:
- The Four Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary, pages 95-99. Copyright ©1993 Angeles Arrien
- Seeing Ourselves in Each Other by Angeles Arrien
- The Work by Byron Katie
