There is an awakening of consciousness occurring within the collective consciousness of mankind. Millions of people all over the world are evolving the awareness of their own intrinsic nature and purpose, and to the realization of who they are and why they were born. There is literally an evolutionary shift occurring within the collective consciousness of mankind, and it happening to you right now or you would not be reading this. You are part of a small, but rapidly growing segment of the population that is enlightening. But what is enlightenment?

Similar to learning processes and cognitive development there lies a faculty of awareness, and innate intelligence and a consciousness that is still dormant in most people and little understood in Western science that is still developing within us. Fortunately, science is revealing the nature of the universe, the nature of our self, how we fit into the cosmic play and what is the purpose of it all. It’s all coming together now. We are awakening, as if from a dream of unknowing, and as our awareness expands we are less subjugated by mental programming, emotional reflexes and ingrained behavior patterns, and find greater insight, happiness and peace. Humanity is destined to enlighten.

Enlightenment is occurring on many different levels. We can see it historically in the Age of Enlightenment some two hundred years ago with the American and European revolutions and movement from a feudal way of life to one with more freedom and the assumption of a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, being represented and a more egalitarian distribution of resources within a nation. Then we evolved, finally, to providing more equal rights to minorities, women and now this whole self-improvement movement, the universality of yoga and millions of people meditating.

Our awareness lies within a spectrum and that spectrum is growing in our perception as we look for it. Once you realize that there is something to be realized, your realization has begun, and once someone hears about enlightenment they will naturally begin enlightening. Deep within each individual lies the volition to learn and grow and evolve themselves, to realize their full potential. We are all seeking to find greater meaning, happiness, love and peace. All these lie within us and we are all being innately guided to find it within ourselves and bring it out through what we think, and say, and do. So, enlightenment is also occurring at the level of our own personal development, as well as being a social phenomenon. We are still evolving as a species.

The psychologist Abraham Maslow described this evolutionary development in term of his famous pyramid call the “hierarchy of needs” suggests that we need to take care of our basic survival needs first, then security and self-esteem, but at the top of this pyramid and pinnacle of ascension is what he calls “self-actualization.” We are all looking for find who we are and why we were born to fulfill ourselves as some very deep and primal level. This is what is missing from most people’s lives, this is what we are innately striving for. This Self-actualization as a deeper level is Self-Awareness or Self-realization or the enlightenment of the consciousness. Here we find true clarity, happiness and peace.

Once you know even this much, once you’ve come to this point in the evolution of your consciousness that you become conscious of what your consciousness is, something profound awakens from within you. This is happening to you even now. From this place, your enlightenment will pick up speed, like the blossoming of your spirit, and more clarity, happiness and peace will awaken. Now, close your eyes and observe how you feel? Something is awakening from within you. Go there. Be here. Blessings, Steven S. Sadleir, Sai