Enlightenment Is Not an Experience

Enlightenment is not an experience we have. John Smith is King Lear’s being. Nothing King Lear does makes John Smith more his being; he already is that. Our essential nature is infinite being. We cannot become that nor cease being it. We have allowed our being to entangle with experience, so infinite being appears as ‘I am sad’, ‘I am meditating’. Everyone knows their being but most don’t know it clearly – they know it mixed with experience. Pure being isn’t extraordinary; we’re always experiencing it, like water mixed with coffee or tea. In every experience, we taste being mixed with thoughts and feelings. Your being has never been touched by experience – never tarnished, hurt, aged or darkened. It shines with the same clarity as when you were born, as it will when you die, as it does for eternity. God’s being is like the perfect friend – always present, at peace, loving.

From event 09 - 16 March, 2025 Seven-Day Retreat at Mercy Center, 9–16 March 2025

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